Dozens of prominent evangelical leaders recently endorsed a statement declaring a fact that many Christians already hold to be true – that Jewish people need the Gospel and Jesus Christ to receive eternal life.
The statement, sponsored by the World Evangelical Alliance, expressed friendship and love for the Jewish people, but unapologetically declared that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ.
“We want to make it clear that, as evangelical Christians, we do not wish to offend our Jewish friends by the above statements; but we are compelled by our faith and commitment to the Scriptures to stand by these principles,” read the evangelical statement on “The Gospel and the Jewish People.”
An ad with the statement appeared in the New York Times on March 28 and will appear in other major secular newspapers and several Christian magazines throughout April and May.
“It is out of our profound respect for Jewish people that we seek to share the good news of Jesus Christ with them, and encourage others to do the same, for we believe that salvation is only found in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the World,” the statement continued.
Some of the key declarations made by the statement include:
• A pledge of commitment to be loving friends and to stand against injustices against the Jewish people. At the same time, affirming the belief that the most loving and Scriptural expression of friendship towards Jewish people, and anyone called a friend, is to candidly share the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ
• Affirming the belief that only through Jesus that all people can receive eternal life. If Jesus is not the Messiah of the Jewish people, He cannot be the Savior of the World (Acts 4:12)
• Recognizing that it is good and right for those with specialized knowledge, history and skills to use these gifts to introduce individuals to the Messiah, and that includes those ministries specifically directed to the Jewish people ( I Corinthians 9:20-22)
• Denouncing the use of deception of coercion in evangelism but rejecting the notion that it is deceptive for followers of Jesus Christ who were born Jewish to continue to identify as Jews (Romans 11:1)
“Increasingly, Jewish evangelism is being marginalized and even dismissed as irrelevant, inappropriate, unethical or deceptive by some segments of the church,” commented Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, the CEO and international director of WEA, regarding the statement. “This statement is an attempt to speak to the evangelical community about the biblical basis for sharing their faith with all people, including Jews.
“It is our hope that it will be received in the spirit it is intended by the non-evangelicals who see it,” he added.
Tunnicliffe explained that the statement is made out of friendship and respect for the Jewish people, as well as out of a commitment to stand with the Jewish people who have suffered mistreatment “simply for being Jewish.”
“And that part of our friendship and care and respect is shown in our commitment to share the love of God in Christ whom we believe is their Savior as well as ours,” he said.
Evangelical Christian leaders who affirmed the statement include the Rev. Dr. Lon Allison, director of the Billy Graham Center; Dr. Mark Bailey, president of Dallas Theological Seminary; Doug Birdsall, executive chair of Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization; Dr. Yonggi Cho, senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea; Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship; Dr. Jerry B. Jenkins, owner of Christian Writers Guild; Dr. Haddon Robinson, president of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary; Gordon Showell-Rogers, general secretary of European Evangelical Alliance; and Dr. Lon Solomon, pastor of McLean Bible Church in McLean, Va., who is Jewish.
The World Evangelical Alliance is a 162-year-old global network of evangelical churches and organizations with members in 128 nations and claiming to represent more than 420 million evangelical Christians.
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Response to chicago24 below:
Christians believe people have always been saved by faith in God. Like Abraham who believed and trusted God, and his faith was credited to him as reightousness. Now that the Messiah, Jesus the Christ has come for the first time, salvation in by faith in Jesus Christ alone. Scriptures are clear that there is no other name by which we can be saved. Thankfully, Jesus Christ is coming for a second time.
Hope Page: http://itsallaboutjesusnotme.blogspot.com
What about all the people that were born and had died before Christ? I've often wanted to know how these Christian evangelicals account for them.
Help solve the puzzle. When Jesus made the Fig Tree wither in Jerusalem that it has no fruit, were the village Fig Trees also did not have fruit at that time of the year? Do Fig Trees bear fruit all the year round or there is a season please?
Rajinder
Hi,
Copy of email sent to a Media Christian web site not disclosing the information unless you pay them. What type of God they are worshipping?
I see that the information is hidden in Mammon. So, your services are not God orientated but Mammon. No wonder you glorify the soldiers who died fighting for Empire and you proclaim to have died for God and glorified Him. Your Bible and Hymn Books have Copyrights in Mammon, then how could they sing the praises of God? You mean people with no common sense called holy spirit. How could you love Gospel of God? Here are some Gospel Videos on Youtube and no wonder you hate them.
Atomic War is around the corner and you still worship Mammon? How could hireling Priests sing the praises of God when Mammon is their Master? Was my anointed Elder Brother Christ Jesus or the tyrant Saul, a hireling of Mammon? Both were devoted to God. Can I expect that you would promote my Gospel Videos given for FREE?
