Tradition and the Name
Gordon G. Mallory

The Name
•	A clear and positive message of The Name of the One True God is generally in evidence. 
•	Church denominations, educational institutions and business firms declare themselves by making their names known. 
•	"For all the peoples walk everyone in the name of his god; and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God for ever and ever." (Micah 4:5, ASV).
•	In order to know who the True God is, the Bible teaches the necessity of knowing His Name.

Tradition vs. Doctrine
•	The foundation of the great doctrines of the Bible is laid out in the Old Testament. 
•	The traditional church, however, has generally made Matthew 28:19 their `golden text' for teaching the Name: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
•	The teaching of the phrase, `Father, Son and Holy Spirit' as God's divinely declared Name draws no distinction between common and proper name.
•	The angel did not instruct Mary that "Thou shalt call His name 'son,' ''but rather," And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS" (Matthew 1:21). 
•	The Scriptures do not designate God's Name as `Spirit,' but the Word declares that, "God is a Spirit." (John 4:24)

Mark 16:15-18
•	"[Jesus] said unto them, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.’"

Luke 24:46-47
•	“[Jesus] said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. "

The Trinitarian Baptism
•	An interesting defense has been offered for the trinitarian form of water baptism. 
•	The argument is that there is no established pattern or formula to substantiate emphasis on the Name of Jesus. 
•	The phrases "name of the Lord," and "name of Jesus," "name of the Lord Jesus," and "name of Jesus Christ" have been cited as being variously spoken by the apostles. 
•	The error of such reasoning consists of making a 'formula' the issue, whereas the Scriptures consistently speak of "the Name" — and that Name is Jesus.
•	God's name is not a formula. 
•	The Name is not properly defined as `power,' authority, ‘influence,' or `doctrine,' notwithstanding some prevalent teaching to the contrary. 
•	God's power and authority are vested in His Name, and are therefore given to those who speak and minister in His Name. 
•	To teach otherwise is to miss the meaning and significance of the Name of the One True God.

Concerning 'Lord' as the Name
•	"Although the Lord Jesus Christ commanded his original disciples to 'disciple all the nations, baptizing, in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,' neither they nor the church of the apostolic age ever literally repeated the words of that command in baptizing anybody, so far as the New Testament bears witness."
 – William Phillips Hall
•	The following quotations from Mr. Hall's book disprove the premise that 'lord' is the Name of the one True God:
1.	"It is true that the word 'Lord' as the name of God does not express that name as God Himself originally declared in the Hebrew to Moses at the burning bush." (Exodus 3:14).
2.	"It is a fact that the word 'lord' is applied in a number of instances to other than God and God in Christ in the Old and New Testaments.- 
3.	"When the word 'Lord' is used to express the name of God it ceases to be merely a title and becomes not only a name, but the name of all that God is, or in other words, 'the name which is above every name."
•	The Hebrew `acionai' (or adonay) in the Old Testament and the Greek 'kurios' in the New Testament are not similar in meaning to Yahweh, or Jehovah.
•	They signify oversight, rank, or authority and do not constitute a proper name, although the Hebrew people used it as such.

Concerning "Christ" as the Name
•	Though Jesus was a common name at the time of His birth, the title 'Christ' served to designate Him as the promised Messiah of Jewish expectation. 
•	Christ was the title (not the name) of the glorious King of Israel who was to reign in the age to come.
•	The idea that Christ represents the Name of the Spirit finds no support in the Word of God. 
•	The apostles declared Jesus was both Lord and Christ. This, then, was the significance of their use of one title or the other — or both. 
•	They could speak of Him as Jesus, or they could speak of Him as Lord, Lord Jesus, Jesus Christ, or Lord Jesus Christ.

Concerning "Lord Jesus Christ" as the Name
•	Some, in their quest for a three-fold name, have embraced the phrase, 'Lord Jesus Christ' as the Name, and the Name to be spoken in baptizing converts. 
•	Such individuals have taught that 'Lord' is the proper name of the Father, or first person, and that 'Christ' is the name of the Spirit, or third person of the Trinity.
•	The four gospels speak of our Lord as Jesus over 600 times. 
•	The Book of Acts uses 'Jesus' alone 36 times, `Lord Jesus' 13 times, 'Jesus Christ' 10 times, and 'Lord Jesus Christ' 6 times in the Authorized Version. 

The above article, “Tradition and the Name” was written by Gordon G. Mallory. The article was excerpted from chapter 4 in Mallory’s book, Jesus.

The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.