Whom Does God Save?
“I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me. Isaiah 43:11 NASB
No savior – Isaiah’s proclamations concerning the Servant of the Lord are favorite verses among believers. But the context makes these cherished statements much more difficult. YHWH isn’t speaking to the Church. He quite clearly states that His audience is Jacob and Israel, the two houses of His chosen people (see 43:1). He redeems them, protects them, honors them, and exchanges other nations and peoples for them. He gathers them from the four corners of the earth. Then He says, “There is no savior besides Me.” In other words, YHWH saves the houses of Judah and Israel and He is the only one who does so. There are no “Christians” in this group. There are only those who belong to Judah or Israel.
Of course, replacement theology craftily reinterprets the direct object of God’s saving grace. The new Israel takes the place of the houses of Judah and Israel. That’s how we Christians get in. Christian theology also has to alter this text so that “Jesus” saves. That’s covered in Trinitarian doctrine. But it does present a problem, doesn’t it? When YHWH speaks through Isaiah, it’s pretty clear whom He has in mind. It’s very difficult to alter that text. So we do a paradigm shift and reinterpret all the texts. That way Isaiah’s references can be re-read from a perspective of the late second century CE. Isaiah really didn’t mean what he says. He really meant what we believe.
When contortionist theology amends the Tanakh so that it appears to support the Christian thinking of the early Church fathers, the Jewish rabbis go crazy. We can understand why they say, “A Jew or a Gentile who claims that God sent him to add, remove or change a commandment from those that God gave through Moses . . . is a false prophet.”[1]
“The Torah as a whole is an inheritance from God for the Jews alone, and a Gentile who ‘delves’ into areas of Torah that are unrelated to the Noahide Code is liable for punishment at the Hand of Heaven.”[2]
Think clearly about the implications of this rabbinical view. First, Torah is Jewish. It was given by God to the Jews. It distinguishes the Jews from all other peoples on the earth. “A Jew without Torah is obsolete” (Heschel).
Second, no Gentile has a right to the whole of Torah. Gentiles are commanded by God to keep (and therefore understand) only that portion of Torah that applies to all human beings, i.e., the Noahide seven commandments. Any Gentile who adopts anything more than this adds to Torah (by making the exclusively Jewish commandment also apply to Gentiles) and is therefore an idolater and blasphemer.
Third, from this perspective, Christianity is essentially idolatry and blasphemy because it attempts to usurp God’s revelation to the Jews, claiming the revelation as its own, and . . .
Fourth, Christianity is worse than idolatry and blasphemy because it subsequently claims that Torah has no application to either converted Jews or Gentiles (the Augustinian-Lutheran concept of “grace”).
Is there any doubt why orthodox Jews must reject any Christian claim? Frankly, there is no middle ground here, no peaceful co-existence, no room for negotiation. The Crusades are alive and well in the theology books of the Christian faith.
Whom does God save? In the first century, that question was debated by the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. The issue was, “How do Gentiles come into the House of Israel and the House of Judah so that they may benefit from the blessings of the Lord?” In other words, the question was, “How do Gentiles become Jews?” No one debated how Jews became Christians. That was simply unthinkable! Rabbi Weiner, twenty centuries later, claims that Gentiles cannot be Jews. Either you convert to Judaism properly or you remain an outsider. The Jerusalem Council had another solution. If God called you, you were accepted. Then you go to work on living the Jewish way of life. God saves whomever He wants. Then we all learn to live like the family He chooses.
Twenty centuries later the Christians and the Jews remain at polar opposites. Neither group understands the Acts 15 solution.
Topical Index: Isaiah 43:11, savior, Acts 15, Jews, Christians
” the Noahide seven commandments.”
Of the 613 Torah commandments, many of them are ‘case law’ examples of the Ten Headings.
One of the Noahide laws is this: “The prohibition of theft.” If this is a stand alone ‘law’ for Gentiles (or anyone else) then what it means is up for grabs. Unless, of course, you are going to refer to the Torah command concerning restitution (Ex. 21:33–36-22:15) or just weights and measures (Lev. 19:35-36).as explanation of the word ‘theft’. But the moment you do that, you have gone past the seven commandments.
