JUDAISM: THE NEW TESTAMENT NECESSITY
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:4
A growing amount of the teachings of ‘Rabbinic Judaism are moving into modern Christian thought. There is a great deal of talk today in certain evangelistic circles about “Jewish roots’ and the value of Jewishness to the believer in Christ.
A trend is underway to introduce Jewish teachings into Christian worship and ministry more and more. One has recently heard of the righteousness that comes from the Torah (Law) referred to, but one must ask what righteousness is that? It would appear that there is today a desperate need for the modern believer to study Paul’s epistle to the Romans.
We thank God that to the Jew, were entrusted the Old Testament Scriptures, but we must take care not to fall into the trap of the Galatian believers. This move to Judaise the Body, and place believers back under the law is to be exposed.
It has and is being taught in some quarters that the believer should turn to Rabbinic Commentaries and Rabbinic thought. Oh my goodness No! There is no ‘water of life’ in these cisterns. We must not be brought back under the yoke of bondage to the law.
The Bible-believer should understand that often Rabbinic teaching was originated as part of the rejection of Christ as the Messiah. Clearly there is a need that believers grasp afresh the teachings of the Holy Spirit as given through Paul, no-one who understands the Apostle’s argument in the book of Romans would desire to return to the ‘bondage of the law’.
Whilst the writer has no wish to attack those born “under the law” according to the flesh, yet it must be clearly stated that the law will not save and Rabbinic teaching is not to be laid alongside the Word of God as a source of truth.
The writer has also recently encountered another growing trend with reference to the Synoptic Gospels. It is being taught that these gospels stem from a Hebrew original, supposedly now lost. However, Christians are being taught that the only way to properly understand these gospels is to become familiar with the Hebrew concepts that lay behind the Greek words, this is achieved by retranslating the Greek back to Hebrew.
You will see dear believer where this takes us. it means you have to become proficient in the Hebrew language and the meaning behind the written Greek to get to the supposed true meaning. This is just one more latter-day false concept to confuse believers.
Throughout Church History there have always been those teachers who have sought to mix Judaism and Christianity and the Church of Christ has rightly rejected them.
Of course in closing, let me say that I am not attacking a knowledge of Hebrew and Greek nor disparaging the languages in which God revealed His Plan of Salvation to men. Some indeed do this. I am not one of them.
A true believer knows that the Hebrew law will not save and neither will Greek philosophy. We look to Christ for Salvation and the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth not a knowledge of Hebrew concepts.
Dr. David Badger
(From the Monarch Standard 1999)