The Name Of The Lord
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Greetings…
Over the years there have been much discussion and controversy over two phrases.
What it means to say something is “in the name of the Lord.”
What it means say someone is “calling on the name of the Lord.”
Today I want us to dive into this and examine what these two phrases actually mean biblically speaking.
In The Name Of God
In The Name Of God
What Does This Mean?
What Does This Mean?
We have all heard the phrase “stop in the name of the law.”
As we all know this is or was used by law enforcement to establish they had authority to be not only be there but to make them stop.
When it comes to the Bible and its usage of this, we find the same thing.
When something was said or done by “name” it was that “name that gave it “power or authority.”
So, we know how the secular world has used that phrase what about biblically?
How is this phrase…
Biblically Defined.
Biblically Defined.
The phrase “in the name of...” is found some 69 times in the Bible with all but a handful referring to to God in one form or another.
It doesn’t take long to see that God uses this phrase in the same manner it was used secularly.
Secular usage in the bible.
12 Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the king’s satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.
8 But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”
7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”
7 So the two disciples were brought in before them. “By what power, or by whose authority have you done this?” the Council demanded.
Divine usage in the bible.
20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’—
45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
What we learn from all this is that God uses the phrase “in the name of” in the same manner it was used secularly.
That is it is used to represent God’s authority.
So how do we find it…
Biblically Used.
Biblically Used.
With knowing this now what are some things we are biblically authorized to do specifically based on the phrase “in the name of God, Lord, etc…?”
We are authorized to believe in God.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
We are authorized to be baptized.
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
We are authorized to be found justified.
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
We are authorized to preach.
27 But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.
We are authorized to assemble.
4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
We are authorized to pray to the Father.
4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
Summary
Summary
Knowing what “in the name of means” allows us to better understand things we do and why we do them or “say them.”
Illustration: Praying “in the name of Jesus” or Baptizing “in the name of…
When it comes to this phrase “in the name of…” we also find a similar phrase that is misunderstood.
That phrase “in the name of the Lord,” is mentioned 44 times in the bible while another very similar phrase is also found throughout the bible with is “on the name of the Lord” which is always associated with the idea of “calling” on the name of the Lord.
This brings us to our next point, the…
Called & Calling
Called & Calling
How Does God Call Us?
How Does God Call Us?
The bible, though in the church we don’t often use this language, states that we must be called by God to be saved.
Unfortunately, because denominations have distorted this idea to be a “direct calling” by way of voice from heaven, dream, illumination from the Holy Spirit, or some derivative of such we in the church have shied away from it.
This should not be the case however, as it is a very biblical reality when “understood properly.” Again, how does God call us then?
God calls us through the gospel or good news i.e. the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The gospel is communicated by “the word of truth.”
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
The gospel which is communicated through the “word of truth or bible” is that which produces a sincere faith in us.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
I say all that to say this, if someone says that person can be saved without God “calling them” that would be like saying someone can be saved without the gospel and we know that isn’t the case (2 Thessalonians 1:8).
We mustn’t allow the denominational false doctrines to scare us away from biblical truth.
In fact, “the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, is the New Testament, and faithful servants preach this wonderful message.” 1
15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
So we easily can see “how God calls us” but…
What Is Calling On God?
What Is Calling On God?
Another way of putting this is “what does it mean to call on the name of the Lord?”
After all we find this phrase “calling on the name of the Lord” some 12 times in the Bible.
However, before we get into that I want to make certain something is understood.
Many have taken Peter’s quote of Joel 2:32 in Acts 2:21 & Paul’s same quote in Romans 10:13 that states, “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved,” and have then turned around and said “why do members of the church of Christ insist that baptism is a requirement for being saved, if all you have to do is call on Jesus’ name to be saved.”
This can easily be summed up by saying “calling on the name of the Lord has to be more than just calling for Jesus or saying “Lord, Lord.”
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
This tells us that there is certainly more to “calling on the name of the Lord” than saying “Lord Lord.”
So what does it mean for us to “call on the name of the Lord.”
According to Peter in Acts 2 he equated “calling on the name of the Lord” from Acts 2:21 with repentance, baptism, and forgiveness of sins.
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Surely it’s evident that “be saved” is parallel to “forgiveness of sins.
Also, later in the book of Acts we find Paul reflecting back to his conversion and how “his sins were washed away” and he declares what Ananias said to him in Acts 22:16…
16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
All this tells us that calling on the name of the Lord is obeying God’s gospel plan of redemption.
“In no other way is one promised pardon.” 2
Summary
Summary
God calls us to be saved and we call on him to obey the gospel.
Conclusion
Conclusion
With God’s authority on our side, whether it be through obedience to the gospel or faithfulness afterwards we must stay true to God’s authority.
Invitation
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Endnotes
Endnotes
Christian Courier “Have You Been Called By God?” https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/1169-have-you-been-called-by-god
Christian Courier “Calling On The Lord’s Name” https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/934-acts-2-21-calling-on-the-lords-name