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)
