THE NAME OF THE LORD

Sometimes we don't understand why using the Lord's Name in vain is in the Ten Commandments.  And we can't even watch a television show or a movie without hearing people swear "Oh, my God!" or "Jesus Christ!" or variations on that like cursing someone using the Lord's Name.  

Of course God understand why people do that and forgives those who repent and ask Him to forgive them, but it is much more than just something we need to do to obey God and not break the commandment.  

There are many passages about the holiness of God and that talk about using the Name of Jesus when we pray.  We can call on God's Name and we ask God to grant our prayers in Jesus' Name.  But there is so much more than holiness about the Name of God.  

A good example is this verse in Proverbs:

"The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe."  [Proverbs 18:10 (NLT)]

No one can truly be godly or holy without God's help.  But the Lord is there for everyone who truly seek Him and who know His Name.

In Acts 2:13 and Romans 2:21 the Bible reads -- "And everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved."

At the same time, Jesus says in Matthew 7:21 -- ""Not everyone who keeps saying to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will get into the kingdom from heaven, but only the person who keeps doing the will of my Father in heaven."  This may sound contradictory, but it isn't because saying, 'Lord, Lord' is not the same thing as calling on the Name of the Lord.  When you know that Jesus is the Son of God -- Yahweh, the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the One True God -- you are choosing to be saved.  

Salvation is available to every person.  We receive it by believing that God is God and that Jesus is God's Son  -- the fullness of the Word by which everything that was created came into being, the sacrifice for our sins and for the redemption of creation from brokenness to the wholeness that is the Peace of God.

Just saying "Lord, Lord" and not doing the will of God is hypocritical.  It is works righteousness -- trying to do something in order to get God to save you.  In Romans 2:13 this is made clearer when St. Paul writes:  "For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous."

When my kids were little and they picked up the way people use God's Name in vain, I told them that God's Name should only be used when they were praying to God or when they were talking about God or Jesus.  They didn't have to understand more than that when they were little.  

I am so proud of them that as they have grown to be adults they have both developed a relationship with the Lord, and I thank God for answering prayers that they would come to know Him and serve Him.

If you are in the habit of using the Lord's Name in vain, just ask the Lord to help you.  He will replace what you say in curses with blessings and ways of praising Him as you get to know Him better and better.  

May the Lord continue to bless and keep you and all you love.  I pray this in Jesus' Holy Name.   

<3 font="" nbsp="">