How and when was the word "Christian" first used? The term 'Christian' was used to describe a follwer of Christ in terms of THE WORLD, from the WORLD'S POINT OF VIEW .The pagans at Antioch called the apostles"Christians" first (Acts 11:26; 26:28) and used it derogatorily because the apostles didn’t follow the commercial world of the pagans. "Christian" is an adjective, not a noun. The substance is NOT in the word "Christian", the substance is in the HEART of the man it is attempting to describe, and which the pagan user cannot see.

The servants of Christ belong to the
kingdom of God. If you do not belong to a certain kingdom, you are labeled or named by that kingdom to be of another kingdom. If you are a constituent of a Kingdom, you do not name one in the same Kingdom any thing; but you call them according to the relation between the two of you (brother, sister, mother, father, workman, labourer, minister, bishop,
deacon, etc). And who establishes the
relation? The Lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22,
James 4:12).

The term "Christian" was IMPOSED upon the servants of Christ by Christ’s enemies living outside the Kingdom of God,to label those living in the Kingdom of God.Servants of Christ should not call themselves Christians, since this would imply that we are not from the Kingdom of God. Just like someone in Asia would not call themselves ‘Asians’, those living in Christ should not call themselves
‘Christians,’ because it would give the
impression to others that you are from a different kingdom.

1 John 4:5,
"THEY are of the WORLD: therefore speak they of the world…"

As scripture says, those who are of the world speak of the world, and use the words of the world. By using the words of the world, or by using the words of another kingdom, you identify yourself as being of that kingdom. And, since the word "Christian" is a term of the world,it
might be best to use the words of God
to describe us.

"This name (Christian) occurs but THREE times in the New Testament, and is never used by Christians of themselves, only as spoken by or coming from those
without the church. The general names by which the early Christians called themselves were ‘brethren,’ ‘disciples,’
‘believers,’ and ‘saints.’ The presumption is that the name ‘Christian’ was originated by the heathen."

1 Peter 4:16, "Yet if any man suffer AS a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." First of all, keep in mind this is theone and only place in the entire scripture this word is used by any man of God. Secondly, Peter did not label the followers of Christ a "Christian" in the passage. Read it
again, very carefully. He said they were to be "as a Christian." This is
very important. The word as means
"like or similar to," but it does not
mean one is that word. For example:

1. Genesis 49:9, "...he couched AS
a lion," does not mean Judah
was a lion when he couched!
2. Exodus 15:5, "...they sank into
the bottom as a stone," does
not mean they were a stone
when they sank.

When someone is "as" something else, it does not mean one is that something. It means we are similar, in some way, to that name, but we are not literally that name. You see, the heathens are the ones who called the followers of Christ
"Christians" (Acts 11:26; 26:28). When Peter was referring to the title"Christian, " it is in the context of suffering, and is in reference to the name as imposed upon them by their enemies, because our enemies want us to suffer.
Cc Seun , lalasticlala

Christian is a Prophetic Word from the adversaries. God authorised it to instruct the mockers that Christianity means "The Righteous".

orisa37:
Christian is a Prophetic Word from the adversaries. God authorised it to instruct the mockers that Christianity means "The Righteous".

nice

yes of course. christian mean christ followers.