Thank you Mottel for clarifying what is a Jew. Amazing how many gentile Christians don't know, or have forgotten, that Jews are descendants from the 12 sons of Jacob, whose name, God changed to Israel. Many Christians don't know that either. I'm always amazed.
Rabbi: Please clarify Romans 2:29. “But he is a Jew, who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of G-d.” I ask this question with respect to those who are ethnically Gentiles, but have been born again in Messiah. Is Paul referring to them or specifically ethnic Israel? Your teachings have been such a blessing to me.
Hello Sean, Several years ago I wrote a full article in response to that very question, it appeared in both the Print and Online versions of Ariel Magazine. It is long, so it is posted in the next 2 comments: - - - - WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY ABOUT “SPIRITUAL JEWS” ? The Question: Do non-Jews become “Spiritual Jews” if they come to faith in Jesus, and are Jewish people who believe in Jesus still Jews? - Four Bible Passages by Mottel Baleston - www.MessiahNJ.org - Often when I have just finished as the guest preacher at a church service, and am greeting people at the door as they leave, someone will say to me: “It’s so wonderful that you, a Jewish man, have come to accept Jesus as your Savior, but really, aren’t we all now ‘spiritual Jews’ because we believe in Jesus”. Then they smile, believing they have said something that will make me feel welcome in their church. This is said in a friendly manner and in full innocence. Their last statement is not really a question, they just assume it’s a universally accepted doctrine that all believers in Jesus become spiritual Jews. It would be nice if this doctrine, though false, could be overlooked simply as a minor and innocent error, perhaps just people thinking that it would serve to unite the church. However, history is full of examples where church groups and even nations who have embraced this teaching have used it as a springboard from which to form animosity toward the actual Jewish people. In its most extreme forms, this false doctrine has led to brutal violence and horror directed against Jewish families in the form of the Crusades and the Inquisition, the Pogroms which directly affected my family in Eastern Europe 1903-1906, and most recently, the Holocaust. Other than violence, what connects these events is their ideological origin: the belief that God has cast off the Jewish people for ever, and has replaced them with a new, spiritual Israel, the church. This is what is meant by the term “Replacement Theology”. That teaching came to maturity in the fourth century, with the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church, as they tried to distance themselves from the Jewish origins of Christianity. This effort of trying to cut off and deny the Jewish roots of the faith was both racist bigotry, and theologically, an effort to claim that God had transferred the covenant promises made to Israel to the new Church of Rome. If true, that would give the mantel of authority to this church. Even the invention of the Roman Catholic priesthood was meant to somehow transfer the authority of the Old Testament priesthood, which God had ordained, to this new man-made institution. Part of the effort to make this accepted was an increasingly harsh and violent series of denunciations by both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theologians against the Jewish people. John Chrysostom, viewed as a Saint in both the Roman & Eastern churches, encouraged hatred toward the Jewish people. In “First Homily Against the Jews”, Chrysostom wrote, “Jews are dogs, gluttonous, drunkards. They are beasts unfit for work… The Jews have fallen into a condition lower than the vilest animals… The synagogue is worse than a brothel and a drinking shop; it is a den of scoundrels, a temple of demons, the cavern of devils, a criminal assembly of the assassins of Christ…. I hate the Jews, … It is the duty of all Christians to hate the Jews.” While the period of the Reformation corrected some of the errors that had developed, not all were recognized. Martin Luther himself continued a shocking and visceral hatred of the Jewish people, writing: ““First, their synagogues should be set on fire… Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed, . . . travelling privileges must be absolutely forbidden to Jews…, let us drive them out of the country for all time.” Martin Luther rejected the scriptural idea that God has an eternal, unbreakable covenant with Israel, the Abrahamic covenant, and held on to the old Roman Catholic idea of the church as a new spiritual Israel. In this mindset, it becomes acceptable to many that Jewish people can be violently persecuted, as it is believed that they have been cast off by God. How in the world did Luther, devoted to the Scriptures, come up with such a view? The answer is frighteningly simple: he chose to give weight and authority to a few Scriptures that seemed to support his ideas, while ignoring the majority of Scripture which teaches a different view. We say that is frightening because it is something that is still being done today, and is rather common. “Ariel Magazine”, the periodical I write for (www.Ariel.org), has recently published studies that dealt with various Scripture passages which are used by some in an attempt to support the idea of replacement theology. In the spring 2018 issue, Dr. Gary Hedrick had a scholarly article proving from the Greek that Galatians 6:16 does not speak of the church as spiritual Israel, but rather firmly