What's in a Name?

There is a verse that I have always considered a harsh enigma where Jesus says, "If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father in heaven." (Matt 10:33) This statement is right next to the pronouncement of the "unforgivable sin", and ranks right up there with it in provoking uneasy self questioning and uncertainty. What christian of fervent hope does not fear, that in weakness or persecution, they will not become like Peter and deny any knowledge or acquaintance with their Lord? That fear, when caught in physical extremity, they might succumb to cowardice?


Commendable though it may be to always be alert for opportunities to be a witness for the gospel, I don't believe that Christ is saying we need be legalistic about every word that comes out of our mouths. After all, oppostion is only an excuse to let the light shine in the dark, and we don't lose our relationship with our Lord when in uncertainty or doubt. Instead, an idea of what this denial is, is hinted at where Jesus tells of the sheep and the goats. Do you remember how some who say "We did it all in Your name!" are rebuffed? "I never knew you!" Christ responds.


They did it in His name? A name is the truth of who someone is. Titles are a part of this. "God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." (Phil 2:9,10) "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) Christ is "Mighty God" in Isaiah and "my Lord and my God" to Thomas the formerly doubting disciple. If you get the picture that Jesus is God in the flesh, with no others who could even hope to approach that position, then you understand the main part of my thinking.



Anyone who defines the identity of Christ Jesus differently is unacquainted with the genuine Lord. Attaching His name to whatever we happen to worship does not give the idol His identity, even if we call it by the same name. This is what denial of Christ means. Creating a christ in our own image with characteristics that fill our own desires is preaching another gospel. Paul said that anyone who did this is cursed, (Gal 1:8,9) because our salvation is dependent on who Christ is. "The essence of sin is substituting man for God, while the essence of salvation is subsituting God for man."