Luke records in Acts 11:26 that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. The term Christian is used again in Acts 26:28 and in 1 Peter 4:16. In Acts 26:28 it is used by an unbeliever, mocking the attempts of St. Paul to explain the faith. In 1 Peter 4:16 it is used with reference to the suffering that the disciples of Christ endure because of this name.
Most people who consider themselves to be Christians today define this name according to what they practice. Most people who consider themselves to be Christian express that being Christian means to believe in Jesus.
In John 8 Jesus defines being His disciples with these words:
As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:30-32)
What words did Jesus say to them that moved these hearers to believe on Jesus?
Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. (John 8:28-29)
But when Jesus continued to explain to them that they were not free by their own actions and that their believing in Him alone did not set them free, when He explained that knowing the truth is what would set them free, they recoiled and retorted that they were not slaves.
Jesus explained the matter to them more fully. See John 8:28-59.
Those who say that they believe in Jesus today, like those whom Jesus addresses in this text, imagine that they can be true disciples of Jesus without knowing the fullness of the truth that Jesus here explains. Notice what these people did when Jesus expanded their understanding of what they thought that He said.
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. (John 8:58-59)
How many of those who call themselves Christians today also become angry when confronted with the fullness of what Jesus says? How many today likewise claim that they are not slaves who need to be set free? How many today continue to follow the traditions of their parents and grandparents, remaining in communion with those who attack those who proclaim the truth?
What moved these people to “believe” in Jesus? Interestingly, the text actually says that they believed “into” Jesus. Into what did they enter? What were they trusting and desiring? What did Jesus say that moved them to look to Him as one in whom they desired to believe?
Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. (John 8:28-29)
What did they understand from the words, “When ye have lifted up the Son of man”?
Most people today use terms like “sovereignty” and “Lord” and the catch phrase “LordandSaviorJesusChrist.” What it means is the one that they choose to lift up according to what they expect and desire. But when they are challenged to understand what Lord and Savior and Jesus and Christ really mean, especially regarding the fact that they are helpless slaves to their sin and false understanding and pseudo-belief, their displays of “love” and “tolerance” violently turn to displays of anger and rejection.
If you would like to test this, just step into any Lutheran congregation, for example, and explain to those who founded the congregation that their worship and expression of faith is lacking and that their acts of devotion are sinful and that they desperately need God’s forgiveness for their half-hearted faith and love. Tell them with insistence that they need to repent of their devotion to God. Tell them that they need to fall to their knees and receive forgiveness for the sins that they are committing in their worship.
No matter who the congregation is, the Scriptures plainly teach that their worship is sin. The Scriptures plainly teach that all of their righteousnesses are bloody rags. Isaiah 64:6.
And if this is true for those who call themselves Lutheran, what about those who do not even acknowledge the means of grace for what the Scriptures tell us?
Yes, we are slaves of sin, all of us. Even our best actions are corrupt according to our own efforts. All of our righteousnesses, that is, all of our demonstrations of faith and love and devotion, are filth to be cast away. Only by the merits of Christ applied to us in Baptism and in the Holy Supper are we made to be counted as true believers and true disciples of Jesus. This is what the Lord says through His prophets and apostles.
When people truly receive this as the truth, they are set free from all reliance upon themselves and their own reason and strength. Then the testimony that they give is not how Jesus has changed their lives and not upon their sacrifices and actions and devotion and love or even their faith. Rather, their testimony is the mercy of God that is bestowed in and through the pure means of grace. Where this is the testimony of those who gather into the name of Jesus, the name Christian points not to the people, but to the one in whom they trust.
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