Judeo-Christianity vs Judaism

over the weekend, york cu hosted two messianic Jews - stephen pacht (the uk director of Jews for Jesus) and yoel ben david (a missionary with Jews for Jesus). we had seminars on messianic prophecies, the Jewish roots of Christianity and Jewish objections to Jesus. stephen also spoke on Christ in the Passover at york evangelical church on sun.

for me personally, it was a real blessing to talk to stephen and yoel and find out more about the Jewish roots of Christianity.

Judeo-Christianity is not a misnomer. it is genuine Christianity. Jesus was a Jew, as were all the apostles and most of the early church. to this end, Jews should not reject Judeo-Christianity (in favour of Judaism) because it is not Jewish enough. equally, Gentiles should not reject Judeo-Christianity (in favour of the prosperity gospel) because it is too Jewish. indeed, the only way to understand the New Covenant is to understand it as the fulfillment of the Old Covenant (ie. the Jewish Scriptures).

Christ's Sacrifice Once for All

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming - not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." - Hebrews 10:1-4 (NIV)

it is a misconception that being under the Old Covenant is about being saved by keeping the law, while being under the New Covenant is about being saved by grace through faith. the truth is, being under the Old Covenant is about being saved by grace through faith (made complete by works of the law), while being under the New Covenant is about being saved by grace through faith (made complete by works).

"Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am - it is written about me in the scroll - I have come to do your will, O God.'"

"First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifices of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." - Hebrews 10:5-10 (NIV)

to be sure, believers under the Old Covenant kept the law. however, the law never had the power to save. rather, the law was always intended to point towards (and eventually give way to) the New Covenant in Christ. in other words, believers under the Old Covenant kept the law not because the law had the power to save, but because keeping the law demonstrated their faith in the promises of God.

"But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." - Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV)

Jews and Gentiles

"All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares." - Romans 2:12-16 (NIV)

keeping the law is not the moral boundary between believers and unbelievers, but the ethnic boundary between Jews and Gentiles. it just so happened that under the Old Covenant, the ethnic boundary between Jews and Gentiles was the moral boundary between believers and unbelievers - because salvation had not yet come to the Gentiles. under the Old Covenant, Gentiles became spiritual Jews by becoming physical Jews (even as not all physical Jews were spiritual Jews).

under the New Covenant, the ethnic boundary between Jews and Gentiles is no longer the moral boundary between believers and unbelievers - because salvation has now come to the Gentiles. under the New Covenant, Gentiles become spiritual Jews by faith in Christ alone, apart from becoming physical Jews.

to sum up, the difference between Judeo-Christianity and Judaism is that in Judeo-Christianity, the ethnic boundary between Jews and Gentiles is no longer the moral boundary between believers and unbelievers, but a matter of conscience between Jewish believers and Gentile believers; in Judaism, the ethnic boundary between Jews and Gentiles remains the moral boundary between believers and unbelievers.