Messianic Church for Christians Yay or Nay

 

It is vital you look up and read all the bible references

Introduction

More and more Christians are joining the “Jews for Jesus” also known as the Messianic Jew movement and moving away from the teachings of grace, unconditional forgiveness and being born again. 

This begs for research because we are now under grace and not under the Law – what is pulling Christians back to Judaism and why is this not in line with what Christ wanted to establish when He birthed His church in Acts.

Messianic Judaism Beliefs

So what is the theology of Messianic Judaism. They believe in

• ü  Trinity – 3 in 1
• ü  Jesus is the Son of God
• ü  Jesus died for the forgiveness of sin
• ü  Holy Spirit fills the hearts of Believers

Main Stream Judaism

Main stream Judaism – Judaism under the Law as found in the Old Testament, on the other hand deigns all of these.

Judaism is not primary concerned with salvation from sin but with living according to the will of God as expressed in the written Thorah – first five books of the bible [Instructions/Teachings/Law].

Why is this important?

When one looks at Messianic Judaism where they still practice some of the celebrations, laws e.g. avoidance of pork etc and holy days found in main stream Judaism, you have to nit-pick their beliefs to see if they are tainted by the Judaism as found in the Old Testament and not following the new pure way of life Christ prescribes in the New Testament.

It has been said, by placing yourself under the Law once again, you nullify the Scriptures in the New Testament.

New Testament Christianity

So the questions we have to ask ourselves are – did the first Christian church follow the Law word for word and expect its gentile converts and Jewish converts to do the same?  Read: Acts 15:1-21 

Truth: The Laws of Kashrut were overturned in Acts 15 by the first Church Council. Kashrut was and important part of Traditional Jewish religious observations based on the Torah – yet Christian scriptures in the NT explicitly reject this Jewish practice. This is extremely important when we look at the role the OT  Law plays in the lives of Gentile converts and Messianic Jews.

We will find that throughout the NT the Jewish Law is rejected.

Jesus and the Law  : Mathew 5: 17-18

Question: According to Acts the Law did not continue in the Christian church yet in Mathew 5 Jesus categorically states the Law does not disappear but remains until the end of time as noted in Revelation. The passage in Matthew seems like an Oxymoron when compared to Acts – what is your take on this?

The Truth - If I get married to Mr Law – I am obligated as his wife to be in submission to him while he lives. But if I die the marriage is null and void and either of the parties left behind may marry again without breaking the Law.

Our spirits are dead and according to the Jewish belief we must live according to the Torah – the Law to appease God and maybe be given eternal life. But if we die spiritually to our old self and are reborn spiritually by the Holy Spirit we then become the Bride of Christ. It does not mean the Law is abolished – it stands as is, but we are no longer subject to it.

READ: Ephesians 2: 1-9

The main verses are 8+9. ‘For it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works so no one can boast’.

READ:  Math 22: 35-40, Galatians 2:20-21  ^]

Jesus Take - People who join the Messianic church have a great respect for the Jewish nation and their beliefs. Let’s have a look at scriptures in the NT and discuss what they say to us  - how we now live and what we are supposed to do

READ: John 8: 42-45 ; Mark 7:5-7; Mark 8-9, 14-2; Matthew 15: 10-11; Matthew 15: 14;  Galatians 3: 26-29; Galatians 3:23-26; Galatians 6: 15; 1 Timothy 4: 3-4; Mark 7: 14-15; Hebrews 8: 6-13   

Romans 7: 6  ⁶ But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Galatians 2: 20-21  ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”^[e]

Summary

1.    Circumcised means nothing what counts is being born as a new creation

2.    By dying we have been released from the Law and serve by way of the Spirit – that does not give us freedom to sin but it does give us freedom to live under grace

3.    Everything God created is good, nothing is to be rejected

4.    Nothing outside can defile a person by going in – its what comes out of the heart [mind] through the mouth that defiles us

5.    The New Covenant makes the first one obsolete and outdated

6.    If righteousness could be gained through the law – Christ died for nothing

Closing: There is one verse that people who join the Messianic church misinterpret and that is found in the New Testament and it says

Romans 11: 17-24 – We are grafted into the Olive Tree – the Jewish people, so now we receive the blessing God promised Abraham.