establishes the identity of a remnant of ethnic Jewish people within the church, these are the ones who are spiritual, hence spiritual Israel. This article will consider 4 Bible passages that are often misused in the same way. Here is a passage that we need to call attention to since it is sometimes quoted in an attempt to establish the idea that the church has replaced Israel forever and that God has no future for the Jewish people. Here is the first: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” Romans 2:28-29 ASV When you glance at just these two verses, they appear to support the idea that when anyone is born again, i.e, undergoes the circumcision of the heart, they become Jewish in the truest sense. However, should we put a mask over everything but those two verses and ignore the surrounding context? This idea reminds us of the old TV comedy sketch, in which a person overhears an alarming conversation through a closed-door in which a murder is being planned. Upon rushing in, he discovers two people holding paper scripts and rehearsing for a play. Yes, ignoring the context often leads to a critical misunderstanding of the facts. Regarding the verse above in Romans 2, it is not difficult to establish the context. From Rom. 1:18 thru 2:16 there is a warning given to mankind in general, both Jews and Gentiles. It establishes that the evidence for God is all around us and those who ignore it do so at their own peril. Then in Rom. 2:17 there is a sudden shift, a turning to address one specific group. The text is very clear and simple: “If you bear the name ‘Jew’, and rest upon the (Mosaic) Law, and glory in God . . . “. It then goes on to address those who are Jewish by pointing out things that are specific to what rabbinical Judaism had become by the first century, a religious system that had drifted from the original intent of Scripture. Rabbinic Judaism was confident that in holding to these outward traditions, they were acceptable to God. They believed that because of circumcision under Mosaic Law, that they were automatically acceptable in God’s sight. The passage in question corrects that mistaken view. In verses 28 and 29, he is speaking to people who were already “physically” Jewish in that they were descended from one of the 12 tribes of Israel and had received Mosaic Law circumcision. It is that group of people to whom verses 28 and 29 are addressed, and thus only to them is it applicable, when he says, in essence; you are not a Jew if you are merely one outwardly, you must ALSO be a Jew inwardly by having a circumcised heart. This would have been far better understood in that day than ours, because they understood that the very meaning of the word ‘Jew’ (Yehudah) means a praiser of God. How can one be a Jew, a praiser of God while having a heart in rebellion to Him? This coincides with the “Remnant” sub-theme of Scripture, which traces the idea that ultimately there will only be a remnant of Jewish people within the larger group who will recognize Messiah, follow Him, and be a spiritual Israel in addition to being a physical Israel. So, it is an unlawful hijacking of Romans 2:28, 29 to apply it to others than to whom it was addressed. You have no right to do that, even if the motivation is to try to make others feel more important. The fact of the body of Messiah is simple, we are all equally beloved as sons and daughters of God no matter what our ethnic origin is, we are chosen in Him. God loves the Gentile believers as Gentiles, and continues to address them as Gentiles in Romans 11. If you are a Gentile believer, you have been called into God’s family in that state. This is why first Corinthians 7:19 and 21 say: “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing . . . Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called”. - - - SECOND PART CONTINUED IN NEXT COMMENT:
Second part of article: MELTING POT OR SALAD BOWL? - THE SCRIPTURE PASSAGES: Let’s examine the Scriptures that some believe erase the identity of Jewish believers, and then see how these very same Scriptures actually teach that within the church, the very presence of Jewish believers in Jesus who can be identified as Jews is actually testimony to a promise God made. “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” Galatians 3:28 In my first week of Bible college, I learned a critical rule that all careful Bible scholars hold to be true: “a verse apart from its context becomes a pretext for anything you wanted to be” So, let’s be Bereans and take a look at the context. When you look at the entire chapter it is crystal clear that the discussion is about one issue: Are there different ways for Jews and Gentiles to be saved, to be acceptable in God’s sight? Is it necessary that one ethnic group must keep Mosaic Law and not the other? The scriptural answer is clear, as regards the method of salvation there is just one path to salvation for different ethnic groups (Jews & Greeks), one path to salvation for men and women and one path to salvation for both servants and the wealthy. If you think that verse is abolishing the distinct identity of Jewish believers, then please be honest and consistent with the passage and say that it also abolishes the distinction between men and women. How absurd is that twisted logic? Elsewhere in his Letters, the same Apostle Paul who penned Galatians speaks clearly to the many distinctions between men and women because it follows God’s creative design, as well as to their different roles in the local congregation. In essence, if you honestly and simply examine the verse within its context, it is immediately