Judaism

A Debt, a Love, and a Burden

No people on earth stand closer to the Christian faith than the Jewish people. Our Bible came to us through them. Our Savior was born a Jew, and He will return as Israel's King. Jesus said salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22). Every Christian owes a debt he can't repay, so the right way to begin this study is with gratitude.

“Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.”ROMANS 9:4–5 · KJV

Judaism does not belong with the cults in this section. It doesn't borrow Christian words, and its roots are in God's true revelation to Abraham and Moses. Its Scriptures are our Old Testament. Yet it stops short of the One those Scriptures promised. That is why Paul, a Jew and a former Pharisee, wrote this about his own people.

“I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:”ROMANS 9:1–3 · KJV

Notice the tone: great heaviness and continual sorrow. If we can't speak of the Jewish people with that kind of love, we shouldn't speak at all. Three convictions guide this study.

• Israel has a future. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance (Romans 11:29). The church has not replaced Israel. See Israel and the Church.
• Contempt for the Jewish people is sin. Christians must say so plainly, and the history below shows why.
• Salvation is by faith in Christ alone, for Jew and Gentile alike. The Gospel is to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16).