The Name - Part 2 - Faith/Belief in/on the Name

2 Nephi 6:7

• And he commandeth all men that they must repent and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God. And if they will not repent and believe in his name, and be baptized in his name, and endure to the end, they must be damned, for the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel has spoken it.

2 Nephi 11:3

• Behold they will crucify him, and after he is laid in a sepulcher for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead with healing in his wings, and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. 

2 Nephi 11:3

• And behold it shall come to pass that after the Messiah hath risen from the dead and hath manifested himself unto his people, unto as many as will believe on his name, behold, Jerusalem shall be destroyed again, for wo unto them that fight against God and the people of his church.

Mosiah 1:11

• And lo, he cometh unto his own that salvation might come unto the children of men, even through faith on his name...And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent.

Mosiah 3:2

• And now because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you, for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.

Mosiah 11:16

• Whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance, and whosoever ye receive shall believe in my name, and him will I freely forgive.

Alma 3:6

• And behold it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name.

Alma 7:4

• And behold he cometh to redeem those who will be baptized unto repentance through faith on his name.

Alma 8:13

• And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name, and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else.

Alma 9:2

• We must come forth and stand before him in his glory and in his power and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just, that he is just in all his works and that he is merciful unto the children of men and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.

Alma 12:17

• And it came to pass that he arose according to the words of Ammon and as he arose he stretched forth his hand unto the woman and said, Blessed be the name of God and blessed art thou for as sure as thou livest behold I have seen my Redeemer and he shall come forth and be born of a woman, and he shall redeem all mankind who believe on his name.

Alma 12:22

• And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites, thus the Lord did begin to pour out his Spirit upon them, and we see that his arm is extended to all people who repent and believe on his name.

Alma 13:9

• Aaron did expound unto him the scriptures from the creation of Adam; laying the fall of man before him and their carnal state, and also the plan of redemption which was prepared from the foundation of the world through Christ for all whosoever would believe on his name. And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself, but the sufferings and death of Christ atoneth for their sins through faith and repentance etc.

Alma 14:12

• my joy is carried away even unto the boasting in my God; for he has all power all wisdom and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation to those who will repent and believe on his name.

Alma 16:19

• And now, behold, I say unto you, and I would that ye should remember that God is merciful unto all who believe on his name, therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word.

Alma 16:23

• And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name, this being the intent of this last sacrifice

Helaman 2:6

• Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name. Yea, thus we see that the gate of heaven is open unto all, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ who is the Son of God; yea, we see that whosoever will lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning, and the snares, and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a straight and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked and land their souls, yea, their immortal souls at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers to go no more out.

Helaman 5:4

• Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh and behold then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name.

Helaman 5:4

• and also that ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning, and that ye might know of the signs of his coming to the intent that ye might believe on his name. And if ye believe on his name, ye will repent of all your sins that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits.

3 Nephi 4:7

• And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the Sons of God, and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name. 

Mormon 4:9

• And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. And whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I confirm all my words, even unto the ends of the earth.

Mormon 4:11

• And may the Lord Jesus Christ grant that their prayers may be answered according to their faith, and may God the Father remember the covenant which he hath made with the house of Israel, and may he bless them forever through faith on the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ether 1:12

• Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have light and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name, and they shall become my sons and my daughters.

Ether 1:18

• And signs shall follow them that believe in my name.

Moroni 7:4

• Wherefore, by the ministering of angels and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God men began to exercise faith in Christ and thus by faith they did lay hold upon every good thing and thus it was until the coming of Christ. And after that he came men also were saved by faith in his name, and by faith they become the sons of God.

Moroni 7:7

• For it is by faith that miracles are wrought. And it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men. Wherefore, if these things have ceased, wo be unto the children of men for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain. For no man can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name. Wherefore, 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 8:1

• I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child Jesus that he through his infinite goodness and grace will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.

The Name - Part 1 - Intro and Onoma

The Book of Mormon uses "The Name" of the Lord in many different ways.  By my count there are 14 different ways it's used.  What follows is just a bunch of blog posts laying all the instances out.  It's more of a reference really. These are laid out in order according to # of examples, starting with the highest count.  It's been interesting to see which writers focused on which aspect of the Name.  Jesus Himself seemed to focus more on praying to the Father and being baptized in His Name.  Moroni painted a broad stroke across several categories (sometimes in the same sentence).   But the main focus by far of the Book of Mormon is on the first seven of these.  The promises for those who have Faith in the Lord's Name are huge.

