The Triune God's Triune Name Is “Lord Jesus Christ”

Summary:  There is a 3-in-1 name which, at one and the same time, identifies the Son of God and also the fullness of the Trinity of God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That name is “Lord Jesus Christ.” This is not a "Oneness" or "Jesus Only" doctrine; it is fully Trinitarian.

Genesis 1:1, 26  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… [26] Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…”

• From the very first chapter of the bible, the trinity (or “tri-unity” of God) is alluded to — “…God said … Let us … our image … our likeness.” Singularity (“God”), yet plurality (“us” … “our”).

Genesis 18:1-2  The LORD [Jehovah/Yahweh] appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

• Here we see “the LORD” appearing to Abraham in the form of “three men.” This is one of many bible examples of the trinity in action. The one God (“the LORD”) appeared in the visible form of three men, before whom the great patriarch Abraham “bowed low to the ground.”

Matthew 28:19  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

• Jesus said to baptize in a triune (3-in-1) name — “the name” (singular, not “names”) of the triune God, the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) which is classically defined thus: “There is one God, eternally existing in three divine Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

 

• I am a father, but “father” is not my name (it’s Jim). I have two sons, but “son” is not their name (they are Brian and John). Let it be established that “father” and “son” are not names.

 

• There is in the Bible a NAME of the Trinity, a name that identifies the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And that triune name of the triune God is (the) “LORD JESUS CHRIST.” Let’s now examine some Scriptures that prove that.

Philippians 2:5-11, Living Bible  Your attitude should be the kind that was shown us by Jesus Christ, who, though he was God, did not demand and cling to his rights as God, but laid aside his mighty power and glory, taking the disguise of a slave and becoming like men. And he humbled himself even further, going so far as actually to die a criminal’s death on a cross. Yet it was because of this that God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name which is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

• God the Father gave Jesus the name above all other names — “the Lord Jesus Christ … Jesus Christ the Lord … Christ Jesus the Lord.” In any order, all three portions of this triune name occur over 80 times in the New Testament. The word order is incidental. My name can be listed legally as “James Harold Feeney” or “Feeney, James Harold.” It is equally valid in either order and identifies the same person (me). The tripartite name “Lord Jesus Christ,” in any order, identifies the Son of God. It is the name that God “gave him.” But as we’ll soon see, it also identifies more than just the second person of the Trinity.

 

• An important point here: the singular name “Jesus” was given to Him even before His birth (Matthew 1:21). But the full triune name to be confessed by all (Phil. 2:5-11) was given to Jesus only after His “death on a cross” (vs. 8) and after God had subsequently “raised him up to the heights of heaven” (vs. 9). In fact, the name “Lord Jesus Christ” does not occur in any of the four Gospels!

Colossians 1:19; 2:9  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Jesus] … [2:9] For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.

• Jesus is not all that there is of God. No! But Jesus is the One in whom it pleased God the Father to have “all the fullness of the Deity live in bodily form.”

 

• All the fullness of God lives in the Son of God. The fullness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let’s see this truth amplified further in the following Scripture.

Acts 2:34-36, NKJV  “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has MADE this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

• This is the first use of “Lord Jesus Christ” in the Bible! The triune name does not occur in the Gospels.

 

• God “made” the Son “Lord” and He “made” Him “Christ.” These verses confirm what Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5-11, which we studied above. That is, after Jesus died, rose, and ascended to heaven, God gave Him the name above all other names — the “Lord Jesus Christ.” And that name signifies the Son of God, yes, but more than the Son of God.

 

• If we saw Jesus face to face right now, we could correctly say, “He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the divine trinity.” But in that three-in-one name we are also identifying the Lordship of the Father and the anointing of the Spirit — that is, that God has “made this Jesus … Lord and Christ.”

• The Father conferred Lordship upon Jesus. Recall Christ’s post-resurrection words: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).

 

• And the Holy Spirit’s anointing was given to Jesus, making Him the Christ (the Anointed One). Let’s see this further in Scripture.

(1) Isaiah 42:8a  ““I am the Lord; that is my name!”

• God the Father is called “Lord” more than 1,000 times in the bible. The name of the Father is “Lord.” And the exercise of His Lordship was given to the resurrected Jesus (Matthew 28:18). God the Father made the Son Lord (Acts 2:36).

(2) Matthew 1:21  “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

• Clearly, the name of the Son is Jesus.

(3) Acts 10:38  …how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power…

• In anointing Jesus with the Holy Spirit, God made the Son “Christ” = “Anointed.”

So the name of the Lord Jesus Christ speaks ultimately of the Lordship of the Father and the anointing of the Spirit all dwelling bodily in Jesus the Son. The name “Lord … Jesus … Christ” therefore is the name which identifies the fullness of the Father (His Lordship) and the Holy Spirit (His anointing) bodily dwelling in Jesus the Son. As we saw in Matthew 28:19, there is a triune “name” of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and that name is “Lord Jesus Christ.”

• Colossians 2:9  For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.

Acts 15:26  …men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• They preached and taught in that triune name.

• They baptized in that triune name.

• They cast out demons in that name.

• They risked their lives for that name.

In sum, the 3-in-1, triune name of the triune God is “(the) Lord Jesus Christ.”

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