Lester Kamp
There is importance and significance in every word God has used in the Scriptures. Even the tense of verbs is significant. Notice in John 8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” The tense of the verb here (am) indicates the eternality of God and Christ. The meaning is: I have always been, I currently am, and I will always be.
God also places significance in a word being singular and not plural. The inspired Paul wrote, “Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed, not as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ” (Gal. 2:16). Every word of Scripture is significant. The inspired Paul described the process of revelation: “Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words” ( 1 Cor. 2:13, ASV).
Furthermore, Scripture teaches us, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God…” (1 Pet. 4:11). This verse indicates that we are to speak as the Bible speaks. This means, among other things, that people must call Bible things by Bible names; that is, everyone needs to use Bible terms the way the Bible uses those terms. To use Bible terms in ways the Bible does not use them is unauthorized.
Consider, for example, the word pastor. The noun form of this word is found in Ephesians 4:11, and the verb form of this word is found in 1 Peter 5:2 and Acts 20:28. The word means shepherd or to shepherd. In Ephesians 4:11, pastor is in the context of a list of some who were present within the church of the first century. It is worthy of note that the list includes both “evangelists” and “pastors,” thus distinguishing between the two roles. In Acts 20:28, the verb form of the word appears as “to feed” (literally, to tend as a shepherd) and is addressed to the elders (Acts 20:17) who are called overseers (bishops, ASV) here in this verse. In 1 Peter 5:2, the word “pastor” occurs again, and the context is the work of elders. So, according to Scripture, it would be wrong to use the term pastor in reference to preachers because the Scriptures never use this term in that way. Pastors (elders) have certain essential Biblical qualifications (1 Tim. 3;1-7; Titus 1:6-9). Men with these qualifications serving as overseers in local congregations are those who can Scripturally be called pastors; no one else should be called pastors. This is following the pattern of the New Testament. This is calling Bible things by Bible names.
Consider the word church. This word appears around eighty times in the New Testament. Never is the term used to refer to a physical building. “As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3). It is obvious here that Saul was not destroying physical buildings, but he was entering houses of members of the church and was putting them in prison. This is just one example to illustrate that the word church in the New Testament refers to people, not physical buildings. Again, “If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?” (1 Cor. 14:23). Here we see again church refers to the people, not to the physical building. It is, therefore, without Bible authority to refer to a physical building as the church. The Scripture does, however, refer to the church as a spiritual house made up of “lively stones,” individual Christians (1 Pet. 2:5). Speaking as the oracles of God requires that we use the word “church” in reference to the people saved by the blood of Christ and not in reference to a building where these people assemble. This is calling Bible things by Bible names.
Finally, consider the word Christian. It may surprise some to learn that this word appears only three times in Scripture. It is important to notice the particulars of each of these passages.
“And when he had found him, he brought him with Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught needs people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26). Christians were disciples, members of the church. (Interesting to note this is a fulfilment of Isaiah 62:2.) The word Christian here is a noun referring to the people who have been saved by the blood of Christ and were learners and followers of Christ (disciples).
“Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuades me to be a Christian” (Acts 26:28). This verse follows Paul’s defense and his presentation of the Gospel to King Agrippa and his company. Agrippa states that he is almost to the point of being persuaded to become a Christian. Again, it should be noticed that the word “Christian” in this text is a noun referring to a person who is an obedient follower of Christ. Paul follows up on Agrippa’s response by saying, “…I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds” (26:29).
Then, the final occurrence of the word Christian: “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (1 Pet. 4:16). Peter is discussing suffering. One possibility is the suffering that comes to a person because he is a follower of Christ (i.e., because he is a Christian). Again, the word Christian is a noun referring to the people who follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
In summary, there are a couple of things that are certain from how the word Christian is used in the Scriptures. First, the word is a noun, and it is never used as an adjective. We do not find the word Christian used as adjective in the New Testament. There is no authority, for example, for referring to the church as the Christian church. That is not a Scriptural name. That is not calling Bible things by Bible names. There is also no authority for referring to Christian schools, Christian nations, Christian camps, etc. It is clear, according to the Bible, that a Christian is a person. We should all be willing to speak as the oracles of God and call Bible things by Bible names and use Bible words the way the Bible uses those words. Let’s take heed how we speak!
