What Does "Christ" Mean?

Richard Aberdeen said:

Greek "christos" means "anointed" or "the anointed one". In Hebrew, "mashiach" means the same thing, which is translated as "Messiah" into English. Most English bibles leave this untranslated as "Christ", which is based on the Greek for Messiah.

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Strong's 4899 mashiyach: anointed; usually a consecrated person (as a king, priest, or saint); spec. the Messiah

I like what I'm reading, but especially because you see that it was that "anointing", that made Jesus the messiah, or "the anointed one". I do have a problem in the Hebrew though, where KJV translators capitalized "mashiach" as Messiah and capitalized it. All other 37 times they never capitalized it once. And it was always interpreted as what it simply meant..."anointed".

Ancient Hebrew had no uppercase or lowercase distinctions. Capitalization was introduced centuries later by English and European translators and editors to add modern grammatical formatting or to show reverence. But they also added their 'theological' opinion when they applied it. I think that has been a huge error.

Richard Aberdeen said:

Whether we say Jesus Christ or Jesus Messiah is perhaps of little importance, but it is extremely important to understand that Christ means Messiah, the anointed one, the chosen one of God to save us from our sins.

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Here we disagree a bit maybe. I think 'Jesus christ' and 'Jesus the messiah' should both still be lower case, in the NT, just like it was 37 out of 39 times in the OT.

Richard Aberdeen said:

Likewise, whether we call Jesus of Nazareth, "Jesus" or "Yeshua", the same name will save us as long as we are referring in our hearts to Jesus of Nazareth, who is called "Messiah", rather than to someone else. The name "Jesus" traces from Latin; in Aramaic, it is "Yeshua" and in Hebrew "Yehoshua" or "Yeshu". Regardless of translation, there is ultimate power in the name of Jesus, who is able to save us to the uttermost when referring to Jesus of Nazareth.

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I agree. In the Hebrew and the Greek, the word "name", has two definitions. Def. one is 'literal' and two is 'figurative' A literal definition, is your given name (Bill) or surname (Smith). But a figurative definition, pertains to your 'authority or character'.

For example; If you hear a loud knock on your door in the middle of the night demanding that you; "Open up in the NAME of the law!!!" Are you going to look through the peephole for someone with a name-tag that says LAW on it? No, you are going to be looking for the CHARACTER of a uniform or badge and the AUTHORITY of a gun.

We are appealing to the NAME above ALL NAMES....The name NO ONE KNOWS

REV 19:12 His eyes are like a flame of fire/POWER, and on his head are many diadems/AUTHORITy; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself.

Richard Aberdeen said:

It is important to remember that the Lord does "not see as people see; for people look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" I Samuel 16:7. God understands our intentions regardless of our understanding, what language we speak or what translation we are familiar with.

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He also sees the errors in translations which theologians have made.

What Does "Christ" Mean?​

God's designated King of Kings.

Richard Aberdeen said:

Christos is Greek for Messiah. Messiah means "the anointed one."

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Anointed by whom and for what role?

Richard Aberdeen said:

I only use capitalization for proper names and God. You can see my writings at this link, where typical biblical capitalization is not used. However, I think it's appropriate to capitalize Jesus Messiah, as it refers to a specific title of a specific person, rather than just to any anointed one.

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Personally I still disagree with capitalization of messiah in the OT and NT. upon more than the little bit I wrote. You said above you only use capitalization for proper names and God. I have no problem with that.

I do have a problem when man does things God never asked him to do. Especially when it ends up causing questionable theology. Do you believe this 'christos/anointing' which Jesus was born with is different than the christos/anointing our spirit receives when it is born again?

1CO 6:17 But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Richard Aberdeen said:

The Greek "christos" is emphasized repeatedly in the NT as the correct title for Jesus, who is the only Messiah who can save us from our sins.

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I agree Jesus is the messiah. But I still disagree that it should ever be capitalized.

Richard Aberdeen said:

Koine Greek, which the entire NT was written in, except for James, is written in ALL CAPITALS LIKE THIS.
www.FreedomTracks.com/revolutionb.html

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My library has a book written a 100 years ago, before the dead sea scrolls were even found. 'Concerning capitalization' it says; "We can get no help from the ORIGINAL GREEK MANUSCRIPTS of the NT.
There are nearly 4,000 of them; but they are all in one of two styles of writing.
The one class is written all in capitals without any small letters. The other class is written all in small letters with no capitals, or with only a very few; none as we use them with certain words; but only at the defining of books or sections, or of large paragraphs....127 manuscripts, called "Uncials" because every letter is large, and the whole is written in capitals.
The other class consists of about 3,702 manuscripts, which are called "Cursives" because every word is written in running-hand.

My book obviously doesn't agree with whatever source your quote above refers to.
I did go to check on your URL, but in all honesty, that's too long of a read to find whatever might pertain to this topic.

