What Are We Commanded To Do?

1. As His "children", if we are led by His Holy Spirit, we shall call Him "Father".

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ: if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." ( Rom. 8:14-17).

"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father.
Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." (Gal. 4:6-7).

2. If we call ourselves "Christians", then we ought to follow his example. "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." (1 Jn. 1:6).
What was Christ's example?
His most frequent example: "Father", approx. 173 times in the NT.
His last words in the flesh: "Eloi, Eloi", (Aramaic for) "my God, my God...".
His first words as a Spirit: "...I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God and your God." (Jn. 20:17
His instruction of private prayer: "Our Father,..." (Mat. 6:6-9).
His example of private prayer: "O my Father..." (Mat. 26:39,42, 44).
His example of public prayer: "...I thank thee O Father,..." "Even so Father...", "..my Father:., the Father...the Father" (Mat. 11:25-27).

3. "...the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." (Jn. 4:23).

To "worship in spirit" is not the physical, outward appearance of worship, but the "inward man". In other words, we must actually love God and our fellow man, not just go through the actions or mouth the words. God looks on the heart.
"Thou desirest truth in the inward parts:..." (Psa. 51:5a).
"...After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jer. 31:33b).
"For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:" (Rom. 7:22).
"For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly (such as speaking Hebrew); neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter (such as alphabets, languages, spellings or pronunciations); whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Rom. 2:28-29).

To "worship in truth" is to worship the Being, not just a word that passes our lips, a "non-reality". God is real. Words, particularly names, are by definition, "something other than the reality".

4. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." (Ex. 20:7)
We should learn from Israel's wrong example and not call ourselves "spiritual Israelites" without demonstrating obedience and faith.

5. Avoid "doting about questions and strifes of words" (1 Tim. 6:4).
Some who use the Hebrew names also follow this instruction. The following is from a web site where the Hebrew names are acknowledged and used. However, this group does not subscribe to all of the pro-names doctrines.
"We do not enter the argument as to which of these - if any - is absolutely correct. Nor do we profess to know the proper Hebrew pronunciation of the name. Does anybody really know? I certainly do not. Our aim is as follows:

To be like our heavenly Father and to reflect His character by obeying His law.
To produce in our lives the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

This is our aim because to us Yahweh's name is far more than an audible sound; however correctly we or others think we pronounce it. And though we respectfully use His name and teach others to do likewise, we do not profess to be experts in Hebrew or any other language.

Exodus 34:5-8
And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and
proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and
proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no
means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and
upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And
Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped."

Notice how the Almighty's character was proclaimed when His name/title LORD (Yahovah) was pronounced.

In other words, the Almighty's name goes far beyond the actual sound of a noun however correctly it is spoken. And that is what we in SBS try to keep in focus: The Almighty's name is His character. That is the fact we wish to experience in our lives and proclaim to others. ... As far as we are concerned, only those who reflect Yahweh's character really know his name. Consequently we treat with utmost caution those who profess to know the Almighty's Name. To be sure they may think they know how to pronounce or spell it, some can even write it in the Hebrew language: but alas! of those we have met, many are strangers to His Holy Spirit. They do not really know Him or His Son. They have a strange spirit that motivates them. Consequently I hesitate to write off the rest of Christendom simply because it does not know or use the sacred names. ... So let us all tread with care: and if I may offer a line of advice it would be this: Endeavour to demonstrate in your life - by your character - that you really know the Name of the Almighty: that is, that you know Him! whom to know is life eternal.
(Source:http://fox.rmplc.co.uk/eduweb/sites/sbs777/vital/snames2.html)

God's Message to Mankind

The Old Testament is the history of God's relationship to mankind. It is a history of man's failures to maintain a relationship acceptable to God which would allow mankind to claim the promises made to Abraham and to Israel at Mt. Sinai.
Mankind was nearly wiped out by the Genesis Flood but God spared the one "righteous" man on the earth and his family. Afterwards mankind repeated his history and God chose Abraham and his "spiritual" descendants to receive certain promises. Those promises included blessings, protection, God's favor, and an eternal inheritance, which implied eternal life.
Abraham begat Isaac who begat Jacob who was renamed Israel. The nation Israel, which was called by "my (God's) name", could not maintain their "righteousness" for more than the lifetime of one or two leaders without regressing back into idolatry.

