The Name and The Spirit

1 Cor. 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

The name of Jesus has been given to us so that we may be washed, sanctified, and justified. “The name” means “in the authority of the person” who is named. As being from the lineage of fallen Adam, we needed and were washed, sanctified, and justified in “the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

We may have read 1 Corinthians 6:11 for years without seeing this crucial and effective point, “in the name and by the Spirit.” The name of Christ is closely related to the Person of Christ and to the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:8-10). If the name of Jesus were just an empty name with no power behind it, how could it wash us? How could it sanctify and justify us? This would be impossible. However, this name is linked to the power of the Spirit of Christ.

The Spirit is the life of the Person of the name and the reality or realization of the name (“the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,” Rom 8:2a). The Spirit is the bearer of the life of Christ, who now dwells in us (Col 1:27) to be all that He now is, to us, as our life. Therefore, by the Spirit, the name can wash us, sanctify us, and justify us.

The Spirit is one who bears the name of Christ to us in a living and powerful way.

2 Cor. 3:17a Now the Lord is that Spirit:

1 Cor. 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam (Jesus Christ) was made (became) a quickening (life-giving) spirit.

Romans 8:2 For the law (nomos, normal operation) of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Jesus is the name of the Lord, and the Spirit is the Person of the Lord whom we touch in reality. The name of Jesus is linked with the Person who washes us, sanctifies us, and justifies us. This is not merely doctrine or theory; it is the reality. When we believe in the name of Jesus and are put into the name of Jesus, we are placed into a living Person, the “one new man,” the “body of Christ,” by the Holy Spirit. Our “life is hid with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).

1 Cor. 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Here we see the action and power of the work of the Lord is by His Spirit, who is the baptizer, baptizing us or immersing us into His body, “the body of Christ.”

It was this same one Spirit that was instrumental in our regeneration – new birth.

Titus 3:5b … according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of (by) the Holy Ghost;

Thus, we as believers have not only the name of Christ but also His Spirit who works in our lives, individually.

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