Worship, Revised and Expanded Edition: Reformed according to Scripture

by Hughes Oliphant Old

The second fundamental of Christian worship is that it should be in the name of Christ (Col. 3:17). We begin our worship as Christians by being baptized in his name (Acts 2:38). It is in his name that the Christian congregation is assembled, remembering the promise that when two or three are gathered together in his name he is present with us (Matt. 18:20). Jesus frequently taught his disciples to pray in his name (John 14:14; 15:16; 16:23). That we are to pray in the name of Jesus is a very important principle of Christian prayer. To do something in someone’s name is to do it as the agent of someone else. It is to do something in the service of someone else. When we pray in the name of Christ we are praying in his service; we are continuing the ministry of intercession that Jesus himself began on the cross.