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IF Y O U T E A C H ,
T h e t e r m Christian is being used today by men o f almost every imaginable type o f theological thinking. If it were not so des perately serious, it would be ludicrous to read what some men who call themselves Christians actually believe. The word has almost as wide a variety o f meanings as there are individuals who dabble around in the Word o f God and who take out o f context some little ethical tidbit upon which they build a pseudo-theological creed and system. Because they use the vocabulary o f the Word o f God, they call themselves Christians. Originally, the term had a very definite connotation. Believers were first called Christians in Antioch, we read in the book o f the Acts o f the Apostles. Many Bible students believe that it was given to these people o f Antioch in derision: "Christ-ians.” However, throughout history, it has become a mark o f world-wide honor and distinction. These Antioch Christians believed certain very vital truths centering about the person and work o f the Lord Jesus Christ. They believed He was God manifest in the flesh. They believed that He died on Calvary’s Cross as an atonement for their sins, and not for theirs only, but also for the sins o f the whole world. They believed He rose the third day from the grave in His resurrection body. They believed He ascended and is presently seated at the right hand o f the throne o f God, making intercession for the saints, and that from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. Before He left, He promised that He would send the Comforter who is identified in Scripture as the Holy Spirit, the third person o f the Trinity. These people o f Antoch were Trinitarians. They believed in one God, eternally manifest in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: one in substance and equal in power and glory. They were not polytheists. They did not believe that there are three gods. Nor were they Unitarians. They did not believe that there is one God and that Jesus Christ was merely a man to show us the way to God, and the Holy Spirit merely the influence o f Jesus Christ living on in the world even to this time. These were the individuals who were first called Christians in Antioch. The name has remained even to the present time. Until this cur rent generation the name Christian has always meant pretty much the same as it originally did. O f course, there were certain varia tions in doctrine, but essentially the term Christian had a very distinct connotation. That is all changed now. An individual, until recently an Episco pal Bishop, openly denies the doctrine o f the Trinity, the virgin birth o f Christ, the bodily resurrection, and all o f the tenets o f THE KING'S BUSINESS
H. C. Brown, Jr., Virtus E. Gideon, David Garland, T . M. Bennett, Curtis Vaughn •B IB L IC A L S U N D A Y S C H O O L C O M M E N T A R Y 1969 C A N H E L P Y O U j T E A C H B E T T ER ! S c rip tu re e x p lo re d and applied for contemporary students. $3.95 per copy— less than a d im e p e r lesson for vital insights and usable Illus trations. A vailable w herever lesson commentaries are sold L.' ■WORD Looks
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