Monday, January 16, 2012

The Errors of the Messianic Churches

Eph.2:14-16 - For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Col.2:16-17 - Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Heb.8:6-13 - But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

There is a movement that has many different streams that I will call the “Messianic Movement”. These are churches who not only acknowledge the Jewish roots of Christianity, but who also teach that the Christian church should have outward manifestations of Hebrew culture, as well as observe many feast, festivals, Hebrew words, and have an overall Hebraic distinction about their theology and practice. Generally, in my experience, these are saved people who love Jesus.
You may recognize these churches by their names or symbols. The words Hebrew, Zion, Israel, and Hebrew words many times are part of their name or are displayed prominently on their signs and literature. And their worship services contain many Hebrew sounding songs (which I like) and with Hebrew words, and the overall atmosphere of their service has an unmistakable Jewish flavor. There are varying degrees of this phenomenon.
Some call themselves synagogues and some even change their personal names to Hebrew names. The pastor is called a rabbi, the Bible is called the Torah, and so on it goes. I believe it is beneficial to understand more fully the connection between the Old Testament and the New, especially as it pertains to Christ Himself. I have attended a few Passover Seders and have been edified by a further revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ in those teachings settings.
But this movement is misguided in many ways. The church is not an extension of Israel, and in fact, the church is a brand new work of God called the body of Christ. It is unique and miraculous, and the church in no way is tethered to the Old Testament Law, or the feasts, or any observance other than baptism and communion. The entire Old Testament is a futuristic mirror that reflects the Lord Jesus and His redemption.
But when a church clothes itself in Old Testament visuals, and when they speak as Jews, and when their theology is almost more pro-Israel than it is pro-Jesus, then it has in practice strayed from being the Bride of Christ which in ethnicity is overwhelmingly Gentile, but is neither Jew nor Gentile in substance. Paul himself was severely persecuted by the Jews because he taught that believers in Christ need not obey the Law or observe the feasts or fashion themselves in any way after the former covenant. And some churches, a la John Hagee, even teach that a Jew can be saved without Jesus. That, my friends, is blasphemy!
Another unchristian aspect of this movement is the self righteousness exhibited many times by those who practice it. The Messianic Christians openly suggest that their way of worship is the God ordained method, and that God also desires us to support Israel without reservation and that New Testament theology is only pure when it is tethered to the format outlined by the Old Testament. That is untrue and leads directly to a clique mentality and a spirit of theological hubris.
The Old Testament was the scaffolding God used to build a structure upon which He could bring forth His Son and fulfill His plan for eternal redemption. But once Christ had died and resurrected, the scaffolding should only be used to look back and see God’s plan. It was never intended to be infused into this new building of the Spirit. The glory of the Old Testament was that it shined a prophetic light upon the Lord Jesus, and in fact that glory was to bow to the eternal glory of God’s Son, not to compete with it.
I admire their zeal. I admire their demonstrative worship. I admire their sincerity. But their direction is wrong. The church is a new thing, a creation out of God’s redemptive love, and she is the Bride and Body of Jesus Christ. It is beneficial to research the shadows and types of Jesus throughout the Old Testament, but it is a mistake to mold the church in the likeness of the Old Testament. We are to be living replicas of the Lord Jesus Christ, not replicas of shadows of days gone bye.

18 comments:

Onesimus said...

In observing the fact that gentile believers don't need to become Jews to be included in the new covenant, we should not make the big mistake of expecting Jewish believers to become gentilised in order to follow their Messiah.

Rick Frueh said...

You are correct. The church is neither Jew nor Gentile.

But many in the Messianic Movement are Gentiles acting like Jews. Again, New Covenant believers should be neither. In fact, Paul made the case in Acts 15 that the church should not expect Gentiles to be yoked with OT guidelines.

James. the most ardent law keeper, had to agree even though he ordered Gentile believers to avoid things strangled. I do not blame the first century believers to still have a limited understanding of the embrionic church.

Always Learning said...

I agree 100%! I have some Messianic Jewish friends and I can't understand how they can read Galatians and not get it. "Who has bewitched you..."

Anonymous said...

I think that part of the appeal of this movement is the rejection of the primacy of the Word by seeker-friendly / emergent churches. God claims to never change, but today He is depicted by some as changing every time the world ermbraces a new fad.

Onesimus said...

Hi Rick, you said:
"many in the Messianic Movement are Gentiles acting like Jews".

Yes, and that is where the problem lies. I even know of one professing gentile believer who "converted" to enable him to become a "Messianic rabbi" because he said he identified so much with the Jewish people.

The church is neither Jew nor gentile just as it is neither male nor female - all are in relationship together as one new man in Christ.

Rick Frueh said...

Exactly. Spirituality, and the quality of following Jesus, knows no ethnicity. The church is a new creation whose kingdom is not of this world.

BTW - My objections notwithstanding, many Jews have been converted through the efforts of those messianic churches. God can and does use imperfect things for His glory!

Anonymous said...

