Names of Christ in Paul's Post-Acts Epistles

By Oscar M. Baker

Around 1920, a man by the name of Clinton Howard, wrote an article on the names of Christ. He got up to 304, then in Isaiah 9:6 he found 5 more and added them to his list and so he got 309 names and titles for Christ. This was spurred on by a Mohammedan who was showing him his string of beads. There were 99 beads on it, and each one stood for a name of Allah, his god, as found in the Koran, the bible of the Mohammedans. Mr. Howard's search produced approximately 3 times 99 and 9 over the 99 that the Mohammedan had of his god. So I thought I'd just take a look and see what names and titles I could find of Christ in Paul's Post Acts Epistles. I found 22, and so out of the 309 are found written after Acts 28:28. It's a good idea to look at these, and see the significance of each.

I Timothy 2:5. "Christ Jesus." Christ means anointed, and Jesus comes from the Hebrew Jehoshua which means salvation. Salvation is a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He's the Anointed One. Anointed has to do with kingship or rulership of some kind (they did anoint priests as well as kings). Also, the order of these words, Christ Jesus, tell us something. The first word, Christ, was in the heavenly places; and Jesus. the earthly name, indicates that He came down to earth. When you have the expression, Jesus Christ then it's the Man on the earth Who was taken into heavenly places.

I Timothy 1:2. "Jesus Christ our Lord." Kurios is the Greek word for Lord. When Paul starts out in the practical section of Ephesians, he immediately starts out with he's a prisoner of the Lord (he'd been a prisoner of Jesus Christ in chapter 3 where he's giving the doctrinal) which means there can be no practical application of the Scriptures in our lives without making Him Lord If we don't do that, our work is all in vain.

Ephesians 3:14 & 15. "Lord Jesus Christ." Here it adds the title, "Of Whom the whole family in heaven and earthis named." I believe that the whole family here is correct in the light of Ephesians 1:9 & 10, because in speaking dispensationally in Ephesians. We find that there are those who are on the earth, and those that are in the heavenly places. Also according to Ephesians 1:9 & 10, these are being made into one, headed over by Christ. So this whole family is the household of God, and is named after the Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:4. "Christ our Life." Outside of Him there is no life. So is our life, and in a special way, including this life, and far beyond that. We assume upon receiving Him as our life, we will have a life as long as He will. Am I wrong in assuming that? We are associated, identified with Him in His death, burial and resurrection, and His being quickened, raised, and seated at the right hand of the Father. identified with Him in all that, why can't we claim that? Here's a great promise - Christ our life!

Colossians 3:11. "Christ is all and in all." Now we find that the goal of the ages for the earth (I Corinthians 15:28) is that God may be all and in all sometime. But as far as the church which is the boy of Christ, and principalities, powers, mights and dominions associated with Him in the heavenly places, it's already accomplished. For this group, for us to comprehend, that we've already attained to that thing that the earth is looking forward to someday. That is one of the things that belongs to the
Secret the Mystery.

I Timothy 1:17. "The King eternal, immortal, invisible." Colossians 1:13 "....hath translated us into the kingdom of His dearSon." So He has a kingdom, and He's the King over it. Also, immortal --- was Christ ever mortal? He died didn't He? That body He lived in was mortal. He took upon Him the likeness of man that He might redeem him. Invisible --- examples given while He was here on earth. So Christ is the King eternal, immortal invisible. [This paragraph contains numbers 6 & 7 of the list of 22.]

I Timothy 1: 1 7. "The only wise God." You can leave out "wise" - the text omit this.

I Timothy 3:16. Christ is, "The mystery of godliness." To actually comprehend that, is just about beyond our thinking. We can't understand how God can manifest Himself in flesh! This is something different than man can ever imagine, that the Man Christ Jesus could have two natures. That He was just as much man as if there wasn't anything of God in Him, and just as much God as if there wasn't anything of man in Him. Two complete natures which has never been know among mankind: So it is a Great mystery.

II Timothy 4:8. "The Righteous Judge." We're told that all judgment is given unto the Son in John's Gospel. If we go before God as Judge, it's in the Person of the Son. And of course, God is spoken of as the Judge because God and the Son are spoken of as the same One. We're told very specifically that the Son is the Judge. You can see the necessity for that. The Son is the Redeemer, He's the One Who took on the likeness of sinful flesh and died for us, that we might be clothed with His righteousness. Therefore, when the Father sees us He sees the righteousness of His Son. And if He sees only the righteousness of His Son, He has nothing by which to judge. Is that good reasoning? Well, that's the way it works out.

Ephesians 2:14. "He is our peace." Christ is our peace because of all that follows in verses 14 & 15. Now we not only have Peace because of the work of Christ, but He is our peace, and that is hard to realize [comprehend].

I Timothy 2:5. "The Man Christ Jesus." "Man" is used in the plural in verse 1 of that chapter, so He's putting Himself on a level with all men. So He appears on the earth as the Man Christ Jesus. In a crowd He wouldn't be noticed maybe. He wasn't different from the others, just one of them. Isaiah speaks of Him as there being no beauty about Him, and so forth.

I Timothy 2:5. "Mediator between God and men."To be efficient as such, one must understand both sides, both parties that he's going to mediate between. And so that made it necessary that He should be God, and at the same time Man, to be the perfect Mediator between God and men. Why is there a need for a mediator? By Genesis 3 there is a need! A mediator is one between those who are on the outs with one another, enmity. Man is naturally at enmity against God, so it has put up a barrier, and He came as a Mediator to break down that barrier.

To be continued.

(Excerpts from TFT tape 5-11-82, Names Of Christ In Paul's Post-Acts Epistles.)