God’s Image Study • Commandment 3: God’s Name
As we close our examination of the third commandment, we return to the responsibility it places before us.
Exodus 20:7 forbids taking God’s name in vain and warns that the person doing so will not be held guiltless. The name we speak belongs to the One whose authority we are invoking. Read Exodus 20:7.
Across these posts, we have examined remembrance, representation, truthfulness, and love. Now we bring those threads together.
Remember the name He revealed
In Exodus 3:15, God identifies Himself to Moses and gives His name as a memorial for all generations. The ASV renders that name Jehovah; the Hebrew is YHWH (יהוה).
We examined the difference between a name and a title, including how LORD appears in place of the name in some English translations. Recognizing that difference helps us attend to what the passage actually contains. Read Exodus 3:15, ASV.
Remembering His name also calls us to remember whose instruction we are following. Familiar religious language must never become a substitute for listening to Him.
Preserve the Father–Son relationship
Our examination of the seal and entrusted authority brought us to John 6:27: the Father sets His seal upon the Son of Man.
Jesus identifies the Father as the One who sent him. In John 17, he speaks of making the Father’s name known and giving others the words he received from the Father.
Honoring the Son includes receiving what he reveals about the Father. We must preserve the relationship Jesus describes—the One who sends and the one sent, the giver and the recipient. Read John 6:27–29 and John 17:6–8, 25–26.
Test what we attribute to God
Jeremiah 23 showed us people speaking in God’s name whom God had not sent. Their claims did not establish their authority.
First John 4:1 instructs us to test the spirits. This applies to what we hear from others and to what we accept within ourselves. An inward feeling, conviction, or experience must be examined against Scripture before we identify it as God’s guidance. Read Jeremiah 23:16–27 and 1 John 4:1–6.
Am I receiving correction from God’s word, or using His name to protect an understanding I do not want questioned?
Remember the life that comes from God
This brings us back to our Born Again Study. Jesus speaks of birth from above and distinguishes what is born of flesh from what is born of Spirit. Religious identification alone does not answer the question of spiritual birth. Read John 3:3–8.
Jesus also describes God as the God of the living when explaining resurrection. Paul speaks of Christ dying and living again to be Lord of both the dead and the living. These passages deserve their own examination, with their wording and contexts preserved. We will return to that comparison in a separate study. Read Luke 20:37–38 and Romans 14:7–9.
For now, we retain the question our Born Again study brought before us: what does it mean to receive life from God and live by the Spirit?
Keep love at the center
First Corinthians 13:1–3 requires us to examine even remarkable speech, knowledge, faith, and sacrifice in relation to love. Claiming to represent God does not exempt us from that examination. Read 1 Corinthians 13:1–7.
Jesus connects the Law and the Prophets with loving God and loving our neighbor. The third commandment belongs within that instruction. We honor God by speaking truthfully about Him, and we must consider how our claims affect the people who hear us. Read Matthew 22:37–40.
Do my words direct people toward the Father? Am I truthful about what He has said? Does my treatment of others agree with the love I profess?
Carry the examination forward
The third commandment asks us to take seriously the name we remember and the authority we claim.
We have reason to examine our teaching, promises, motives, and conduct. We also have reason to remain teachable—to correct what we have misrepresented and allow Scripture to challenge what we have assumed.
As we move forward, let this question remain with us:
Am I honoring God as He reveals Himself, or asking His name to stand behind something of my own?
Before continuing into Commandment 4, we will first study God of the Living—Christ as Lord of the Dead and the Living. We will examine the wording and context of these passages, bringing them alongside our Born Again Study to explore the connections between life, resurrection, and the Father–Son relationship.
The Sabbath Study will follow, preparing us for the fourth commandment.
Threads to Follow
God of the Living—Christ as Lord of the Dead and the Living: Begin with Luke 20:37–38 and Romans 14:7–9, keeping their contexts and differing descriptions in view.
Born Again: Bring John 3:3–8 alongside our examination of receiving life through the Spirit.
Sabbath: After the life-and-lordship study, begin with Genesis 2:1–3 before returning to Commandment 4.
Father and Mother: Develop the Bridegroom and Bride study before examining Commandment 5.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
Comments
Post a Comment