Blasphemy

In the Old Testament, the penalty for blasphemy was death. Blasphemy, if you boil it down, is taking the Lord's name in vain. When we repent and partake of the Sacrament, we are taking the Lord's name upon us. If we take the Sacrament but are not truly repentant, or try to repent but do so without following the proper covenant path, or just neglect to repent entirely, this is the same as taking the Lord's name in vain, or blaspheming. And the tragedy is that the penalty for this kind of blasphemy is a lot higher than merely killing our mortal bodies. In the Name of the Lord is the power of salvation manifest. We can only be saved from spiritual death by sincerely and fully and completely taking upon ourselves the Name of the Lord. To do otherwise is to set at naught His great sacrifice, and to rob the Atonement of any saving power that it might have had over us. The law of Moses may have been fulfilled and capital punishment may have been lifted from the sin of blasphemy, but if we persist in taking the Lord's name in vain by denying ourselves the power of the Atonement, a far more final and everlasting death awaits us. But if we keep trying every day to take the Lord's name, not in vain, but in victory, and triumph over our fallen natures, then Eternal Life will be our reward.