Salvation

The most common objection I get, when sharing Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ) with my Jewish people, is this very simple one: you can’t be Jewish and believe in Jesus.  I have received this response from the religious and the unreligious; by the old and by the young.  And to each one I have a very simple question:  Why not?

The most typical answer I receive is that Jews don’t believe in Jesus, but that is clearly a faulty argument.   I grew up Jewish and I became a believer in Him.  Not only that, but I know of many Jews who have come to believe in Yeshua, and there are many, many more that I don’t know.  Some of them were very religious Orthodox Jews, some of them were observant Jews in the Conservative or Reform movements and some were completely secular: die-hard atheists or not so die-hard agnostics.  The one thing they have in common is that they are Jewish.

I use the present tense when I say we are Jewish because, as far as we are concerned, believing in Jesus is a very Jewish thing to do.  You see, I believe that this statement – you can’t be Jewish and believe in Jesus – really means – Jesus is not the Jewish Messiah, he is not Saviour and he is not Lord.

The problem is that the response is almost always based, not on what the objectors know, but only on what they’ve been told.  When I challenge Jewish people to tell me how they know Jesus is not the Messiah, they don’t really have a response.  Most Jewish people have not investigated the claims of Jesus as found both in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Scriptures) or the B’rit Hadashah (the New Testament).  Many have made half-hearted attempts to read some of the B’rit Hadashah (or, for that matter, the Tanakh), but not really done a critical and honest investigation.

Recently I spoke with a Haredi rabbi, and in the midst of our discussions I challenged him to do just that.  To look at the New Testament text, not in a cynical way, but in a critical way, honestly seeking to understand what it says.  He said he would, but a month or so later he had barely done any reading.  He said he was happy with the Judaism he had – but again, he has not honestly looked at the text that tells us about the Messianic claims of Yeshua. 

I came to believe in Yeshua because I recognized that the promise of Yeshua is in the Tanakh.  I have come to understand that there is a picture of a lowly Messiah in the Hebrew Scriptures (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53; Zechariah 12:10),  that this picture was recognized by the rabbis in his day (though they did not recognize him when he came), and is even recorded in the Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 98a; b. Sukkah 52a).  Over the years I am more and more amazed at the Jewish sensibilities in the B’rit Hadashah, and how consistent it is with the Tanakh.

And I know that everything that is written in the Tanakh is a preparation for the time of Yeshua’s coming – the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the covenant at Sinai with its sacrificial system and its laws of sanctification; the promises to David and through the Prophets.  Ultimately the Hebrew Scriptures are about Messiah Yeshua.

But if you won’t read the book, you can’t know the truth.  The truth that I have found, that many Jewish people have found, is that the most Jewish thing you can do is to believe in the Messiah promised by Moses and the Prophets – and that Messiah is Yeshua.  For if he is not the Messiah to the Jews then he can be nobody’s Messiah.

Why not check out the truth for yourself.  Read the Hebrew Scriptures.  Read the New Testament as well.  If you need a copy we would be happy to provide you with one – just email us.  Then ask the Lord of all Creation to show you His truth.  Not my truth – and not the rabbis’ truth – but His truth.

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. (Jeremiah 33:3)”

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)”

If you want, give us a call and we’ll talk!  Call 647-439-2936 and ask for Daniel.  Or email us at info@newcovenantforum.org. 

Or check out our website at www.newcovenantforum.org.

You don’t have to agree with us.  But, at least, make your decision from an informed perspective.

I would love to receive your instructive and constructive response.

Given that our entire faith rests in the person of Yeshua (Jesus), that He was indeed the long-awaited Messiah of Israel and the Saviour of the world, it is critical that evidence be found for this claim in the Scriptures.
 
Following His death and resurrection, the New Covenant Scriptures (New Testament) record the following conversation that Yeshua had with His disciples.

“These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
 
And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ [Messiah] to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:44-49 New King James Version [NKJV]).

Luke, one the twelve disciples of Yeshua, records Yeshua’s assertion that the Jewish Scriptures (i.e. Law of Moses, Prophets, Psalms) repeatedly spoke of the coming of Messiah in terms of His life, death, and resurrection. Not only do the Jewish Scriptures speak of this suffering Messiah, Yeshua further declared that “repentance and remission of sins” came through Him, and that this message was to be proclaimed throughout the entire world, beginning in Jerusalem.
 
Luke’s assertion that Yeshua “opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” is further indication of the disciple’s firm belief that Yeshua was the very Son of God, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world.
 
