Judaism and Christianity

Today I would like to briefly discuss a topic that many Christians do not think about: How Christians should witness to people practicing Judaism.

When thinking of practicing apologetics, many go straight to thinking about helping atheists or other religions such as Islam or Hinduism come to know that Jesus is the only way to salvation. However, many people forget about those practicing Judaism. After all, don’t Christians and Jews worship the same God? In reality, we do not. As Nabeel Qureshi notes in Answering Jihad, "the Trinity is an elaboration of Jewish theology, not a rejection."^[1] The God of the Old Testament is the exact same God that Jesus spoke about and proclaimed and revealed as a triune God in the New. Christians and ancient Jews of the Old Testament worshipped the same God, but Jews today do not worship the same God as Christians due to their rejection of the progressive revelation found within the Bible.

According to Gould, Dickinson, and Loftin, “The fundamental problem, according to Judaism, is exile, 'distance from God and from where we ought to be.' The solution is return, 'to go back to God and our true home.'”^[2] The Jew’s solution to returning to God is based on works that keep the Law of Moses. The problem with this view is that it puts the fate of the people on what they can do to earn salvation. If I have broken just one law, am I forever destined to be apart from God, or can I break up to 5 or 10 laws? Are some laws worse than other laws? While keeping laws is good, one does not earn salvation from observing the laws. Of the three sects of Judaism today, Orthodox, Reformed, and Conservative, which one is the true form of Judaism that Jews must follow to return to God? What is more important, the law, the ethics, or the traditions? These differing viewpoints make it confusing to know what form of Judaism one must practice to be ready for the Messiah.

It is easy to paint all who practice Judaism with a broad brush in that they are legalistic. Indeed there are some Christians who are highly legalistic when it comes to what is and is not “Christian.” Unfortunately, I have had dealings with many of these in the past and wanted no part of their “Christianity.” Just like there are different sects in Christianity, so too are there in Judaism, and this is where we, as Christians, need to discern how best to approach each individual. The more I read and study apologetics, the more I see the need to not only know how to defend Christianity but also know the person to whom we are speaking and listen to them. Remember, we are not just trying to win an argument.

The central question for Jews is whether or not Jesus is the Messiah. This idea is something I would love to speak with Jews about because I would like to better understand exactly why they reject the New Testament. It is important that, as Christians, we don’t throw out the Old Testament and solely focus on the New Testament. Christians still read these scriptures and believe they are just as inspired as the New Testament. We also know the first Christians were Jews, and I would like to understand why they reject what these men wrote when they quote Old Testament scripture that points to Jesus being the Messiah.

One issue common with Judaism, Hinduism, and many other religions is that they believe one can work their way into salvation. I cannot imagine the stress one must feel every time they do something wrong and think their god doesn’t love them or that they will not reach the next cycle. However, I believe this is precisely why so many people have a hard time with Christianity. If we preach the message of grace and that they can do nothing to earn salvation, it takes the focus off them and puts it on God. Most people don’t like that. They want to be in control of everything, and if they cannot find a way to save themselves, they don’t like it. It all goes back to the sin of pride.

We see every day that people don’t want to surrender themself to anything, let alone an Almighty God. I think this works for us and against us as Christians. We must understand how to explain how saving grace works and how wonderful it is not to worry about losing our salvation because of something we did. If we cannot do anything to save ourselves, we cannot do anything to cause us to lose our salvation. People who practice religions based upon works should feel a sense of freedom from this idea, but we must contend with the issue of pride.

Christianity can help modern Jews without forcing them to dismiss the law, ethics, or traditions completely. Christians can begin with the common ground they share with Jews, the Old Testament. Christians can bring up verses in the Old Testament such as Genesis 18:18 “For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him” (Genesis 18:18 New Living Translation). Jews should be familiar with this verse since it refers to the Abrahamic Covenant. We can also use Micah 5:2 and other Old Testament verses which point to Jesus as the Messiah. We can then then show them the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew writes to a Jewish audience to show them Jesus is the Messiah. We can then point them to the teachings of Paul. Since Paul was a Pharisee, we can use his conversion story as a model of how a devout Jew became a Christian. Many Christians today do not realize how vital it is to illustrate to those following Judaism that the first Christians were Jews. Christians can use Jewish historians such as Josephus to corroborate many of the claims in the New Testament.

Of course, this is just a beginning step in evangelizing those who practice Judaism and is not meant to be an in-depth guide on evangelism. What I wanted to do is shed a light on a group that many Christians fail to evangelize because they think we have the same beliefs. Hopefully, this has helped light a spark in you to seek out conversations with your Jewish friends to share the good news of Jesus Christ.