apparent that the issue being discussed is that there is just one way of salvation for all. It is the worst type of faulty and dishonest Bible study to put a mask over the rest of the Bible, examine one verse out of its context and pronounce that to be doctrine. So why do otherwise godly people persist in saying that Galatians 3:28 erases Jewish identity?? At the risk of offending, let me suggest that they may feel obligated to defend old church creeds that they have inherited, creeds that often used imaginative allegory instead of the plain meaning of the text of the Bible. A second reason why this passage is sometimes used to deny continuing Jewish identity is the desire that we all, as believers, be unified and not divided. But why do some deem it ”division” to simply recognize that God has called us from varying backgrounds to be in unity in Messiah. UNITY, NOT UNIFORMITY During the years I lived in New York City I was a member of a church that was in an ethnically diverse area. God was at work in that neighborhood and we saw people coming to faith from various backgrounds. It was wonderful to see people of various nations, practicing various cultures, yet in unity as brothers and sisters in the Messiah. It was a testimony to the fact that something supernatural was going on. None of us were under the delusion that to have unity we had to erase the ethnic identity of where each person had come from. Frankly, in most cases I’ve seen of individuals telling Jewish believers that they are no longer Jewish was simply an attempt to enforce their own personal cultural preferences on the newcomers. SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE FOR CONTINUING JEWISH IDENTITY In First Corinthians 12:12-13 we see an acknowledgment that within the body of Messiah there will continue to be distinctives: “For as the body is one, and has many members; and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Messiah. For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit” In this instance the distinctions are seen to be in the present tense, they are continuing, that’s the whole point of the unity. It demonstrates the supernatural working of God. It doesn’t make me any less ‘Christian’ when I also identify myself as a Jewish believer in Jesus, rather it identifies the great work of God in calling a remnant of His people to Himself, just as He promised he would There is another passage that confirms the continuing dual identity of Jewish believers, and that is Galatians 6:16: And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. The immediate context is that Paul was warning Gentile believers against taking Mosaic Law observance and circumcision upon themselves as an obligation. So in verse 16, he pronounces peace upon the Gentile believers who walk according to this correct biblical teaching, and he also wishes mercy on a second group, the “Israel of God“. The original Greek is very clear in portraying “the Israel of God” as a second and distinct group, a recent scholarly article by Dr. Gary Hedrick in a previous issue of ARIEL MAGAZINE (Spring 2018) explicitly proves that. Yet some modern translations have taken liberties with the text and have erased the distinct identity of the second group. Let’s allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves and recognize that God doesn’t want to erase Jewish people in the body of Messiah! Paul identifies himself as being Jewish long after he had become a believer in Jesus: “For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin” Romans 11:1. For Paul it was a current identity, not in the past, fully compatible with his identity as part of the church. So yes, Jewish believers have a dual identity. As this article started out, we are 100% Jewish and 100% Christian, fully and joyfully part of the body of Messiah, the church. At the same time God portrays us as continuing to have a Jewish identity, testimony to His promise to preserve a remnant of His Jewish people who will come to Him in saving faith. If the Jewish remnant is assimilated and erased and can’t be identified, where is the testimony ?! Praise God that he has brought both Jews and Gentiles into one new body, the church, we display the fact that he is calling together a people from every tongue, tribe and nation! In this 70th year of the re-establishment of Israel as an identifiable nation, it is the very presence of Jewish believers in Jesus, Messiah Yeshua, that affirms that God will carry out his ultimate plan for Israel, that they may come to know His Messiah. May God bless the unity between Jewish and Gentile believers in the body today as we bring to the world the Good News of the arrival of the one and only Savior for all. Mottel Baleston is a full-time Outreach worker with the MESSENGERS MESSIANIC OUTREACH www.MessiahNJ.org