It is also interesting to note that if only the ‘seven commandments” are obligatory for Gentiles, then they are apparently under no obligation to keep Lev. 19:33-34 in relation to strangers in the land.
God is the one, who by definition, makes the rules, among other things. But, if the Gentiles are only under a limited law code, this leaves them no option but to become polytheists and find other gods to make up for the laws that YHVH has not given to them. And that would certainly make him an idolator and blasphemer.
Great point Ian.
The Torah is written so that it is difficult to separate out some subset of laws to keep. Until today I never thought of it as a part of the Torah’s divine design. The interweaving of all 613 (more or less), creates an very slippery slope when we try to tear out a subset.
My wife and I have been shocked to the core, to discover that replacement theology is not Scripture, but a convenient invention and that Christianity as a distinct movement separate to Judaism, has no legitimate foundation.
As a result, we have been listening to Messianic services on the internet and been emailing Messianic congregations in our country for information and support.
We have been disturbed however, at the level of Christian ‘bashing’ that we have come across.
We can see regarding Christianity as a movement, that certain perpetrators in history, knowingly participated in the deliberate misinterpretation of Scripture for self-serving reasons and can be legitimately criticised in this respect.
Surely average Christians today however, are victims of the way that the resulting falsehoods have become entrenched in common thinking, rather than willful perpetrators of deception?
Is it not true that God is just and does not condemn people for things they do not know and can not control?
Is it not the case that God looks at the heart and honors those who genuinely love Him, even if they have been mistaught by those they trust and respect.
We would like to think that Torah observant communities do their best to think like God does and actively refrain from condemnation of those who may be deceived, but who nevertheless love and serve Yeshua to the best of their understanding.
Are you saying Christians are to keep the noahide laws? Where is that in scripture??? One law for Israel and the stranger. I’m sure you are saying that. Your writings are great.
Margaret
Hi Margaret,
Yes.
“If God called you, you were accepted. Then you go to work on living the Jewish way of life. God saves whomever He wants. Then we all learn to live like the family He chooses.
Twenty centuries later the Christians and the Jews remain at polar opposites. Neither group understands the Acts 15 solution.”
The problem is the way modern Christianity has rewritten God’s word. The quotes above from Skips article summarize it well. God has not changed and neither has His word. The “church” has changed things on so many fronts.
It is difficult to understand when you first begin to delve into God’s word for yourself and LOOK at what the text says relative to the time and culture that it was written in (Hebrew) and YES, it makes a huge difference.
I have always been in main stream church and my journey to really SEE and understand God’s word has only just begun.
Keep searching and learning and be open to the idea that what you have been taught as a “Christian” may be utterly wrong.
As a side note, one can only keep the laws that apply to oneself. For example, women cannot keep laws pertaining to men.
Peace to you on your journey,
Dawn
If you are addressing me, Skip, then I think you missed my point. I am saying that some contemporary rabbis take the position that Gentiles are only to keep the Noahide laws and that this position is precisely the issue address in the Acts 15 council. The solution of the council was ONE LAW for ONE PEOPLE. But even today we have Messianic teachers who continue to embrace the Noahide version, arguing essentially the same points as contemporary rabbis. Just as the rabbis fail to see what the Council determined to be God’s will, so these teachers fail to see that in the Kingdom there is no difference between Greek and Jew.
Hi Skip,
Your last comment that there is no Jew or Greek in the Kingdom is such a game changer. That has been the hardest thing to get into my thought processes.
I do understand correctly though that God’s desires for the way his people are to live have never changed, right? His laws (word) tell us what he expects but we get all confused about this because we equate law keeping with salvation. At least I see the churches teaching this idea.
I want to do what God sees as right because it pleases Him and He is my Lord alone.
