Why Does God Change the Names of People in the Bible?

Does God change the names of people in the Bible? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Well, hi, I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. We'd love to hear from you, and here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also email us your question at questions at corechristianity.com, and you can post your question on one of our social media sites as well. First up, let's go to a voicemail we received from one of our listeners named Brian. Why did God change Abraham's name from Abram to Abraham? And I think also he changed Jacob's name to Israel, and I was just curious what his reason was for that.

Thank you. Yes. This is a great question. Why does God change people's names in the Bible? You think of the book of Acts, for example, where you have Saul of Tarsus, whose name is changed to Paul, and he becomes the apostle Paul. And then, of course, in Genesis chapter 17, Abram, his name is changed to Abraham. And then in Genesis chapter 32, Jacob, his name is changed to Israel. Well, I think one, on a surface level, we know that names have to do with identity.

And so I think one thing we can say, and this really relates to us in our own individual walks with the Lord as well, is that when an individual has an encounter with the true and the living God there's this change. There's this change in identity, we might say. There's a new name that's given, a new name that's bestowed. In Genesis chapter 17, with regard to Abraham, the name change has to do with the fact that Abraham was going to be a father of a multitude, multitude of nations. In fact, that's exactly what the text says there if you read Genesis chapter 17. And so God is changing his name on the basis of what he's going to do in his life of who he's making Abraham. He's making Abraham the father of a multitude of nations. This was the promise that was given to him.

And so this is a gift, really, from the Lord, this bestowing of a new identity, this grant, if you will. And you see the same thing in Genesis 32. It's interesting in Genesis 32, Jacob, whose name means supplanter or deceiver, and certainly that was so characteristic of his behavior throughout the book of Genesis, deceiving his brother Esau, sinning against his father.

I mean, this guy has some serious issues, and yet he has an encounter again with God in Genesis 32. He gets into a wrestling match with the angel of the Lord. And the angel of the Lord says to him, what's your name? And he says, Jacob, which in one sense is almost like a confession, a confession of sin. I'm the deceiver.

I'm the supplanter. And God, the angel of the Lord, responds to him and says, nope, not anymore. That's not who you are anymore.

Now you're Israel. And so you have this new identity, the grace of God changing, transforming this person, if you will. And for us as Christians, we have to understand that in part we too, through baptism and faith, have received new identities from the Lord. Now we are no longer those who are dead in sin and under the law.

Read Romans chapter 6. Now we are those who are alive from the dead and united to Jesus Christ, those who have been baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And we are called to live in light of that reality, in light of who we are in Jesus Christ, that new identity, if you will, that we've received. And so it really is, I think, what we see in the Bibles is this beautiful picture of how God works in our lives. He takes us and he gives us a new name. He transforms us by the grace of his Holy Spirit, bestowing his promises upon us, his people, uniting us as Christians to his Son, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And we are called to live in light of that reality as the children of God, as the beloved children of God, no longer presenting our bodies and the instruments of our bodies, the members of our bodies as instruments to sin, to obey sin, but presenting ourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and the members of our body as instruments for righteousness to serve the true and the living God.

Great illustration of hope. Thank you for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Gary, who's calling in from Oklahoma City. Gary, what's your question for Adriel?

Well, this is not so much a Bible question, but more of a Christian law question. I am struggling to get off prescription drug medicine, and I just wondered if he would have some input for me on getting off of the medication. It's very difficult for me to do. Well, Gary, first, why don't I pray for you, and I want to invite all of our listeners to pray for you in this struggle as well, because I believe in the power of prayer, and I want to pray for you. So, Father, we bring Gary before you right now, and he's battling right now with addiction to prescription medicine. And, Lord, I'm sure that even as we're praying for him, that there are others who are in this same fight, who are in the same battle with this addiction, and we ask, Lord God, for the grace of your Holy Spirit to be poured out upon them for freedom, for deliverance, for the help, Lord God, that they need, the accountability, also, and care of church community, but also, Lord, just getting whatever resources that they need to be able to fight this with wisdom. And would you give Gary specifically wisdom, Lord God, about what you want him to do in this situation, how to approach it, Lord God, in order to be free of this addiction, Lord God? We know it's a serious battle, and so we ask for your help. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. I know that this is a complex question, Gary, and I know that there are many people, you know, they get injured, and they begin taking prescription medications, and it becomes consuming, and there's addiction. And so I think any addiction support groups groups can be a good thing here.

