I have been pondering for a while now what exactly is the
purpose of receiving a new name?
When a member of the Latter Day Saint Church receives their
washing and anointing and their endowment in an LDS temple the person is given
a new name. This is held in strict
confidence and revealed to no one (exception, when a woman marries she gives
her new name to her spouse, however, she does not receive her spouse’s new
name). We are taught that this new name
will be a “key” to passing the angels who stand as sentinels in order to enter
the Celestial Kingdom.
I believed this to be true and believed that since this new
name was of such great importance that it was prayerfully considered and chosen
specifically for me. I believed that for
years. However, as I served my Family
History Mission I was privy to many confidential documents and discovered that
the “new names” given in the temples are given to all candidates at all English
speaking temples around the world on the same day. I’ve felt a bit deceived at this discovery. Let’s say 500 women received their
washing/anointings and endowment on the same day that I did throughout
different temples in North America.
Therefore, 500 women have the exact same “new name” as I do.
How does that make my new name meaningful to me?
If no one prayed specifically and personally for me, to have
MY new name revealed in order to bestow it upon me then is it just symbolic of something
I need to receive from God himself?
Finding out about the process of giving temple candidates “new
names” has disturbed me so greatly that I have turned to the Lord in prayer and
fasting in regards to this matter. As I have
done so I have begun hearing about others who have received their new names directly
from the Lord. I am beginning to believe that most of what we experience in the temple
is symbolic of things we need to receive directly from God.
As I have been studying this matter some questions have
surfaced based on the following scriptures:
Revelation 2:17:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna,
and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man
knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Doctrine and Covenants 130: 11
And a white stone is given to each of those who come into
the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save
he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word.
These scriptures seem to be telling us that receiving a new name is something that happen post-mortem and only if we inherit the Celestial Kingdom. However, in the scriptures we have some examples of God
changing a person’s name while in mortality.
A few examples of this: Abram renamed Abraham; Sarai renamed Sarah; Jacob
renamed Israel; Solomon renamed Jedediah; and Simon renamed Peter.
It is significant when God changes a person’s name. It can indicate that something new has
happened or will happen to that person-a new relationship, a new character
quality, or a new phase of life. When we
become born again, truly converted to Christ, we become “new creatures”. It makes sense then that if we ask God to
accept us as part of His family, as our Father, He will give us a new name if
we ask Him to:
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
I believe it is significant to receive a new name from
God. I believe it is God’s way of
telling us how He sees us and who He wants us to become. For instance Abram means “high father” while
Abraham means “father of many”. Sarai means “my princess” while Sarah means “mother of nations”.
Does God give us a
new name once we have spiritually become His sons and His daughters and we have
asked Him for it?
Or, is this something we need to wait for once we have
proven ourselves worthy and attained unto eternal life (inherited the Celestial
Kingdom)?
Or, can it be both?
Once we have become born again, become new creatures in Christ, accept
Him and desire to do His will and then ask Him for it, will He give us a
new name, one which will reveal to us the kind of person God wants us to become? AND, if we live faithful to every word that
proceeds forth from the mouth of the Lord, receive eternal life and enter into Celestial
Glory does God then give us a white stone with a new name written on it? (perhaps a different new name than He gave to
us while in mortality?). Could it be true that if we receive a new name
directly from God that it will be used as a way to prove ourselves deserving as
we pass the angels who stand as sentinels?