Hi Steven, Here's something I wrote on that subject, 2 separate responses: - That's certainly an interesting question, and while my "acceptance" doesn't mean a whole lot, let's consider the facts. 1. If you ask Orthodox Jewish people today, they would tell you that without doubt, Jewish identity goes through the mother. Matrilineal descent. Of course, the weakness in that view is that it is both the opposite of what Scripture teaches and can be traced to a relatively recent origin, perhaps around 800 A.D. 2. The clear biblical pattern is patrilineal descent, descent through the father. We see that in many examples in the Hebrew Scriptures. In this pattern it is a consistent, unbroken descent through father to son, father to son, father to son. Strictly speaking, the line cannot zigzag to a female descendent and then zigzag back to the male line. That is strictly speaking, there does seem to be a few intriguing examples of a broader pattern in Scripture, but please understand this critical fact: there is a difference in the strictness of the laws for Levitical descent, versus the commonly accepted practice for general identification within the Jewish community. Big difference. 3. Getting to your specific question, every person has eight great grandparents. You should know that it is almost the universal practice that if a person has one clearly Jewish grandparent (not great grandparent), that person can apply for citizenship in Israel, although if the dissent is through a clearly Jewish mother it will be much easier, and if one has a single Jewish grandfather the rabbinic authorities will require conversion to Judaism in a formal way before citizenship is granted. That is the clear general practice, it can be researched. However if there is only one Jewish great grandparent, it calls into question a person's identity. Speaking in a general sense, many of the Jewish community today look askance at individuals who were raised in a totally non-Jewish environment, with two parents neither of whom identified as Jewish. All of a sudden a person finds out that great grandfather was Jewish, and goes around claiming Jewish identity. Yet that person has never experienced even the slightest hint of persecution for being Jewish, the person has not the slightest affinity or familiarity with any form of Jewish culture and has lived a life totally foreign to anything Jewish. People in the Jewish community would say to that person: we are so happy that you have an interest in being Jewish, but with the facts you've presented, you will need to go through a full conversion in order for our community to consider you Jewish. Please understand that is not what I am saying, but I can tell you with certainty that would be the reaction of over 90% of the Jewish community. As for myself, I would first ask such a person if he has actual proof of the identity of the great grand father, and that you are not going simply on a hunch, speculation, or the idea that his last name sounds Jewish. If there is unbroken true Jewish ethnic descent through the male line, unbroken patrilineal descent, then yes, one can literally claim to be a physical descendent of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. >>> Re my verbal statement on the video that "Jewish identity can be passed down either from the father OR the mother". There are two lines of response I'll make in defense of my statement: 1. I believe we need to recognize a distinction between Biblical Jewish identity for the purpose of Tribal Inheritance, Levite qualification, Davidic rights vs. Simple Jewish Identity. Clearly, as we all agree, the 3 specific categories of legal standing that I named are established by lineage thru the Father. Simple Jewish identity is acknowledged by the Apostle Paul in Acts 16:3. We understand the family identity of Timothy in 2 Tim 3:15. He was raised as a Jew, by a Jewish mother after the death of his Greek father who objected to his boy being circumcised. (Greeks worshiped the body and felt circumcision was mutilation, - I * really * disagree, but I digress) In my view Paul's move to have Timothy circumcised righted a wrong, as circumcision was commanded FIRST as part of the eternal Abrahamic Covenant. Yes, some view it as simply a 'missiological strategy' per the strategy of First Cor. 9:20 "to the Jew I became as a Jew . . . ", and if they want to believe that, well as we say in Yiddish, "A Be Gezunt" (you should live & be well), but I hold it was also to bring Timothy into line with the Abrahamic Covenant. 2. It would interest you to check Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum's commentary on Acts 16:3, seen in the Ariel Manuscript # mbs-171, page 9. There he says in black & white (well it's actually pixels on your copy) what I've heard him say in his imitable accent in live lectures 2 or 3 times and in Q & A sessions afterward, that Timothy was to be circumcised on the basis of the Abrahamic Covenant, AND that Timothy "identifying himself as a Jew was legitimate". - Steven Charles Ger in his fantastic commentary on Acts echos the same thing. - Of course, I'm speaking from a classic Dispensational stance that says that Gentile believers are full beloved of God, have First Class Premium Seats on this trip, are of equal value, but do not become Jews, "spiritual Jews", do not need to become Jews, or any such Roman Catholic inventions retained by the "partial Reformers". Mottel Baleston
While it is true that God commissioned the Jewish people to be a light to the world, by the time of Isaiah chapter 1:2-4, it is clear that all too often we were not doing that. But in His omniscience God understood that would happen, and so Messiah Yeshua was ultimately the light to the Gentiles, as seen in Isaiah 49:5, 6. Be well, Mottel Baleston
Thank you! I am looking very forward to the next part!❤🙌🏽🙏
You're welcome 😊 A new video in the series is planned to be posted every week till video 9. Other videos may be posted as well. Shalom, Mottel
Love that phase: grafted into the household of faith. Amen!
Straight outta Romans 11 !!, Shalom, Mottel
Shalom Shalom from BRASIL!! AM YISRAEL CHAI 🇮🇱❤️
Thank you Mottel for clarifying what is a Jew. Amazing how many gentile Christians don't know, or have forgotten, that Jews are descendants from the 12 sons of Jacob, whose name, God changed to Israel. Many Christians don't know that either. I'm always amazed.
