Most people who know me know I am a Jewish Christian. When I think of myself, I am Christian. I am a follower of Christ. The fact that I was born a Jew remains until my final breath; I did not cross over some line to become a Christian while leaving my Jewishness behind. It’s quite impossible to do that. I am a Christian who also happens to be an ethnic Jew.
I met another Christian Jewish woman years ago. She attended a Messianic congregation and was shocked and appalled that I did not. I told her that I’ve never felt the Lord urging me to do that. I find it clannish. I don’t want to only worship with other Messianic Jews. I want to worship with the Body of Christ. This woman was not happy with my reasoning, but I felt a conviction about my decision. I did not feel the need to hold onto Jewish customs. I felt free. Free to worship my Savior!
One of the most ironic things that happened to me on Facebook was being repeatedly thrown out of Messianic groups. I thought that the group members would be like me – Jewish Christians. I was sadly mistaken. They spoke of Torah observance, the Jewish feasts, the keeping of the Law etc., etc. There was an occasional mention of Yeshua, but no emphasis on salvation through Christ alone. And most of the time I was the only Jew in the group!
I would remind them that believers in Yeshua are under the Covenant of Grace. I would say that Yeshua did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).
The leaders of the group would wholeheartedly agree with me, and use that Scripture to support and defend their doctrine. I used it to show them the legalism and hypocrisy they were preaching.
The prophets of God in the Old Testament cried out in the lands to which God sent them, “REPENT and turn from your wicked ways.” Invariably they were stoned or thrown out of that land. People knew that they were guilty as charged, but loved the darkness more than the light.
Do we actually believe that God thought that we are able to keep all of His Commandments? His Commandments were given to Moses to:
Show that God is holy.
His standards are perfection.
Man is not able to keep all of His Commandments.
Jesus brought the Commandments to a whole new level. He said in Matthew 5:27-28:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Clearly, our sin begins in our hearts. God sees this sin in us. For God to reconcile us to Himself, He had to deal with this sin, which separated us from Him. He sent His own Son—the Word made flesh—Jesus.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
The PERFECT SINLESS SACRIFICE was the Son of God, Jesus. His death was the ONE Atonement for all sin. It was His blood spilled for us that brought us forgiveness. God sent His Son so that whosoever believes in Him would be reconciled to the Father and have eternal life. GLORIOUS!
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
So my question to the leaders of the groups was why would you want to go back under the Law that brought death, when you have been given the better Covenant of Grace by which the Spirit gives life? That was usually when my expulsion took place. One leader wrote to me privately, saying that I must have a demon and he would pray for me!
Are these modern day Judaizers? I would say that is accurate, except for the fact that most are not Jews. Are they dangerous? Most assuredly so. The teachings of these groups diminish the finished work of Christ on the Cross; making Him a liar. They are in essence saying “Christ lived and died as an example to us, but we must keep the law to be saved.” HERESY!! We are not able to keep the whole Law of God!
We are all precious to the Lord. It doesn’t matter from where we came; what matters is will we repent and trust Yeshua for the forgiveness of our sins? I was a born a Jew—so what? God’s plan from the beginning was that salvation would be offered to the whole world. And read about the partial hardening of the Jews (Romans 11) to make way for the Gentiles to come into the Kingdom. We are all blessed!
Are you in the Hebrew Roots Cult? Come out from there and experience freedom in Christ!
You will want to keep His Law. Our good works after we are born again in Him come naturally out of our grateful hearts to the Lord.
Our good works before we are born-again are as follows:
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away”(Isaiah 64:6).
JESUS IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
SHALOM!
I agree with you Geri. I teach the Jewish roots of christianity because it is important for many reasons. Jesus is Jewish; The Church was founded by Him and 11 other Jewish men; There are many unfulfilled prophecies and covenants to the nation Israel in the Tenach; The gospel is to go to the Jew first and then the Gentile; Israel has a future in God’s overall plan for this earth. The big problem with Jewish studies is as you have pointed out. Too many so called Messianic groups want to drag the Jews back into observing the Law. It is over. I wrote a lengthly article on this that you might want to look at when you have a chance. God Bless you. Pastor Daniel Woodhead.
http://doctorwoodhead.com/the-law/
My understanding of the Hebrew roots position is that salvation is only through yeshua and that observance of Torah demonstrates this faith. James says “I’ll show you my faith by my works”. God says “if you love me, keep my commandments”. I do not see a conflict between Torah observance demonstrating a faith in yeshua. No Hebrew was ever saved or promised salvation through Torah observance. God saved the Hebrews from Egypt before the giving of the law; they were already free when the law came. Hebrews 11:8 says “By faith Abraham obeyed…” Summing up concisely how we must come to God ourselves, in faith, “not of works”.
I understand that there is a huge variety in the Hebrew roots movement just as there is in mainstream Christianity. I have even heard of some who moved from Hebrew roots to denying Christ, sad. Christ is the best example of how we are to live before God. If he observed Torah, why would we not? Ephesians 2 tells us that as Gentiles, we were separated from the blessings that reside with Israel but that through Christ, we are joined to that blessing. Every believer is thus a member of Israel (. See Romans 11 and Galatians 3 as well ). I do not see anywhere in the scriptures where God himself stated that Gentiles are under some new law that gives us a pass on obeying ” his commandments “…
To sum it up, God himself speaking of the law (Torah) says this:
Choice of Life and Death – Deut. 30
11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God [3] that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, [4] then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (ESV)
Shalom
There are many different Hebrew roots or Messianic ministries, like you said. I struggled for a long time because I had a deep love for Israel and when I found the Messianic congregation I attend now, it was like I had come home. We observe the feasts throughout the year and it makes us have a deeper understanding of Yeshua, who was Jewish and even observed the feasts with His disciples. I have found that it gives me a deeper understanding of who Yeshua is and it is not a burden to keep the feast, but a privilege to get to do it–it makes the congregation feel like a family. Also, our we support two Messianic “churches” in Israel and this blesses and reaches out to the Jewish people, because this is what is expected of us–to show them the Messiah Yeshua. If you find the way to the Torah, you will never want to go back to Egypt, IMO. Blessings and shalom.
Reblogged this on Absolute Truth from the Word of God.
I hope you don’t mind, but, I say this; Because of the HEBREW TEXTS ( SCROLLS ) we have Judaism and Christianity!!
Love <3 Always,
Kristi