IN THE NAME OF JESUS

      "And whatever you ask in MY NAME, that I will do that the father may be glorified in the Son; If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it" John 14:13-14. In Jesus name is probably the most repeated words used in modern prayer and it may be behind much of the misuse of His name as simply a common expression. I think few know what they are saying when they use it; I know I did not. In Jesus name has become simply a indication the the prayer is over, in most usages. For a idea of what Jesus was referring to in John :14 we need to go back to the statement by Philip the disciple, that prompted  Jesus to answer with the in My name terminology. "Philip said to Him, "show us the father and it will be sufficient for us". Jesus answer went on to indicate that the Father was displayed in The Son and that Jesus was in fact one with the Father, in other words Jesus was God. So if the earlier scripture is used to shed light upon meaning of later scripture, in this instance the meaning of In my name would be Jesus Christ has all authority to act in the power of The Father, or in God's name. There is really no biblical precedent for using the term in Jesus name at the end of a prayer; you will not find even one prayer in the bible where this term is used in such a way: if you want to use it that's fine, but lets not approach The father without a firm understanding of the gifts given! If we expect that because we use these words then it somehow gives us authority by the words alone, or that the prayer is sort of sealed before God by the term, then we have missed the true meaning of In the name of Jesus as explained by Jesus, and perhaps are even using it in superstitious form. And by the same token using it merely as a indication of end of prayer does not do justice to Jesus' words in scripture. My friends if we know who we are in Christ then we are of the same oneness as He was, and is with the Father, and can live it and pray in that power, in a conscious way, and if we use in the name of Jesus in this context the term in Jesus name becomes more than a mere prayer ending or words which make our prayers have power, but we will find ourselves in a aware position, a living integral part of His authority in His name, which is us in union with the Godhead itself. You might wish to look at at it like this: if a policemen said; stop in the name of the law, its because he is aware of his authority granted him by another power, and that he indeed is in possession of that power and represents it. We need to have that same awareness of who we are, in Jesus name.

      We find ourselves in Christ, not in our own power, but in the power of the living God. By the authority awarded to us by His will in His Son; really we are all that we are, including our prayer life, by the merits of Jesus Christ Himself. So my dear and good friends it is incumbent upon us to become possessors of the authority we have by gaining knowledge and thereby leading a life guided by the principals of the positions we hold, in Jesus name.

      I have recently been taken to task for writing my blog is a way that some say is difficult to understand, just not simple enough. I hear that and agree, but with this reservation: The gospel message is simple enough, believe, receive, have faith, become saved, not much problem there. But by God's Word there is so much more for us in fulfilling the obedience to faith we were given by grace. Its evidently not so simple, if it were we would all be on the same page, not the convoluted mess Christianity finds itself in. I hope we can agree on that? By the writing of Paul, who was a intellectual, trained in Greek philosophy and a Pharisee, which would be equal to perhaps a professor and a priest combined, we will read a very complex tapestry of thought, we must be up to the challenge to understand the true objective final meaning of his words. Also the bible was written in the Greek language, which is far deeper and more meaningful in expression than English or any other language for that matter. Like any student if one remains in the elementary period of his education, never having been challenge by his teachers he will always be in his childhood of learning, no advancement! My goal has been to grow my own thoughts into a mature place in Christ. Paul in his writings, I would think, as he wrote, by the inspiration of God [who by the way did not dictate word for word into mans mind, but used their circumstance, education, and personality to convey and color His thoughts in scripture] he must have been surprised to see his own deep understanding of godly things on paper, surely his educational background must have been used by God. God used all that education Paul subjected himself too, to facilitate the conveyance of His Word. Just as He will bring about the growth He has willed for you and me, which will be only limited by our unwillingness to meet the intellectual challenge present in scripture. That being said I will endeavor to approach this all important positional truth doctrine in a more easily understood tone. If you, my readers, wish to read and learn the calling of God for all Christians to a deeper life, no man, dead or alive has done a better job of explaining it in clear concise terms, than Miles Stanford in the Complete Green Letters. I present this challenge to you, to order it, read it, and grow!

      In order for us to carry on in the power of the name of Jesus we must first know the elementary position of identification with Christ, and that we consist of two natures. The first is in the name of Adam; we are living on this earth as him in his nature. Each time you look in the mirror that's who you see, and Adam is unacceptable to The Father, because he has the capacity to sin. The second aspect of our being was formed anew by God in Christ, and transferred to us by The Holy Spirit by our faith. Jesus is the second Adam. We are like the first by birth, and likewise the second, except the new second birth after the fact is spiritual, which means it takes place in our mind, and while we take on this new nature by choosing it in faith, it is the work of the second Adam that makes it true before God. This is where the rubber meets the road my friends, in realizing that our salivation is wholly dependent upon another, our very condition as saved children of God is positioned in the person of Jesus Christ and realized by us in faith and by faith only, not action or works! It is as we look in understanding of that truth, we see our life in Christ and have power in His name. We remain in a sin capacity in Adam the first in our flesh or human nature but are seen in the second Adam, Jesus Christ, by God, the Fathers design for the Christian. He has become our very personal identity in the mind of God, and that came by His presence on this earth as a man, and in that capacity He fulfilled the extinction of the first Adams sinful nature in God's mind with complete satisfaction; He accomplished that by dieing on the cross in the form of a man, thereby judicially completing our sentence of death. This in simplicity is the positional truth doctrine; but its one thing to know it and another to experience it. My prayer in Jesus name is that you come to see that life in the first has no value and that by obedience to the faith of the identity you have in the second Man you may live in His power to overcome the world in the only way possible as we walk in it; positioned in you heart and awareness, identified with Jesus Christ. Thereby you will have a full realization of your presence in Christ, in heaven, with full experiential access to the Throne of God while treading earths fateful path.