In His Name

Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants declares, “And we know that all men must repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and worship the Father in his name, and endure in faith on his name to the end, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God” (v29). Here we are given four things that one must do to be saved in the kingdom of God: repent, believe on the name of Jesus Christ, worship the Father in the name of Christ, and endure to the end with faith on His name. Clearly the emphasis here is to do all this in the name of Jesus Christ; we pray in His name, believe in His name, and endure to the end in His name. This is exactly what Adam was told by the angel in the beginning: “Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore” (Moses 5:8). Everything we do should be in the name of the Son, particularly repenting and praying, and we should always have in our minds that we are to try to emulate and follow Him. We are to both seek to represent Him by acting as He would act and to seek His help and strength in all the challenges that we face. Every day we can seek to do those things listed in his verse with a focus on the Savior: repent, believe, pray, and continue persevering in faith.

               The rest of Doctrine and Covenants 20 similarly emphasizes that the most important things we do are in the name of the Savior. We “believe and [are] baptized in his holy name” (v25). In particular, to be baptized we must “take upon [us] the name of Jesus Christ” (v37). Little children have hands laid on them by the elders “in the name of Jesus Christ” and they “bless them in his name” (v70). The bread and the water are blessed “in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ” and partakers commit to be “willing to take upon them the name of thy Son” (v77,79). In short, “honor, power and glory be rendered to his holy name, both now and ever” (v36). Our lives should be such that glory is given to His name, that those who see our actions are drawn to Him who is the source of all good. In these sacrament prayers we covenant to “always remember Him,” and for me that is the great challenge. It is one thing to spend some time praying and reading scriptures; it is another to keep Him in remembrance all throughout the day as life get busy and the activities of the day press down upon us. Perhaps the key is that in each small decision we make, each word we speak and action we take, we seek to do as He would do. We seek to follow His Spirit to choose righteously and do those things that are most important. Of course at this we will often fail to represent well His name, and when that happens we then repent in His name and keep trying. Surely the effort of consciously or subconsciously thinking on Him and how He might act in the various circumstances we find ourselves in is a part what it means to take on us His name. As we seek to honor His name day by day, and “endure in faith on his name to the end,” He will remember our names to write them “in the book of life” (Philippians 4:3).