Question: Dave, I am distressed by some of the ideas expressed [in The Berean Call]. The Lord Jesus and his followers were and remained observant Jews…. | thebereancall.org

TBC Staff

Question: Dave, I am distressed by some of the ideas expressed [in The Berean Call]. The Lord Jesus and his followers were and remained observant Jews…. Another distortion [in TBC] is that Paul dismissed the Torah. [No, he] is not telling Jews to disobey the Torah but  making it easier for Gentiles to come into the messianic movement. Paul’s warning against triumphalism on the part of the Gentiles has been ignored by most of the church who [are] pushing the sons of Jacob offstage [moving] the sons of Ishmael into their place…so Arabs are Israel and Jews are not….”

Answer: How can you imagine that The Berean Call holds to such ideas? We often express the opposite. Yes, “Jesus and his followers were observant Jews” before the Cross, but they did not “remain observant” after the Cross concerning anything that prefigured salvation. Of course, they kept the Passover and feasts that identified them with their Jewish history—but not the Sabbath (Rom:14:1-17; Col:2:16, etc.),nor the priestly sacrifices. Even prior to the Cross, Jesus (the Lord of the Sabbath) and His disciples didn’t keep the Sabbath according to the understanding of the rabbis, for which they severely criticized Him (Mt 12:1-13; Mk 2:23-28; Jn:5:8-11, etc.).

The legal system under which Jews were held (“law of commandments contained in ordinances”) was “abolished” at the Cross (Eph:2:14-22). The Levitical sacrifices for sin were all fulfilled and done away with in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. This fact is beyond question: the “veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom”(Mt 27:51; Mk 15:38; Lk 23:45). Christ offered the “one sacrifice” that could take away sin, and therefore did away with all of the Levitical sacrifices, which were mere types (Heb:9:23-26; 10:1-22; etc.).

You say that Paul was “attempting to make it easier for Gentiles to come into the Messianic movement.” Your terms “Messianic Jews” and “Messianic Movement” are not found once in the Bible. Jews and Gentiles who claim to be part of such a “movement” have departed from Scripture! Sadly, these popular terms seem to imply that Gentiles aren’t really Christians in the full sense until they adopt Jewish observances. You don’t like the term “Christians,” but it is biblical (Acts:11:26; 26:25; 1 Pt 4:16). Though it was a derogatory appellation at first, the followers of Christ seemed to accept it.