Who were first called Christians and where?
According to Acts chapter 11, the believers at the church in Antioch were first called Christians. This occurred when Gentiles began coming in by faith in the gospel of the grace of God, not among the Jewish believers at Jerusalem in previous years.
Les explains that the body of Christ came on the scene in the New Testament sometime after Pentecost, though he is convinced it did not necessarily begin at Pentecost because Pentecost was strictly a Jewish holiday with a Jewish message. He points to the church at Antioch, where Acts chapter 11 says believers were first called Christians. This was not the Jewish believers at Jerusalem in previous years, but when Gentiles started coming in by faith in the gospel of the grace of God, they were called Christians. Les feels the body of Christ began when Paul began to preach Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, and by faith alone without the law, and as men and women believed, the Holy Spirit baptized or placed them into the body of Christ.
And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
More Questions
Why were the first Christians not in Jerusalem?
The name 'Christian' was first used in Antioch, not Jerusalem, because the people being saved there were Gentiles through the Pauline message of God's grace.