D. Hebrew Christianity or Messianic Jewishness: Who is a Hebrew Christian or Messianic Jew?
We finally come to the point toward which we have been working: defining Hebrew Christianity or Messianic Jewishness. In the common view, the term “Hebrew Christianity” is a contradiction. One can be either a Jew or a Messianic believer; but to be both at once is, in that view, an impossibility.
One Jewish writer stated that the term “Jewish Christian” challenges logic. Another writer limited the title to Jewish believers in the Messiah during the first century but not thereafter. This view was held by a number of my former professors at the American Institute of Holy Land Studies. They used the term “Jewish Christians” in relation to Jewish believers during the first century but did not recognize the term as valid for Jewish believers today. But they never explained what they considered to be the difference between the first century Jewish believers and those of the twenty-first century.
What, then, is a Hebrew Christian? If a Jew is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which we believe to be the proper, biblical definition; and if a Christian is one who has personally, by his own decision, accepted Yeshua of Nazareth as his Messiah; then a Hebrew Christian is a Jew who believes that Yeshua is the Messiah. By faith, Jewish believers align themselves with other believers in the Messiah, whether Jews or Gentiles, but nationally they identify themselves with Jewish people.
A Messianic Jew, therefore, must acknowledge that he is both a Jew and a believer in the Messiahship of Jesus. If a Jew accepts baptism solely to lose his identity as a Jew, he is by no means to be considered a Messianic Jew; he is a renegade, a traitor, and an apostate.
A Messianic believer is proud of his Jewishness. He is also proud of his faith in the Messiahship of Yeshua. The experience by which a Jew becomes a believer is just as much a mystery as that by which a Gentile becomes a believer. The experience can be described, but it cannot be explained. The center of this experience is the person of Jesus the Messiah, although the causes, which brought it about, may differ. Perhaps it was the testimony of another Messianic Jew, the printed word, preaching, or the reading of the New Testament. The causes vary, but the results are always the same: Jesus the Messiah becomes the object of faith and trust.
E. Conclusion of Definitions
It is clear from the Scriptures that Messianic believers never lose their Jewishness. Jewishness and Messianic Jewishness are not contradictory terms; each complements and fulfills the other. This is one of the reasons Jews often prefer to call themselves “completed Jews” rather than “converted Jews.” The term “converted” means “you were this, but you are no longer that.” When we use the term “converted Catholic,” usually we mean that the person used to be Catholic, but he is no longer Catholic. Or we say that he is a “converted alcoholic” and mean that he used to be a drunk, but he is no longer a drunk. However, we cannot properly use the term converted Jew. This implies that a believer used to be a Jew, but he is no longer a Jew. Jewish believers always remain Jews without exception. Jewish believers do not refer to themselves as converted Jews; we are converted sinners. We are completed Jews because belief in the Messiahship of Jesus completes our Jewishness; it does not negate it.
The best evidence of this is the great Apostle Paul who affirmed both his Jewishness and his faith in the Messiahship of Yeshua. Let us look at three examples from his own writings on this.
First, in Romans 11:1, Paul says: I say then, Did God cast off his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
In Romans 11:1, Paul clearly affirms himself to be both a Jew “of the seed of Abraham,” and an Israelite “of the Tribe of Benjamin.” In subsequent verses, he also clearly affirms himself as being a member of the Remnant according to the election of grace.
Another verse in which Paul clearly affirms both his Jewishness and his faith in Jesus the Messiah is 2 Corinthians 11:22: Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
Whereas in Old Testament times the terms Hebrews, Israelites, the seed of Abraham, and Jews were kept distinct, by the time of the New Testament, these terms were synonymously used. That is why Paul called himself a Jew, a Hebrew, and an Israelite. Notice that even after he became a believer, he does not say: “used to be” an Israelite; “used to be” a Hebrew; “used to be” of the seed of Abraham. He uses the present tense.
The third place where he clearly reaffirms this is in Philippians 3:4–8: though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh: if any other man thinks to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; as touching zeal, persecuting the church; as touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. Howbeit what things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ.
In this passage, more extensive than the other two, again Paul clearly affirms himself to be both a Jew and a believer in the Messiahship of Jesus. What Paul did, Jewish believers must still do. We must reaffirm both our faith in the Messiahship of Yeshua and confirm our Jewishness as well.
In conclusion, we would say that Jewishness and Messianic Jewishness are in full agreement. This concludes our discussion on the definitions of Jews, Gentiles and Christians. We have not exhausted the topic itself because we have not yet clearly shown that there is a continuous distinction between Jewish believers and Gentile believers as well.
Excerpt from Dr Arnold Fruchtenbaum:
MBS007 JEWS, GENTILES, CHRISTIANS: Pg 8-10
