In this thread I want to begin to consider the meaning of χριστιανός, Christian, forms of which occur only three times in the New Testament. The first occurrence of the plural form χριστιανούς corresponds to the first time the disciples (τοὺς μαθητὰς, a form of μαθητής) were called Christians (Acts 11:19-26 Berean Literal Bible):

Therefore, indeed, those having been scattered by the tribulation having taken place over Stephen passed through to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews only. But some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, having come into Antioch, were speaking also to the Hellenists, proclaiming the gospel—the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number, having believed, turned to the Lord [Table].
Now the report was heard in the ears of the church being in Jerusalem concerning them, and they sent forth Barnabas to go as far as Antioch [Table]—who, having come and having seen the grace of God, rejoiced and was exhorting all to abide in the Lord with resolute purpose of heart [Table]. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great multitude was added to the Lord.
And he went out to Tarsus to seek Saul, and having found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to pass that they also gathered together a whole year in the church and taught a great multitude. And in Antioch the disciples were first¹ called Christians [Table].

Christian is another name for a disciple (Acts 11:25, 26a Berean Literal Bible):

And [Barnabas] went out to Tarsus to seek Saul, and having found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to pass that they also gathered together a whole year in the church and taught a great multitude [Table].

A strictly literal reading of this passage alone leads one to the objectively true but spiritually erroneous conclusion that those first called Christians were disciples of Barnabas and Saul (also known as Paul). But Paul assured us elsewhere that what is objectively true in Acts 11:25-26a is not the truth spiritually (2 Corinthians 4:5 Berean Literal Bible):

For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants on account of Jesus.

As the old human (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον), born only of the flesh of Adam, we are taught to value what is objectively true, what we see with our eyes: “Look both ways before you step out into the street; that bus can kill you.” Those born of the Spirit, born again, born from above by the will of God pay attention to the spiritual truth as well, which often supersedes what is objectively true: For we walk by faith, not by sight.² For the things being seen are temporary, but the things not being seen are eternal.³

It seems important for knowing God and ourselves and for understanding the Scriptures to belabor this point a bit more. Paul wrote (1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 3:3b-9 Berean Literal Bible):

Now I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you may speak the same thing and there may be no divisions among you, but you may be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it was revealed to me concerning you, my brothers, by those of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am indeed of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”
Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized⁴ into my name. Now also I baptized the household of Stephanas; as to the rest, I do not know if I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but⁵ to preach the gospel, not in wisdom of word, so that the cross of the Christ should not be made void…
For where jealousy and strife are among you, are you not fleshly and walking according to man? For when one may say, “I am indeed of Paul,” and another, “I of Apollos,” are you not men?
Who then is Apollos? And who is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was giving growth [Table]. So neither the one planting nor the one watering is anything (ἐστίν τι; or “is someone” or “is anyone”), but only God, the One giving growth. Now the one planting and the one watering are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Ultimately, Christians are disciples of Christ Jesus (Matthew 28:16-20 Berean Literal Bible):

And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus assigned them. And having seen Him, they worshiped;⁶ but some doubted.
And having come near, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on the earth was given to Me [Table]. Therefore, having gone, disciple all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit [Table], teaching them to observe all things, as much as I commanded (ἐνετειλάμην, a form of ἐντέλλω) you. And behold, I am with you all the days, until the consummation of the age” [Table].

So while it is objectively true that the disciples (τοὺς μαθητὰς) who were first called Christians at Antioch were disciples of Barnabas and Saul, we can assume that the content Barnabas and Saul taught (διδάξαι, a form of διδάσκω) a great multitude was related to Jesus’ command: teaching (διδάσκοντες, a present participle of διδάσκω) them to observe (τηρεῖν, an infinitive form of τηρέω) all things, as much as I commanded you.⁷ We can assume that their goal was to disciple (μαθητεύσατε, an imperative form of μαθητεύω) all the nations to God the Father through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, Paul wrote, as though God is appealing through us. We implore on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God. He made the One not having known sin to be sin for us, so that (ἵνα) we might become (γενώμεθα or γινώμεθα; e.g., a subjunctive verb in a purpose or result clause) the righteousness of God in Him (ἐν αὐτῷ; e.g., “by means of Him”)⁸ [Table].⁹

The Greek word translated having gone in Matthew 28:19 is πορευθέντες, a passive participle of πορεύομαι in the aorist tense. The translations go (NET) and go ye (KJV) sound more like imperative forms in the present tense. But Jesus didn’t expect his disciples to go immediately to disciple all the nations (Acts 1:4b, 5 Berean Literal Bible):

He instructed (παρήγγειλεν, a form of παραγγέλλω) them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father: “That which you heard of Me; for John indeed baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days after these.”

Jesus, before his crucifixion, had described the Holy Spirit to them as the Spirit of truth, whom the world is not able to receive, because it does not see Him, nor does it know Him. But you know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.¹⁰ And many examples of the behavior of Jesus’ disciples in the four Gospel accounts and Acts provide a beautiful contrast of the difference between with you (παρ᾿ ὑμῖν) and in you (ἐν ὑμῖν).

And in the arriving of the day of Pentecost, they were all together at the same place [Table]. And suddenly a sound like a violent rushing of wind came out of heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them dividing tongues as of fire, and they sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit was giving to them to declare forth [Table].¹¹

Paul’s first question, having found certain disciples in Ephesus, was “Did you receive the Holy Spirit, having believed?”¹² Barnabas was described as a good (ἀγαθὸς) man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith (πίστεως, a form of πίστις).¹³ Paul explained that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness (ἀγαθωσύνη), faithfulness (πίστις), gentleness, self-control [Table].¹⁴ Though the certain disciples, Paul encountered in Ephesus proved to be disciples of John the Baptist rather than disciples of Christ, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit, having believed?” remains the relevant question.

