Ok . . . here we go . . . case in point . . . On another site, a lady of catholic background was witnessed to, became born-again and was baptized as a believer. By the wording in her post, you could discern she was also new to the English language.  Now, 6 years into her walk of Salvation, she has been overwhelmed by those on social media that are telling her ‘the Name’ on which she called – the name ‘Jesus’ – is ‘pagan’ and counterfeit and now, by her own confession, she is more confused than ever.

It has been asked why we seem to ‘defend’ teachings of the church or the use of certain words or names and at times find fault within our HR camp of believers. We are not here to intentionally defend or find fault with anyone’s teachings or beliefs, but rather we are here to promote proper balance and to disseminate the Truth of The Word and ‘let the chips fall where they may’; not that we desire anyone to get hit by falling  chips, but ‘Iron sharpening Iron’ will always cause some sparks, hopefully creating more Light than heat.  We must always remember, not everything we taught and learned in ‘the church’ was wrong, and not everything we teach and promote in this HR/Messianic/Restoration Camp is correct and vice versa.  And one of the things none of us ever want to be a part of is sowing seeds of doubt or confusion .

Most of us in this ‘Camp’ came out of ‘the church’ and called upon Jesus to save us from our sins and bring us into relationship with our heavenly Father. And now, in our newly acquired knowledge, we have come to the conclusion that that word – Jesus – is somehow false and pagan and leading people astray. But have we stopped to consider the logical conclusion to that line of thought.

Many years back (when we were much less seasoned in this new walk)  Rhonda and I were asked by a married couple if we would re-baptize them. They were born again, filled with the Spirit and baptized in Jesus’ Name. And now that they understood His ‘True Name’, that desired to be baptized in the Name of Yeshua.  We agreed, but later, after much thought, we regretted the action.

Matthew 28:19 records Yeshua’s Words this way – ‘ . . .baptizing them in the Name of The Father , and The Son and the Holy Spirit.’ We who came out of ‘the church’ understand the phrase ‘The Son’ to be a reference to Jesus or Yeshua Himself.

Now here’s where it gets sticky. When we bring someone to the point of questioning the validity of their salvation or even believer’s baptism, because of the wrong spelling, pronunciation or language of a word or Name, we have started them down a very slippery and dangerous path. I mean, if my baptism in Jesus’ Name was not valid, well then what about my Salvation and my relationship to our Father? What about my eternity and my sinful past? Are my sins truly forgiven, or, if I die tonight, will I go to hell?

You see, it’s one thing to share with folks about the Hebrew and the Name His Momma called Him and what that Name truly means. But it is another thing altogether to cause someone to doubt their relationship and salvation and potentially cause them to stumble and question or worse to doubt their salvation. Who wants to be responsible for that?

In Luke 17 Yeshua warns the disciples concerning causing ‘the little ones’ to stumble. Not only can that phrase refer to physical children but can it not also be used to refer to ‘babes’ or ‘little ones’ in the Faith? Yeshua said obstacles would come, but woe to those by which these obstacles come. We must be careful what words we speak and how we speak them and when and to whom. Who wants to be responsible for causing someone like this ‘6-year old in the faith’ that we mentioned above to stumble?

It is true that ‘Yeshua’ is the Hebrew word for the moniker of the promised Messiah of Israel. As best we know, it is what His Momma called Him. But His ‘Name’ is much more than that word by which He is addressed. His Name is His Power, Majesty, Authority, Reputation, Sovereignty and Legacy.

There are and always will be errors in the teachings of man. The word ‘Jesus’ is not an error. If it is, then what does that say concerning the ‘coming to faith’, Salvation and baptism of the majority of believers?

In Acts 2, it says ‘they (from every nation under heaven) all heard in their own language . . .’ Where did the languages come from? They came from God. (Gen 11:6-10) It is difficult for us to imagine that our Father would create languages without setting a set-apart name within each one by which to call on Him (and that is what we did) . . .