I mean, obviously, you know, your body becomes dependent upon these medicines, and so stopping is very difficult. I think there needs to be accountability, one. And so, Gary, I would want to ask you right now, are you in a church where you have some church community?

Yes. Well, then one thing I would say that could be helpful is, honestly, just opening up sometimes with others, with maybe your pastor, the elders of that church, and saying, hey, this is a serious struggle that I have, and I need some extra help here. I have had friends in my life who have gone through difficult things and had to take certain prescription drugs or did take certain prescription drugs, and they would reach out to me and say, hey, just a heads up. I need some accountability here. I need you to ask me questions about, you know, if I'm becoming dependent upon these things. And I just want some outside eyes on this and some encouragement. And I think that's important for you to get that, too. And that's one of the things that your pastor should want to encourage you in and help you in. Depending on how serious this is, I think that there are other steps that you could take. And wouldn't you agree with that, Bill?

I do. And I think for Gary, maybe looking at an inpatient treatment opportunity might be the best way to go when you're severely addicted to something, especially like prescription drugs or alcohol. Sometimes getting into an inpatient treatment program is the best option. And there are many Christian ones around the country that sometimes it involves travel.

Sometimes you can find one locally. And then, of course, you mentioned support groups like Narcotics Anonymous would be a good one to pursue. But I think a balance of that, like you said, be open with the people at your church, some trusted individuals who you know care about you, and then pursuing some mental health options, I think that's the best way to go at this point.

Yeah. And just addiction is always one of those complex things. But just realizing, and I'm sure that you do, this is one of the reasons why you're calling us, Gary, that you have the mental health component, you have the bodily dependence component, you also have the component of fighting against those things which take over our lives, which God calls us not to be controlled by or ruled by anything except His Spirit. You think about what Paul says to the Ephesians, do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. That is, be under the control of the Spirit through the word of Christ. And so what God wants for you, Gary, is to be controlled, ruled by His Spirit.

And that happens as the word of Jesus Christ dwells in us richly. And so as you pursue all of these things, and as you get the help that you need, and certainly that's going to mean getting accountability and outside help as well, because it's a battle you can't fight on your own. As you do that, continue to let the word of Jesus Christ dwell in you richly, to go before the Lord every day, to read scripture, to cry out to Him for help and for the help of His Spirit, to pray, as I prayed for you, because prayer is powerful and God works through prayer.

And so using all of those things together and taking this very seriously, I think, is the most important thing. And so may God be with you, Gary, and bless you and fill you with His Spirit. And thank you for giving us a call.

Gary, thanks so much. We'll be praying for you. And you know, Adriel, for any listeners who are struggling with any type of addiction, I think the other spiritual component to consider is that Satan will use that. He uses the guilt and the shame that we experience. And then he turns that against us and says, you know, God would never forgive you. And then that drives the person back to numb themselves out even more with the drug or the alcohol. And so they need to turn to Romans hate one and realize there is no condemnation for them in Christ Jesus.

Yeah. No, that's a great point. It can become this vicious cycle and the condemnation of the evil one, leading an individual to feel hopeless, like they're worthless, like they're without value. God is through with me, you know, that kind of a thing. Well, that's exactly what the devil wants us to believe, that whatever your situation is, it's too big for God, but that is not the case. One, our sin is not too big for God. And when we go to the Lord confessing our sins, he forgives us. But two, even with our weaknesses, our struggles, illness, addiction, those kinds of things, you know, the grace of God is sufficient for you in your weakness and in Christ's strength is perfected in our weaknesses.

