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Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Essence

It was only until recently that it dawned on me, that someone could actually be a Christian without believing in Jesus. It is definitely a very misunderstood word. Where did it come from? The word "Christian" is found only three times in the Bible. All the instances of its occurrence are in the New Testament. The references at which one will find the words are: Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16. In Acts 11:26. The word 'Christian' comes from the Greek word "cristianos," as we would spell it in English. The ancient Greek word meant "a person belonging to, one who is the property of, or a slave of Christ." The disciples and all those who had chosen to 'follow' Jesus, were called this out of jest , In Acts 11, it says the Disciples were called Christian. They never went about calling themselves that but anyway it stuck. 

What people don't realise is, words are just words, terms are just terms. The true Essence is believing in/trusting in/relying on Jesus. John 3:16, is perhaps one of the most popular verses. 'For God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes IN him, shall not perish but have everlasting life'. This completely captures THE ESSENCE. It didn't say, WHOSOEVER acts like him, shall not perish... for example...'Christian' 'Christ-Like'. So today, we see so many Christians (Valid), who sadly, do not really believe. They do good works..but don't know the essence.


2 comments:

jemimahnaa said...

true..so many people in the church today especially those that act 'holier than thou' are the world's biggest and expert hypocrites.that's all i have to say.i see you revamped ur blog...Coooooooll...

Gaminegirlie said...

Yeah, just looking for a new clean theme...still adjusting my eyes to it.
Hypocrites abound everywhere, but you see, whats even sadder is that they think they are decieving people when it comes down to it, Jesus would say, 'I know ye not' 'But we worked miracles in your name' they would say, (Matthew 7:22-23)