Hi Brethren in Christ Jesus and Christ Nanak Dev Ji,
I have put over 220 Videos on Youtube; 26 rendering Exposition of the Gnostic Gospel of St.Thomas, 68 in Punjabi on Satguru Nanak Dev Ji, Christ Jesus and other Indian religious aspects and the rest on the expositions of the important Parables of the New Testament and my articles. These Videos would give thorough understanding of all the aspects of Christianity and Sikhism with introductions to Judaism, Hinduism and Real Islam of Allah.
Gospel is received by grace of God and not by works. My lectures are free. University professors and the dog collared clerics, they hold monopoly over religion and they are like the dogs sitting in the manger not allowing any one else to eat the spiritual food. If you like my views, please pass my email to others interested in Gospel. Gospel is for the solitary twice born seekers and not for the psychic hirelings of Mammon for they cannot preach the Gospel of God but rather teach the sugar-coated sermons of Mammon. You do not accept payment in Mammon if you want Gospel Treasures from God.
My expositions are original in spirit that is mostly unknown to the people of the West. My challenge may seem very odd to most of you but just listen to them for the curiosity’s sake.
Here are couple on Easter:-
1. Why the Fig Tree was made to wither :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8m235LjFOU
2. Why call Easter? – Part 1 :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsTVHGd4gR8
3. Why call Easter? – Part 2 :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wvkneHo5m0
I can explain the Parables in details in Lectures and the whole New Testament, I can explain in a couple of weeks.
John 14: 6
Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
- And we also unapologetically declared that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ, including for the Jews
Warm regards to Star
Shrdlu42,
"By the way, DannyPoo, calling oneself a ‘Jew for Jesus’ makes about as much sense as my calling myself a ‘Christian without Christ’. Such doctrines as ‘Original Sin’, ‘Salvation through Grace’, and the Incarnation are a blasphemy to Judaism."
On the contrary, to be Christian is, in a sense, to be fully Jewish. The aposltes, Mary, Paul, and the first several thousand believers in Jesus as Messiah and Savior were Jewish.
"And the Jewish concept of the Messiah is nothing like the Christian one."
Which is why many of the Jews missed it. And actually, the 'Christian' concept of the Messiah IS the Jewish one as Paul or Tarsus beautifully reasoned and demonstrated from the OT scriptures.
Shrdlu42
The evangelical organization that terms themself as "Jews for Jesus" consits of Jews who have come to realize that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah and they have chosen to follow Him.
The most Jewish thing a Jew can do is to place their trust in the Jesus Christ the promised Messiah and follow Him. When he/she does, the Jew hasn't lost his/her Jewishness. Instead heshe has gained it for it completes him/her as a Jew.
Shrdlu42
I am sorry that there were Christians that took out full page ads during Purim explaining how the Jewish religion is wrong. These Christians were not showing the agape love that God requires of them as defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
You will never be good enough for God. One unforgiven sin will separate you from God just like it did when Adam and Even sinned in the Garden of Eden.
Hear the Word of the Lord,
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6)
We obtain our righteousness before God by believing Him.
Romans 4: 1-5
1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
2 For if Abraham were jusified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
If you have faith in the promises of God then you will follow through with obedience as Abraham did when he offered his only son Issac up for a sacrifice as God had commanded him.
Christians sometimes get the idea that once they become born-again by accepting
Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross for their sins that they don't have any more obligation to the Lord. That is not true.
God requires that believers walk in obedience to Him to obtain eternal life (Hebrews 5:9). This is what one calls Lordship.
God requires of the believer to live godly lives.
Titus 2:11-12
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and wordly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.
God's Word also says
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14)
Many Christians live their life like the world does. This should not be. They cause the world to blaspheme our God. God's Word speaks against His people living like the devil.
Jesus is the passover Lamb that saves you from the judgment of God. Just like the Israelites were spared God's judgment in Egypt when the death Angel passed over because they obeyed God and sprinkled the blood of the lamb over their door posts and lintels, we are spared from God's judgment for our sins when we die if we believe God that Jesus paid for our sins and rose from the dead and accept His sacrifice for us. When we do, the shed blood of the Lamb is applied to our hearts and we are spared from God's judgment for our sins when we die.
I wonder how Christians would react if during one of their important holidays (Purim was in March) the Jews took out full page ads explaining why their religion is false and contrary the Holy Scriptures (Old Testament to you). Would they ‘feel the love’? I doubt it.
Fortunately, that’s not going to happen. Unlike some versions of Christianity, which emphasize faith, Judaism emphases conduct. Ethics is the central concern of the religion, and our worth, our righteousness, is determined by how we treat each other, not by what doctrine we profess. Of course, Jews would prefer it if the world would acknowledge Adonai Elohenu, but we don’t require it. “The righteous of the earth have an equal share in the life to come” is a central tenet of Judaism, and it’s one of the reasons why (with all its faults) I prefer the faith of my Fathers (and Mothers).
