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Why do Jews need Salvation?
It started with Adam and Eve where God had a perfect relationship established with mankind and then "sin" broke that relationship and caused them to be banished from the Garden and live a life subject to the sinful flesh from that time on. Because of this all are born into sin, even Jews.
Romans 3:23 " For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God "
Notice there is no special disclaimer in this verse for Jews, it says ALL have sinned.
The result of sin is Spiritual death and or separation and alienation from God
Romans 6:23 " For the wages of sin is death "
Because man was born into sin and there has to be a price to cover that sin, and according to God's requirements "blood" is the only acceptable price.
Hebrews 9:22 " without shedding of blood is no remission (forgiveness)."
Even though there were animal sacrifices it was clear that they were never intended to be a complete covering for sin, but only a covering until the perfect sacrifice for all mankind came. God had a plan from the beginning of time to restore that lost relationship and it was through the perfect sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. It is vitally important to read the book of Hebrews, but if you cannot read the entire book then just read chapters 7-10 and there is no doubt that Jesus was now the replacement of ALL the old laws and sacrifices.
John 3:16-17 " For God so loved the (whole) world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever (anyone) believes in Him should not perish (die spiritually), but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
There is also no special instruction here for the Jews, or anyone for that matter to be covered by another acceptable means of atonement
Romans 3:24-25 " Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God hath set forth to be an atonement (sacrifice) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins "
Notice here that "Redemption" is in Christ Jesus, not the old laws or sacrifices!
Romans 6:23 " For the wages of sin is (Spiritual) death, but the gift of God is eternal (Spiritual) life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. "
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 " And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ ( God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them ( For he hath made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
Notice that God was reconciling the "World" which would include the Jewish people.
Jesus explained that there is a specific action to be done to obtain "Salvation" in the following scriptures;
John 3:3,5-7 " …except a man be ' born again ', he cannot see the kingdom of God. …except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. " Ye must be born again. "
Is there an exclusion for the Jewish people in this verse?
So how is a person " Born Again " ?
John 1:12 " But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His name. "
Revelation 3:20 " Behold I (Jesus) stand at the door (your heart) and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will commune with him and he with me. "
Romans 10:9-10,13 " That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For anyone who shall call upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved. "
Being " Born Again " comes by first recognizing that I am a sinner, believing that Jesus', blood covers those sins, confess my sins to Jesus, and inviting Jesus into your heart to reign and rule from that point on. It is not by anything that we can, or
have done as scripture states;
Ephesians 2:8-9 " For by grace are you saved through faith; and not of yourself (or anything you did or have done), it is the gift of God. Not of works so no man can boast. "
Titus 3:5 " Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us "
Isaiah 64:6 " We are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousness is as a filthy rag."
It is clear by the above verses that salvation is a gift obtained by faith in what Christ accomplished on the cross. The old law was a method of works by the law and Jesus fulfilled ALL the law, therefore it is now necessary to go only through Jesus to obtain what is needed to please God and obtain salvation.
So what about all the other beliefs and religions, what about Jews?
John 14:6 " Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. "
John 10:1 & 7 " Truly, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs in some other way, that person is a thief and a robber.
Then Jesus said to them, Truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. "
Acts 4:12 " There is salvation in no other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which you must be saved. "
God made it easy because He does not want to see anyone go to hell. That is also why He is seemingly taking so long to return, because He is waiting for us to spread the Gospel to as many as possible. It is the only way to heaven and I find no exception for the Jew, do you?
2 Peter 3:9 " The Lord is not slack (lax) concerning his promise, as some would think, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance."
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.
(John 3:16--18, Romans 3:23, 6:23, 10:9-10, Ephesians 2:8-9)
God does not desire for anyone to go to hell, even and most especially the Jewish people. God is just though and the Gospel was first presented to the Jews and they rejected their Messiah and therefore God extended His hand to the Gentiles. Look at what Jesus said concerning Jerusalem and it's people;
Matthew 23 :
37 : O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 : Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 : For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
I believe that God is still longing for the Jews to turn to Jesus just as He is for the whole world to do so. As Paul said, he longed for "all Jerusalem to be saved" and I believe we all do. I also suggest reading Romans chapter 11 to get a better understanding but look at what verses 21-25 states:
21 : For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
22 : Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
23 : And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.
24 : For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 : For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
God as well as any Christian has but one desire and that is to see ALL people saved and that none go to hell. If a person does go to hell, be it Jew or anyone else it is simply because they CHOSE to do so by rejecting God's simple plan to reach heaven. The time of the 'fullness of the Gentiles' spoken of in the verse above is fast approaching and we have little time left to be about the Father's business of spreading the Good News to all people. There are thousands of Messianic Jews in the world that are specifically targeting the Jewish people with the message of Salvation. It is not their task alone, but unfortunately most Christians do not know their Bible well enough to speak to a Jew even using the Old Testament about Christ. This is truly a shame and should not be so.
In Christ, Adam Bible Headquarters
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