GOD'S PROPERTY
By Warrior Richardson
Let’s take a look at the origin of the word “Christian.” The word “Christian” is only seen in the Bible five times. The first time the word “Christian” appears in the Bible is in the book of Acts 11:26. It says, “The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.” The word, “Christian” comes from the Greek word, Christianos (Χριστιανός), which means follower of Christ. Now, the first part of the word Christianos comes from the Greek word Christos (Χριστός), which means the anointed one. The last part, (the “-ianos”) belongs to as in slave ownership. Kirk Franklin got it right. He likes to say we are God’s property. If we are the property of Christos as the word “Christian” indicates, then we are God’s property. It is meant literally, not figuratively. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” Now, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “You are not your own, for you were bought at a price.” This idea of being a slave is a real stumbling block for a lot of people. We are slaves to Christ. Christians are slaves to Christ. If you are not you are not a Christian. Where a lot of confusion comes in is that most translations of the Bible don’t use the word “slave.” That’s why I like the Holman Christian Standard Bible. It uses the word slave where a lot of other Bibles use the word servant. Here’s a pretty popular scripture. No one can be a slave of two
masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money. (Matthew 6:24). We don’t own anything. Not the earth, not ourselves, We own nothing. We are stewards of the earth. Not landlords. We have no basis for laying claim to anything. We have a hard time with that concept. Most people reject it totally. This is why so many people have such a hard time becoming true Christians.
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In this blog I take a close look at a wide variety of topics using the Bible as my lens. When we look at the world through the lens of scripture we discover life-changing truth that transforms us. We discover our
identity, purpose and worth. We find answers to life's most pressing questions. “If you don't know where you're going any road will take you there.” But when we look at the world through the lens of scripture we find the "way, the truth and the life;" then we live life to the fullest.
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