682. In the Word, the "name of the Lord Jesus Christ" means acknowledging him and living by his commandments. For the reason why his name has these meanings, see the explanation of the second of the Ten Commandments [297-300], "You are not to take the name of God in vain" [Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11]. This is precisely what the name of the Lord means in the following passages.

Jesus said, "You will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. " (Matthew 10:22; 24:9)

Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)

As many as received him, he gave them power to be children of God, if they believed in his name. (John 1:12)

Many believed in his name. (John 2:23)

Those who do not believe have already been judged because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)

Those who believe will have life in his name. (John 20:31)

You have labored for my name's sake and have not become worn out. (Revelation 2:3)

The phrase is used with the same meaning in other passages as well.

[2] Surely everyone can see that in these passages the name of the Lord does not mean just his name but also means acknowledging that he is the Redeemer and Savior, obeying him, and eventually coming to have faith in him.

In baptism babies receive the sign of the cross on their forehead and chest, which is a sign that they are being initiated into acknowledging and worshiping the Lord.

Our name also means our quality, because in the spiritual world all are named for the qualities they have. Therefore the name of being Christian means our quality of having faith in Christ and having goodwill toward our neighbor from Christ. This is what "name" means in the following passage in the Book of Revelation:

The Son of Humankind says, "You have a few names in Sardis who have not gotten their clothes dirty and who will walk in white clothes with me, because they are worthy. " (Revelation 3:4)

Walking in white clothes with the Son of Humankind means following the Lord and living by the truths of his Word.

[3] "Name" has a similar meaning in John:

Jesus said, "The sheep hear my voice and I call my sheep by name and lead them out. I walk in front of the sheep and they follow me, because they know my voice. They do not follow a stranger, however, because they do not know the voice of strangers. " (John 10:3-5)

By name means by their quality as Christians; following him is hearing his voice, that is, obeying his commands. This is the "name" that all receive when they are baptized, in that it is part of the sign.

640. The Merit and Justice of Christ Cannot Be Assigned to Anyone Else

To recognize that the merit and justice of Jesus Christ cannot be assigned to anyone else, it is necessary to know what his merit and his justice are. The merit of our Lord and Savior is redemption. For the nature of redemption, see the material in the relevant chapter above, 114-133. There you will see that redemption was a matter of gaining control of the hells and restructuring the heavens, and afterward establishing a church. Therefore redemption was something only the Divine could bring about. That material also shows that through his acts of redemption the Lord took on the power to regenerate and save people who believe in him and who do what he commands. Without this redemption no flesh could have been saved [Matthew 24:22].

Since redemption was something only the Divine could bring about and was the work of the Lord alone, and since that redemption is his merit, it follows that that merit is no more applicable or attributable or assignable to anyone else than the functions of creating and preserving the universe. Redemption was in fact a kind of re-creation of the angelic heaven and also of the church.

[2] The church of today, however, attributes that merit of the Lord the Redeemer to people who acquire faith by grace, as is clear from its teachings. This idea is central. The leaders of that church and also their followers, both in the Roman Catholic church and in the Protestant churches, say that through the assignment of Christ's merit, people who acquire faith are not only considered to be just and holy but actually are just and holy. Their sins are not sins before God, because those sins have been forgiven and they themselves have been justified, meaning reconciled, made new, regenerated, sanctified, and assigned to heaven.

From the Council of Trent, the Augsburg Confession, and the commentaries on them that have been widely accepted, it is abundantly clear that the entire Christian church today teaches this doctrine.

[3] The claim that all these benefits are transferred into that faith leads directly to the notion that possessing that faith is the same as having the Lord's own merit and justice. Therefore one who possesses that faith is Christ in an alternate form. After all, they say Christ himself is justice, and that faith is justice, and the assigning of merit, by which they mean its attribution or application, causes us not merely to be considered just and holy but actually to be just and holy. To this assigning, attributing, and applying of merit, just add an actual transfer of it and you too will be a pope, a vicar of Christ!