Holy. Brothers. Servants.

HOLY ONES. BROTHERS. SERVANTS. - WORDS THAT DEFINE US

It’s not unusual for a group of people who share somethings in common to be given some designation.

People who live north of the Mason-Dixon line are “Yankees”

In the 60’s and 70’s a subculture develop – long hair, tye dye, peace signs - we called them hippies

For you football fans, followers of the Green Bay Packers are known as Cheeseheads

A little throwback to golf, Arnold Palmer’s followers were labeled Arnie’s Army

How about folks who love the original Star Trek – we call them Trekkies

People who share values, beliefs, who have things in common are usually given names that describe them.

We see this in the NT as Jesus begins to draw a following. These people are described by different terms. Oddly enough none became official. It wasn’t like they all got together and decided what they wanted to be called. It was not like a professional sports league when they grant a city an expansion team and the owners send out a poll and then decide on a name and begin creating logos and assigning team colors.  There is no “official” name for us.

Even though there is nothing official, followers of Jesus began to be known by different names/terms. I scoured through the NT and found at least ten different designations used for followers of Christ. The one that is used most in the Gospels and Acts is the term “disciple” where we find it almost 300 times. In the gospels it is used primarily in reference to the 12 apostles but in Acts we see it used to describe all followers. We see this word 27 times in Acts.

Here are some examples:

Acts 6:7 (NIV) — 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Acts 14:21–22 (NIV) — 21 They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

Disciple is a good word – follower, student, learner.

You might think the term “Christian” was a popular term, but it’s not. The term Christian, which is so popular today, is found only 3 times in the NT. And interestingly, the word “disciple” which is so widely used in the Gospel and Acts disappears in the rest of the NT. The term disciple is not found in Romans through Revelation.

So, what are the terms used? There are as many as 10-12 but let’s look at three of the most frequently used terms and see how those terms define who we are and who we should be as followers of Christ.

Designation #1 – Hagios (gk), Holy Ones

This term is used 56 times in the Romans – Revelation

Translated in the NIV by various words/phrases: Lord’s people, God’s people, Holy people, people, God’s holy people, people of God, his people

Older translations (NIV 84) – most often translates this word as “saints”

Christian Standard Bible, English Standard Version – consistently “saints”

The term saint was eliminated to avoid the connotation that only the “super-spiritual” are saints. This term hagios is used to refer to all followers of Christ – we are all holy ones; we are all saints.

Here are some examples:

Ephesians 1:1 (NIV) — 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Colossians 1:1–2 (NIV) — 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

Hebrews 13:24 (NIV) — 24 Greet all your leaders and all the Lord’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.

Holy means set apart for a sacred purpose, pure, blameless, consecrated, dedicated

It is a religious word that has a background in the OT, especially Leviticus and Exodus.

It is used a lot in conjunction with worship and experiencing the presence of God; it’s how you practice your religion, rituals, ways to connect with the holy one.

It implies we do holy things, there are certain religious practices that we involve ourselves in.

Worship is of course a daily practice, but there is something about being in the presence of the Holy One that helps us be holy

We experience his transcendence, his otherness in worship

An example from Exodus:

Exodus 31:13 (NIV) — 13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.’”