By what name, or names, are we to be baptized?
Steve Marlowe, evangelist
What is the Savior’s actual revealed name?
What role does the revealed name of the Savior have in our baptism?
Before we answer, let us look back to Moses, when he asked for the name of God.
Exodus 3:13-15
13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, (HAYAH ASHAR HAYAH) “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM (YAH) has sent me to you.’”
15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’”
God our Savior identified Himself as the I AM, which is YAH in Hebrew.
This is where we get the expression of “HALLELUYAH,” which means, “Praise YAH!”
Therefore, behold, “the name which is above every name: “YAH!”
Now back to our question about the revealed name of the Savior.
Two testimonies one from the apostle Peter, and one from the apostle Paul give us clues to the true name of the Savior.
The apostle Peter said in Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” This testimony helps eliminate all names but the one true name of the Savior.
The apostle Paul on the Road to Damascus gave this testimony to king Agrippa: Acts 26:12 “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am YAHSHUA, whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
This clue helps us to recognize the Savior’s name is in Hebrew, and that there is no other name. So what did the apostle Paul hear?
He tells us in his epistle to Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of YAHSHUA every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that YAHSHUA Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The apostle Paul testified to what he heard, namely, the name which is above every name! He heard the name YAHSHUA, which means, “I AM Salvation.” He recognized “YAH!”
And that every tongue should confess this one name to the glory of God the Father.
YAH is “The name which is above every name.”
The apostle Paul further states in Acts 26:22 “Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come— 23 that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
Here is what the prophets said about the name of Salvation:
1) Identifying the true revealed name.
Exodus 3:14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” I AM is YAH, “The name which is above every name.”
2) This is the name, “YAH,” of salvation according to the prophets.
“Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;
He also has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2 NKJV).
“Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name Yah,And rejoice before Him”
(Psalm 68:4 NKJV).
3) Moses, Isaiah, and David are all considered Prophets, who testify to “the name which is above every name.” YAH is the only name of salvation. Therefore the angel told Joseph the commandment, 'you shall' name Him YAHSHUA for He will save His people. The meaning of the Savior’s name is “I AM Salvation.” “I AM” is equivalent to “YAH,” and Shua means “My help, as in Salvation, behold the revealed name, YAHSHUA, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Man has come up with substitute names, which are not from God, such as Jesus, Iesus, Iesous, or not to mention the pronunciation, “Hey-zeus.” When mankind makes or comes up with something not revealed, or commanded by God, it is idolatry! The worship of names never revealed by God is idolatrous worship!
4) Did not the Savior tell us in John 8:58, that He was YAH?
When He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
And we now know that He has “the name which is above every name,” which is YAH. And the Jews that heard him, knew it too, which is why they sought to stone Him!
In answer to the question, what is the revealed name of the Savior:
Matthew 1:21
21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name YAHSHUA, for He will save His people from their sins.” YAHSHUA means, “I AM Salvation.” And there is no other name, not Jesus, Iesus, or Iesous, and not to mention the pronunciation “Hey-zeus.” Therefore, these substitute names will not do, as God revealed the name of His only Begotten Son, YAHSHUA!
The original revealed name of the Savior cannot be refused, rejected, or not believed. This is the criterion for a loving God, “16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18).
Again the question, by what name, or names, are we to be baptized?
What does the New Testament tell us?
When it comes to baptism, our Lord made it abundantly clear that all believers should be baptized in water and Spirit.
John 3:3-5
3 YAHSHUA answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 YAHSHUA answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 28:19
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...”
But wait! We know, as shown in the New Testament, that the disciples never baptized anyone “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost!”
They were baptized only in the name of YAHSHUA!
Passages on Baptism in the Book of Acts
Acts 2:37-41
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of YAHSHUA the Messiah for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Acts 19:4-5
4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ YAHSHUA.” 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord YAHSHUA.
Why did the apostles not baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost? How could they forget this commandment so soon after it was made? Is there an excuse, when the Savior promised that the Holy Spirit would remind them?
Here is Christ’s promise to the disciples.
John 14:26
26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
Could Matthew 28:19 be an interpolation?
In other words, were words added to promote a doctrine of man, which was done to conform to a doctrine not of God? Eusebius wrote in the 4th century the verse of Matthew 28:19, “Go and make disciples of all nations in my name” (Eusebius, The History of the Church, Penguin Classics, p. 68, 1965). Apparently, the words, “...baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...” were added later, making Matthew 28:19, and 1 John 5:7-8 proven interpolations. Matthew is believed by many to have been written first in Hebrew. George Howard, professor of Religion, emeritus, at the University of Georgia in the city of Athens, GA., has the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew. George Howard informs us “For centuries the Jewish community… possessed a copy of Matthew in the Hebrew language.” Within the translation according to the Book, on page 151, there is Matthew 28:19, which simply says, “Go.” The original Gospel of Matthew never quoted YAHSHUA, or the one you call Jesus, as saying, “’Go’ therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost...” These added words were put in the Gospel sometime in the 4th century. The Jews have always tried to hide the name of God, which our Savior has. Jews prefer to call our Messiah Yeshua, again to hide the name “YAH.”
“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord YAHSHUA, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17).
Halleluyah, Praise YAH, Praise YAHSHUA!
Now, it seems that many will stand by their tradition, which is not of God, and hold to the name of Jesus, or other substitute names of man and not of God, which is based on linguistic evolution; but to this we remind you what the Savior said, 6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men...” 9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”
In YAHSHUA’S NAME!
AMEN!
