The Westminster Larger Catechism

Questions 111—114: On the Third Commandment

Q. 111. Which is the third commandment?

A. The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain^a.

^a Exod. 20:7

Q. 112. What is required in the third commandment?

A. The third commandment requires, That the name of God, his titles, attributes^a, ordinances^b, the word^c, sacraments^d, prayer^e, oaths^f, vows^g, lots^h, his worksⁱ, and whatsoever else there is whereby he makes himself known, be holily and reverently used in thought^k, meditation^l, word^m, and writingⁿ; by an holy profession^o, and answerable conversation^p, to the glory of God^q, and the good of ourselves^r, and others^s.

^a Matt. 6:9; Deut. 28:58; Ps. 29:2; Ps. 68:4; Rev. 15:3,4 ^b Mal. 1:14; Eccl. 5:1 ^c Ps. 138:2 ^d 1 Cor. 11:24,25,28,29 ^e 1 Tim. 2:8 ^f Jer. 4:2 ^g Eccl. 5:2,4-6 ^h Acts 1:24,26 ⁱ Job 36:24 ^k Mal. 3:16 ^l Ps. 8 ^m Col. 3:17; Ps. 105:2,5 ⁿ Ps. 102:18 ^o 1 Pet. 3:15; Micah 4:5 ^p Phil. 1:27 ^q 1 Cor. 10:31 ^r Jer. 32:39 ^s 1 Pet. 2:12 

Q. 113. What are the sins forbidden in the third commandment?

A. The sins forbidden in the third commandment are, the not using of God's name as is required^a; and the abuse of it in an ignorant^b, vain^c, irreverent, profane^d, superstitious^e, or wicked mentioning or otherwise using his titles, attributes^f, ordinances^g, or works^h, by blasphemyⁱ, perjury^k; all sinful cursings^l, oaths^m, vowsⁿ, and lots^o; violating of our oaths and vows, if lawful^p; and fulfilling them, if of things unlawful^q; murmuring and quarrelling at^r, curious prying into^s, and misapplying of God's decrees^t and providences^u; misinterpreting^x, misapplying^y, or any way perverting the word, or any part of it^z, to profane jests^a, curious or unprofitable questions, vain janglings, or the maintaining of false doctrines^b; abusing it, the creatures, or any thing contained under the name of God, to charms^c, or sinful lusts and practices^d; the maligning^e, scorning^f, reviling^g, or any wise opposing of God's truth, grace, and ways^h; making profession of religion in hypocrisy, or for sinister endsⁱ; being ashamed of it^k, or a shame to it, by unconformable^l, unwise^m, unfruitfulⁿ, and offensive walking^o, or backsliding from it^p.

^a Mal. 2:2 ^b Acts 17:23 ^c Prov. 30:9 ^d Mal. 1:6,7,12; Mal. 3:14 ^e 1 Sam. 4:3-5; Jer. 7:4,9,10,14,31; Col. 2:20-22 ^f 2 Kings 18:30,35; Exod. 5:2; Ps. 139:20 ^g Ps. 50:16,17 ^h Isa. 5:12 ⁱ 2 Kings 19:22; Lev. 24:11 ^k Zech. 5:4; Zech. 8:17 ^l 1 Sam. 17:43; 2 Sam. 16:5 ^m Jer. 5:7; Jer. 23:10 ⁿ Deut. 23:18; Acts 23:12,14 ^o Esth. 3:7; Esth. 9:24; Ps. 22:18 ^p Ps. 24:4; Ezek 17:16,18,19 ^q Mark 6:26; 1 Sam. 25:22,32-34 ^r Rom. 9:14,19,20 ^s Deut. 29:29 ^t Rom. 3:5,7; Rom. 6:1,2 ^u Eccl. 8:11; Eccl. 9:3; Ps. 39 ^x Matt. 5:21-48 ^y Ezek. 13:22 ^z 2 Pet. 3:16; Matt. 22:24-31 ^a Isa. 22:13; Jer. 23:34,36,38 ^b 1 Tim. 1:4,6,7; 1 Tim. 6:4,5,20; 2 Tim. 2:14; Tit. 3:9 ^c Deut. 18:10-14; Acts 19:13 ^d 2 Tim. 4:3,4; Rom. 13:13,14; 1 Kings 21:9,10; Jude 4 ^e Acts 13:45; 1 John 3:12 ^f Ps. 1:1; 2 Pet. 3:3 ^g 1 Pet. 4:4 ^h Acts 13:45,46,50; Acts 4:18; Acts 19:9; 1 Thess. 2:16; Heb. 10:29 ⁱ 2 Tim. 3:5; Matt. 23:14; Matt. 6:1,2,5,16 ^k Mark 8:38 ^l Ps. 73:14,15 ^m 1 Cor. 6:5,6; Eph. 5:15-17 ⁿ Isa. 5:4; 2 Pet. 1:8,9 ^o Rom. 2:23,24 ^p Gal. 3:1,3; Heb. 6:6

Q. 114. What reasons are annexed to the third commandment?

A. The reasons annexed to the third commandment, in these words, "The Lord thy God," and, "For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain," ^a are, because he is the Lord and our God, therefore his name is not to be profaned, or any way abused by us^b; especially because he will be so far from acquitting and sparing the transgressors of this commandment, as that he will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment^c, albeit many such escape the censures and punishments of men^d.

^a Exod. 20:7 ^b Lev. 19:12 ^c Ezek. 36:21-23; Deut. 28:58,59; Zech 5:2-4 ^d 1 Sam. 2:12,17,22,24 compared with 1 Sam. 3:13