By the way, DannyPoo, calling oneself a ‘Jew for Jesus’ makes about as much sense as my calling myself a ‘Christian without Christ’. Such doctrines as ‘Original Sin’, ‘Salvation through Grace’, and the Incarnation are a blasphemy to Judaism. And the Jewish concept of the Messiah is nothing like the Christian one.
While the Abrahamic covenant could be regarded as eternal (since as Christians, we are considered children of the promise), the covenant made through Moses cannot be considered eternally valid (for anyone, Jew or Gentile). The Mosaic covenant has clearly been abrogated as testified by the scriptures (e.g., Rom 7:1-25; 2 Cor 3:4-18; Gal 3:10-11; 4:21-31; Eph 2:15; Heb 7:18; 8:7-8, 13; 10:9). Paul goes to great pains to contrast the covenant made with Abraham and the covenant made through Moses.
We should err on the side of caution and presume that the faith of the Jews is not implicit just as St. Paul does, which is why Paul would have considered himself cursed by Christ if possible for the sake of his kinsmen that he might save some of them. This would be quite drastic if he were assuming that the Jews faith were implicit and are saved apart from Jesus Christ.
The Jewish people are beloved of God on account of the patriarchs; for as Paul says, “They are Israelites; theirs the adoption [as sons], the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah” (Rom 9:4-5). “For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29), which is precisely why the proclamation of the new and everlasting covenant in Christ Jesus must be clear and unambiguous – for both Jew and Gentile. “For they (the Israelites), if they do not remain in their unbelief, will be grafted in again, for God is able to graft them in again” (Rom 11:23).
Share the good news about Jesus through videos, pictures, and scriptures.
http://itsallaboutjesusnotme.blogspot.com
::begin quote::
I'm just waiting for the day that people put down the bible and embrace others for who they are and what they believe in. We all worship the same God; if Christians want to claim that Jesus, through the New Testament, is the way to God - great for Christians; if Jews want to believe that they are the chosen people of God and the Torah is the main belief, great for Jews; if Muslims believe in the Qu'ran and practices of Muhammad, great for Islamic people.. the list goes on. All these 'statements' and 'endorsements' and conferences, good grief- no one has a right to say how others should be saved.
::end quote::
blue1018, I appreciate your attempt at religious pluralism. However by attempting to be all inclusive and making the statement "no one has a right to say how others should be saved. ". You are making exclusive statements about salvation. In essense, by attempting to be all inclusive, you become exclusive. Because your statements excludes anyone of a faith that disagrees with your statement.
True religious pluralism is where many religions can interact, mingle, and not become violent or degrading of eachother. The goal of a society should not be to prevent religions from converting eachother, but to encourage true tolerance. I am not talking about the "new tolerance" where everyone says "what you believe is good, and what I believe is good", that's not tolerance, that's acceptance. Tolerance is where you disagree with something and allow that something to exist. This is what we should strive for.
If instead of striving for tolerance, we strive for acceptance, someone or some group eventually becomes rejected. Usually the group that is being tolerant.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)
“For the church to evangelize the world without thinking of the Jews[ish people], is like a bird trying to fly with one broken wing.” – Franz Delitzsch (19th Century German theologian)
One more thing, too, while I'm at it. On the topic of "Hell".
Hell isn't so much a place as it is a "state" or "state of being". Hell is eternal separation from God. It isn't a literal place of fire and brimstone with devils standing around with pointy horns and pointy tails and pointy pitchforks stoking up the fires and poking the wayward lost soul every now and again.
Hell is a place created by God for the devil and his angels. It is also the place he will consign those who die without accepting Christ as their savior (because none die righteous unless they die cloaked in Christ). Keep this perspective in mind, it's important: God doesn't *put people in hell*. People *choose to go to hell* of their own free will. The purpose of hell is so that God can honor the free will of human beings. We aren't robots. He doesn't make us love him or force us to bow down to him. If someone dies, choosing to ignore the gospel, ignore God, or worse, despising God and wanting nothing to do with Him, then hell is the place created so that he can honor their choice.
The problem is, the only sustenance for our souls, that deep inner hunger that all of us have, each and every one of us walking this planet - the only thing to fill that empty place in our soul that cries out to us when we're lying in our bed at night staring up into that dark void above our beds...that sustenance is God, that joy to fill our empty soul is Christ. Being united with the Triune God is all that will or can fill that hunger we all have (and that we try to fill up here in this world with material things).
So what is hell then? Hell is being completely separated from that one thing that can fill the emptiness inside us. Hell is knowing that the fullness of joy - a joy we cannot even imagine - is forever denied, all the while knowing what and where heaven is. And knowing it for eternity.
P.S. The Bible also tells us, "shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" as well as, "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God."
Read the book of Job. Look what happens to Job. When Job finally complains to God, read God's reply to Job, starting in Chapter 38:
Job 38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
2 "Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy? ...
Read the whole thing. God basically says to Job, "who are you to question me?". We don't see things from outside of time and space, outside of creation, as God sees them. God knows the beginnings and the ends and only he knows the why.