Yes, basic Bible timeline. Shalom, Mottel
Rabbi: Please clarify Romans 2:29. “But he is a Jew, who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of G-d.”
I ask this question with respect to those who are ethnically Gentiles, but have been born again in Messiah. Is Paul referring to them or specifically ethnic Israel?
Your teachings have been such a blessing to me.
Hello Sean, Several years ago I wrote a full article in response to that very question, it appeared in both the Print and Online versions of Ariel Magazine.
It is long, so it is posted in the next 2 comments:
- - - -
WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY ABOUT “SPIRITUAL JEWS” ?
The Question: Do non-Jews become “Spiritual Jews” if they come to faith in Jesus, and are Jewish people who believe in Jesus still Jews? - Four Bible Passages
by Mottel Baleston - www.MessiahNJ.org
- Often when I have just finished as the guest preacher at a church service, and am greeting people at the door as they leave, someone will say to me: “It’s so wonderful that you, a Jewish man, have come to accept Jesus as your Savior, but really, aren’t we all now ‘spiritual Jews’ because we believe in Jesus”. Then they smile, believing they have said something that will make me feel welcome in their church. This is said in a friendly manner and in full innocence. Their last statement is not really a question, they just assume it’s a universally accepted doctrine that all believers in Jesus become spiritual Jews.
It would be nice if this doctrine, though false, could be overlooked simply as a minor and innocent error, perhaps just people thinking that it would serve to unite the church. However, history is full of examples where church groups and even nations who have embraced this teaching have used it as a springboard from which to form animosity toward the actual Jewish people. In its most extreme forms, this false doctrine has led to brutal violence and horror directed against Jewish families in the form of the Crusades and the Inquisition, the Pogroms which directly affected my family in Eastern Europe 1903-1906, and most recently, the Holocaust. Other than violence, what connects these events is their ideological origin: the belief that God has cast off the Jewish people for ever, and has replaced them with a new, spiritual Israel, the church. This is what is meant by the term “Replacement Theology”.
That teaching came to maturity in the fourth century, with the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church, as they tried to distance themselves from the Jewish origins of Christianity. This effort of trying to cut off and deny the Jewish roots of the faith was both racist bigotry, and theologically, an effort to claim that God had transferred the covenant promises made to Israel to the new Church of Rome. If true, that would give the mantel of authority to this church. Even the invention of the Roman Catholic priesthood was meant to somehow transfer the authority of the Old Testament priesthood, which God had ordained, to this new man-made institution.
Part of the effort to make this accepted was an increasingly harsh and violent series of denunciations by both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox theologians against the Jewish people. John Chrysostom, viewed as a Saint in both the Roman & Eastern churches, encouraged hatred toward the Jewish people.
In “First Homily Against the Jews”, Chrysostom wrote, “Jews are dogs, gluttonous, drunkards. They are beasts unfit for work… The Jews have fallen into a condition lower than the vilest animals… The synagogue is worse than a brothel and a drinking shop; it is a den of scoundrels, a temple of demons, the cavern of devils, a criminal assembly of the assassins of Christ…. I hate the Jews, … It is the duty of all Christians to hate the Jews.”
While the period of the Reformation corrected some of the errors that had developed, not all were recognized. Martin Luther himself continued a shocking and visceral hatred of the Jewish people, writing: ““First, their synagogues should be set on fire… Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed, . . . travelling privileges must be absolutely forbidden to Jews…, let us drive them out of the country for all time.” Martin Luther rejected the scriptural idea that God has an eternal, unbreakable covenant with Israel, the Abrahamic covenant, and held on to the old Roman Catholic idea of the church as a new spiritual Israel. In this mindset, it becomes acceptable to many that Jewish people can be violently persecuted, as it is believed that they have been cast off by God.
How in the world did Luther, devoted to the Scriptures, come up with such a view? The answer is frighteningly simple: he chose to give weight and authority to a few Scriptures that seemed to support his ideas, while ignoring the majority of Scripture which teaches a different view. We say that is frightening because it is something that is still being done today, and is rather common.
“Ariel Magazine”, the periodical I write for (www.Ariel.org), has recently published studies that dealt with various Scripture passages which are used by some in an attempt to support the idea of replacement theology. In the spring 2018 issue, Dr. Gary Hedrick had a scholarly article proving from the Greek that Galatians 6:16 does not speak of the church as spiritual Israel, but rather firmly establishes the identity of a remnant of ethnic Jewish people within the church, these are the ones who are spiritual, hence spiritual Israel. This article will consider 4 Bible passages that are often misused in the same way.
