The “Name” of God in Scripture carries profound meaning, because of its ultimacy. How a person treats the “Name,” either with honor or with blasphemy, determines his or her eternal destiny. Whether you honor or dishonor the one Lord God the Trinity can save or damn your soul.
Israel used “the name” (Heb. sem) to refer to the reality and power of the covenant Lord God. According to Old Testament theologians, “Yahweh and his name are interchangeable” (F. V. Reiterer et al, in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament). This correlation between God and his name is so tight that, negatively, the Israelites were warned never to dishonor the “Name” of God (Exod. 20:7). By contrast, positively, true believers were taught to confess continually and exclusively the one true God, whose covenant name is Yahweh, “the Lord” (Deut. 6:4).
The New Testament makes it clear that this confession of divine unity includes the truth that “Jesus is Lord.” The basic Christian confession of “Jesus is Lord” can be said only by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3) and must be confessed, with faith, in order to constitute salvation (Rom. 10:9-10). In other words, Jesus, enfolded in the divine unity, is the “one Lord” (1 Cor. 8:6), who is “God” (John 1:1). The true believer will confess, like the inspired Apostle Thomas, that Jesus is “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28).
Jesus required his followers to be immersed in his “Name” (Grk. onoma), the singular divine name of “the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). And his Apostles restricted eternal salvation to those who know his “Name” (Acts 4:12). Hearing his Name, believing his Name, and confessing his one and only Name with faith and honor is, therefore, absolutely necessary for personal salvation.
“Blasphemy,” by contrast, is the rebellious angelic or human abuse of the Name (Neh. 9:18, 26; Rev. 13:5-6). Jesus Christ warned those false teachers who blasphemed the Holy Spirit that they were committing the unforgivable sin (Mark 3:28-29). Blasphemy, by definition, is directed against God. In this case, blasphemy was directed against the Spirit, who is God with the Father and the Son. Knowing and confessing the one and only true and living God, who is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, is of paramount importance for your soul!
But here comes the rub today: Sometimes, the very people calling for blasphemy laws abuse his Name. One can see this from radical Muslims in Pakistan, who demand blasphemy laws, and from radical rightwing Christian Nationalists in America, who include Arian sympathizers.
Rather than inventing human laws for unbelievers not to abuse his Name, it would be wiser if those who call themselves “Christian” made sure they themselves truly hear, understand, and honor his Name. The scribes who came down from Jerusalem presumed they were honoring God, even as they dishonored the Holy Spirit of Jesus by claiming he was Beelzebul (Matt. 3:22)! Those presumptuous theologians thereby condemned their own souls.
Speaking rightly or wrongly of the identity of God carries eternal consequences and ought never be attempted without dependence on divine revelation, heartfelt prayer, studied forethought, and humility before the Lord. The scribes who confronted Jesus thought they understood who God is, but they dishonored him through their very presumption before his human face and wild accusation against his spirit. Moreover, the problem of presumptuous theology did not stop in the New Testament period.
Later in his ministry, Jesus warned his own followers that many “false Christs” and their “false prophets” would come, so that even the elect might be led astray, if that were possible (Matt. 24:24). The warning issued by the Lord ought to be taken seriously in a day when many presume they know who God is and speak of him so glibly, especially after Immanuel Kant. The Enlightenment philosophy of Kant inhibited our epistemological access to metaphysical reality, suggesting theology is a matter of mere personal speculation.
Another great difficulty that came out of the Enlightenment concerns our general inability to take seriously enough the realm of the world of spirits, that is of angels. Let us remember that the Dragon and Antichrist and False Prophet are evil spirits (Rev. 13). And the Devil hates the Name of our Lord Jesus. What is Antichrist’s goal? To deny worship of Christ, to demote the power or authority of Christ, to doubt the wisdom of Christ, to deflect prayer away from Christ, to downplay the mystery of Christ, to denigrate the deity of Christ, to divide the unity of Christ, and/or to demean the humanity of Christ. Antichrist wants to dishonor, or blaspheme, Jesus Christ the Lord through every false doctrine.
Historic and contemporary and future heresies and errors and blasphemies against the very name of God are enormous problems that must be taken into account. How many think they know the Name of “God,” “the Lord,” “the Father,” “the Son,” “Christ,” and “the Holy Spirit,” when they really don’t? How many false teachers today, like the scribes of Jerusalem, don’t even know they are that which they condemn?
Honoring or dishonoring God by your confession is serious business with permanent consequences. So, how can you ensure that you yourself truly honor God’s Name?
First, pray! Jesus said, if we pray “in his Name,” that is, with his divine authority and according to his divine identity, then God would hear and answer our prayers. The fact that Jesus taught that such prayers can be pointed either toward the Father or the Son contradicts both ancient and modern Arians who claim we can pray only to the Father. Pray for God in Christ to help you honor his Name by his Holy Spirit (John 14:13).
Second, recall that every knee shall one day bow and confess his Name: “For this reason God highly 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 will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). Have you prepared for that day by confessing Christ is God, who came in the flesh, died on the cross, arose from the dead, ascended to the eternal throne, and will reign forever?
Third, learn to hear the Spirit’s witness to the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ through the testimony of the universal church of Jesus Christ (Rev. 2:7, 11, etc.). Beware those who protest that they alone can be trusted for truth. This cultic attitude easily bends over into sectarian behavior that can pervert the preaching of the gospel. Let us learn to rejoice in the witness of believers in other times and places, too (John 10:16). This is where the major creeds, like the Nicene Creed and its clarifications regarding Christ and the Spirit in the subsequent ecumenical councils, become very important.
