THE NAME "CHRISTIAN"

The term 'Christian' in our day and time is often used rather loosely. I want to share a lesson today that hopefully will remove some misunderstanding about this Biblical term.

   We often hear that the name 'Christian' was given to the early disciples in negative way as a nickname by the heathen at Antioch. However, in its context Acts 11:26 provides several indications that it was given, not by the hostile mob, but by divine direction!
   The Old Testament includes three prophecies that God would give His people a new name; Isaiah 56:5; 62:2; 65:15. Especially significant is the prediction of Isaiah 62:2 which reads,

"The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, Which the mouth of the LORD will name." (NKJV)

   The people of God under the old covenant were the Israelites and the name Israel had been given by God to Jacob. The people of God under the new covenant are the followers of Christ. Surely, He would likewise be the source of the only name for them to be found in the new covenant scriptures.

   The God of the Bible seemed to be concerned with names. He called His highest creation Adam, signifying man composed of earthen clay (Genesis 5:2). He changed Abram's name to Abraham, father of many people. He blessed Jacob with the name Israel, as one preserved of God.

   In that great Old Testament book of gospel prophecy, Isaiah spoke God's promise that He would give His people a new name (Isaiah 62:2).
   This prophecy is the climax of a Messianic passage. Jesus Himself quotes Isaiah 62:1-2 as fulfilled in Him in Luke 4:18-19.

The new name was not Hephzibah of verse four as some claim which was merely a descriptive term meaning "delight-some" in the Hebrew language. This was never applied as a name either to physical or spiritual Israel, the kingdom of God, His church.

   The fulfillment of this prophecy must be found in the New Testament, as is true of all Isaiah's gospel prophecies. The one totally appropriate event fulfilling this prophecy is the one in which the disciples...God's people under the new covenant...were given the name "Christian" (Acts 11:26).
   The word translated "called" in Acts 11:26 is the Greek word 'chrematidzo'. This particular word is found eight other places in the New Testament; Matt. 2:12 and 2:22; Luke 2:26; Acts 10:22; Romans 7:3; Hebrews 8:5, 11:7, 12:25.

It is not always translated "called" in these verses. Sometimes it's "warned", sometimes "revealed", sometimes "admonished", sometimes "spaketh"; but always it is something God does. 

The one possible exception to this might be Romans 7:3 that speaks of a woman being called an adultress, but even here the implication is that she is so called by the law given by God Himself.

If, therefore, the word indicates an act of God in all other New Testament records, it would be reasonable that it does so in Acts 11:26.

   Adolf Deissman, in his scholarly work, "Light from the Ancient East," cites an example of the noun form of this same verb (Chrematismon) in a papyrus inscription and says it is used of "divine response as elsewhere frequently".

This would indicate that the root meaning or usage of the word has to do with an act of deity.

   The noun form occurs once in Romans 11:4 and is translated "answer of God". The church of England scholar J. Rawson Lumby, says concerning the word, "This word and the noun derived from it are constantly used of messages from above." (Cambridge Greek New Testament-commentary in Acts, p. 2140.

   The grammar of the sentence in Acts 11:26 is a third factor indicating that Christian is a divinely given name.

In the Greek the infinitive 'chrematisai', "to call", stands in the same relationship to the construction of the sentence as the infinitives, 'sunachthenai' "to assemble" and 'didaxai', "to teach".

In other words, whoever did the assembling with the church and the teaching to the many people also did the calling of the disciples "christian."

It is obvious that Paul and Barnabas did the assembling and teaching, so they did the "calling" under the inspiration of God.

This lesson is from "Problem Passages Probed" by Donald A. Nash, 1985.

I will continue this next time. God bless...