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What’s in a name? Perhaps more than you might realize. Many persons have proposed that Christians (or more correctly, believers) must use the “Sacred Names” when speaking of and addressing the Almighty and his son. In the past, I have disagreed with this rigid view and do so now. The rigidity of such a system leads directly to a form of legalism, in my opinion. That is, you cannot be saved unless you utter certain words and hold your mouth a certain way. This silly belief system has led some to routinely use “G-d” or L-rd” as opposed to God and Lord in print as though they are doing something meaningful. I think the practice is foolish—the whole words are in their heads.

Out of fear, Judaism proposed years ago that the name “Yahweh” (or a form of the Tetragrammaton YHWH) is sacred and not to be uttered. (Vowels were not in the Torah but the insertion of vowels “a” and “e” in Yahweh now seem to be the best approximation of the proper construction.) Because of this, translators substituted titles for the ineffable YHWH. This Jewish practice of name substitution did not come from the Old Testament or the “Torah.” However, because of needless fear and superstition, Judaism has, in large part, become a system of rigid, sterile laws and regulations. The Messiah saw this legalistic concept for what it was and railed against it. But that is another story. I am certain they would argue the issue. To the point, I have come to see that the true names of God (Yahweh) and Jesus (Yahshua) are significant and ought to be used by a believer much more than they are, but not necessarily exclusively.

The popular names “Jesus” and “God,” when used exclusively actually have a tendency to obliterate the true names of these persons. Further, the constant use of these names may prevent the believer from ever gaining a sense of intimacy with the Almighty. And it is this sense of intimacy that brings a person close to Yahweh and to Yahshua. Knowing a person begins with knowing his name. To say you worship “God” tells me little about you. You may be supporting the multiple Gods of binitarianism (two Gods now plus millions in the future), along with the “Family Gods,” or you may be in nearly any other religious camp, including New Age or Islam.

I do not accept the premise that the names or titles currently in use by Christians are pagan and thus to be despised and disposed of. These designations are translations of one sort or another from perfectly good Greek or Hebrew names. That some pagans may have used them cuts no ice with me. Much of our language comes from sources other than the Bible anyway. The problem with these names, primarily, is that they mask the methodology of salvation. But if you want to use these names exclusively, then by all means do so. No condemnation will come from me. What I want to do, however, is to share with you what I think Yahweh has inspired me to finally understand.

Friends do not fear one another. Quaking in your boots before an omnipotent God is not what I think the Almighty prefers. Slaves often obey out of fear and in the end they come to hate their master. Servants obey out of a sense of detached duty. Hirelings, those who work for a reward, obey for the reward’s sake. When things get tough, they follow the money and may hit the road.

But true friends are forever—you know: the thick and thin stuff. (I am not speaking of “conditional” religious friends here—those who stick with you till you disagree with them on one point or another. I have plenty of these! They are not “true” friends of mine or anyone else’s.)

Abraham was a friend of God. “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God” (Jas.2:23). The faith of Abraham was “made perfect” by the works he performed (v.22). The disciples were friends of Yahshua or Jesus. He spoke to them of this truth at his “last supper.”

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from my father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you” (Jn.15:13-16). First Jesus called them “friends” and then he said that whatever you ask the Father IN MY NAME, he may give you!

Now, the passage suggests that all this giving is not for personal use, necessarily, but in order to bear solid fruit. The problem is, if these guys did not know his name, they could not pray in his name. They must have known it. As an idiom, “In his name” is “by his authority.” Your access to that authority may come through awareness of his name. If you don’t know his name, how can you pray in that name? Maybe this has something to do with the uncertainty of positive responses to prayer as often parroted by preachers and others. The answers to prayer are, they say: “yes, no, and maybe.” If a prayer is not answered, the assumption is that the answer was “No.” But if the prayers of faith will raise the sick, and they are in line with God’s will, then should not the answer always be “Yes”? (CONTINUED...)