The Choice Between Jesus or Israel

THE CHOICE BETWEEN

JESUS OR ISRAEL

Former President George W. Bush is scheduled to address a group of Messianic Jews who not only believe that Jesus is the Messiah, but also evangelizes Jews.

HERE is the story.

Of course Bush’s appearance is causing a great controversy because many supporters of Israel are greatly offended at evangelicals attempting to convert Jewish people. And many evangelicals that follow in the steps of men like John Hagee are committed to withhold any gospel witness to Jews as well. They suggest that salvation can still come to the Jews through the Old Covenant.

This is a very great issue within the body of Christ for it goes to the very heart of the gospel. For if there are ethnic categories of sinners who can find redemption in other ways than that greatly reflects upon Jesus and His offer of redemption. Jesus made it clear that no one can come to the Father but by Him, and that means that even those kept in faith through the Old Covenant were eventually and fully redeemed by the same cross and resurrection that New Testament believers are.

Even if God still recognized the Old Testament as valid for today, which He does not, which Jews still offer animal sacrifices? They do not. So let us not let any affection for the Jewish people cloud our knowledge of the truth. And in reality those who claim to love them most and suggest they can have salvation through an old and ineffective covenant are their worst enemies.

You cannot embrace the New Testament and the Redeemer Jesus as exclusive and at the same time believe that sinners who happen to be ethnic Jews are exempt from the open mandate which states that “no man comes to the Father but by Me”. You cannot embrace the New Testament and teach that some sinners who openly reject Jesus as God’s Son will somehow get a pass simply because they happen to be Jewish. In essence, you cannot ignore the New Testament and make up your own plan of salvation which does not include faith in Jesus Christ. The choice is between believing and following Jesus or believing in Israel and following the Jewish people.

This is no small thing. This is a redemptive issue which cuts to the very core of gospel truth. If a sinner can be saved without faith in Jesus then the New Testament is a lie and cannot be trusted at all. And either the words of Jesus were erroneously transcribed or those who teach that there are other paths to eternal life are heretics of the highest order. The latter is the truth.

I watched a news program that was interviewing a Jewish journalist concerning George Bush’s upcoming appearance and she questioned the wisdom of such an event since her Jewish peers would take great offense. She said that the Jewish community had no problem with men like Hagee since he has promised not to proselyte the Jewish people. They welcomed his militant stance of Israel including his support of any military action Israel deemed necessary to protect themselves.

And therein lies the eternal choice before us. There is only one covenant and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel. All other gospels which claim to be one of two are frauds. If your support of the secular nation called Israel is so strong and so deep that you refuse to share the gospel with those Jews than you are a heretic and a false teacher. You cannot serve two masters. If Jesus is Lord than we must follow Him without compromise. There is a fervor today which has believers and unbelievers alike frothing at the mouth over Israel. And this kind of unbiblical support has led to many heresies and compromises.

If Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and if no man can come to God but through Him, then all sinners, Jew or Gentile, must believe on Him to have everlasting life. And so many things in the Old Testament were literal then but now are symbolic and shadows of the things revealed in the New Testament. For instance the riches of Abraham are symbolic of our riches in Christ and yet the prosperity movement suggests they are literal wealth promised to the children of Abraham which includes present day believers. And there are all kinds of promised God made to Israel back then which have no relevance today and especially are irrelevant to the church.

There can be no melding of the Two Covenants. God does not see the world as either Jew or Gentile. He sees the world as either goats or sheep. And there is only one redeemer and His name is Yeshua (Joshua, Jesus). And while certain men think they do the Jewish people a favor by supporting Israel they in fact are a major stumbling block. We should love the Jewish people just like we should love all ethnic groups.

In the end we must bow to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And in so doing we must never create some unbiblical categories of sinners and suggest that God shows favor to one lost group over another. The Old Covenant is over and the glory of the covenant of the Spirit must never be diluted by that which has served its purpose but is now passed. All the glory, honor, and praise goes to the Risen Christ and His everlasting gospel!