The thoughtful student of scripture must be aware that it is one thing to believe in Christ and quite another to “believe on his name.” To believe in the name of Christ is here announced as embracing repentance from all our sins; whereas one may profess to believe in Christ and yet not have abandoned sin.
There are certain prerequisites to believing on the name of Christ:
- First, the acceptance of Christ and the willingness to be a witness of him at all times and in all things and in all places (see Mosiah 18:9).
- Second, the acceptance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This precludes the right to pick and choose, to sort out the doctrines that could bring inconvenience and social embarrassment.
- Third, the acceptance of those who have been commissioned to represent the Lord; that is, to sustain and uphold his anointed servants.
- And fourth, to sustain and be loyal to that Church upon which he has placed his name and within which is found the authority to perform the ordinances of salvation.
