Re: [TruthTalk] Xmas

[GJTabor]

Thanks Martin, for your reply.  It helps me understand you much better.

1.  I am not surprised you can't get along with any Christians and have to stay by yourself.  You should consider you are the one in error.  I say this because you can't get along, for any extended period of time, WITH ANYBODY.   This is a red flag.  I have met "lone-ranger" people and have found them to have psychological emotional problems.

2.  I am sorry to hear you are against the precious name Christian.  I am most thankful to be called a Christian.  The "ian" means belonging to Christ. 
I believe the word "Christian" is the new name God's followers were going to be called. 

CONCERNING THE NAME "CHRISTIAN" The near-unanimous chorus of scholars and wise men shouting that this name was given in derision of the new faith is as shameful as it is amazing. We shall not use the space to record the names and comments of those affirming that "Christians" was a name given in derision, belittling the members of Christ as "goody-goodies," etc., the tragedy being that even some brethren have fallen in with such an "accepted" explanation! Even the Encyclopedia Britannica chimes in with "It was at Antioch that the term `Christian' was first given to converts to the new faith, as some maintain, in derision." F36 But where, in God's holy name, is there any intimation of such a thing, either in the word of God or any dependable history? Hervey emphatically declared, and it is true, that "There is no evidence of its having been given in derision." F37 Furthermore, if the name "Christian" was given in derision of the faith by the enemies of the gospel, whatever became of that everlasting "new name" which the mouth of God named upon his children?
God promised that he himself would give his people a new name. He promised that it would be given at a time when "the Gentiles and kings" had seen his "righteousness" (Isaiah 62:2). It was not to be a name which enemies would give, for God said, "I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off" (Isaiah 56:5). It was not to be a name which would arise beyond the fellowship of God's people; but, as the Lord said, "Even unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters" (Isaiah 56:5). If God made good on that promise, the name was given in his house and within his walls; and that cannot mean in the ranks of the despisers of his truth. Moreover, it was to be "a new name" (Isaiah 62:2), and a name "which the mouth of the Lord" would name.
Significance of the name's being "new." If "disciples" had continued to be the name of God's followers, there would have been nothing new in such a designation, because the Pharisees and John the Baptist also had "disciples." Implicit in the new name was the teaching that Christianity was never to be confused with Judaism, or any of the sects of the Jews, all of which had their "disciples," the very name being indicative of the Jewish connection.
This is the only name specifically commanded by an apostle as the one in which the Lord's people should "glorify God" (1 Peter 4:16). And how, it may be asked, does the name "Christian" worn by God's people glorify the Father in heaven? This is done by its emphasis upon the name of Christ, the name literally meaning "of Christ." Herein also appears the utter impossibility of such a name having been given by the instigation of Satan. It is contrary to the nature of Satan to suppose for even a moment that the evil one would have concocted a name with so much of Christ in it. People who can really believe that Satan invented and instigated this name might also very well believe that the devil invented the Lord's Supper.
The contrast between the New Testament handling of the name "Christian," as distinguished from many designations applied to the followers of the Lamb in the New Testament, stresses the uniqueness of the term "Christian." For example, the Holy Spirit referred to the Lord's followers as (1) the called of God (Romans 1:6; 8:28), (2) sons of God (Romans 8:14), (3) children of God (Romans 8:16), (4) the sanctified (1 Corinthians 1:2), (5) the faithful in Christ (Ephesians 1:1), (6) servants of Christ (Philippians 1:1), (7) the elect of God (1 Peter 1:1), (8) God's elect (Colossians 3:12; Titus 1:1), (9) saints in Christ, the term "saints" being used 50 times in the epistles (10) brethren, this designation being used 132 times in the epistles, and (11) simply "the church," as used 85 times. Nevertheless, it was the name "Christian" which above all others came to be the historical designation of the brethren. This was the only name an apostle commanded the saints to wear (1 Peter 4:16), the only name advocated before kings (Acts 26:28), and the only name consciously designated by an inspired author of a New Testament book as a replacement for "disciples," as in Acts 11:26.
Finally, the events leading to the giving of this new name were ordered, not on earth, but from heaven. First, a "name bearer" was chosen of God and converted in Acts 9; next the Gentiles were made participants in the blessings of the faith, upon the same terms as Jews, this being accomplished by a whole series of supernatural occurrences leading to the conversion of Cornelius and his house in Acts 10; and then in Acts 11, as soon as the first great Gentile church had been assembled at Antioch, a man full of the Holy Spirit went and called the "name-bearer" from Tarsus, the same line recording the fact that the disciples were called "Christians" first at Antioch. From this, the conclusion may not be denied that Paul himself announced this name within the church at Antioch, the inspired apostle being God's spokesman.

Acts
Chapter 11 - Read This Chapter
Study Resource List
BCC -> Commentary on 11:26
DSN -> Synopsis on 11:26
GEB -> Study Notes on 11:26
GSB -> Study Notes on 11:26
JFB -> Commentary on 11:26
MHC-COM -> Commentary on 11:26
MHC-CON -> Commentary on 11:26
OCA -> Commentary on 11:26
PNT -> Commentary on 11:26
RWP -> Study Notes on 11:26
TSK -> Commentary on 11:26 TSK -> Entry for 11:26
WEN -> Notes on 11:26
NTB -> Antioch; Christian; Disciple; Tarsus; Zeal, Religious< /A>
TTT -> Titles and Names of Saints
EBD -> Antioch; Barnabas; Christian; Paul
SBD -> Antioch; Barnabas; Christian


11:26and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. kai eurwn (5631) hgagen (5627) eiv Antioxeian. egeneto (5633) de autoiv kai eniauton olon sunaxqhnai (5683) en th| ekklhsia| kai didacai oxlon ikanon, xrhmatisai (5658) te prwtwv en Antioxeia| touv maqhtav Xristianouv.