JESUS IS LORD

Recently, I have written several posts that focus upon Jesus as God, the Son of God, the Anointed, the Christ, the Lord, the Creator, etc., and some of you may be wondering why?  The answer is really quite simple; churches are filled with folks who claim to be Christians, but the vast majority of them show little or no evidence that they truly understand what the term means.  The Word of God states that believers in Christ were first called "Christians," at Antioch (Acts 11:26).  By the time the events of Acts 11 were occurring, approximately ten years had passed from the time of Christ's Ascension, and the Gospel had spread through Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and had been accepted by the Gentiles (Acts 1:8 - Acts 11:1).  So, what were believers called prior to being labeled "Christians?"

The answer to that question is not as clear.  The Apostles saw themselves as a Jewish Sect until the Gentiles were accepted into the church (Acts 11:18), and even then, they viewed Gentile believers as proselytes, that is, needing to submit to the Jewish ritual of circumcision (Acts 11:18 - 15:24).  It was clear, from that time on, that Christianity was no longer merely another Jewish Sect.  In fact, by the end of the Book of Acts, the vast majority of converts to Christianity were Gentiles (Acts 28:16-31).

So, what were believers known as in the beginnings of the Church?  I do not want to be dogmatic about this, but I believe they were known as "the people of the way."  Saul of Tarsus sought letters of authority to persecute followers of Christ; Acts 9:1-2 states: 

"And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem."

This is probably because the disciples were told that Jesus had His own way (Jn. 8:21; 16:5; etc.), and if they were going to be His followers, they would be the people of His way.  Jesus also told them: 

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.  Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?  Jesus saith unto him, I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (Jn. 14:3-6).

 

Jesus is "The Narrow Way" (Mt. 7:14)!  Jesus is "The Way of Righteousness" (Mt. 21:32)!  Jesus is "The Way of God" (Mt. 22:16)!  Following Him is an act of both obedience and worship!