Is salvation for the jews only?
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According to Judaism, all the righteous in the world, Jewish or not, have their portion in the world to come.\n\nFirst and foremost, Jews believe strongly in the concept of Chasedei Umos Haolam (lit. Righteous People of the Nations of the World) that they are abundantly and lavishly rewarded for their good deeds. So, according to the jewish view, salvation is truly for every good-doer or do-gooder in the world, regardless of faith or heritage.\n\nHowever, for a more in depth discussion, this question is quite tricky. First and foremost, the term "salvation" or in hebrew, Yeshua, does not relate to personal salvation, heaven or hell etc.\n\nIt is not an individualistic concept, but is more specifically used in reference to deliverance from exile, a future messianic era where moshiach, lit. meaning "an anointed one", will bring peace to the world and lead the entire jewish nation to congregate in israel at the future third temple. While there is no temple, the jews are considered a scattered people. \n\nThis future period is a time of peace for everyone. It is not exclusionary. The world will presumably be business as usual. But people, enlightened by a high ethical and moral understanding, will get along better with each other. And war and strife and fear will not be a staple of daily life (as they are now, during this period of exile). Thus it will be a time of deliverance from persecution and plague for everyone alike.\n\nAs for going to heaven vs. hell, judaism teaches us not to focus our energies on this aspect of existence so that we don't constantly think about getting rewarded (see ethics of our fathers). And rather do good deeds for the sake of doing good deeds.\n\nAll in all, according to judaism, if you're a good person, you're going to heaven!
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Yes generally Jews believe in Heaven (for the most part) but not Hell.\n\nBut there is no mention of an afterlife in Torah and it is accepted that performing Mitzvot (good deeds) should not be for the attainment of rewards in the after life.\n\nJews approach the afterlife with hope but feel we have an extraordinary opportunity to live life in the present, and to make it special and worthwhile.\n\nIt other word we like to think there is one, but we know we have this life so let's not squander it.
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""Jews" for Christ," also called, Messianic "Jews," are not Jews! \n\nMany people, Christians and some Jews as well, erroneously believe that just as one can be Black and Christian, just as one can be Oriental and Christian, one can also be Jewish and Christian. It is not true. The Jews are not a race. There is no genetic code passed from either mother or father to the child that makes that child a Jew. Even if all, or some, of the genetic code in a child could be proved to be of Jewish Origin, that would not make the child a Jew. Jewish law determines who is a Jew, and Jewish law is quite clear. If a person's mother is a Jew, and that person has not converted to another faith, then that person will be considered fully Jewish, so long as that person wishes to identify solely as a Jew. Although one cannot convert to become a member of a race, one who converts to Judaism does, indeed, become fully a Jew. Similarly, if one converts from Judaism to another faith, one is no longer a Jew.\n\nMessianic "Judaism" is a product of the successful missionizing campaign of such ministries as the "Jews" for Jesus, who try to make it look as though one can be a Jew and a Christian at the same time. BY definition, one who believes in Jesus as their savior is a Christian. One who accepts Jesus as anything other than a man who once lived, but died without doing anything the Real Messiah will do when he gets here (hence the reason for a Second Coming!), is a Christian and no longer a Jew.\n\nThe Orthodox Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, writing for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, for the National Conference of Synagogue Youth, the Orthodox Youth Group, in his book The Real Messiah, on page 21 wrote:\n\nThis brings us back to our original question: \nWhat can a Jew lose by embracing Christianity? \n\nThe answer is: Everything. \n\nChristianity negates the fundamentals of Jewish \nfaith, and one who accepts it rejects the very \nessence of Judaism. Even if he continues to keep \nall of the rituals, it is the same as if he \nabandoned Judaism completely. \n\nA Jew who accepts Christianity might call himself \na "Messianic 'Jew,'" but he is no longer a Jew. \nHe can no longer even be counted as part of a \nJewish Congregation.