New Thread regarding faith/knowledge

[FastActionRodTip]

one thing that I just don't understand is the Jewish faith. The Israelites are God's chosen people. Christians believe in the Resurrection but the Jews do not. Christians believe that you must believe in Jesus Christ who died for our sins to make it to Heaven, but the Jews do not. Who's right? One group has to be wrong, right? How could God's chosen people be wrong? I'm baffled by so much contradiction it makes my head spin.

[rimrock]

Israel is God’s chosen people, but who is Israel? In the OT God chose the descendants of Abraham as His people, this later came to be the Nation of Israel you are thinking of. Now we see in the NT in many places from the pen of Paul regarding “the mystery of the Gospel which is now revealed.” For example in Romans 11 we see the Israel of God is actually made of Jew & Gentile which is the church today – “the mystery”.

The question is very important and the answers given to them often lead to different answers affecting both religious and political views. They are often seen as the basis for totally supporting the present day State of Israel unless we be cursed by God, which counters NT teaching as well as the false notion that all Jewish people will be saved.

Who really is Israel? The NT makes it clear the true Israel is made up of believers. As St. Paul states, it is children of faith who are the children of Abraham and he calls them the Israel of God. Israel was chosen as the nation through which God would fulfill his promise of sending a Messiah for the salvation of all humanity. It is the people who believe in Jesus as the Messiah sent by God who are the true Israel. It is in that sense, Israel is God's chosen people. It is not the Nation or the race as such, apart from faith, who are God's chosen.

The Bible also makes it clear there is no warrant for saying apart from Christ there is salvation. Jesus Himself said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." While we certainly cannot limit God who may act as He wishes, we have no warrant for saying there is salvation for anyone apart from faith in Christ. Consequently we should certainly pray for the conversion of Jewish people who do not know Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior, just as we pray for all others who do not have that faith.

Faith in God has always been the path of salvation. That path in the OT looked forward to the coming Messiah, the NT path looks back to the Messiah. It is the Cross that sits at the fulcrum of salvation.

[Dullhook]

Great explanation, Rimrock! :applause:

Hebrews 3.6

"But Christ, God's faithful Son, is in complete charge of God's house. And we Christians are God's house--He lives in us!--if we keep our courage firm to the end, and our joy and our trust in the Lord". :angel1:

[in 'em]

I agree totally with rimrock.

A little simpler explanation of the Jewish faith verses Christian faith is this...(and I may not be 100% correct so correct me if you know more about it)...

Before Christ came to this earth, Jews and Christians were the same in a sense (there was no such thing as a Christian yet, as Christ had not come yet), abiding by the Old Testament Law. Once Christ came, provided us with an example and the perfect sacrifice, dying on the cross for our sins and rising again, those (Jews and others) who accepted him as savior were now called "Christians" as they believed in what Christ had done for them. Modern day Jews do not believe that Jesus was the messiah and are still waiting for him. Therefore, the Jews of today do not believe that Jesus was the messiah and therefore will not receive the gift of eternal life as those who believe in the messiah will.
The scary part is that Jews believe the "coming messiah" will bring peace to the world and several other criteria will be met when he comes. However, these same criteria are what christians believe to be the signs of the antichrist. So, Jews may believe that the antichrist is the messiah!

Please correct me if I'm wrong on some of this as I do not claim to know much about the Jewish faith.

[Simon Peter]

Rimrock! Praise God! I honestly do not find a lot of brothers who understand this well like you have explained. I appreciate your insight!

Jehovah has always worked with those of Faith. Hebrews 11 outlines this lineage of faith. Salvation does not come through our genetic heritage, but through Faith. Even in the Old Covenant, those of Faith were brought into the Promised Land (Caleb & Joshua) - they were the spies who had faith in their God. The others perished in the wilderness. Caleb & Joshua entered into the promised land.

The Old Covenant (Covenant of Circumcision) is fulfilled by the coming of the Christ. Now the New Covenant is the Covenant of blood shed on the Cross. The New Covenant we celebrate when believers come together - we share the bread & the wine to remember the blood shed on the cross and His Body that was broken for us.

Blessings!

[FastActionRodTip]

It amazes me that the US is so Pro Israel with such fundamental religious disagreements...don't get me wrong, I'm glad we are, without 'US', they wouldn't have a friend in the world, someone has to stick up for the underdog and that's usually what we do, God Bless America!

[Simon Peter]

From the best of my knowledge I believe that the staunch stance for Israel by the USA is due to a primarily "dispensational" viewpoint that "The Nation Of Israel" is critical to end-time prophecy.

Dispensationalism is a viewpoint that God is working in several dispensations of time. One of these is called the "Church Age". Then he will later again work with the nation of Israel.

While not all Christians hold this viewpoint, this is what is primarily taught in Protestant seminaries around the world.

There are other view points on "Eschatology" (End-Times) which would lead you to a different viewpoint similar to that described by some others on this posting.

If you believe that God is not going to restore a Nation of Israle, then you probably would not end up with such a staunch viewpoint that we must be so involved in their affairs.

This is a informative post, not a post to inflame anybody who has a different viewpoint. Just bringing a little light to the topic. :wave: