"In the Name of Jesus Christ"

I was studying today and came across something interesting that gives some insight into what it means to do something "in the name of Jesus Christ." Section 42 of the D&C was given to Joseph Smith in Kirtland, Ohio in the presence of 12 elders. The first verse is very important to understand what it means to do something "in the name of" Jesus Christ. Here is the verse:

 1 HEARKEN, O ye elders of my achurch, who have assembled yourselves together in my name, even Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, the Savior of the world; inasmuch as ye believe on my name and keep my commandments.

This section is addressed to the elders of the church. They have assembled themselves together in His name. Notice what follows. The next phrase begins with "even".  Thus, what follows is a definition of His name. So, they are doing something in His name and the name is, "Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, the Savior of the world." Thus, when we do something in the name of Jesus, we should do it while remembering that He is the Christ (the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah, meaning the anointed one) and that He is the Son of the living God and that He is the Savior of the World. Also, this discussion could apply to anything that we do in His name.

The next phrase begins with "inasmuch as ..." The words "inasmuch as" mean "to the extent that ..." or "in proportion to the amount that ... " Thus, we do something in His name as long as, or to the extent that, we believe on His name and keep His commandments. Believing on His name means that we believe that He is the mortal Jesus, the Christ (the anointed one), the Son of the living God, and the Savior of the world. And, while believing those things we obey His commandments.

It is amazing how much information is in that first verse! What follows in the next several verses is even more interesting when you keep the details of this first verse in mind. In verse 4 it says, "I give unto you this first commandment, that ye shall go forth in my name, every one of you ... " So, the first commandment to obey is to go forth "in my name," which makes more sense when you remember what was taught in verse 1. And, what do you do when you go forth? Look at verses 6-7:

 6 And ye shall go forth in the power of my Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God.
 7 And ye shall go forth baptizing with water, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

We are to go forth in the power of the Spirit of Christ, to declare His message and to baptize. There is a lot that is worth studying in these verses. What does it mean to work by the "power of my Spirit"? What is it to speak like unto angels of God? What does it mean for the kingdom to be at hand? These things are worth studying.