Richard Aberdeen said:

Anointed by God, to save us from our sins. Abraham can't save us from our sins and, neither can Muhammad, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Donald BS Trump or anyone else.

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Holy things are anointed with oil to designate them as belonging to God. The Kings of God's People were also consecrated in the same way.

Richard Aberdeen said:

Donald BS Trump

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That is an insult to cow manure everywhere, which is at least useful in providing fertilizer for crops.

What “Christ” Means​

1. “Christ” = Christos (Greek)​

The Greek word Christos means:

• Anointed One
• Chosen One
• The One set apart by God
• The King appointed by God

It is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Mashiach (Messiah).

So when you say Jesus Christ, you’re really saying:

Jesus the Anointed King or Jesus the Messiah

2. The Hebrew Background: Mashiach​

In the Old Testament, people were “anointed” with oil when God chose them for a role:

• kings
• priests
• prophets

So “Messiah” originally meant:

The one God anoints to rule, save, and restore His people.

3. What the Early Church Meant by “Christ”​

When the apostles called Jesus “the Christ,” they meant:

• He is the promised King from the line of David
• He is the one who brings God’s kingdom
• He is the one who fulfills the Scriptures
• He is the one anointed with the Spirit
• He is the one who saves and restores

Peter’s confession sums it up:

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16

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4. “Christ” is a title, not a name​

It’s not:

• Jesus Christ (first name + last name)

It’s:

• Jesus the Christ
• Jesus the Messiah
• Jesus the Anointed King

Just like:

• David the king
• John the Baptist
• Cyrus the anointed

“Christ” tells you who He is, not what family He came from.

5. The Theological Meaning​

Calling Jesus “the Christ” means:

• He is Yahavah’s chosen King
• He is the one who brings the new covenant
• He is the one who pours out the Spirit
• He is the one who restores humanity
• He is the one who reigns over the kingdom of God

It’s a royal title and a prophetic title.

6. Why this matters​

When you understand “Christ,” you understand:

• Jesus didn’t come to start a religion
• He came to fulfill a role
• He came to bring a kingdom
• He came as the anointed King of God’s new creation

It shifts your whole view of Him from:

religious figure → divine King

Lambano said:

Holy things are anointed with oil to designate them as belonging to God. The Kings of God's People were also consecrated in the same way.

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1JO 2:27 but the anointing which you received from him abides IN you, and you have no need that any one should teach you; as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him.

I believe that the OT literal symbol has a NT spiritual reality. And the NT anointing is just that, something spiritual is happening "IN you". I'm not looking at the smearing of literal oil in Jesus or us. Did Gabriel have a literal vial he smeared on the fetus in the womb of Mary? I think the verse above lines up more with the NT Greek definition than it does the OT.

5545 chrisma: an unguent or smearing, i.e. (FIGURATIVE) the special endowment ("chrism") of the Holy Spirit.

Unfortunately we (correction I ), are again met with the influence of capitalization by men who did not just 'translate' the above verse from Greek to '300 bibles written by men'. Their influence caused STRONG to follow their theology where he also INTERPRETED (with capitalization) that it was the Holy Spirit of the triune God getting literally smeared on to...what? If they left capitalization off then I can easily apply the ungent and endowment as something that took place IN me and made my human spirit something holy upon its new birth from above.

Not even asking if you agree or disagree Lambano. Just hoping you can follow as to why I am still believing what I have been saying a lot about, as of late (as you know 'better' from other threads of late). I see no reason to even assume more monologue from Richard is of any avail. So if you choose to not comment, this will be my last post here.

Peace

Richard Aberdeen said:

Greek "christos" means "anointed" or "the anointed one". In Hebrew, "mashiach" means the same thing, which is translated as "Messiah" into English. Most English bibles leave this untranslated as "Christ", which is based on the Greek for Messiah. Whether we say Jesus Christ or Jesus Messiah is perhaps of little importance, but it is extremely important to understand that Christ means Messiah, the anointed one, the chosen one of God to save us from our sins.

Likewise, whether we call Jesus of Nazareth, "Jesus" or "Yeshua", the same name will save us as long as we are referring in our hearts to Jesus of Nazareth, who is called "Messiah", rather than to someone else. The name "Jesus" traces from Latin; in Aramaic, it is "Yeshua" and in Hebrew "Yehoshua" or "Yeshu". Regardless of translation, there is ultimate power in the name of Jesus, who is able to save us to the uttermost when referring to Jesus of Nazareth.

It is important to remember that the Lord does "not see as people see; for people look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" I Samuel 16:7. God understands our intentions regardless of our understanding, what language we speak or what translation we are familiar with.

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and I suspect that over 99% of believers who sit under the teaching of a pastor know these things already.