Posted by Rahab [Rahab] on March 29, 1999 at 23:23:16 {7nb3mCfGvUpGnXU/RvNMV/oSkQhGyc}:
In Reply to: Divine Name in New Testament posted by Rick on March 29, 1999 at 12:00:03:
Dear Rick,
Jehovah (YHWH) is a wonderful name, the name the Jews knew for their one true God to separate their God from all of the false gods of the pagans and heathen.
But is that the name that we should focus on and be the name God uses for His people now?
Why didn't Jesus use that name when he prayed for example? Instead he prayed "Father". If it was important to use the name of Jehovah in prayer for example why didn't he use it in the prayer that he said when his disciples asked him "Lord, teach us to pray" in Luke 11:2.
Instead the New Testament clearly shows that it is the name of Jesus that we should be using and that we would be persecuted for.
In Act 4:18 it says "And they [pharisees] called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus."
Acts 4:12 says that "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Act 5:40,41 "And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they should be counted worthy to suffer shame for His name."
Phil. 2:9,10: "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
1Peter 4:14: "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you..."
Acts 1:8 Jesus said "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and in the end of the earth."
Were the early christians Jehovah's Witnesses or Jesus Witnesses?
Read the book of Acts
In Christian Love,
Rahab