Christ Jesus

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:1-2

Statistics can be a very useful tool in analyzing title combinations such as Christ Jesus. It is interesting to discover that of the 69 times the phrase occurs in the New Testament, Paul uses it 66 times. It is used by the writer to the Hebrews once and by Peter twice; all the other times Paul is speaking. The question that begs to be asked is, Why?  Why is this almost exclusively a Pauline idiom?

Whereas the other apostles followed the LORD during his earthly ministry and often called Him Jesus to His face, Paul was not counted among Christ’s disciples. Paul rejected the Nazarene as the Messiah and persecuted the church. While the other’s found it more natural to form the phrase “Jesus Christ” (because it emphasized their close relationship) Paul could not.

Grace is another word that Paul dominates. He was overwhelmed and humbled by the grace that saved such a sinner and murderer of God’s people. It was this same humility that caused him to acknowledge the Christ title before saying the name Jesus. Saul of Tarsus who rejected the Messiah was transformed by the Christ and after he started using his Greek name, Paul would openly acknowledge Him as the LORD’s anointed – The Christ. He then was a follower of Christ Jesus.