Hi Skip, I appreciate your final statement that the Kingdom will not distinguish between Greek or Jew. Being of a universal reconciliation persuasion I prefer to include the other 11 tribes when mentioning that Torah was given to Moses for all Israel, of which Judah only plays 1/12th (or 13th)part. Is Heschel including the other tribes when he expresses that Torah is “Jewish”? Can Hebrew be a better reference to include all the tribes chosen my YHWH to receive Torah?
By the first century, Jew (originally those of the tribe of Judah) came to mean all who descended from Abraham through Isaac, so historically no distinction needs to be made. However, since there is such a fervor over the “Houses” these days, it’s good to be reminded that ALL the tribes were still in Israel in the first century, just not everyone from all the tribes. Some were taken in to captivity and later dispersed, but not ALL of them.
subtitle: How to win friends and influence people (in the christian church). Not.
The more i study the more i realize how much a fraud christianity is. sadly.
Okay, in a way I’m liking that we are not expected to keep all 613 laws if we’re not Jewish. I noticed the Sabbath was missing. I’ve also been looking at sacraments (baptism and Lord’s supper) and various Christian doctrines. If we are to disciple and teach our disciples to put them into practice (commandments – “teach them to obey” — Matthew 28) and we’re not Jewish; what exactly should we be teaching our disciples to practice? I’m getting confused.
But again, my point is that there is NO difference. Both Judaism, in some forms, and Christianity, in some doctrines, teach that we Gentiles can ignore the 613. I do not believe that is the case and I think the Acts 15 council and the life practices and advice of Paul makes that clear.
Dana, I believe that we do keep all of the laws. At least the ones that apply to your gender and vocation. Sabbath is included. If you read Acts Chap 15: 20 and 21, the counsel gave an initial edict for these new gentile believers but also went on to say (or read further) that ” but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. 21 “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
The Acts 15 Council is one of the most critical passages we have for understanding what really happened with the Gentile question. We need a lot more study of our Christianized assumptions. Bob and I will be teaching about this in Jerusalem next month. I will be sure to record it.
“The Torah as a whole is an inheritance from God for the Jews alone, and a Gentile who ‘delves’ into areas of Torah that are unrelated to the Noahide Code is liable for punishment at the Hand of Heaven.”[2]
Could this be a summary statement for what’s called the “two house theory” line of thinking?
Personally, I don’t see how the phrase “have to keep” in any way goes along with Yahweh’s commandments. We GET to keep them. It is our privilege to show our allegiance to our King, our love for our Father. All this nit-picking is ridiculous. There were twelve tribes at the base of Mt. Sinai–not just Yehudim. Deut 30:11.
Whose Savior is He?
The question we might ask is not “whose Savior is He?” (Jew or Gentile) but the better question might be- “Who is the LORD?” And if we were to review the Old(er) Covenant teachings which even predate Isaiah, we might even be so bold as to ask the very same question Pharaoh proposed to Moses: –
~ Who is the LORD that I should obey Him?~
Pharaoh did find out.. (eventually)- the answer to his question, but by then he and his army were on their way down, perishing in the Red Sea. The very same way or path of deliverance to the chosen people of God (the Jews) was death and destruction to the enemies of God’s people. ~ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God ~
Did God “save” or rescue or deliver His people? – He always does. He is (both) Savior and LORD. (and LORD of all, btw..)
We are so blessed to have this angelic announcement, not only spoken unto Mary but for all of mankind, – for “whosoever will.” Would we listen if Ben Franklin were to speak? Or Martha Stewart? or pick your “favorite” celebrity, but this announcement is straight from the mouth of God’s messenger- ~For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the LORD ~ Yeah, – it’s all there. Life, as we once knew it- has changed, -radically. What was given unto us,on that holy night, we (apparently) still have no clue. Yes, what was given “unto us?”
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Good news? “Gospel” good news? For “all” people? “All” people everywhere? Who brings these tidings of great joy? What was given? A Savior. A Deliver. One to rescue. One to redeem. ONE to save His people from their sins. Who are “His people?” Yes, let us identify them specifically.