\n\nWe Jews define for ourselves who is and who is not a Jew, and not the Jewish wannabees, and the targets of this newest technique in missionizing Jews. \nAs a matter of fact, the majority of their members were not ever Jewish up until recently, and this is also true about their messianic ""rabbis."" Many of them change their names to something that sounds stereotypically Jewish, in order to better target those they want to convert to Christianity.\n\nAs the success of this newest technique in missionizing the less knowledgeable Jews increased, the percentage of membership of ex-Jews as members of their messianic congregations has also increased, now running about 50-50.\n\nIt is also interesting to note that a large number of people converting TO Judaism have come to real Judaism from having been exposed to Messianic ""Judaism."" \n\nWhat you should expect at a messianic congregation is that all references to Christian theology has been changed to make it sound more Jewish, and therefore more pallatable to their targets. They will only refer to Jesus as 'Yeshua' (which would not have been his name), they will say 'moshiach' instead of 'christ,' they will say 'synagogue' instead of 'church,' and on and on, in keeping with the techniques described in the book Understanding Church Growth by Donald MacGavran, who helped the idea of Indiginous Cultural Evangelism get started. \n\nThe services will sound very Jewish, usually a lot of (mispronounced) Hebrew, and prayers will have been changed to add the Christian theology of Jesus to them, again, to make the service more f
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in judaism we do not need "salvation". a person is good, if a person does not follow in g-d's way's then their soul must be cleansed form the impurities prior to going to heaven.
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Jews are still waiting for their Messiah to come.  They don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah because supposedly the guard that was watching Jesus' coffin was busy doing something else when Jesus was taken up to Heaven by an angel.  They don't believe that Jesus died for our sins and that is why they only go by the Old Testament.
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Assuming a title (e.g. 'Christian') is NOT enuf for much of anything.\n\nThose who look for the easy way & short cuts to His Salvation will be greatly disappointed, some day.\n\nGod gives the free gift of His Salvation, Yeshua (aka "Jesus"), to those who love Him & obey His Law. They pattern their life after the Messiah who was sinless by living a perfectly Torah-compliant life. If Yeshua had deviated at all from the Word of God, it would have disqualified Him from being the unblemished Passover Lamb of God Sacrifice for the sins of the world. He set the example for how  we should try to live. He is the Way, the Truth, & the Life.\n\nYeshua did not collect followers who ~just believe~ or call themselves a ~follower~ ...begrudgingly giving an hour a week to an assembly of like-minded believers. He collected disciples &  apostles who lived the faith 24-7; they put on His yoke; they picked up a cross; they accepted their missions. They had circumcised hearts which submits their personal will to God's will.\n\nSatan & his demons know God & believe Jesus is the Savior - but that  won't save them - they are rebellious, they don't obey God's Law/will - they  are lost.\n\nPagan traditions of man are abominations to God. Do not mix in the ~better ideas~  that some cults & denominations claim is Ok, "because now we are saved by Grace, not by what we do or don't do."\n\nIf you celebrate Sunday Sabbath, Easter Sunday, Christmas, etc you are not following the Messiah! Those religions follow the decrees of a pagan Roman Emperor, Constantine, & they follow Pope Sylvester I who claimed the power & authority to change God's Law.
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""Why is it Jewish People believe they are the chosen people?""\n\nBecause we are, because Gd said so, because Gd does not change his mind, because Gd said the covenant between Him and we Jews is eternal, just like He is eternal, because History has proved this to be true, because the Jews themselves have proven this to be true!!!\n\nAs Mark Twain Wrote in Harper's Magazine, March issue, 1898\n"Concerning The Jews"::::\n\n"""To conclude. - If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one per cent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star-dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of; but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world's list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. \n\nHe has made a marvellous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. \n\nThe Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?"""  \n\nThat secret is that we are, indeed, Gd's Chosen People!!