Through the Old Testament prophets, God promised a leader, a Savior, who would bring them out of bondage (of slavery to sin) into freedom, into liberty, into a release from sin, into righteousness, grace, and unmerited pardon.
The scripture, 2 Chrn. 36:23, is considered the "official" end of the Old Testament. It ends with the question of, "Who is to come?", "Who will build the House for the "Lord God?". It was to be a descendant of King David, the son of Jesse (Isa. 11:1-10) (Also Mat. 16:18, Mk. 14:58).
The New Testament begins with "the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David (the son of Jesse), the son of Abraham" (Mat. 1:1). The parallel account, with genealogy through Mary, is Luke 3:23-38. David and Jesse are listed in verses 31-32.

The New Testament contains the "words" Christ brought to mankind, which were not his, but his Father's words (Jn. 14:24). This message (gospel, good news) is not complicated. A single scripture summarizes it well. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16).

In this one scripture, we have all the basic elements of God's message to mankind:
1. God-- The origin of life, and of all the creation, as we know it (Jn. 1:1-4)
2. Love-- God's nature (1 Jn.4:8). God's law (1 Jn. 5:3). God's feeling toward mankind (Jn. 3:16). God's explanation of the appropriate relationship between mankind and God (Mt. 22:36-37). God's explanation for the appropriate relationship among all mankind (Mt. 22:39-40).
3. The World-- The creation, in which mankind is the dominant life form (Gen.1:26,28) and by which God re-creates Sons to Himself. (2 Cor.6:18, Gal. 4:5-6, Phil. 2:15, Heb. 2:10, 12:7, 1 Jn. 3:1,2).
4. Whosoever-- The promises of blessings and life are not limited to any one group, or race of people (Rom. 1:16, 10:4, 11-13; 2 Pet. 3:9, 1 Jn. 5:1-2).
5. Believed-- The promises of blessings and life are limited only by the requirement of "faith" (Mk. 16:16, Acts 10:43,) demonstrated by good works (Jas. 2:14-26).
6. Should not die-- There is a way to escape eternal death (Jn. 3:16, 11:26).
7. But should have everlasting life-- The eternal-ness aspect of the one who calls himself "the I AM", the Eternal. This aspect of eternal life is what he promises to share with his "sons" (Mat. 19:29, Lk. 18:30; 1 Ths. 4:16-17, Rev. 1:6, 22:3-5).

This is the Gospel of Christ, the message from God the Father to all mankind.

Now consider the additional requirements as stipulated by the pro-names doctrines.

(Note: We are not speaking here of whether "yhwh" and "yeshua", or their variations, are actually Hebrew names. Virtually no one disputes this point.)

According to the pro-names doctrines:

1. We must acknowledge and use only the "one proper name" for the Father, (however, a limited choice of multiple names may be allowed depending upon the group).
2. It must be a "personal" name, (it cannot apply to anyone else, however it may apply to the Son and to the "family" of God).
3. It cannot be a word that "describes" God (is not an appellation, however, it may describe him as "self-existent" and "eternal").
4. It cannot be a "title" for God (a word that refers to God's authority, power or office, however it may refer to his "self-existence" and to his "eternal-ness").
5. It cannot be a word that has ever been used to refer to a false god (if such a word exists).
6. It must be spelled correctly (however, "correct spelling" may vary with the group).
7. It must be pronounced correctly in the original Hebrew language (however, the "correct" pronunciation may vary with the group).
8. According to some, rules 6 and 7 are waived if one makes a "sincere" attempt (however, some groups do not allow this).

The result of obeying these "commands", according to the pro-names doctrines:

1. We will be able to "understand" scripture.
2. We will receive blessings, healings, and answered prayers.
3. We are promised "safety" and protection (the "place of safety" is at least implied).
4. We will avoid "insulting" God, resulting in gaining his attention and favor.
5. We will receive "salvation".

In effect, we have:
1) an offer (salvation),
2) consideration (obedience by vocalizing a Hebrew word), and
3) acceptance (an agreement regarding the terms). These are the three elements of a legal contract. (Witnesses are a 4th element, but since this is all done publicly, that's also fulfilled.)

Another word for contract is "covenant". The Bible refers to "that first covenant" (Heb. 8:7) and "a new covenant" (Heb. 8:8, and all of Heb. chs. 6-13). From Strong's: "Covenant", Greek diatheke; properly a disposition, i.e. (specifically) a contract (spec. a devisory will): --covenant, testament."
Looking at the topic from a legal standpoint, it's easy to see how the names doctrines could be considered a matter of "another" contract, or covenant, in other words, "another gospel".
Gal. 1:6-12 addresses the subject of "any other gospel". "As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:9).

Names Index / Next