1.  Faith/Belief in/on the Name
2.  Pray/Ask in the Name
3.  Bless/Glorify/Thank the Name
4.  Baptized in the Name
5.  Take/Bear the Name (Called by the Name)
6.  Speak/Command/Act in the Name
7.  Call on the Name
8.  Remember/Retain the Name
9.  Salvation through the Name
10.  Worship in the Name
11.  Take the Name in vain
12.  Persecuted for the Name
13.  Know the Name
14.  Fear the Name

- I looked it up in the New Testament hoping to glean something from the Greek word:

• John 1:12

• But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

• "Name" used here in Greek is ὄνομα [onoma].  This link shows more details and examples:

•  http://biblehub.com/greek/3686.htm

•  Other verses that use this word:

•   http://biblehub.com/greek/onoma_3686.htm

•  Strong's Concordance (below is from the biblehub link above):
  

onoma: a name, authority, cause

Original Word: ὄνομα, ατος, τό

Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter

Transliteration: onoma

Phonetic Spelling: (on'-om-ah)

Short Definition: name, character, reputation

Definition: name, character, fame, reputation.

• HELPS Word-studies

• 3686 ónoma – name; (figuratively) the manifestation or revelation of someone's character, i.e. as distinguishing them from all others. Thus "praying in the name of Christ" means to pray as directed (authorized) by Him, bringing revelation that flows out of being in His presence. "Praying in Jesus' name" therefore is not a "religious formula" just to end prayers (or get what we want)!

• ["According to Hebrew notions, a name is inseparable from the person to whom it belongs, i.e. it is something of his essence. Therefore, in the case of the God, it is specially sacred" (Souter).]

 

Covenant to the Gentiles - Part 2

This is my take on breaking down the requirements, warnings, and conditional blessings in the Covenant.  I may have introduced errors so take this with a grain of salt.  I tried my best not to add to this nor to take away from it.  It's more of a reference and not a recreation of the Covenant itself.

There seem to be seven parts:

1.  Acceptance criteria for entering Covenant
2.  Repentance on an individual level for each person
3.  Commandments to work on bringing Fruit into the Lord's family/vineyard
4.  Temple-related 
5.  Conditions/warnings/curses
6.  Labor/Work
7.  Love

I think this may be some sort of progression.  Often in 7-level progressions in the scriptures there is a high point reached at the halfway mark followed immediately by a stage of testing and endurance.   Kinda like how Pentecost/Shavuot is followed by the heat of summer in order to get to the Feast of Trumpets.

==========================================================

Table 1: Covenant Questions

Acceptance Criteria

Do you believe all the words of the Lord which have been read to you this day?

Do you know them to be true and from the Lord Jesus Christ who has condescended to provide them to you?

Do you  covenant with Him to cease to do evil and to seek to continually do good?

Do you have faith in these things?

Do you receive the scriptures approved by the Lord as a standard to govern you in your daily walk in life?

Do you accept the obligations established by the Book of Mormon as a covenant and to use the scriptures to correct yourselves and to guide your words, thoughts, and deeds?

Do you agree to assist all others who covenant to likewise accept this standard to govern their lives to keep the Lord's will?

Do you agree to succor those who stand in need?

Do you agree to lighten the burdens of your brothers and sisters whenever you are able?

Do you agree to help care for the poor among you?

Do you covenant to seek to become of one heart with those who seek the Lord to establish His righteousness?

Table 2: Repentance

Individual Repentance	Blessing:
You who have turned from your wicked ways	Are now numbered with my people who are of the House of Israel
You who have repented of your evil doings, of lying and deceiving, and of all whoredoms and from all wickedness and abominations
You who have come unto me
You who have been baptized in my name
You who have received a remission of your sins
You who have received the Holy Ghost

Table 3: Additional Requirements for bringing Fruit into the Lord's Family:

Commandments to us - Bring Fruit into Family	Blessings from Lord	Blessings from Earth
Teach your children to honor me	Will be with you	Will yield her increase
Seek to recover the lost sheep remnant of this land and of Israel and no longer forsake them.	Will never forsake you	you will flourish upon the mountains and upon the hills
Seek to bring them unto me and teach them of my ways, to walk in them	Will lead you in the path which will bring peace to you in the troubling season now fast approaching
	Will raise you up
	Will protect you
	Will abide with you
	Will gather you in due time
	this shall be a land of promise to you as your inheritance from me
	the wicked will not come against you because the fear of the Lord will be with you

Table 4: The Temple - is this for us or the remnant of Jacob?  For now or for later?

