Holy Christ

Holy Christ (/kraɪst/; Ancient Greek: Χριστός, Christós, meaning “anointed“) is a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Māšîaḥ) and the Syriac (M’shiha), the Messiah, and is used as a title for Jesus in the New Testament. Among Christians, “Christ” is treated as synonymous with Jesus of Nazareth.The followers of Jesus became known as Christians (as in Acts 11:26) because they believed Jesus to be the Christós (from Greek, “Messiah”) prophesied in the Greek Old Testament, for example in the Confession of Peter.

Jesus came to be called “Jesus Christ”, meaning “Jesus the Christós” (i.e. Jesus, the anointed; or “Jesus, the Messiah” by his followers) or Holy Christ after his death and believed resurrection.  Before, Jesus was usually referred to as “Jesus of Nazareth” or “Jesus son of Joseph”. In the epistles of Paul the Apostle, the earliest texts of the New Testament, Paul most often referred to Jesus as “Christ Jesus”, or “Christ”. Christ was originally a title, yet later became part of the name “Jesus Christ”, though it is still also used as a title, in the reciprocal use Christ Jesus, meaning “The Messiah Jesus”.

“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” — In Matthew 1:21 the name Jesus was selected by Divine direction.

In Colossians 1:15–16 Apostle Paul viewed the Nativity of Jesus as an event of cosmic significance which changed the nature of the world by paving the way for salvation.

Christian teachings present the Love of Christ as a basis for his sacrificial act that brought forth salvation. In John 14:31 Jesus explains that his sacrifice was performed so: “that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.” Ephesians 5:25 then states that: “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it”.

Following in the Pauline tradition, in the 5th century Augustine of Hippo viewed Holy Christ as the mediator of the New Covenant between God and man and as the conqueror over sin. He viewed Christ as the cause and reason for the reconciliation of man with God after the fall of Adam, and he saw in Christ the path to Christian salvation.Augustine believed that salvation is available to those who are worthy of it, through faith in Christ.