by Jim Sasser<\/p>\n
According to some arguments (?) used to justify the religious wearing of human names, I would really have a name. I would be a Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Holiness, Nazarene, Latter Day Saint, Unitarian, Catholic, Christian! WHEW! What a name! However, I don’t wear those names that glorify a person, a method, or a doctrine. I wear the name of Him who was crucified for me, and in whose name I was baptized (I Corinthians 1:13). Salvation is in no other name, but the name of Christ (Acts 4:12). That’s why I am pleased to wear the name “Christian” (Acts 11:26), the “new name” God gave to His people after the Gentiles had seen His righteousness (Isaiah 62:2), and which glorifies God (I Peter 4:16).<\/p>\n
Yes, I do believe in methods, baptism, presbyters, etc., but I don’t wear divisive human names, which may honor the teaching, but not the “Author and Finisher of our faith”, Jesus Christ. If you obey the gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16), you, too, can be simply a Christian and wear the name of Christ, which is embodied in the very word “Christ<\/strong>ian.”<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Jim Sasser I believe in proper methods, but I don’t wear the name “Methodist.” I believe in baptism, but I don’t wear the name “Baptist.” I believe presbyters (or elders) should oversee the local church, but I don’t wear the name “Presbyterian.” I believe one should be holy, but I am not a “Holiness.”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1277],"class_list":["post-90337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-denominationalism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68698,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-rise-of-denominationalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":90337,"position":0},"title":"The Rise of Denominationalism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor via Unmasking Sophistry, Vol. 4, No. 3, July-September 2024 In the previous article, we discussed the Reformation Movement, which came when the Roman Catholic Church was a religiously and politically dominating force. Over the centuries, it became increasingly\u00a0corrupt until Martin Luther challenged some of the errors and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39332,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-am-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":90337,"position":1},"title":"I am a Christian","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"By Cecil May, Dean Emeritus, Faulkner University College of Biblical Studies, in the October 2019 Gospel Advocate I am a disciple of Christ; I seek to learn from Him and follow Him\u2026but I am not a Disciple of Christ. I am a methodist; I try to follow the biblical method\u2026but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61080,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-i-left-the-baptist-church-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":90337,"position":2},"title":"Why I Left the Baptist Church (Stevens)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Grover Stevens No Animosity For Baptists I would like to say in the beginning that I have no animosity whatsoever against Baptists. Personally, I have no reason for leaving the Baptist church, but quite to the contrary, if personal reasons counted, I would never have left the Baptist Church,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20071,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-your-church-like\/","url_meta":{"origin":90337,"position":3},"title":"What is your church like?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do you have such a great understanding of the Bible? I would love to understand and live whole-heartily according to the Bible. This is what I have been in search of. I believe in Jesus Christ, I've accepted him as my personal savior, was baptized as an infant,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53399,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-a-different-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":90337,"position":4},"title":"What Is \u201cA Different Gospel?\u201d","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant In the Apostle Paul's letter to the Galatian churches, in the beginning, he deals with a serious problem in the churches concerning which he has knowledge, and that is \"a different gospel.\" \"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61067,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-i-am-a-member-of-the-church-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":90337,"position":5},"title":"Why I am a Member of the Church of Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Irvin Himmel via\u00a0The Voice of West End, Vol. 5, No. 23, Feb. 16, 1964. People have offered a variety of reasons for their religious connections. I am here to present my reasons for being a member of the church of Christ; but, first, some negative thoughts: Not because of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90337\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}