Lessons on the Temple
Lesson No. Forty-Seven
In the Temple We Take the Name of Christ and Receive the Promise of Eternal Life
The name of Christ has a divine origin and purpose and brings divine power (See Mosiah 5) – Truman Madsen has discussed the importance of names in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and how the understanding of their importance has been lost. Madsen wrote about names generally and specifically about the names of God:
“Words or word-names have no inherent or necessary meaning. Instead they are arbitrarily assigned to objects or persons. It is a standard view today that names are no more than a flatus vocis, a mere sound.
“This tendency to reduce language to whimsical convention without concern for more profound origins may be symptomatic of the secularization of men and even the trivialization of life itself. At any rate, it reflects a diminishing of the religious consciousness that some names were thought anciently to be of divine origin.
“In antiquity, several ideas about names recur, among which are the following:
In names, especially divine names, is concentrated divine power.
Through rituals one may gain access to these names and take them upon oneself.
These ritual processes are often explicitly temple related” (The Temple Where Heaven Meets Earth, Truman Madsen, p 138-139, emphasis added).
Taking the name of Christ begins with baptism and continues weekly with the sacrament – Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained that by partaking of the emblems of the sacrament, “we do not witness that we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. [Rather], we witness that we are willing to do so. (See D&C 20:77)
“The fact that we only witness to our willingness suggests that something else must happen before we actually take that sacred name upon us in the [ultimate and] most important sense” (“Taking upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ,” Ensign, May 1985, 81).
We must get stay on the covenant path which leads us to the temple to more fully take upon us the name of Christ – Elder David A. Bednar further explained: “The baptismal covenant clearly contemplates a future event or events and looks forward to the temple.” After referring to D&C 109:2-5, 22, 26 and D&C 110:7, Elder Bednar continued:
“These scriptures help us understand that the process of taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ that is commenced in the waters of baptism is continued and enlarged in the house of the Lord. As we stand in the waters of baptism, we look to the temple. As we partake of the sacrament, we look to the temple. We pledge to always remember the Savior and to keep His commandments as preparation to participate in the sacred ordinances of the temple and receive the highest blessings available through the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, in the ordinances of the holy temple we more completely and fully take upon us the name of Jesus Christ” (Ensign, May 2009, 97-100).
I testify, using many of the words of Nephi, that the covenant path to eternal life is through the temple – “The gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.” But all is not done. Temple worship is the way we “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and the love of God and of all men.” It is also the way we “endure to the end” and receive the promise, “behold, thus saith the Father: “Ye shall have eternal life” (See 2 Nephi 31:17 – 20).