Here is a passage that we need to call attention to since it is sometimes quoted in an attempt to establish the idea that the church has replaced Israel forever and that God has no future for the Jewish people. Here is the first: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” Romans 2:28-29 ASV
When you glance at just these two verses, they appear to support the idea that when anyone is born again, i.e, undergoes the circumcision of the heart, they become Jewish in the truest sense. However, should we put a mask over everything but those two verses and ignore the surrounding context? This idea reminds us of the old TV comedy sketch, in which a person overhears an alarming conversation through a closed-door in which a murder is being planned. Upon rushing in, he discovers two people holding paper scripts and rehearsing for a play. Yes, ignoring the context often leads to a critical misunderstanding of the facts.
Regarding the verse above in Romans 2, it is not difficult to establish the context. From Rom. 1:18 thru 2:16 there is a warning given to mankind in general, both Jews and Gentiles. It establishes that the evidence for God is all around us and those who ignore it do so at their own peril.
Then in Rom. 2:17 there is a sudden shift, a turning to address one specific group. The text is very clear and simple: “If you bear the name ‘Jew’, and rest upon the (Mosaic) Law, and glory in God . . . “. It then goes on to address those who are Jewish by pointing out things that are specific to what rabbinical Judaism had become by the first century, a religious system that had drifted from the original intent of Scripture. Rabbinic Judaism was confident that in holding to these outward traditions, they were acceptable to God. They believed that because of circumcision under Mosaic Law, that they were automatically acceptable in God’s sight. The passage in question corrects that mistaken view. In verses 28 and 29, he is speaking to people who were already “physically” Jewish in that they were descended from one of the 12 tribes of Israel and had received Mosaic Law circumcision. It is that group of people to whom verses 28 and 29 are addressed, and thus only to them is it applicable, when he says, in essence; you are not a Jew if you are merely one outwardly, you must ALSO be a Jew inwardly by having a circumcised heart. This would have been far better understood in that day than ours, because they understood that the very meaning of the word ‘Jew’ (Yehudah) means a praiser of God. How can one be a Jew, a praiser of God while having a heart in rebellion to Him? This coincides with the “Remnant” sub-theme of Scripture, which traces the idea that ultimately there will only be a remnant of Jewish people within the larger group who will recognize Messiah, follow Him, and be a spiritual Israel in addition to being a physical Israel.
So, it is an unlawful hijacking of Romans 2:28, 29 to apply it to others than to whom it was addressed. You have no right to do that, even if the motivation is to try to make others feel more important. The fact of the body of Messiah is simple, we are all equally beloved as sons and daughters of God no matter what our ethnic origin is, we are chosen in Him. God loves the Gentile believers as Gentiles, and continues to address them as Gentiles in Romans 11. If you are a Gentile believer, you have been called into God’s family in that state. This is why first Corinthians 7:19 and 21 say: “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing . . . Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called”.
- - - SECOND PART CONTINUED IN NEXT COMMENT:
Second part of article:
MELTING POT OR SALAD BOWL? - THE SCRIPTURE PASSAGES:
Let’s examine the Scriptures that some believe erase the identity of Jewish believers, and then see how these very same Scriptures actually teach that within the church, the very presence of Jewish believers in Jesus who can be identified as Jews is actually testimony to a promise God made.
“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” Galatians 3:28
In my first week of Bible college, I learned a critical rule that all careful Bible scholars hold to be true: “a verse apart from its context becomes a pretext for anything you wanted to be”
So, let’s be Bereans and take a look at the context. When you look at the entire chapter it is crystal clear that the discussion is about one issue: Are there different ways for Jews and Gentiles to be saved, to be acceptable in God’s sight? Is it necessary that one ethnic group must keep Mosaic Law and not the other?
The scriptural answer is clear, as regards the method of salvation there is just one path to salvation for different ethnic groups (Jews & Greeks), one path to salvation for men and women and one path to salvation for both servants and the wealthy.
If you think that verse is abolishing the distinct identity of Jewish believers, then please be honest and consistent with the passage and say that it also abolishes the distinction between men and women. How absurd is that twisted logic? Elsewhere in his Letters, the same Apostle Paul who penned Galatians speaks clearly to the many distinctions between men and women because it follows God’s creative design, as well as to their different roles in the local congregation.
