Sincerity Before God

MEMORY VERSE: “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” —Luke 6:46

EXODUS 20:7; MATTHEW 5:33-37; MARK 7:5-8; TITUS 1:16

THE Third Commandment admonishes against taking the name of the Lord in vain. Frequently this is understood to mean the use of God’s name in profanity. The use of profane language of any kind is distasteful to sincere Christians, and surely should be avoided by them. We think, however, that the Third Commandment contains a much deeper meaning than the use of the names God and Lord in profanity.

The thought expressed in our memory verse is, we believe, essentially the one expressed in the Third Commandment. To call Jesus or the Heavenly Father “Lord” is to acknowledge their supremacy in our lives, and such an acknowledgment implies the desire to do their will. But if we dedicate ourselves to do God’s will as expressed through Christ and then fail to live up to the vows of our consecration, we are taking the Lord’s name in vain.

The followers of Jesus are described by James as “a people for his [God’s] name.” (Acts 15:14) This entire company is pictured in Revelation 14:1 as having their “Father’s name written in their foreheads.” John wrote, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” (I John 3:2) Paul wrote, “The Spirit of God beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”—Rom. 8:16

Thus the Scriptures identify Christians as belonging to God’s family and having his name. This implies a sacred responsibility to meet faithfully all the terms of sonship, which means holiness of thought, word, and deed. Unfaithfulness to the terms of sonship implies taking the Lord’s name in vain. Such a course would not only bring dishonor to the Lord, but lead to our own spiritual loss as well.

One of the essential qualities of true discipleship is sincerity. Jesus emphasized this in his Sermon on the Mount by pointing out that our simple yea, yea, or nay, nay should be sufficient to guarantee the truthfulness of our words, without the necessity of swearing by certain objects of importance. In courts of law today, and in other legal circles, it is usually required that a person swear by the Bible that he will tell the truth; but in many instances this is being changed to a simple affirmation of truthfulness. Certainly it would be quite out of place for a Christian always to be swearing by this or that in order to establish the truthfulness of what he relates, although this was apparently the custom of some in Jesus’ day.

Jesus did not hesitate to call the scribes and Pharisees of his day hypocrites; that is, as a class. There were doubtless sincere ones among them. These hypocrites asked Jesus why he and his disciples did not walk as they did, but instead ate bread “with unwashen hands.” In asking this the Pharisees did not hesitate to refer to the custom of ceremonial hand-washing as a tradition of the elders.

Jesus’ reply in part was, “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the comments of men.” (Mark 7:6,7) These scribes and Pharisees “sat in Moses’ seat,” and were supposed to teach the Law of Moses to the people, and to observe that Law themselves. Instead they taught and practiced the tradition and commandments of men, and thus they were insincere, and in practice were taking the name of the Lord in vain.

In Paul’s letter to Titus he refers to certain ones “of the circumcision”; that is, of the Jews, who had infiltrated into the ranks of the Early Church. He speaks of these as unruly and vain talkers. (Titus 1:10) Paul admonished that these should be rebuked sharply, “that they may be sound in the faith; not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.”—Titus 1:13,14

Perhaps one of the “commandments of men” that was being taught by these disturbers was ceremonial hand-washing, for Paul explained, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”—Titus 1:15,16

QUESTIONS

What does it mean to take the name of the Lord in vain?

In what manner do Christians take the name of the Lord?

How important is sincerity in the worship of God?

What should be our attitude toward the commandments and traditions of men?

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