It's what the apostle Paul was told by the Lord. And so there is hope. There's hope for you. There's hope in Christ. There's hope in the community of faith. There's hope in some of these other resources that we've talked about as well.

And so take advantage of those things with faith, with hope, and may the Lord show you his love. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. There's a very special group of people we want to say thank you to today.

We call them our inner core. These are people that support this program on a monthly basis. They really believe in what we do, and we'd like to invite you to join that group of folks.

Yeah. If you've been blessed by the work that we do here at Core Christianity every day, you know, answering your questions about the Christian faith, and we love hearing from you. I mean, it really is a joy for me to hear your questions and to get to open up the scriptures and to seek to provide by the grace of God and through a lot of prayer, you know, any encouragement and insight from the word that we can. And if it's encouraged you, if it's blessed you listening to these questions, consider joining the inner core. It's a monthly donation of $25 or more, and it helps us as an organization to continue to do what we're doing. And ultimately, it's all about Jesus.

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Well, we do receive emails here at Core Christianity and our email address is questions at corechristianity.com. Clarice wrote in and she says, how do I know if I'm being disciplined by God or if I'm being punished for my sins? I feel really distant from God right now, and I wonder if he is punishing me somehow.

This is a really good question. What is the difference between discipline and punishment? Punishment, the idea there I think is maybe judgment, condemnation. I think we can distinguish that from the discipline that the Lord gives us. God disciplines us not to condemn us, not so that we would be forever separated from him. The discipline of the Lord is always restorative. That is, God is always disciplining us out of love. This is what Proverbs say, this is what the book of Hebrews says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. It's the love of God that leads him to discipline his people when they sin. It is something that God does in our lives as believers when we're sinning against him, but the goal is always so that we would walk with him, so that we would honor him with our lives. This is exactly what the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11, where he's talking about the discipline of the Lord, in particular on the church in Corinth because they were coming together in worship, but when they were coming together in worship, they were doing so in a manner that was not pleasing to the Lord.

They were neglecting the poor. You read the book of Corinthians, and there were all these serious issues, sexual immorality in the church that had not been dealt with, Christians fighting with each other, sinning against each other in really terrible ways. Paul says, you guys are coming together to take communion, and yet the church is really a mess, and you're not dealing with the sins in the community of faith. Because of that, God is disciplining you. He says in verse 31 of chapter 11, 1 Corinthians, if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged, but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

And see the difference there then. Discipline is so that we would not be condemned. Punishment, oftentimes I think when we think of punishment, we're thinking of condemnation. God is just through with me. He's punishing me because of my sin, and there's no hope. There's no hope for me anymore.

No, to the contrary. When we are disciplined by God, it's an act of His love so that we would not be condemned along with the world. And so I think it's really important for us to understand that. Now in your case, more specifically, you're asking the question, how do I know when God is disciplining me? Well, if you're thinking about your life and it's like, I can't see anything that I've been doing sinfully. I mean, obviously we all sin in thought, word, and indeed every day, but it's not like I'm an active rebellion against the Lord, and yet bad things are happening.

I'm struggling with sickness or betrayal or something like that. I don't think that you should just conclude that there's some secret sin that God is disciplining you for. I mean, the reality is Jesus said it himself in John 16, in this world, we will have tribulation.

This is the reality of living in a fallen world. That doesn't mean that the tribulation that you're experiencing is the result of your sin. Sometimes it's other people's sin, sinning against us. And so through that, what we're longing to do, what we're seeking to do, is to be faithful to the Lord and to follow Him even when we experience those hardships, those tribulations. Now, it could be that you are actively rebelling against God and sinning in ways that you know are not pleasing to the Lord and quenching the Holy Spirit.

