JM said:
At the very least intojoy, you have to admit, the church receives the promises made to covenanted Israel? I know some Messianics believe in a double covenant theory, where the church is a mystery and saved by some unknown covenant, but most have abandoned this idea.
Christ is the seed of Abraham. Easy enough.
All in Christ are new creations, no ethnicity remains, neither Jew nor Greek. Pretty simple so far.
Christ is our Canaan rest, our sabbath, we find rest in Him alone.
We are the Temple of God.
The church receives the covenant promises to Israel made in Jer. 31, the church is the fulfillment of Israel.
jm
The false view is that Gentiles, when they become believers in the Messiah, become "spiritual Jews." Another false view is that when a Jew and a Gentile become believers in the Messiah, all distinctions between the two are erased. The Gentile loses his "Gentilism," to coin a word, and the Jew his Jewishness, for there is no difference between the two whatsoever. Before the basis of the Messianic Jewish distinctive can be fully understood, we first need to deal with these two false views.
1. Gentile Believers Are Spiritual Jews The first false view is that Gentiles become "spiritual Jews" upon believing in the Messiah. Logically, if believing Jews are spiritual Jews and believing Gentiles are spiritual Jews, then in the Christian realm there are no distinctions, since all are spiritual Jews. Yet the Bible presents no such picture.
a. The Meaning of Spirituality Perhaps the greatest problem with the term spiritual Jew is its use of the word "spiritual" to indicate some kind of national or racial transformation of the Gentile to a Jew. However, the Bible never uses the word "spiritual" in this sense.
What is spirituality? Spirituality involves three things: first, regeneration, second, the Holy Spirit, and third, time. This means that spirituality only involves the believer; it is produced by the Holy Spirit who brings the believer into a mature relationship with God; and, obviously, this takes time. As Dr. Charles Ryrie states, "Spirituality is a grown-up relation to the Holy Spirit."
A spiritual person is a believer who is under the control of the Holy Spirit. It is nothing more than that. So, if a Gentile is under the Spirit's control, he is a "spiritual Gentile." Likewise, a Jew who is under the Spirit's control is a "spiritual Jew." There is no crossing of national lines; a Gentile remains a Gentile, and a Jew remains a Jew. Their spirituality is based on their relationship to the Holy Spirit.
But some will argue that all this is mere semantics and will use certain Bible texts to show that in some way Gentiles become Jews, whether by spiritual transformation or by some other mystical act. One of these passages is Galatians 3:6-9: Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. Know therefore that they that are of faith, the same are sons of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed. So then they that are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham. Thus, if Gentile believers become "the children of Abraham by faith," does that not make them spiritual Jews? Not at all! Even in the physical realm, not all the children of Abraham are Jews. Arabs are as much the descendants of Abraham as Jews, but in no way can they be classified as Jews. What is true of the physical realm is also true of the spiritual realm; being children of Abraham by faith is not enough to make one a Jew.
What, then, is the meaning of this passage? To begin with, it should be noted that the context is concerned with the question of whether salvation is by works or by faith. The Hebrew term for "children" or sons often has the meaning of "followers." The point is that Abraham was declared righteous on the basis of faith and not on that of works. The true followers of Abraham, then, are those who are considered righteous on the same basis as Abraham, who practiced faith rather than works to attain salvation. The Gentile Galatians were never said to become Jews, rather, children of Abraham. Being a child of Abraham is not enough to make one a Jew.
Another verse often used is Galatians 3:29: And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise. Since Gentiles become part of "the seed of Abraham," does this not in some way make them spiritual Jews? Again, the answer is negative; there are members of the physical seed of Abraham who are not Jews. The same is true in the spiritual realm.
The meaning of this verse can best be understood if compared with Ephesians 2:11-13: Wherefore remember, that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands; that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ.
And Ephesians 3:6: to wit, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
These Ephesians passages clarify what is meant by the Galatians statement of becoming heirs to the promises. It does not mean that Gentile believers become Jews in a mystical way, but rather that they become partakers in the blessings of the Jewish covenants and receive this privilege by faith. This act does not make them spiritual Jews, but spiritual Gentiles. Even by being partakers, they do not share in all the facets of the covenants but only in the spiritual blessings involved in them. Things such as inheritance of the Land and circumcision, among others, are not appropriated by believing Gentiles. These elements are exclusively for the Jew.
The third passage for this idea is Romans 2:28-29: For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. Since a "true Jew" is someone who is so inwardly, does not a believing Gentile meet that standard and so, inwardly at least, become a Jew? But to say this of Romans 2:28-29 is to ignore the entire structure of the Book of Romans. The basic outline of the first three chapters is as follows: Salutation 1:1-7 Introduction 1:8-15 Theme 1:16-17 The World Under Condemnation: 1:18-3:30 Gentiles 1:18-2:16 Jews 2:17-3:20 Conclusion 3:21-30 The section in which Romans 2:28-29 is found is strictly a Jewish context; the Gentiles are nowhere in view, for Paul has finished with them in 2:16. This verse can be better understood if taken as the words of a believing Jew speaking to non-believing Jews. In doing so, he is using a play upon words. "Judaism" has the root meaning of praise. What this Messianic Jew is saying to non-Messianic Jews is that outward Judaism is not enough to make one righteous before God; this requires a "Judaism of God." The verse can be paraphrased: "Whose Judaism is not of men, but of God." The true Jews are those Jews who are so, both "outwardly" and "inwardly."
