Merry Christmas

I would like to wish all my readers and contributors a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Thank You.

Netprophet

 

Messianic Jews?

I was recently asked the question, “How can a Jew accept Jesus as the Messiah and still follow the Jewish law of Mosses?” Not being Jewish makes this a very difficult question to answer, however, being a follower of Christ’s teachings and born again by the Spirit of truth, and also not wanting to be identified with the formal organized religion which today is known as Christianity, I can identify with their separatist mind-set.

For some I imagine it is a matter of pride because of a false perception of superiority in being Jewish. A deception caused by attempting to adhere to the false teaching of those who do not understand what grace is and by ignoring the clear teachings concerning the Law, especially in the book of Galatians, chapters three through five. Perhaps for some it is due to a declining spirituality, which has the side effect of increased ritualism. The early church of Acts had many similar identity problems within its ranks. Peter and Paul went at it several times over previous legalistic dogma and God had to drop a sheet full of symbolism to convince Peter that he was saved by faith and confirmed by grace, not by the righteousness of the law he couldn’t keep.

To the Jew it is very important to maintain Jewish tradition and the Messianic movement strives to do this in many ways. The problem as I see it, is that while attempting to maintain their Jewish identity, the Jews who are trying to follow Yeshua (Jesus) have created another religious organization. It didn’t work to well for the Pharisees and I doubt that this approach will do anything to help unite the Body of believers. However there is a large group (possibly the majority) of Messianic Jews who understand and follow the ‘Truth’.

Today there is estimated to be more than one million Jewish people who believe in Jesus as the Messiah. The rejection of Christianity by some Jewish people is not necessarily a rejection of Jesus. It is rather the rejection of a Gentile religion, which has little in common with the Jewish Messiah. Because a Jewish person does not want to be identified with the Christian religion, does not mean they reject Jesus. Messianic Judaism affirms the eternal lineage of Jesus, “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah”. They believe He did not come to destroy Jewish tradition, but fulfill the law and prophets. To deny the genealogy of Jesus is to deny the truth of the Scriptures. To oppose the Jewish people, simply because they are Jewish, is to distrust the appointment of God and deny the Messiah of Israel, who is the same Jesus Christians believe in.

I would have to agree with the fact that Jesus in no way came, or ever attempted, to change the Jewish faith or create a new one. The very fact that Jesus was Jewish, and Paul’s teaching, that we were grafted into the line of Abraham, means we could all claim to be Messianic Jews. However, it was by grace and faith that we were saved, not by the righteousness of the law. Being born again of the Spirit is the key to understanding the true purpose of the Christ. He made all who follow and keep His commandments His people and He placed the law in their hearts. Only those who know Him through the Spirit have the ears to hear this truth. Jesus is not a religion. He is the Way.

To sum up, let us look to what Paul and the Word says about those who follow the Way:

How long is the Law to be in effect for God’s people who are born-again? “Til the Seed [Jesus] should come to Whom the promise was made” (Gal. 3:19); “Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rm. 10:4); “The Law and the prophets were until John [the Baptizer]” (Lk. 16:16a); “The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17). “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law” (Gal. 3:13). “No man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the Law is not of faith” (Gal. 3:11-12).

 

Concerning salvation under the New Covenant is there any significance or distinction in being a Jew? No. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are [trying to be] justified by the Law; ye are fallen from grace” (Gal. 5:4). ”If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the Law” (Gal. 5:18). ”We [Jews who have been born again] 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” (Rom. 7:6).