Believing on the Lord’s name

The importance of belief in Jesus is attested to by countless scriptures about it and that, for most Christians, belief is the defining quality of whether you are a Christian or not. Unfortunately, Jesus does not define belief this way, nor do the scriptures pointed to by those who do.

Belief in Jesus is not the same as believing in his name. Belief in Jesus can be anything one defines it to be, as attested to by the diversity of beliefs held by those who claim to. Most people who claim to believe in Jesus have no idea what he is like. They’ve never met him, and they don’t bother seeking to learn about him from those who know him, such as by reading the scriptures. For these people, Jesus is a catch-all cosmic idol constructed to be whatever they hope he is like.

Belief in his name is uniquely defined by how he actually is. To believe in the name of the Lord, you must actually find out what he is like, and actually be the same way.¹ If you do not act, think, and desire as he did and does, according to the example he gave, you do not believe on his name. You might be able to claim you believe in Jesus while not actually following his example, but you can’t believe in his name while intentionally ignoring and living differently than the example given in the scriptures.²

The degree to which you believe in God is the degree to which you follow his example, as far as you understand it. If you believe on the name of Jesus, you will act, think, and desire as he did and does, as far as you understand him to be. It is through belief in his name, and not in his mere existence, that remission of sins comes.³ If you believe on the Lord’s name, you believe that God is “mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.” (Alma 7:14) If you believe on the Lord’s name, you believe that, through him, you can do anything he shows you he would do in your place: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13) You believe that, in him, you can do all things he commands.⁴ If you believe on the Lord’s name, you believe he can show you how and why to be sinless.⁵ If you believe on the Lord’s name, you know that those who do not follow his example are damned.⁶

If you believe on the Lord’s name, you will do mighty works by following his example in all things. You believe that when he said, “he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also” (John 14:12), he meant it. You believe that when he said, “greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12), he meant that if you believe him enough to seek and obey him, he can put enough of himself into you to do everything he ever did here and more. When you believe in the Lord’s name, you believe all of this in spite of all your weakness, and all your ignorance, and all of your problems, because you know it is about him and how he is, not you and how you think you are.