The Third Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Take the Name of the Lord Thy God in Vain

The Lord God has given Himself names. Being what they are -- names, that is, words with meaning -- they set forth for the benefit of the redeemed what may be known of God. Thus the names of God are to Him instruments of self-revelation, so that to know the meaning of these names is to have knowledge of God. It means that the expression "names of God" is equivalent in meaning to the expression "revelation of God." However, though the statement to the effect that God reveals Himself through the...