There are several ways in which it is possible to ‘misuse’ God’s
name and so break this commandment.

The first and obvious one relates to the use of bad language. The
‘name’ of God can refer to the words by which he has made himself known
(‘Lord’, ‘God’, ‘Almighty’, ‘Christ’, ‘Jesus’ etc.), and to ‘take his
name in vain’, as the King James version translates it, includes using
any of them as an expletive. To do this may not be blasphemy, in the
sense of expressing deliberate contempt for God, but only a thoughtless
bravado.

Nevertheless, to use God’s name as a swear word is an evident
symptom of disrespect for him, and is incompatible with a desire to
worship him. All of us may think it wise from time to time to examine,
and if necessary revise, our vocabulary. If we want to be really
consistent, we will probably cut out even those corruptions of God’s
name, which are no longer recognized as such, like ‘gosh’ and ‘gee’,
which are actually euphemisms for God and Jesus.

God’s name can be misused when we make promises or take oaths. To
swear something ‘by Almighty God’ and then break our promise is to
‘swear falsely’; it betrays a serious lack of regard for God’s name.
Because of this some of Jesus’ contemporaries became preoccupied with
the right formulae to use when taking oaths. They seem to have argued
that, although one must keep oaths taken in God’s name, it did not
matter so much if they swore ‘by heaven’ or by something else.

Jesus rejected this distinction, pointing out that heaven is God’s
throne and earth his footstool, so that even these expressions contained
an implicit reference to God. More than that, he urged his followers not
to swear at all. Oaths are not necessary for honest people who are known
to keep their promises. A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is enough (Matthew
5:33-37).

God’s name is more than a word; it is he himself as he has been
revealed. We misuse his name, therefore, when our behaviour is
incompatible with who he is. If we love God, we shall want to ‘honour’
his name by living in a way which is consistent with it; we misuse it
when we contradict it.

– John R W Stott

in _Christian Basics_ (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969).

(As compiled and presented in _TODAY’S THOUGHT_ by John Stott
Ministries. To subscribe direct to that daily email list send a message
to with subscribe in the body.)