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http://WhatJewsBelieve.org\n\nNone of the Real Prophecies concerning the messiah have been fulfilled by Jesus.\n\nThe basic beliefs of Christianity about Jesus are against what the Bible says, and so Real Jews cannot believe in Jesus at all.\n\nThe Christian understanding is that the Messiah, Jesus, died for the sins of the people. The messiah is supposed to be a human sacrifice that is the blood sacrifice necessary for the forgiveness of sin.\n\nBut we are taught in our Torah that no one can die for the sins of another. In Deuteronomy 24:16 it specifically says this:\n\nDeuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not \nbe put to death for the children, neither \nshall the children be put to death for\nthe fathers: \nevery man shall be put to death for his \nown sin (eesh b’chet-o yumatu).\n\nIn Exodus 32:30-35, Moses tries to offer himself to atone for the sins of the people. To be written out of Gd's book, means to be written out of the Book of Life, which means Moses was asking to die for the sins of the People. Gd's response is No, it does not work that way, each man dies for his own sin:\n\nExodus 32:30-35 And it came to pass on the \nmorrow, that Moses said unto the people, \nYe have sinned a great sin: and now I will \ngo up unto the Etrnl; perhaps I shall make \nan atonement for your sin. And Moses \nreturned unto the Etrnl, and said, Oh, \nthis people have sinned a great sin, and \nhave made them gods of gold. Yet now, if \nthou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, \nblot me, I pray thee, out of thy book \nwhich thou hast written. And the Etrnl \nsaid unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned \nagainst me, him will I blot out of my \nbook. \n\nThe whole of chapter 18 of the book of Ezekiel is about this idea, that no one can die for someone else's sin. Further, this chapter of Ezekiel teaches us that all we have to do for Gd's forgiveness is to stop doing the Bad and start doing the Good, and Gd will forgive us:::\n\nEzekiel 18:1-4; 20-24; 26-27 .....Behold, all \nsouls are mine; as the soul of the father, so \nalso the soul of the son is mine: the soul \nthat sinneth, it shall die. Eze 18:20 The soul \nthat sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not \nbear the iniquity of the father, neither shall \nthe father bear the iniquity of the son: the \nrighteousness of the righteous shall be upon \nhim, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be \nupon him. But if the wicked will turn from all \nhis sins that he hath committed, and keep all \nmy statutes, and do that which is lawful and \nright, he shall surely live, he shall not die. \nAll his transgressions that he hath committed, \nthey shall not be mentioned unto him: in his \nrighteousness that he hath done he shall live. \nHave I any pleasure at all that the wicked \nshould die? saith the Etrnl Gd: and not that \nhe should return from his ways, and live?.... \nEze 18:26 When a righteous man turneth away \nfrom his righteousness, and committeth \niniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity \nthat he hath done shall he die. Again, when \nthe wicked man turneth away from his \nwickedness that he hath committed, and doeth \nthat which is lawful and right, he shall save \nhis soul alive. \n\nSo, the Bible is clear, no one can die for the sins of another, and this means that Jesus cannot die for anyone else's sins.\n\nChristians also believe that one needs a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, that one who does not have such a blood sacrifice will die in their sins, and go to hell, except for the sacrifice of Jesus.\n\nThis, too, is UnBiblical. The Bible describes blood sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin in the Book of Leviticus. But it is in Leviticus itself, in the middle of the discussion of the sin sacrifices, that we are taught that we do not need a blood sacrifice to be forgiven for our sins. Offering a blood sacrifice was an expensive thing to do for the family offering the animal. Was forgiveness then, to be only for the rich? No, because if one cou
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I have one big problem with your statement. Exactly how many Jews have tried to convert you? Jews have no inclination, and quite to the contrary according to Judaism there is no reason for you to convert. All people are judged on our actions not what faith we espouse. So from a Jewish perspective the only thing that truly matters is if you live a Just life or not.\n\nAnyone who claimed to be Jewish and tried to convert you had no concept of what Judaism is.