In essence, if you honestly and simply examine the verse within its context, it is immediately apparent that the issue being discussed is that there is just one way of salvation for all. It is the worst type of faulty and dishonest Bible study to put a mask over the rest of the Bible, examine one verse out of its context and pronounce that to be doctrine. So why do otherwise godly people persist in saying that Galatians 3:28 erases Jewish identity?? At the risk of offending, let me suggest that they may feel obligated to defend old church creeds that they have inherited, creeds that often used imaginative allegory instead of the plain meaning of the text of the Bible.
A second reason why this passage is sometimes used to deny continuing Jewish identity is the desire that we all, as believers, be unified and not divided. But why do some deem it ”division” to simply recognize that God has called us from varying backgrounds to be in unity in Messiah.
UNITY, NOT UNIFORMITY
During the years I lived in New York City I was a member of a church that was in an ethnically diverse area. God was at work in that neighborhood and we saw people coming to faith from various backgrounds. It was wonderful to see people of various nations, practicing various cultures, yet in unity as brothers and sisters in the Messiah. It was a testimony to the fact that something supernatural was going on. None of us were under the delusion that to have unity we had to erase the ethnic identity of where each person had come from. Frankly, in most cases I’ve seen of individuals telling Jewish believers that they are no longer Jewish was simply an attempt to enforce their own personal cultural preferences on the newcomers.
SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE FOR CONTINUING JEWISH IDENTITY
In First Corinthians 12:12-13 we see an acknowledgment that within the body of Messiah there will continue to be distinctives:
“For as the body is one, and has many members; and all the members of
the body, being many, are one body; so also is Messiah. For in one
Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks,
whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit”
In this instance the distinctions are seen to be in the present tense, they are continuing, that’s the whole point of the unity. It demonstrates the supernatural working of God. It doesn’t make me any less ‘Christian’ when I also identify myself as a Jewish believer in Jesus, rather it identifies the great work of God in calling a remnant of His people to Himself, just as He promised he would
There is another passage that confirms the continuing dual identity of Jewish believers, and that is Galatians 6:16:
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
The immediate context is that Paul was warning Gentile believers against taking Mosaic Law observance and circumcision upon themselves as an obligation. So in verse 16, he pronounces peace upon the Gentile believers who walk according to this correct biblical teaching, and he also wishes mercy on a second group, the “Israel of God“. The original Greek is very clear in portraying “the Israel of God” as a second and distinct group, a recent scholarly article by Dr. Gary Hedrick in a previous issue of ARIEL MAGAZINE (Spring 2018) explicitly proves that. Yet some modern translations have taken liberties with the text and have erased the distinct identity of the second group. Let’s allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves and recognize that God doesn’t want to erase Jewish people in the body of Messiah!
Paul identifies himself as being Jewish long after he had become a believer in Jesus: “For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin” Romans 11:1. For Paul it was a current identity, not in the past, fully compatible with his identity as part of the church.
So yes, Jewish believers have a dual identity. As this article started out, we are 100% Jewish and 100% Christian, fully and joyfully part of the body of Messiah, the church. At the same time God portrays us as continuing to have a Jewish identity, testimony to His promise to preserve a remnant of His Jewish people who will come to Him in saving faith. If the Jewish remnant is assimilated and erased and can’t be identified, where is the testimony ?! Praise God that he has brought both Jews and Gentiles into one new body, the church, we display the fact that he is calling together a people from every tongue, tribe and nation!
In this 70th year of the re-establishment of Israel as an identifiable nation, it is the very presence of Jewish believers in Jesus, Messiah Yeshua, that affirms that God will carry out his ultimate plan for Israel, that they may come to know His Messiah.
May God bless the unity between Jewish and Gentile believers in the body today as we bring to the world the Good News of the arrival of the one and only Savior for all.
Mottel Baleston is a full-time Outreach worker with the MESSENGERS MESSIANIC OUTREACH www.MessiahNJ.org
Shalom moreh, how can I contact you?
Shalom, as seen in the video description, my website is www.MessiahNJ.org, email from there. Shalom, Mottel
John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Being from the 12 tribes of Israel.....is that the paternal or maternal side, or does it not matter?
Hi Steven, Here's something I wrote on that subject, 2 separate responses:
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That's certainly an interesting question, and while my "acceptance" doesn't mean a whole lot, let's consider the facts.
1. If you ask Orthodox Jewish people today, they would tell you that without doubt, Jewish identity goes through the mother. Matrilineal descent. Of course, the weakness in that view is that it is both the opposite of what Scripture teaches and can be traced to a relatively recent origin, perhaps around 800 A.D.