Rick,

What do you think of Gentile believers using Paul's statement to become all things to all men in order to support or validate their Messianic Jewish practices? I've been told that before. Don't you think that verse is sorely abused?

God bless.

P.S. I don't know if you (or Onesimus for that matter) were on my email list, but I had encountered quite the URL boo-boo with my blogger site, and the URL has been changed to http://www.williamwbirch.com/

Rick Frueh said...

That verse does not mean we should contour our Christian worship as evangelism. In that case, having a church service that mirrors a Muslim gathering would be acceptable. The verse you referenced means we should do all within our power to build bridges and remove obstacles as it concerns evangelism.

Thanks for the new address!

Cal said...

I can heartily agree with what you wrote! I must think near sycophantic behavior by Gentiles must drive real Jews with questions mad!

One of my best friends (a Russian Jew) found Christ near the same time I did (American Gentile). He, his girlfriend (also a Jew), and so many Jews I've met look at all the rituals and sigh. It means nothing, it's a cultural form that is dead weight. They may begin to look for meaning (ie. my friend's girl) and yet, they see Christians holding up the same forms? Thankfully she isn't dealing with that, but I can only imagine.

Yet on the otherhand, they still are Jews, they still want to be Jews. Many feel that they're either a Jew or a Christian, not a Jewish Christian (I mean as ethnic identity, not Judaism). That's where to meet them.

2 cents,
Cal

Anonymous said...

Rick,

Great answer!

A young guy quoted that verse to me once, trying to validate what I viewed as a questionable evangelistic practice. I then asked him if I should become a male stripper in order to reach male strippers. That didn't go over so well. He found a way to justify his practice and disallow mine.

Oh well, I didn't really want to become a male stripper anyway.

Russ said...

Good word Rick. Question, would you hold to replacement theology?

thanks russ

Rick Frueh said...

I do not hold to a replacement theology. I still cannot ignore the many prophetic hints at a future gathering by God concerning the Jews. It may or may not be connected to the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant, but regardless the hints are there.

But in this church age unsaved Jews are the same as unsaved Gentiles. The church is not Israel, and at this present redemptive age there is only the church.

Also, the prophetic hints indicate that at some future date many, if not most, of the living Jews will believe on Jesus as their Messiah. No one can be saved without Christ.

But there are only hints and we dare not fill in areas where God has not spoken.

Tim said...

"But this movement is misguided in many ways. The church is not an extension of Israel, and in fact, the church is a brand new work of God called the body of Christ. It is unique and miraculous, and the church in no way is tethered to the Old Testament Law, or the feasts, or any observance other than baptism and communion. The entire Old Testament is a futuristic mirror that reflects the Lord Jesus and His redemption."

The NT church isn't anything new. It's patterned after the Tabernacle and its priesthood, but you've limited it to salvation with the exception of water baptism and communion. Where do you think the idea of water baptism and communion came from?

Rick Frueh said...

"The NT church isn't anything new."

You have entered with a wrong premise which will alter your entire perception. If God desired to continue the Old Testament design, all He had to do was add Jesus.

But Paul's life was constantly in danger because he jettisoned the Old Testament.

Gal.4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

Col.2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Rom.2:23-29 - Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

We live in the covenant of the Spirit, untouched by human hands, and manifested by living epistles rather than written ordinances. We are known by our lives and not that which we wear, or the method of our worship, or the dialect that we speak.

The church was birthed on the Day of Pentecost as a work of the Spirit.

Heb.11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

We have a better covenant with better promises with a better sacrifice and with a better High Priest. We should we return to the "beggarly elements"?

Tim said...

You evidently didn't perceive my comment - I spoke about pattern and principle, but you focused on verses about salvation. One of the reasons for the existence of the NT is to show us how to apply the OT while living under Gentile law. There is very little that Paul spoke about that wasn't based upon some OT pattern and principle. You spoke about the Body of Christ, but had you known anything about the Tabernacle, then you would have known that Paul took that imagery straight from the Tabernacle. When Paul wrote the qualifications of the elders and made his comments about women being silent in the church, he took straight from the Tabernacle and its priesthood. When he spoke on giving, straight from Numbers 18, etc. The pattern for the church is in the OT. So no, it isn't anything new. The true church began with Adam and Eve and has never stopped. The NT is written with the idea that you know something of the OT in mind. Selah.

Tim said...

Well, I should say, the major difference is the indwelling Holy Spirit, of course.

Anonymous said...

Awesome post, Rick. Some of my Hebrew language studies took place, not only in rabbinical synagogues in Los Angeles, but also some Messianic Congregations in southern California. That was nearly 2 decades ago. But attending those services in the Messianic Congregations were always such a grief to me because, both Jews and Gentiles, generally believed they must emphasize a need of tallit, kippa/yarmulke, rabbinical observances & traditions, etc., etc., in order to worship God. Christ crucified, risen and seated at the Right Hand was never sufficient in those congregations, and often deemphasized to emphasize Israel and Judaism.

Thanks again for this post.

Rick Frueh said...

Thank you, Jon. Always good to hear from you!