Posted on 10/23/2010 6:06:40 PM PDT by papabrody
Sorry, but I'm not going to throw over 2000 years of teaching from the Orthodox Church for some 30 year old evangelical fad about Jews not needing to join the Church to be in obedience to God.
Indeed, St. Paul's declaration that there is no distinction between Jew and Greek shows that all are justified only through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no longer a separate covenant with the Jews apart from that which God made with all mankind in Jesus Christ. But this does not mean that gentile Christians have "replaced" the Jews but rather that in Jesus Christ they have been grafted into Israel. The Christian faith is not a replacement for the covenant with Israel but its fulfillment and true continuation.
That being said don't worry about us. If you truly care, then you will stop this witnessing nightmare and just love us for who we are; you friends, your neighbors, your co-workers.....get to know us instead of trying to steal our souls.
Every morning I recite the Shema. Every Jew will tell you that when recited, you feel something stir deep down in your soul, very primitive and ancient......secure in knowing we were there when G-d spoke:
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד
Be our friends instead of thorns in our side.
The Jews will always be the Chosen People. Christ’s parables often spoke of the disappointment of the Owner of the vineyard in His people but they were still His people. He invited other laborers in to work the vineyard, but His longing for His Chosen People never waned.
I believe Jews who become Christians will have places of honor in Heaven. They saw the foreshadowings of the Messiah in the Torah and found Him in Christ, as they were meant to do.
Why would you care what comes out of Tel Aviv anyhow?
Besides Yerushalayim is where it's at :)
Thank you for your post, but I respectfully decline
I like your post very much. We should be your friends and you should be secure in your knowledge of the Law and God’s love for you.
I am Catholic and I believe you have a special place in God’s heart. I don’t presume to know what God has in store for the Jews. It is a special and unique relationship.
As a Catholic, I am convinced that Christ fulfilled the prophesies of the Messiah and I honor the many Catholic traditions that are built on Jewish customs. We are the outsiders brought in to work the vineyard, but we are not the original, or most beloved, laborers. Still, it is an honor to work in the Owner’s vineyard in any capacity He will allow us.
Witnessing should not become a nightmare for people. As Saint Francis said, “Preach the Gospel at all times and, when necessary, use words.” Our lives and actions should witness for us.
I don't write the scriptures...I just read 'em and believe 'em...But just for the record, no one has to join any church to be in obedience to God...
Folks that get saved are automatically a member of the church that Jesus created...
No one has been grafted into Israel...Christians have been grafted into the church, the Body of Christ...
Israel does not become the Bride of Christ...Only born again Christians become the Bride of Christ...Only Born again Jews become the Bride of Christ...Only born again Gentiles become the Bride of Christ...
That's why there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, in Christ...Outside of Christ it's a different story...
And I thought that you knew Scripture:
[1] I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. [2] God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Eli'jah, how he pleads with God against Israe [3] "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have demolished thy altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life." [4] But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Ba'al." [5] So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. [6] But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. [7] What then? Israel failed to obtain what it sought. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, [8] as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear, down to this very day." [9] And David says, "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution for them; [10] let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs for ever." [11] So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. [12] Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! [13] Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry [14] in order to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. [15] For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? [16] If the dough offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. [17] But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richness of the olive tree, [18] do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. [19] You will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." [20] That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. [21] For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. [22] Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off. [23] And even the others, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. [24] For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree. [25] Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in, [26] and so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob"; [27] "and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins." [28] As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. [29] For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. [30] Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, [31] so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may receive mercy. [32] For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all. [33] O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! [34] "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" [35] "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" [36] For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.
--Romans, Chapter 11
I'm sorry you don't understand the why of it.
I have friends that are Jewish. I've witnessed to them because they are my friends. Some are disinterested and it has been left there. Others have sought to learn more. If I don't preach The Gospel to you at least once I must really hate your guts. FWIW, I try to not hate anybody.
Jews do not witness.
Christians are commanded to witness.
Conflating "witness(ing)" (Greek martyrian, also "report", "testimony") with preaching (Gr. kerysson) is erroneous.
Christians are commanded to witness
We Jews are not lost and we are not going to hell.
We already have a place in heaven.
Also, I believe that Pope Benedict has on a number of occasions expressed respect and love for the Jewish people and their faith.
There’s a seat reserved for us in Heaven, but we have to have the brains to open the invitation, the stamina and heart to make the long trip to the banquet, the determination to walk following the roadmap Christ drew up for us, and the faithfulness to live every day in friendship with the Host.
Then I would suggest you (re)read the prophets.
What is it FRiend, that you fail to understand in the name 'Evangelical'? :P
Don't take it personally - We evangelize everyone. It's what we DO.
What was/is God’s purpose in declaring a covenant with Israel? Was it not fulfilled in the incarnation of the godhead in Christ, His Messiah, and the complete and full revelation thereby of God’s plan and means of salvation?
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