The third commandment, "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain," reaches far beyond profanity and careless oaths. The Hebrew verb behind "take" is nā&347;ā', meaning to lift, carry, or bear, so God is concerned with how His people carry His name in all their everyday activities, not only in outbursts of temper. His name (shem) is more than a label; it reveals His character and behavior as the holy God, as in Exodus 34, where He proclaims His name to Moses. Those who bear His name therefore represent who He is before everyone they meet. "Vain" translates šhāw', meaning deceit, falsehood, emptiness, and worthlessness. God forbids His people from speaking or acting in ways that deceive others about Him or devalue Him and His righteous character. Stated positively, those in covenant with Him are to express the truth about God and His way in every thought, word, and deed (I Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17). Christians bear His name from baptism (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38) and must carry it in a worthy manner, speaking and modeling the truth about God and His righteousness. The commandment is therefore about making a righteous witness, holding His people to a standard of conduct in which every activity brings glory and honor to Him.

Faithfully representing God as a witness depends on resembling Him, and resemblance comes only from walking with Him. Enoch shows this: he sought God not to find Him but to be like Him, and he demonstrated his belief by following all that God said, so God gave a powerful testimony that He was well-pleased with him. Walking with God requires agreement, and since God does not compromise, man must change to conform to the way God walks. The walk is a continual approach toward the goal of being exactly like Him. It must rest on faith, according to God's Word, and it presupposes peace and access restored through an acceptable sacrifice after Adam's sin broke communion. To the degree that we conduct ourselves like God, we will be faithful witnesses of Him. Jesus Christ is the Faithful Witness (Revelation 1:5; 3:14) because His walk was in perfect agreement with the Father, making Him a true and complete representation of Him. He could say, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." The church of God was scattered because it stopped walking in God's way. Correct doctrine defines the path but is not the whole matter; an organization with a perfect creed that does not walk by faith and resemble God in deed and truth will not produce the witness God seeks. The Body's witness depends on the spiritual health of every member, not only those engaged in the public witness.

The third commandment forbids bearing God's name in vain, and the Hebrew nasha means to lift, carry, or bear, so the command covers all behavior and not merely speech. As signatories of the New Covenant, God's children bear His name as a father's children bear his name, and they represent Him wherever they go. Speech, demeanor, attitudes, decisions, the advice given to others, even dress and grooming, are part of bearing His name. Someone with a little knowledge of God should be able to look at His children and see the family resemblance. "In vain" (shav) means empty, false, or worthless, so representing God thoughtlessly, by rote, or unrighteously is sin, and God will not hold such a person guiltless. Worship and conduct must match the holiness of the One represented. God's name encapsulates His character: compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in covenant loyalty and truth, forgiving, and just. Those who bear His name are meant to reflect these traits. Baptism "into" (eis) the name places a person under God's lordship and begins immersion into His very nature and character, toward oneness with Him. The faithful who keep His word and do not deny His name will have the name of the Father, of Christ, and of New Jerusalem written on them.