Build a Temple	Blessings from the Lord	Angels
A house…which the remnant of my people shall build	I will visit my house	will gather the wicked into bundles to be burned
	I will dwell therein, to be among you	will pass over you as my peculiar treasure
	you all shall know me, from the least to the greatest
	I will teach you things that have been hidden from the foundation of the world
	Your understanding will reach unto Heaven
	You shall be called the children of the Most High God
	I will preserve you against the harvest

Table 5: Conditions and Curses

Conditions	Curses from the Lord
If you do not honor me	You have no promise from me
If you do not seek to recover my people Israel	I will raise up other people who will honor and serve me and give unto them this land
If you do not teach your children to honor me	I will abide with them
If you do not care for the poor among you
If you do not help lighten one another's burdens

Table 6: Work

Commandments to us - Work	Blessings from the Lord
Labor with me	I will add thereto many treasures
Do not forsake my covenant to perform it
Study my words and let them be the standard for your faith

Table 7: Love

Commandment to us - Love	Blessings from the Lord
Love one another	You will be mine
	I will preserve you and raise you up and abide with you forever

Covenant to the Gentiles - Part 1

COVENANT:

There are four questions I will read. Please remain seated until the four questions have all been read. If after you hear all four questions you can answer, Yes to all four, then you will be asked to stand and say, Yes to accept:

• First: Do you
• believe all the words of the Lord which have been read to you this day,
• and know them to be true and from the Lord Jesus Christ who has condescended to provide them to you,
• and do you covenant with Him to cease to do evil
• and to seek to continually do good?
• Second: Do you
• have faith in these things
• and receive the scriptures approved by the Lord as a standard to govern you in your daily walk in life,
• to accept the obligations established by the Book of Mormon as a covenant
• and to use the scriptures
• to correct yourselves
• and to guide your words, thoughts and deeds?
• Third: Do you
• agree to assist all others who covenant to likewise accept this standard to govern their lives to keep the Lord’s will,
• to succor those who stand in need,
• to lighten the burdens of your brothers and sisters whenever you are able,
• and to help care for the poor among you?
• Fourth: And do you
• covenant to seek to become of one heart with those who seek the Lord to establish His righteousness?

If you agree, please stand wherever you are located, either here or in a remote location, to be recognized and numbered by God and His angels. All those standing please confirm you are willing to accept this covenant by saying, Yes.
Please be seated.

============================================

Now, hear the words of the Lord to those who receive this covenant this day:

All you who

• have turned from your wicked ways
• and repented of your evil doings, of lying and deceiving,
• and of all whoredoms,
• and of secret abominations, idolatries, murders, priestcrafts, envying, and strife,
• and from all wickedness and abominations,
• and have come unto me,
• and been baptized in my name,
• and have received a remission of your sins,
• and received the Holy Ghost,
• are now numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel.

I say to you:

• Teach your children to honor me.
• Seek to
• recover the lost sheep remnant of this land and of Israel
• and no longer forsake them.
• Bring them unto me
• and teach them of my ways, to walk in them.

And I, the Lord your God,

• will be with you
• and will never forsake you
• and I will lead you in the path which will bring peace to you in the troubling season now fast approaching.

I will

• raise you up
• and protect you,
• abide with you,
• and gather you in due time,
• and this shall be a land of promise to you as your inheritance from me.

The Earth will

• yield her increase,
• and you will flourish upon the mountains and upon the hills,
• and the wicked will not come against you because the fear of the Lord will be with you.

I will

• visit my house, which the remnant of my people shall build,
• and I will dwell therein, to be among you,
• and no one will need to say, Know ye the Lord, for you all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

I will

• teach you things that have been hidden from the foundation of the world
• and your understanding will reach unto Heaven.
• And you shall be called the children of the Most High God,

and

I will

• preserve you against the harvest.

And the angels sent to harvest the world

• will gather the wicked into bundles to be burned,
• but will pass over you as my peculiar treasure.

But if you do not

• honor me,
• nor seek to recover my people Israel,
• nor teach your children to honor me,
• nor care for the poor among you,
• nor help lighten one another’s burdens,

then

•  you have no promise from me 
•  and I will 
•  raise up other people who will honor and serve me
•  and give unto them this land,
•  and if they repent 
•  I will 
•  abide with them.

The time is now far spent,  therefore

• labor with me
• and do not forsake my covenant to perform it;
• study my words and let them be the standard for your faith
• and I will
• add thereto many treasures.

Love one another

• and you will be mine,
• and I will
• preserve you,
• and raise you up,
• and abide with you for ever.

AMEN.