Are we Christians?

[Adam]

The word Christians only appears once in the Bible and that is in Acts 11:26. This was a time when the Jewish believers (not saved under Paul's gospel) were still preaching heavily. It was in reference to the Gentile converts under the Jewish gospel. The word appears as not something they would call themselves, but others called them Christians. It seems to me that this was almost a slur or a nickname given to them by unbelievers from that time.

The word Christian appears only twice. Once in Acts 28:28 when King Agrippa says that Paul almost persuaded him to become a Christian and 1 Peter 4:16 (not written to us) where Peter encourages his followers to suffer as Christians for the glory of God.

So again, I ask if we are Christians today. I generally refer to myself as a "member of the Body of Christ", which is long and drawn out, but I think it says way more than Christian does. BOC Member has a nice ring to it but sounds cult-like.

I'd like thoughts from fellow mid-Acts dispensationalists on the matter.

 

[JudgeRightly]

The word Christians only appears once in the Bible and that is in Acts 11:26. This was a time when the Jewish believers (not saved under Paul's gospel) were still preaching heavily. It was in reference to the Gentile converts under the Jewish gospel. The word appears as not something they would call themselves, but others called them Christians. It seems to me that this was almost a slur or a nickname given to them by unbelievers from that time.

The word Christian appears only twice. Once in Acts 28:28 when King Agrippa says that Paul almost persuaded him to become a Christian and 1 Peter 4:16 (not written to us) where Peter encourages his followers to suffer as Christians for the glory of God.

So again, I ask if we are Christians today. I generally refer to myself as a "member of the Body of Christ", which is long and drawn out, but I think it says way more than Christian does. BOC Member has a nice ring to it but sounds cult-like.

I'd like thoughts from fellow mid-Acts dispensationalists on the matter.

As far as I can tell, "Christian" applies to both the members of the Body of Christ, AND the Jewish believers under the New Covenant.

In other words, "Christian" refers to any believer under the overarching Kingdom of God, which includes both Israel the Nation and the Organism which is the Body of Christ.

It is commonly used to refer to members of the Body of Christ today, but has the unintended consequence of people thinking that therefore New Covenant believers were also part of the Body of Christ (since in modern times the two terms BoC and Christian are very closely related). It's an association fallacy:

1. Members of the Body of Christ are Christians.
2. Believers under the New Covenant are also Christians.
3. Therefore the Body of Christ and New Covenant believers are the same group.

1 and 2 are both true, but 3 is fallacious.

 

[Right Divider]

I think that the term "Christian" has gotten very vague and confused at this point in time. I do find it very interesting that God made the point that to tell us that it was believers NOT in Jerusalem (or even Israel) that were first called Christians. Perhaps it was to help distinguish the difference between Israel and the body of Christ.

Perhaps those in Antioch were first called Christians because of the fact that Paul so frequently used the term "Lord Jesus Christ". That term does not even appear in MML&J, but it appears 65 times in Paul's epistles.

 

[Adam]

Thank you both for the reply, you've given me a little food for thought. I'm still leaning towards the difference but I'm also willing to recognize that the discussion doesn't really matter much.

 

[JudgeRightly]

Thank you both for the reply, you've given me a little food for thought. I'm still leaning towards the difference but I'm also willing to recognize that the discussion doesn't really matter much.

Truth always matters, because the truth will set you free.