2. The clear biblical pattern is patrilineal descent, descent through the father. We see that in many examples in the Hebrew Scriptures. In this pattern it is a consistent, unbroken descent through father to son, father to son, father to son. Strictly speaking, the line cannot zigzag to a female descendent and then zigzag back to the male line. That is strictly speaking, there does seem to be a few intriguing examples of a broader pattern in Scripture, but please understand this critical fact: there is a difference in the strictness of the laws for Levitical descent, versus the commonly accepted practice for general identification within the Jewish community. Big difference.
3. Getting to your specific question, every person has eight great grandparents. You should know that it is almost the universal practice that if a person has one clearly Jewish grandparent
(not great grandparent), that person can apply for citizenship in Israel, although if the dissent is through a clearly Jewish mother it will be much easier, and if one has a single Jewish grandfather the rabbinic authorities will require conversion to Judaism in a formal way before citizenship is granted. That is the clear general practice, it can be researched. However if there is only one Jewish great grandparent, it calls into question a person's identity.
Speaking in a general sense, many of the Jewish community today look askance at individuals who were raised in a totally non-Jewish environment, with two parents neither of whom identified as Jewish.
All of a sudden a person finds out that great grandfather was Jewish, and goes around claiming Jewish identity. Yet that person has never experienced even the slightest hint of persecution for being Jewish, the person has not the slightest affinity or familiarity with any form of Jewish culture and has lived a life totally foreign to anything Jewish. People in the Jewish community would say to that person: we are so happy that you have an interest in being Jewish, but with the facts you've presented, you will need to go through a full conversion in order for our community to consider you Jewish. Please understand that is not what I am saying, but I can tell you with certainty that would be the reaction of over 90% of the Jewish community.
As for myself, I would first ask such a person if he has actual proof of the identity of the great grand father, and that you are not going simply on a hunch, speculation, or the idea that his last name sounds Jewish.
If there is unbroken true Jewish ethnic descent through the male line, unbroken patrilineal descent, then yes, one can literally claim to be a physical descendent of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
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Re my verbal statement on the video that "Jewish identity can be passed down either from the father OR the mother".
There are two lines of response I'll make in defense of my statement:
1. I believe we need to recognize a distinction between Biblical Jewish identity for the purpose of Tribal Inheritance, Levite qualification, Davidic rights vs. Simple Jewish Identity. Clearly, as we all agree, the 3 specific categories of legal standing that I named are established by lineage thru the Father.
Simple Jewish identity is acknowledged by the Apostle Paul in Acts 16:3. We understand the family identity of Timothy in 2 Tim 3:15. He was raised as a Jew, by a Jewish mother after the death of his Greek father who objected to his boy being circumcised.
(Greeks worshiped the body and felt circumcision was mutilation, - I * really * disagree, but I digress)
In my view Paul's move to have Timothy circumcised righted a wrong, as circumcision was commanded FIRST as part of the eternal Abrahamic Covenant. Yes, some view it as simply a 'missiological strategy' per the strategy of First Cor. 9:20
"to the Jew I became as a Jew . . . ", and if they want to believe that, well as we say in Yiddish, "A Be Gezunt" (you should live & be well), but I hold it was also to bring Timothy into line with the Abrahamic Covenant.
2. It would interest you to check Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum's commentary on Acts 16:3, seen in the Ariel Manuscript # mbs-171, page 9. There he says in black & white (well it's actually pixels on your copy) what I've heard him say in his imitable accent in live lectures 2 or 3 times and in Q & A sessions afterward, that Timothy was to be circumcised on the basis of the Abrahamic Covenant, AND that Timothy "identifying himself as a Jew was legitimate". - Steven Charles Ger in his fantastic commentary on Acts echos the same thing.
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Of course, I'm speaking from a classic Dispensational stance that says that Gentile believers are full beloved of God, have First Class Premium Seats on this trip, are of equal value, but do not become Jews, "spiritual Jews", do not need to become Jews, or any such Roman Catholic inventions retained by the "partial Reformers". Mottel Baleston
@@messengersmessianicjewisho1058 I am so impressed that you took the time to send me this explanation...thank you so much. Stevie
Are not the Jews meant to bring salvation to the Gentile - like you mentioned create a pathway for Gentiles to be grafted in
While it is true that God commissioned the Jewish people to be a light to the world, by the time of Isaiah chapter 1:2-4, it is clear that all too often we were not doing that. But in His omniscience God understood that would happen, and so Messiah Yeshua was ultimately the light to the Gentiles,
as seen in Isaiah 49:5, 6.
Be well, Mottel Baleston