Did you receive sounds rather passive in contemporary American English. The Greek verb ἐλάβετε is actually a 2nd person plural form of λαμβάνω in the active voice: “to take, take hold of, grasp, seize; to take away, remove; to take by violence, seize, carry off as plunder; to pick up, choose; to seize (by fever, illness); to take advantage of; to fetch; to cause to come or go; to carry; to catch (someone), overtake, come upon; to capture, conquer, take control of, overpower; to find out, detect, catch (in the act); to take (as a partner); to take (a woman) in marriage; to assume possession of, avail oneself of; to consider and assess; to initiate (an action); to pronounce, utter; to become pregnant, conceive; to receive; to seize with the mind, understand, apprehend, comprehend; to undertake (an action); to accept, collect (i.e., collect taxes, tithes, a share); to choose, select; to get, gain, win, attain, obtain, procure (through purchase); to receive (in marriage); to receive (punishment, suffering); to make one’s own.”

This was admittedly quite surprising. I can rationalize it with the question, “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Here, take would be equivalent to ἐλάβετε, or more precisely the singular ἔλαβες. I chose the question addressed to the bride as an example because I am clearly the weaker vessel¹⁵ relative to the Holy Spirit, though probably not like “fine China” as I have heard a preacher describe the weaker vessel (ἀσθενεστέρῳ σκεύει).

I hadn’t thought of “taking” the Holy Spirit as an active voice verb. It felt more like a passive acquiescence in the face of my persistent failure to live righteously by my own efforts. And it causes me to rethink my whole life: Has He been mine since I said a sinner’s prayer at five-years-old? Have I refused to receive Him in any active way until I prayed “If you’re really out there, I really want to know you” in my early twenties? My own perception is that since that prayer He has steadily and patiently (and more and more successfully) wrestled my old self (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον; “the old human”) for control of my daily life. But I’m tougher now, too. Was He gentler with a five- or ten- or fifteen-year-old than I was willing or able to perceive as real, as anything other than my own imagination?

On the other hand, if He had asserted the kind of control I perceive now when I was a five- or fifteen- or even a twenty-five-year-old, would I know Him at all? Or would I simply mistake Him for ME?

After I had copied and pasted the definition of λαμβάνω into this essay, I texted my Pastor: “I’m 72.5 years old and this is the first time I looked up ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ and discovered that the Greek verb translated ‘you receive’ is in the active voice: ‘to seize.’” Then I left to meet a friend in the city. On the drive I called my brother with the same lament. We talked about it awhile. His parting words were, “I heard that a long time ago, but I forgot.”

It helped to normalize my own experience. To receive the Holy Spirit doesn’t seem all that active a verb once He is my love, my joy, my peace, my patience, my kindness, my goodness, my faithfulness, my gentleness and my self-control. The verb ἐλάβετε is in the 2nd aorist tense:

The aorist is said to be “simple occurrence” or “summary occurrence”, without regard for the amount of time taken to accomplish the action. This tense is also often referred to as the ‘punctiliar’ tense. ‘Punctiliar’ in this sense means ‘viewed as a single, collective whole,’ a “one-point-in-time” action, although it may actually take place over a period of time. In the indicative mood the aorist tense denotes action that occurred in the past time, often translated like the English simple past tense.¹⁶

How often does a woman consider her wedding vow when her marriage is going well?

An interesting moment in the movie “Six Days, Seven Nights” comes to mind. It’s a story about two strangers on a deserted island after a plane crash. Quinn (Harrison Ford), the pilot, and his passenger, Robin (Anne Heche), “a New York fashion magazine editor,” share little in common but their growing enmity for one another. Still, their situation and dependence on one another blossoms into sexual attraction, an attraction they resist since she is engaged to another man. Though she has slept in the damaged plane and he on the beach every other night since they crashed, as they bed down together for the night (on the run from pirates who know they have witnessed a murder), Robin nestles into Quinn’s arms, saying, “This feels good—and safe.”

I’ve wondered over the years about that line. Does Robin feel “safe” because she is absolutely convinced that Quinn is so self-controlled he won’t “take” her during the night? Or does she feel safe because the thought of Quinn taking her during the night is no longer so contrary to her own desire. In other words, she has already received him (in the active voice) in her heart and in her mind. The verb ἐλάβετε is in the indicative mood (which in “the aorist tense denotes action that occurred in the past time”): “If you’re really out there, I really want to know you,” I had prayed, receiving Him without reservation or condition other than his own existence.

When I got back from the city, I had a text response to my lament over ἐλάβετε from my Pastor: “That’s interesting. I’m looking a lot [at] that word in Hebrew this week.” He was preparing a sermon on Genesis 34.

Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land [Table]. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her [Table]. And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her [Table].

The Hebrew word translated he seized was וַיִּקַּח, a Qal sequential imperfect form of לָקַח (lāqaḥ), which was translated λαβὼν, an active participle of λαμβάνω in the Septuagint: seizing (NETS), took (English Elpenor). Self-control is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, unlike the old human (τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον) which is being corrupted according to the desires of deceit,¹⁷ does not force Himself upon anyone: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone should hear My voice and should open the door, then¹⁸ I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.¹⁹

So, a Christian is a disciple of Christ Jesus who has actively received the Holy Spirit at some time in the past, even if that action is simply a change of heart and mind toward Him. I’ll pick this up in another essay. There is more to glean from this occurrence of χριστιανούς.

Tables comparing 1 Corinthians 1:15; 1:17; 3:8; Matthew 28:17; 1 Peter 3:7 and Revelation 3:20 in the KJV and NET follow.