Addressing Christianity

First of all , let me make mention that there is absolutely nothing wrong in regards to the salvation of Christians. They have accepted Yeshua, and they are engrafted into the covenant of Israel, as one in the body. I have yet to see a single instance in which the Bible was utilized to state that the Torah was no longer in necessity. However, given the writings of the Pharisees and the Talmud of the time period (as we have seen, there are two, the Babylonian and the Jerusalem, and we will expand upon this later), Rav Shaul (or Paul) was needed to take care of a few misconceptions surrounding the use of the Torah. With this stated it is now time to address the Christians.

What separates the Messianic Jews from the Christians? Well nothing should, and Romans 1:16 states that 16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. This meaning that the Gospel is for both the Jew and the Gentile. The engrafting of the Gentile into the Jewish community is found within the chapters of Romans 9-11. The Christian movement today has separated itself from its earlier Messianic roots and its earlier traditions Of course there are a myriad versions of the Christian church today, and it has rooted division in the forms of Catholicism, movements coming out of the Reformation period, and the Restoration Period. There are so many different forms of Christianity today that it would be impossible for me to list them all here. We shall begin with the beginning of Messianic Judaism, and discuss how it became somewhat (tho not significantly so) opposed by Christians.

First of all a modern day viewpoint of Christianity is that the Torah is no longer needed. However, the question for whether the Torah is for today can easily be answered by a few quotations. Matthew 5:17-20 states plainly by Yeshua, "17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Torah until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law (legalism), you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." If the most significant leader states this out of the movement, it should be followed. Additionally, the second most influential party within the movement was Paul. He had a chance in Acts 21 to nullify the Torah. Due to issues that Paul had written to believers in Rome and Galatia, confusion arose as to whether or not Paul followed and approved of the Torah. The elders gave him the option of disproving allegations by paying for four of the elders who had taken the Nazirite vow from Numbers 6. He also was to go through a purificaiton immersion. Paul followed through with this in verse 26. Another area which states Paul's approval of the Torah is in Galations 3:21 where it is stated "Is the Torah then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be." Thus Messianics consider that the Torah is good for today.

In addition, Messianics also consider that the Torah is good for all people. Numbers 15:14-16 states "14 For the generations to come, whenever an alien or anyone else living among you presents an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to the LORD, he must do exactly as you do. 15 The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD : 16 The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living among you.' " The word translated "alien" here is actually the word that means "non-Jew." Thus we consider the Torah to be also true for both Jew and Gentile, both one in the body of Messiah.

The question that must be answered is whether or not we believe the Torah is for salvational purposes? Not only do Messianics not believe that the Torah is for salvational purposes, we believe it never was meant to be for a permanent salvational purpose in the first place. We simply believe that faith without works is dead (that should sound familiar to Christians). Part of the works we believe that are essential are from the Torah or the teaching.

How has Christianity developed, and taken a different approach to the Bible than Messianic Jews over the centuries? This started with the early church fathers. In heavy part, the pagan Constantine is to blame, but it definitely extends beyond him. This anti-semitism began in the Epistle of Barnabas which stated "Take heed to yourselves and be not like some, piling up your sins and saying that the covenant is theirs as well as ours. It is ours, but they lost it completely just after Moses received it..."(Epistle 4:6-7). The covenant is believed to be no longer for the Jewish people, and further expounded upon this by stating that circumcision and the Shabbat were no longer valid. He states "We, too, would observe your circumcision of the flesh, your Sabbath days, and in a word all your festivals, if we were not aware of the reason why they were imposed upon you, namely, because of your sins and hardness of heart." (Dialogue 18,2). Samuele Bacchiocchi states in reference to Martyr, "what better way to evidence the Christians' distinction from the Jews then by adopting a different day of worship?" The rejection of the Torah was replaced by pagan ideas, up to and including worshipping on the same day as the "Sun." Martyr may have been according to Bacchiocchi attempting to "make the Emperor aware that Christians were not Jewish rebels but obedient citizens....the Romans already at that time venerated the day of the Sun....and repeated references to such a day could well represent a calculated effort to draw the Christians closer to the Roman customs than to those of the Jews." (From Sabbath to Sunday, p 230). The early Church's main motive was to make the Gospels approvable by the pagans and to convince the government that they were not Jews. John Chrysostom was a fourth century preacher who has been known as a positive influence on the Christian church, and has received praise from Earle E. Cairns's book "Through the Centuries." However, while this be the case, his viewpoints against his fellow Jewish worshippers was one of staunch hatred. "How can Christians dare "have the slightest converse" with the Jews, "most miserable of all men...men who are rapacious, greedy, perfidious bandits....ravenous murderers, detroyers, men possessed by the devil..." The Synagogue? It is the domicile of the devil, as is also the soul of the Jews. Their religion is 'a disease." (Flannery, The Anguish of the Jews, p 50-52). He continues by making a claim that the Jews are Christ killers whose law should have no part in the life of a Christian. "He who can never love Christ enough will never have done fighting against them [the Jews] who hate Him. Flee, then, their assemblies, flee their houses, and far from venerating the synagogue because of the books it contains, hold it in hatred and aversion for the same reason. I hate the synagogue precisely because it has the law and the Prophets....I hate the Jews because they outrage the law." (Flannery, The Anguish of the Jews, p 50-52.) Over the course of many centuries, this has led to the division within the church today. Instead of embracing the Jews and following the practices of the Torah as we all were supposed to, the Christians ended up rejecting the Jews, and expelling their practices from their churches. This was solely
in order to get the Romans to be more embracing within the first century to their beliefs. The result is the Christians decided to turn against the Torah, and Judaism. They wanted to show the Romans that one can be in opposition to Judaism and follow Yeshua. Funny enough, Yeshua was a Jew, so to be in opposition of Yeshua and his people, wouldn't make a lot of sense in the long run, as according to Romans 10:12. We shall build upon this understanding in later articles.