Truth: One has to look at these verses in context because they are not saying as the Christians who join the Messianic church believe – that we must now go back to obeying the Law, stop eating pork, wash our hands, celebrate Jewish holidays etc. because if we don't we commit sin, because if you read it in context and in other chapters in the bible we find-

1.   ' 20 Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe'. - It’s pretty clear that we are joined/grafted not under the Law but under Christ.

2.     Ephesians 3:6 ' And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus'.

Final thought: Inheritance comes for both Jew and gentile when they belong to Jesus Christ not because they are jointed under the Law. 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Social Networking at 68 and other night terrors

I know how to edit photos. Me at 68 yeah right!

I love this quote, "one day you are cock-of-the-walk, the next you are a feather duster"

So,after the initial shock of going onto pension and being delegated by the same people who awarded you with certificates for being the best and most creative worker, to "pensioner" and as my husband said, "past my shelf life" - Really!! I decided to reach out into the Social Networking arena. 

Someone should have warned me about the vultures out there. Honestly I did not even know the word catfishing was part of the English language.

So, after stumbling across Instagram, Hangouts, WhatsApp and Facebook to name a few - my education into social networking began. So for other geriatrics out there here is a good definition from Google.

"A catfish is someone who creates a false online identity. Catfishing is common on social networking and online dating sites. Sometimes a catfish's sole purpose is to engage in a fantasy. Sometimes, however, the catfish's intent is to defraud a victim, seek revenge or commit identity theft".

I happily hopped, skipped and jumped onto these sites oblivious to the dangers lurking in the shadows. Put up my profile as Married, 68 years old and a little bit of my interests. Posted some family photos, hobby photos and a few photos of me. I had learned how to use photo editing software - so maybe I lied - and looked more like 40 than "past my shelf life".

Bad move. Within three weeks I had over 230 young and old males asking to connect to me. Even if I deleted them, more would take their place. Plus some women jumping on the band wagon to offer their wares to unsuspected customers. I was continually deleting people off the list.

Some men really seemed genuine, showing the same interests as me - but believe me, I found out to my horror, this is not the case. Men on these social networking sites either need a mother, a psychologist or a "lady of the night" to put it bluntly. If you have never tried phone-sex this is about as close to it as you can get if you are willing, but beware there is underling motives for this and believe me its not sexual gratification. Lets face it ladies, if this hunk of a man with come-to-bed blue eyes wanted sex, he would not ask a 70 year old generic for it. Get real!!

So, here goes this geriatric skipping into the lives of several men who said I was beautiful, sexy and a few other things I cannot post on this Blog. Some said they fantasized about having sex with me, [so much for "I am past my shelf life]", one wanted to know if I liked coffee or tea and a few more personal things - while I unsuspected, chatted away while these vultures built up a profile of me.

It can be flattering to have a 32 year old ask you if you mind telling them about what it was like being 68 years old and still "active" - OMG. Ok I will answer 5 questions - which I did as honestly as I could - but never again.

I was a Training Librarian, taught on critical thinking skills slowly I noticed the cracks in their stories, some things did not match. I analysed the photos they sent and using background information like the name of a ship on a flag, and I was able to track some of them down. Most of them had stolen identities from other people online.

I then started doing research. If he looks like a male model - he's probably is not. If he says his wife died and he is raising his daughter alone - believe me this is a common denominator here among a lot of the men I made friends with. The really dangerous ones will try to draw you away from Instagram to dodgy places like Hangouts where you have to offer your email details giving them future access to your life.

These people will chat away for, in my case, over six weeks and slowly gain your trust, they will talk about their home town, their interests, their joys and sadness, your country and your politics, but in the end they are going to either ask for money, sexual chatting or use what you said to blackmail you.

So fellow geriatrics, from someone who is staring 70 years in the eyes, stay away from open social networking. Limit who may see your details and contact you, even if he says he also likes cats. Take it from me, a seasoned veteran of social networks - you may feel good about yourself again, but if its "Too good to be true", it probably is!