Another of Yeshua’s disciples, John, also recorded the life and ministry of the Messiah. He makes explicit statements regarding the person and character of Yeshua as he describes the ministry of John the Baptist, who came preaching a message of repentance, warning Israel to prepare for the coming of her Messiah.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
 
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 bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (John 1:1-18 NKJV).

There can be no doubt that John believed Yeshua was the Messiah, a belief which included his conviction that Yeshua was the incarnate God Himself. His commitment to Yeshua’s deity concurs with the prophet Isaiah who had prophesied the coming of Messiah some 700 years earlier.

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7 NKJV).

Early in Yeshua’s ministry, as recorded by John, we see evidence that others recognized the messianic credentials of Yeshua. Here’s how John records it:

…Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
 
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
 
Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” [John 1:43-51 NKJV]

Numerous citations from the New Covenant Scriptures demonstrate both Yeshua’s claim and the disciples’ belief that he was indeed Israel’s long-awaited Messiah.

We welcome your comments and questions about our belief that Yeshua (Jesus) is Israel’s long-awaited Messiah, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of all who repent and trust in Him as Lord and Savior.

“Hello. Is this David Daniels?” the voice on the other end of the line asked.

“Yes, this is David Daniels,” I replied.

“Your organization left some literature in my mailbox today.  Are you Jewish?”

“No, Sir”, I said. “I’m not Jewish.”

“Oh”, he responded, and after a slight hesitation went on to say, “Well, your envelope says ‘A Gift For You,’ but it’s not a gift, it’s poison!” his voice rising in agitation. It was obvious my caller was unhappy with the material we left at his house.

“Sir, the gift we are offering is a Bible, and I don’t think you really believe the Bible is poison.”

“It is poison!” he retorted. “I don’t want you to leave anymore literature at my house. Give your ‘gift’ to the Muslims and Christians. They need it more than we do. Do you remember the 6,000,000 Jews who were annihilated at the hands of Christians?”

“Yes, Sir, I am aware of the holocaust, and it is a very tragic point in history. Our desire is to get the Word of God into people’s hands, but it is not our intention to irritate anyone. If you don’t want to receive anymore literature, just give me your name and address. We keep a list of those who do not want to receive our literature, and when our workers go through that neighbourhood in the future, they avoid leaving material at those homes.”

“I don’t want to give you my name and address.”

“Sir, unless I know your address, I can’t ensure that our staff won’t leave literature at your house in the future.”

“I live on ______ Ave.”

“Where on ______?” I asked.

“I don’t want to tell you. All of us on this street feel the same way.”

“Well, you are the only person who has phoned us from your street, so we would not deprive others of the opportunity to hear our message unless they personally requested it. So, without your address, sooner or later our workers will leave material at your home again.”

“Stay out of our neighborhood!” he warned, the agitation in his voice rising. “We don’t want your poison. If you come back, you’d better watch out.”

“Sir, that sounds like a threat,” I said. “We don’t respond to threats, and one day we will be back on your street. If you give me your house number, I’ll ensure that our people don’t leave anything there in the future.”

“I don’t want your poison,” he blurted, “and I am not going to give you my address.  Good-bye!” and he hung up the phone.

To my knowledge, no one at New Covenant House has ever met this man. We do not know his name or address, but we do know that he is Jewish, and that he lives in an area with many Orthodox families, many of whom attend a Chabad synagogue. Sooner or later, we will be on his street again, seeking a hearing for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Perhaps God will soften his heart to the call of Messiah Jesus.

Sharing the gospel with those who do not want it is never easy, but that is what we are called to do. Jesus told his followers to “make disciples of all the nations (peoples), baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…(Matthew 28:19-20). Our commission is not to stay among those who welcome our message, but to go throughout the entire world, calling upon all to repent of sin and to trust in Jesus alone for salvation. That includes taking the gospel to Jewish communities.

My caller may have labeled our literature poison, but in reality is was the gospel contained in the Word of God – the only antidote to the true poison of thinking one can achieve right standing with God apart from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We do not enjoy rejection, and we often find ourselves discouraged with the seemingly meager response to our evangelistic work. But our hope rests in the God who declares that there is a “remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5) within the Jewish community. As God’s people stand with us in prayer and financial support, we will continue to proclaim Jesus as Messiah and Saviour to all who will believe.

Moses received the Torah from HASHEM on Mount Sinai. Comprised of ten statements, this is a summary of the divine law which God intended to be the guide for Israel in its mandate to be a witness to the whole world that there was but one true God.

