Impact

What is the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit?

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 28:19 NET)

Those who have been in the church have likely heard this many times before a believer is emersed in water or baptized (1). However, have you noticed that this verse does not say plural “the names” but rather singular “the name?” Again, my question is, what is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit’s name?

Why would I ask that question? Glad you asked! 

Recall the disciples asked the Lord to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1). Jesus then followed with what has become known as the Lord’s prayer (1) (Luke 11:2-4). So, what was intended by Jesus, a Hebrew teacher, to be an outline of prayer has often been turned into a vain repetition (Matthew 6:7).

Could it be that we have done something similar to this command of baptizing in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit?

Realize, the early church baptized in the name of Jesus:

Peter said to them, "Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38 NET)
(For the Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) (Acts 8:16 NET)
So he gave orders to have them baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for several days. (Acts 10:48 NET)
And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.' (Acts 22:16 NET)

Note that in the following verse, “name” is again singular:

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:11-12 NET)

That is, it does not say there “are no other names” (i.e., Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.

So, why did the early church baptize in the name of Jesus? Could Jesus be a shared name (1) of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Note that God the Father is glorified when we declare the Lordship of Jesus!

As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 NET)

Today, we still have the custom of exchanging names when we enter a covenant (e.g., marriage). Some replace their last name with their spouse’s, and some append the spouse’s last name to their own. Could it be that when the New Covenant was sealed in the holy blood of Jesus (1), the name of Jesus became the covenant name of the Trinity?

Furthermore, could it be that when Jesus represented us as our mediator (1) and, in the power of the Holy Spirit, made a covenant with His, and now our, Heavenly Father, the name of Jesus became the covenant name (1) of all the family of God in Heaven and on Earth? 

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  of whom the whole family in the heavens and on earth is named, (Ephesians 3:14,15 YLT)

I believe Jesus is a shared covenant name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

What we are doing is incomplete. To be complete, we could say, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!

As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 NET)

This understanding provides additional insight into the following verse:

Then I looked, and here was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1 NET) 

That is, there was one name written on their foreheads – Jesus!

The Lord will then be king over all the earth. In that day the Lord will be seen as one with a single name. (Zechariah 14:9 NET)

Discipleship for Maturing Christians



Shalom
(Security, Wholeness, Success)
Peace

Dear friend, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul. 
(3 John 1:2 NET)


(1) Select the link to open another article with additional information in a new tab.

Hal has taught the Bible for over three decades. Through an interdenominational ministry dedicated to helping the local church build men for Jesus, Hal trained men, the leaders of men’s ministries, and provided pulpit supply. Before that, he was a Men’s Ministry Leader and an Adult Bible Fellowship teacher of a seventy-five-member class at a denominational megachurch. Presently, Hal desires to honor Jesus Christ through this Internet teaching ministry, thereby glorifying the Heavenly Father in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. He believes, second to cultivating his relationship with God that raising his family unto the Lord is the most significant task for him while on Earth. Furthermore, Hal believes that being a successful leader in the church or workplace is no substitute for failing to be a successful leader at home.  DOULOS HAL'S TOPICAL INDEX

2 Comments

  • JJSymbioses

    Hi

    Hi

    Thanks for the scriptures and I agree with everything you said… Here is two more scriptures to confirm what you said:

    Col 3:17  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

    Eph 4:5  one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

  • Clayton Hewitt

    God’s name is Jesus

    God's name YHWH was unspoken until He revealed it to Mary Luke 26:31  "And behold,you will conceive in your womb,and bear a son,and you shall name him Jesus. John 8:58 Jesus said to them,"Truly,truly,I say to you,before Abraham was born,I am"YHWH". Jesus is who God is: one eternal God who is the Creator of all things. He exists in three persons: God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. His name is Jesus.  Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."Go therefore and make disciples of all nations ,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, theaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo,I am with you always, even to the end of the age."                                                   The name is Jesus for they went out and baptized in the name of Jesus.                                              [email protected]

Leave a Reply