“. . . And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” Acts 11:26
That Jesus did not name the spiritual body known as His New Testament Church is a wonderful curiosity. Initially, the lack of a name led the enemies of the church to simply call it
“That Way.” Disciples so identified knew the wrath of Saul of Tarsus who under Jewish authority imprisoned men and women, and intended to imprison others in Damascus, but the Lord intervened.
However, the name that would stick, “Christians” came from Antioch of Syria, recorded in Acts 11. Here, it was not the church that named itself, but the community at large. So, the question is begged, “Why did they choose that name? The obvious answer is not too difficult to uncover.
First, the people spoke the Aramaic and Koine Greek languages. They understood perfectly what “Christian” meant. The term was not translated into English by Bible translators, but its transliteration (bodily assertion) into English successfully created a lasting misunderstanding of the term.
Since “Christian” means “anointing” or the “ones anointed,” the term should have been so translated. Consequently, the weakening of it caused this original meaning to be practically obscured. In these modern times, it matters little about the originator, origin, or core doctrines of a “church,” or anyone associated with it. It is called “Christian.”
Nevertheless, the truth that emanates from the New Testament qualifying “Christian” is that the so-named church of the Lord Jesus Christ was begun by Jesus Himself, at approximately 30 A.D. Its core doctrines include, but are not limited to, the sinfulness of every human being; salvation of one’s spirit by grace through faith plus nothing else; eternal security of every believer in Christ Jesus; and baptism is immersion in water of a professed believer by a New Testament Church which is always a local institution.
The Grecian people at Antioch witnessed the presence of these things being adamantly proclaimed by the church there. They saw that this group of people were in fact anointed by the same Spirit that anointed Jesus at His baptism, and the church at Pentecost.; therefore, they purposefully named them as they saw them. Additionally, their kind and these teachings continue to this very day. Such are the legitimate successors of that first church which was promised perpetuity. Here then are “Christians” in the strictest sense of the word. The world may call others “Christian” but the day of the Lord when all must stand before Him wil underscore without deviation from this Biblical definition of the true church, which alone properly bears the distinction in earthly life as “Christian!”
FOR THOUGHT: Does this article connote restrictive ideas to you of what a true Christian is to be? Do you agree that all that is called “Christian,” is not truly Christian? Why do you think the common people called the followers of Jesus “Christian?” How would you define the term?