I am grateful for all of you have commented on the recent blog where I respond to the religious Jewish people establishing the Kiruv Center near our new Charles Feinberg Messianic Center on Coney Island Avenue and Avenue P in Brooklyn. There was quite a bit of interest in the topic and a willingness to discuss the issues.
The dialogue has been excellent, but there are so many responses I really cannot answer each one. Let me try and summarize some of the key issues that seem to be under discussion.
1. Can you be Jewish and believe that Jesus is the Messiah and God in the flesh?
2. Is there a good case for Jesus begin the Messiah predicted in the Tenach? (the Old Testament for those who are not Jewish)
3. In what ways can you express yourself as a Jew if you believe in Jesus? Can/should you do this religiously and if so in what tradition of religious Judaism? How do we combine belief in Jesus with being Jewish?
4. Did Yeshua call upon Jeiwsh believers to abandon the Torah?
5. Can Jewish people who believe in Yeshua and those who do not, find non-acrimoniuos ways to relate to one another and even help one another where responding to mutual concerns; Israel, anti-Semitism etc.?
6. Can you be forgiven of sin without an atoning sacrifice?
7. What is the difference between the Jewish view of salvation and that of Messianic Jews or Christians?
For these and other questions please take the discussions to http://isaiah53.com/forums. This will be a better venue for our ongoing discussions.
Thanks!
All so true Mitch! And it leads me to rejoice in the peace God has made between Jew and gentile in the body of Christ. Think of it. Peace with God and with each other! Only one thing could be better…..Living in the City of the Great King of Peace throughout Eternity! David Flahaut, Texas.