Should we use the term “Christian” to describe ourselves as True Believers?

The designation “Christian” appears only a few times in the Scriptures—and even then, it was never a title given by Y’hovah, nor His true worshipers and talmidim. Instead, it was a term applied by outsiders, specifically the Greeks, to those who followed Y’hoshua HaMashiach.

The Origin of the Term “Christian”

As recorded in Ma’asei [Acts] 11:26 (CJB):

“It was in Antioch that the talmidim for the first time were called ‘Messianic.’”

The Greek term translated “Christian” is Christianos, with the -ianos ending common in Greco-Roman Asia. According to Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament:

“The name was coined by pagans of the first century to mark the Greek followers of the Messiah (Christos) as distinct from those who worshiped the Roman emperor, known as Caesar.”

Likewise, The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge notes that the term Christian did not originate among the early talmidim. Instead, believers referred to one another as the brethren, the saints, the disciples, or the faithful.

The Jewish people, on the other hand, called them Netzarim (Nazarenes) or followers of “the Way”—a title directly connected to the words of Y’hoshua:

“I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.”
— Yochanan [John] 14:6

The Mercer Dictionary of the Bible explains:

“Wide use of the name did not become common in the empire until the reign of Hadrian (117–138 C.E.) or Antoninus Pius (138–161 C.E.). Pagans, unfamiliar with the confessional title Christos (Messiah), misconstrued it as a personal name.”

It continues:

“By the late first and early second centuries, the name ‘Christian’—which early believers avoided—was beginning to gain acceptance.”

Thus, the early Brit Chadashah (New Covenant) community did not identify as Christians. They saw themselves as followers of the Way—the Derekh of Y’hoshua HaMashiach.

Throughout Acts, we read of this:

• “…if he found any belonging to the Way…” (Ma’asei [Acts] 9:2)
• “…instructed in the Way of Y’hovah…” (Acts 18:25–26)
• “…some became hardened and refused to believe, speaking evil of the Way…” (Acts 19:9)
• “…I admit that I worship the Elohim of our fathers as a follower of the Way…” (Acts 24:14)

Those who rejected Y’hoshua referred to His followers as Netzarim (Nazarenes) (Acts 24:5) or heretics (Acts 28:22).

A Hebrew Faith—Not a Greco-Roman Religion

True Believers do not follow a Greek Christos or a Romanized religion. We follow Rabbi Y’hoshua Ben Y'hovah, the Hebrew Savior from the tribe of Y'hudah.

Y’hoshua Himself said:

“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because salvation comes from the Y'hudim.”
— Yochanan [John] 4:22 (CJB)

Our faith, as taught in Y'hudah [Jude] 1:3, is the same emunah once delivered to the set-apart ones—a Hebrew faith rooted in the Torah and the Prophets, fulfilled through the Mashiach of Yisra’el.

To call Him by a Greek title or to identify with a Greco-Roman label obscures His true heritage and the Hebraic foundation of our belief.

The Contemptuous Use of “Christian”

Even when the term Christian appears in Scripture, it often comes from the mouths of unbelievers. When Governor Agrippa said to Sha’ul (Paul):

“In a short time you think to persuade me to become a Christian?”
— Ma’asei [Acts] 26:28 (Amplified)

He said it mockingly. Agrippa recognized that adopting such an identity could cost him his political standing under Roman rule. The term carried social scorn, not divine identity.

Our True Identity

We therefore identify not as Christians in the Greco-Roman sense, but as Believers of the Way—the Netzarim, who follow the teachings, example, and Torah-faithfulness of our Rabbi Y’hoshua Ben Y'hovah.

Our faith is not “new.” It didn't begin as a new religion on the day of Shavuot (Pentecost). It is the continuation and fulfillment of Y’hovah’s covenant promises to Avraham, Yitzhak, and Ya’akov.

“I am the vine, you are the branches (netzarim). Whoever stays united with Me, and I with him, bears much fruit.”
— Yochanan [John] 15:5 (CJB)

We are those branches—rooted in the True Vine, walking in the Way of Y’hoshua HaMashiach, proclaiming the faith of our fathers in its fullness.

✡️ Summary

The early followers of Y’hoshua HaMashiach never called themselves Christians. They were Netzarim, “branches” of the True Vine, walking in the Way of truth and obedience.

To be a Believer of the Way is to honor the Hebrew identity of our Rabbi and Redeemer, and to guard the pure faith once delivered to the saints.

By Rabbi Francisco Arbas
📧 franciscoarbas.yisrael@gmail.com
Following His ‘WAY’ — Netzari Mashiach Judaism