WHY WON’T I CALL MYSELF A CHRISTIAN
In a previous post I indicated that I would never call myself a Christian. This is because I have a respect for that designation that I think the traditional church does not fully understand. When I first became a believer, I thought I understood what role Jesus (yeshua) had while He was in the physical world. However, there were many questions that I had apart from His life, death and resurrection. For instance, what was His name?
Matthew 1 18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus [r]Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been [s]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned [t]to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for [u]the Child who has been [v]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for [w]He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this [x]took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME [y]IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.” 24 And Joseph [z]awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 [aa]but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
And why did He tell believers who cast out demons in His name that they were practicing iniquity and that He didn’t know them.
Matthew 7 21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [n]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
I was always taught that if you believed in Him, and prayed in His name, you would be saved and yet……………we see that for those people to whom He is referring something is missing. I was angry because it seemed to me that these people were doing exactly what the conservative church has taught forever. So I went back to His name and tried to find out what the 2 titles actually meant.
Jesus (Yeshua) is actually the same name as the old testament Joshua (Yehoshua). It means deliverer or salvation. There was obviously a similar happening in the tenakh when Joshua (Yehoshua) took the Israelites into the physical promised land. Jesus (Jeshua) through His death and resurrection delivered us from the desert and brought us into the promised land (heave n). Therefore, the designation (Jesus, Yeshua) tells you what His calling is to be. His calling is accomplished through Immanuel (God with us). The baptism at the Jordon done by John the Baptist showed the done coming down on Yeshua and anointing Him. This is the same happening that occurred at Pentacost where the disciples were anointed in the upper room.
Matthew 3 13-17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
13 Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” 15 But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *permitted Him. 16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and [i]he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and [j]lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is [k]My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
AND LIKEWISE
Acts 2 1-4 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
When the day of Pentecost [a]had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire [b]distributing themselves, and [c]they [d]rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other [e]tongues, as the Spirit was giving them [f]utterance.
So why won’t I call myself a Christian? It is solely because I understand that Christian is a last name of Jesus. The Christ is the greek for Messiah. It is a condition, not a name. He is Jesus (Yeshua) the Messiah, not Jesus Christ. In order to take that mantel, you have to be anointed and I am not in a position to say that I am in that condition (anointed by the Spirit of God) and that is why I won’t call myself a Christian. In my opinion, you need to be in that condition, not just a believer. Let me know if you disagree.