~ He came unto His own and His own (for whatever reason, -it’s sad to say) received Him not ~ Not only was He “not received”- “not welcomed”- the word of Isaiah were these ~He was despised and rejected–a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. *We* (all) turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care ~ Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted ~
And furthermore, the scriptures state ~ For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit ~ (1 Peter 3.18) And ~ for our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that *in Him* we might become the righteousness of God ~ (2 Corinthians 5.21)
Interestingly, the scriptures also state-“all” have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. Does “all” include the Jew? Does “all” include the Gentile? We’ve covered this very familiar ground before.. -(only?) Every man since Adam, – with the exception of only “One!” Sinlessness or holiness is so foreign to us.
Are you talking to me? ~ For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, (?) there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one *in Christ Jesus*. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise ~ (Joint-heirs with Christ!)
I wouldn’t go so far as to proclaim “replacement” theology, more like “completion” theology or the theology of fulfillment. For Christ, (both) the Son of God and the son of man, our Savior and Christ our LORD has completed or fulfilled every single prophecy concerning the Messiah yet to come -down to the jot and the tittle. Another great question- If this is true, then what are we waiting for? Is He, the Lamb of God, worthy of our worship? Rabbi Sha’ul wrote:
~ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him, (our Savior and LORD) be glory forever. Amen.
Yes, Paul, – amen! ~ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” ~
One last note, (located in the last book!) – ~ Whosoever will, may come! ~
If you know the Word, you know the answers.
Thanks, Carl.
Skip writes:
“Both Judaism, in some forms, and Christianity, in some doctrines, teach that we Gentiles can ignore the 613. I do not believe that is the case and I think the Acts 15 council and the life practices and advice of Paul makes that clear.”
Acts 15 seems to me to be a classic case of everyone seeing what they have predeterimed to see in the text. The words themselves are ambiguous enough to allow everyone to read their POV into them. If you believe that the 613 are obligatory on all then the statement about Moses being preached over many years says that everyone was to hear this teaching and become observent of all 613. But, in point of fact it does not actually say that. You have to read your own POV into it. It does not actually say that since Moses is preached everywhere for many generations the gentiles need to become 613 observant. If I am wrong point it out to me please.
If you believe that none, or a small subset, of the 613 are obligatory then you believe it says that putting all 613 on gentiles is not God’s plan (vss. 19 & 20) and, btw, if any of the gentiles wants, on their own, to know more about Moses, he is preached everywhere for many generations.
Now, if someone can show me that Paul showed the 613 premise to be the correct understanding of Acts 15 by life practice and advice where do I find that?
Hi Daniel:
You won’t find a single proof text for keeping the 613 — proof texting is not Hebraic thinking — but it is implied throughout the NT when you start reading from a Hebraic POV.
Shau’l always started in the synagogues. Christian tradition would tell it was to convert Jews, but the synagogues were the meeting places for Jews, proselytes and God-fearing Gentiles so he started in that place because there was increased likelihood of contact. If I had a message to give to a group of nurses, I wouldn’t go looking for them in the grocery store — I would start in the largest hospital in town and expect to find the greatest number ready to hear my message. That’s not to say that “all” the nurses would be in that one place, but I would start there.
The Jerusalem Council pointed to this same understanding – those who are coming in to “the way” are probably connected with synagogue in some way. Those who are outside of the congregations, and who are drawn to the message, will naturally be drawn to synagogue both for fellowship and learning a new way of life.
The same thing happens today with people who are unchurched who begin attending a church to learn more about the way of life they have chosen. Unfortunately, the church has decided to teach their own way and not Torah. And therein lies the problem.
Actually, it’s not quite so ambiguous as you might think. Start with the Greek text. Be sure to add the Hebraic perspective since all the issues discussed are discussed by Jews. Then add Paul’s own testimony from the rest of Acts and the letters, and the testimony required by James (vows) which would have been a public declaration of the continuing obligation of Torah. Then consider WHO the debate is about (pagans becoming believers) and ask what the four requirements would have meant to them. And then, if you still think its arbitrary, go listen to Rabbi Bob Gorelik’s work on Acts. After that, tell me it isn’t Jewish through and through.
Just checking.