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Jews very definitely welcomes converts, and up until the Council of Nicaea, in the year 325, we Jews were very definitely missionaries. At the Council of Nicaea, Constantine gave the death penalty to any Jew caught missionizing, and to anyone listening to that Jew who was missionizing!\n\nOf course, this did not stop people from converting to Judaism, and becoming Jews.\n\nThere is even a verse in the Christian's New Testament that describes the zealousness with which Jews used to missionize. See Matthew 23:15! \n\nThere are quite a number of places in the Hebrew Scriptures where Gd tells the Jews to convert all the nations of the earth to Judaism. Here is one quick example, from Psalm 96:\n\n     Psa 96:1  O sing unto the Etrnl a new song: \n     sing unto the Etrnl, ALL THE EARTH. 2  Sing \n     unto the Etrnl, bless his name; shew forth his \n     salvation from day to day. 3  DECLARE HIS \n     GLORY AMONG THE HEATHEN, HIS WONDERS AMONG ALL \n     THE PEOPLE. 4  For the Etrnl is great, and \n     greatly to be praised: HE IS TO BE AWED ABOVE \n     ALL GODS. 5  FOR ALL THE GODS OF THE NATIONS \n     ARE IDOLS, BUT THE ETRNL MADE THE   \n     HEAVENS......9 O worship the Etrnl in the \n     beauty of holiness: fear before him, ALL THE \n     EARTH. 10  SAY AMONG THE HEATHEN THAT THE \n     ETRNL REIGNETH: the world also shall be \n     established that it shall not be moved: he \n     shall judge the people righteously. \n\nNow, yes, there is a "Unique Path" as you put it, for non-Jews, it is through the covenant Gd first established with Noah, but why settle for the lesser of two Great Things?\n\nConvert to Judaism, and WELCOME!\n\nHere is a web site to help you convert to Judaism: http://Convert.org \n\nAnd below under Sources are web sites for the Noachides as they are called.
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Yes, I have. I think it's completely wrong to think that the Jews have to keep the law while we have to believe in Jesus. Jeremiah 31 says that God would make a completely new covenant with the Jews that would be different than the one he made when he brought them out of Egypt. Therefore, there is only one true covenant, and that's the New one --- Christianity.
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Actually the Bible only condemns certain foods for Jewish people, later in the New Testament it says that all things are cleansed by God's grace with the giving of thanks. Basically the premeal prayer
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I would think, for Jews, there is sufficient reason to be Jewish, and not sufficient reason to be Christian.  Part of the sufficient reason to be Jewish is being born into it (for most Jews) and believing in one God, rather than the metaphorical, hypothetical, and mystical Trinity.  The reasons you mentioned certainly contribute to wanting to keep to the Jewish community.
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As a matter of fact there are some Jews who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. They have a website actually, though I can't remeber it now. I think it's called Jews for Chirst or something like that. They are in the minority however.\n\nI do know many Jews are put off by Jesus Christ, because many arrogant people (including some Christians) like to blame the Jews for the death of Christ. They seem to forget that GOD KILLED CHRIST. Not the Jews, not the Romans. God killed his own son, because it was part of His plan for the redemption of mankind.\n\nI also think because of all of the warnings about idol worshiping and false gods in the Old Testament some Christians (not all) tend to be a little over hyper about their attitude towars people of other religons. They don't truly mean any harm, you understand. But there is no need to degrade some one else's religon because they belive differently then you do. I don't think God's impressed with that. Just the oposite.\n\nI do believe God is concerned about our faith. I also believe God will be concerned when we stand before him about how we treated the Jews, Muslims, Gentiles the Non-Christians, if you know what I mean.\n\nYes I am a Christian.
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It does not matter what any one's position is.\n The fact is that there are Jews there.
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it is the jewish belief that jews were chosen to have a special mission on earth - to spread the word of G-d and to be a "holy people" - i.e. by following the commandments.\n\nas for chosen in the sense of having "special priveleges", no. we believe that G-d loves and accepts everybody, regardless of which religion they belong to. there's no creepy "be a jew or go to hell!" doctrine in judaism like there is in certain other religions.
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martian645, God was not spelled out as those who are Jewish show respect for the Almighty by not spelling out His name fully.  As for the question at hand, gratvol, you are Jewish, are you not?  You are of God's chosen people.  I'm pretty sure your prayers are heard and you will be forgiven for whatever sins you may have.