And there are things happening in your life that are directly related to that. And you're thinking, oh boy, maybe God is disciplining me. And it could be that the Lord is disciplining you, but don't let that make you think that God is condemning you or turning His face away from you. You should receive it as His love and as a call to repentance, as a call to walk with Him and to turn from those things that you know are hurting you and are hurting your spiritual life. And so, friend, may God fill you with wisdom. May He fill you with peace and with the sense of His love so that no matter what you're going through, if it is disciplined for sin, you would receive it as, God, thank you that you love me enough not to let me just go down this path. And if it isn't that, that you would be able to cling to the words of Jesus who said, in this world, we will have tribulation, but take heart. I have overcome the world. And so, you can have hope no matter what you face through Jesus. Great verse to turn to. Thank you for that, Adriel.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We do receive voicemails, and you can leave us a voicemail 24 hours a day at this number. In fact, you can call over the three-day weekend if you'd like. 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

Let's go to a voicemail that came in earlier this week. I have been baptized, and I have a friend who is of a Pentecostal background. And one day, she asked me if I have been baptized in the Spirit. So, that got me confused. So, I thought when I was baptized, when I became a Christian, that I already have the Holy Spirit in me. So, when she raises this question of my being baptized in the Holy Spirit, she seems to imply a separate kind of baptism. So, can you please clarify this matter?

Thank you so much. Yeah. Well, Megan, thank you for that question. And there are people who, I mean, this is a theology that's out there. You get water baptized, but then, if you want the sort of next level of the Holy Spirit working in your life, you need to be baptized not just in water, but you also need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And this is something that's more prominent in sort of charismatic Pentecostal circles, as you say. The reality is, what we have to recognize is, first, every single Christian by faith is sealed with the Holy Spirit. Paul says to the Corinthians, you can't even say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. So, any theology that teaches that if you're baptized, you really don't have the Holy Spirit, you need the second blessing, an extra big filling baptism of the Holy Spirit. We got to be very careful there because the Bible makes it absolutely clear that every Christian, every believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit lives in you, that you have the Holy Spirit. Now, we're called throughout the Christian life to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

It's an imperative, it's a command in scripture. That happens as the word of Christ dwells in us richly. Paul says that in the book of Ephesians, in the book of Colossians, as God's word, as the word of Jesus Christ dwells in us, we're filled more and more with the Spirit that is controlled by the Holy Spirit.

And so, that's a lifelong thing. You're sealed with the Holy Spirit as a believer, Paul says in Ephesians. You're called to be filled with the Holy Spirit throughout the Christian life. I don't know that that means that there's this second baptism of the Holy Spirit that every Christian has to go through. What people are typically pointing to when they talk about this is the book of Acts where prior to Jesus's ascension, he talks about the church being baptized in the Holy Spirit. Pentecost happens and there's this great baptism of the Holy Spirit and people are speaking in tongues and then later on throughout the book of Acts, the apostles, the disciples are laying hands on people so that they might receive the Holy Spirit, be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And really, the big thing there is God is just communicating to the church at that early stage that the Holy Spirit, the message of salvation, the promises of God are not just for the Jews that were there on the day of Pentecost.

They're also for the Samaritans, for the Gentiles. And as the gospel is going out from Jerusalem, Judea, the uttermost parts of the earth, you see through the preaching of the apostles the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the people are saying, wow, even the Gentiles, God is even giving the Gentiles the Holy Spirit. And so what God is trying to communicate there is this great shift in the history of redemption that now the people of God aren't just Jews. It's not just the Hebrew community of faith, but he's opened the door for the Gentiles that we are also partakers of and participants in the new covenant, having received God's grace, having received the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so every Christian, I would say, is in that sense, through faith in Jesus, baptized into the Holy Spirit. And another passage or verse that you can read is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13, for in one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. That is what, this wasn't just some of you. This is the entire community of faith.

And friends, we don't realize how amazing of a gift this was. Under the old covenant, the spirit, you know, would come upon the kings and the priests and the prophets in Israel. But one of the blessings associated with the new covenant is now the entire church. Every single person would have be sealed with, filled with the Holy Spirit. It's what Joel prophesied about in Joel chapter two. And it's what Peter says was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two. And we are, as the entire community of faith, the heirs of that promise, the recipients of that promise. So you have the Holy Spirit, friends, and you are called to be filled with the Holy Spirit too. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.