In Jesus’ Name

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Col. 3:17). So how do we do this? Many try to accomplish this by saying "In the name of Jesus” with whatever they are doing. I’m not necessarily opposed to that but that’s not what the scripture is referring to. Like any truth it’s really a matter of pure simplicity. Jesus plainly stated that after he went back to the Father, the holy Ghost would be sent back here in his name (Jn. 14:26). And he never said anything about anything else being sent back in his name. In saying that the Spirit would be sent in his name, he was saying that it would be sent in his stead. As Jesus was here in the name, or stead of his Father, so the holy Ghost is here now in his stead (Jn. 5:43). According to Jesus, the works that he did, he did in his Father’s name (Jn. 10:25). He also plainly stated that he did nothing on his own, but rather what his Father showed him to do (Jn. 5:19). So in order for Jesus to do everything in his Father’s name, he could only work according to the leading of the Spirit of God that was in him. So in reality the holy Ghost in Jesus is what constituted him being here in his father’s name, because the Spirit is in fact the very life and nature of God (Jn. 5:26; Rom. 8:2; Rom.5:5).

Jesus was and is one with the Father by means of sharing the same life and nature, so when he was here he was doing the works that the Father would have been doing had he been here personally; because the Spirit is that one mind of God and Christ (Jn. 17:22; I Cor. 1:10). Likewise the holy Ghost in us is the only way that we can do anything in Jesus’ name, because [you guessed it] the holy Ghost is the only thing here in Jesus’ name, or stead. Also the holy Ghost in us is the only way we can be one with the Father and the Son, because it is how they are one (Jn. 17:22-24; I Cor. 6:17; I Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27). So the only way we can do anything in Jesus name is the same way he did what he did in his Father’s name, meaning by the Spirit. So if we are not in line with the leading of God’s Spirit in whatever we are doing, we are not doing it in Jesus’ name, regardless of how loud or how many times we say “in the name of Jesus.” And just HAVING the Spirit does not mean that we are necessarily one with Jesus and his Father, or that we are doing anything in his name. As it was with Jesus, so it is that we must obey the will of God in order to stay in tune with his Spirit, and to remain one with him and be able to operate in his name. In fact doing the will of God is to be sanctified and led by his Spirit (I Cor. 6:11; I Thess. 4:3: Rom. 8:14). So in conclusion “whatsoever [we] do in word or deed,” we should do all by means of the holiness, the power, the love, and the truth of God’s Spirit. Amen.