These commands can be found in the Holy Scriptures in the opening verses of the 20th chapter of Exodus (Yisro). The quoted verses below are taken from Tanach: The Stone Edition (Artscroll Series, Mesorah Publications, Ltd., 1996).

• You shall not recognize the gods of others in My presence.
• You shall not make yourself a carved image nor any likeness of that which is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the water beneath the earth. You shall not prostrate yourself to them nor worship them, for I am HASHEM, your God - a jealous God, Who visits the sin of father upon children to the third and fourth generations, for My enemies; but Who shows kindness for thousands [of generations] to those who love Me and observe My commandments.
• You shall not take the Name of HASHEM, your God, in vain, for HASHEM will not absolve anyone who takes His Hame in vain.
• Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it. Six days shall you work and accomplish all your work; but the sevent day is Sabbath to HASHEM, your God; you shall not do any work - you, your son, your daughter, your slave, your maidservant, your animal, and your convert within your gates - for in six days HASHEM made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, HASHEM blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.
• Honor your father and your mother, so that your days will be lengthened upon the land that HASHEM, your God, gives you.
• You shall not kill;
• You shall not commit adultery;
• you shall not steal;
• you shall not bear false witness against your fellow.
• You shall not covet your fellow’s house. You shall not covet your fellow’s wife, his manservant, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your fellow.

If you study these commands, you will discover two kinds of laws - those concerning our relationship with God, and those concerning our relationships with one another. What I find fascinating about this is that it fits so well with the answer Yeshua (Jesus) gave to the Jewish religious leaders of his day when asked to state what was the greatest commandment in the Law.

We read in the New Covenant Scriptures (commonly known as the New Testament) that one of the Pharisees, “an expert in the law”, came to Jesus and asked the following question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  The gospel writer, Matthew records Jesus’ response.

Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

By comparing the answer Jesus gave to this “expert in the law,” with the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20, it is clear that the first four commandments relate to our love for God, while commandments five through ten concern our relationships with those around us. Jesus is able, in one statement, to sum up the entire Torah - love God supremely and love each other sincerely.

I suspect few people who believe there is one true God will disagree with the answer Jesus gave. But let’s go just one step further. How can we love God supremely?

From my reading of both the Tanach and the New Covenant (Testament) Scriptures, the clearest way we express our love for God is by recognizing and receiving his gift of grace to us - the salvation accomplished by the life, death and resurrection of Messiah Jesus - for Messiah Jesus is none other than God manifest in human flesh. This is how John writes of it in his gospel account:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth”  (John 1:1,10-14 Holy Bible, New International Version).

Our great passion here at New Covenant Forum is to encourage conversation about Jesus, for we are convinced that he alone holds the hope of our salvation. I welcome you to join the conversation.

I vividly recall a conversation I once had with a friend - a devoutly orthodox Jewish man. We were talking about my vocation as an evangelical Christian pastor, and in particular, about my desire to share the gospel of Jesus (Yeshua) with Jewish people. As we talked, he said:

“I don’t like what you do, but I understand why you do it. You are simply doing what Christians are supposed to do. Christians are supposed to share their faith with others, including Jewish people.”

In saying this, my friend was concuring with something the Apostle Peter wrote to first century Christians scattered throughout the ancient world of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1 Peter 1:1). To them he wrote:

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1Peter 3:15 NIV).

As Christians we have been called to go into the entire world, seeking a hearing for the gospel. We have the words of Yeshua to that effect.

“Jesus came to them [his disciples] and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV).

A few years ago a Lubavitch young man accused me of “targeting Jews” in my work at New Covenant Forum. I replied:

“If you know anything about Christianity, you will know that Christians ‘target’ the whole world. We are interested in speaking with anyone who is not a follower of Messiah Jesus. And in our desire to share our faith as widely as we can, we share that message with Jewish people also. Why would we go to the whole world and neglect to share our deepest beliefs with our Jewish friends and neighbors?”

As implausible as it might sound right now, there is a day coming when thousands upon thousands of Jewish people will acknowledge Yeshua (Jesus of Nazareth) as their Messiah and Savior. Rabbi-turned-gospel-preacher, Paul, wrote to the ancient church at Rome about a coming time when many of his countrymen, Jewish men and women, would turn to Messiah in repentance and faith (See Romans 9-11). We work in anticipation of that coming day, and we look forward with eager anticipation for the time when the Apostle John’s vision becomes current reality.

“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb [Jesus]. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb’” (Revelation 7:9-10 NIV).

My friend was right. I am simply doing what Christians do. I’d love to talk with you about that if you care to post a comment.