Wednesday, April 07, 2004
I got a nice and respectful email today which I have yet to respond to. The person is Messianic Jewish and is trying to defend Jews not believing in Jesus. I will have to get into this issue in depth in the future. However, these are my initial thoughts.
The root of this erroneous view is that an unbiblical belief of libertarian freewill has trumped the clear teachings of Scripture. I do not mean to say that you have to be a Calvinist in order to support Jewish evangelism. But some non-Calvinists (Arminians) see something impossible. How can a people historically persecuted by Christians (true or false) believe in Jesus? Well, yes, that's impossible. Except for one thing. Faith is a gift from God.
This is not to say Arminians by and large do not support Jewish evangelism. Most I know do. Many pray better than they believe in their head ("Lord, work on their hearts"). And many can see the clear readings of Scripture which state that everyone needs Jesus, both Jew and Gentile.
But some are denying the gospel, at least for Jewish people. And I believe they are doing so because they don't see how someone in their free will can choose Jesus. And because God is just, He would never hold someone accountable for someone who can't choose. Would He?
This is the underlying flaw which ultimately leads to ignoring or explaining away other portions of Scripture which are abundantly clear on the need for faith in the Messiah (Deut. 18, John 3:18, etc.).
For those interested, the following article prompted the email: Controversy and Concerns With Avodat Yisrael
The root of this erroneous view is that an unbiblical belief of libertarian freewill has trumped the clear teachings of Scripture. I do not mean to say that you have to be a Calvinist in order to support Jewish evangelism. But some non-Calvinists (Arminians) see something impossible. How can a people historically persecuted by Christians (true or false) believe in Jesus? Well, yes, that's impossible. Except for one thing. Faith is a gift from God.
This is not to say Arminians by and large do not support Jewish evangelism. Most I know do. Many pray better than they believe in their head ("Lord, work on their hearts"). And many can see the clear readings of Scripture which state that everyone needs Jesus, both Jew and Gentile.
But some are denying the gospel, at least for Jewish people. And I believe they are doing so because they don't see how someone in their free will can choose Jesus. And because God is just, He would never hold someone accountable for someone who can't choose. Would He?
This is the underlying flaw which ultimately leads to ignoring or explaining away other portions of Scripture which are abundantly clear on the need for faith in the Messiah (Deut. 18, John 3:18, etc.).
For those interested, the following article prompted the email: Controversy and Concerns With Avodat Yisrael
