The Book of Mormon speaks of a time of paradise after the resurrected Lord ministered to the Nephites:
And there were great and marvelous works wrought by the disciples of Jesus, insomuch that they did heal the sick, and raise the dead, and cause the lame to walk, and the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear; and all manner of miracles did they work among the children of men; and in nothing did they work miracles save it were in the name of Jesus. (4 Nephi 1:5)
What does it mean to work miracles “in the name of Jesus”? What is the significance of the disciples doing nothing “save it were in the name of Jesus”?
What is the name of Jesus? We use names to refer to people and things. God uses names differently. He gives people names based on their role, authority, and properties. For example, Abram was named Abraham by God, which means “father of many.”
“The name of Jesus” does not refer to the word “Jesus.” Instead, it refers to his role, authority, and properties. If you do something “in the name of Jesus,” it means you are acting in complete concordance with your understanding of God’s character. It means you are acting in complete agreement with your understanding of right and wrong. It means that whatever you are doing is focused sincerely on improvement.
Who among us would not like to see the sick healed, the dead raised, the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf to hear, and every other manifestation of God’s power in our lives? Yet, there are few miracles today.
This is a critically serious problem, for “if these things have ceased, then has faith ceased also; and awful is the state of man, for they are as though there had been no redemption made.” (Moroni 7:38) Salvation requires reconciliation to our understanding of God, and absence of miracles reveals absence of reconciliation to God, which means absence of salvation. Without complete obedience to Christ, his sacrifice does not save you.
But wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God! For salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. (Mosiah 3:12)
But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God. (Mosiah 16:5)
Why are there few miracles today? Because we ask amiss. We do not ask in complete reconciliation with our understanding of God’s character, and our understanding of right and wrong. This robs us of faith, because we know that we are asking something according to our will, not God’s. We doubt.
You can’t work “...a miracle in the name of Jesus save [you are] cleansed every whit from [your] iniquity.” (3 Nephi 8:1) “Every whit” means in totality. Your ability to call down miracles from heaven is directly proportional to the completeness of your reconciliation to God. If you have things in your life that are contrary to his will, as you understand it, you will not have his power in your life, and you will suffer unnecessarily.
The Lord said: “all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew 21:22) So many have doubted God because they have believed something—so they thought—and yet not received it. In every case, this “belief” was merely wishing. What they were asking for was not reconciled to truth. They either had reason to believe that what they were asking was not in accordance with reality or they had no reason to believe that it was. It wasn’t “in the name of Jesus” because it wasn’t in accordance with their sincere understanding of what is right and wrong in context of their awareness of reality.