INTRODUCTION

With last century’s resurgence of Jewish nationhood has also come a rebirth of Messianic Judaism or Messianism. Messianism is a doctrinal system that seeks to capture and define Jewish faith—and ultimately all faith—in Yeshua Christ in terms of a living connection to the Old Covenant and Jewish culture that has never been abolished. The spirit of this system first appeared in the original Jerusalem church, and then eventually worked its way into the mainly Gentile-origined churches of Asia Minor (Galatia) and elsewhere.

Today’s renewed Messianism is comprised of both converted Jews as well as Gentile-origined believers in Christ who have moved from New Testament Christianity to adopt its teachings. The chief proposition of today’s Messianism is that the New Covenant remains integrally tied to the Old Covenant, but that this tie has been lost the last 2000 years, and now God is working to restore that connection today.

Depending on their extent of persuasion, Messianics may believe not only that today’s Jewish converts to Yeshua must tie their faith to the framework of Jewish cultural heritage centered on the Mosaic covenant, but that the faith of the Gentile-origined church also must be recaptured  (“restored”) to this connection as well. The spectrum of belief along which this recapture must take place is wide, mirroring the spectrum along which this issue was first fought out in the early church.

The original Messianics believed Gentiles needed to be circumcised. When that was officially denied by the elders at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), Messianics continued to insist Gentile believers must observe the Mosaic Law in its other respects. But Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, also contended vehemently against this as well in Galatians, Romans and Colossians. His writings, together with the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, established a barrier that to this day prevents Messianism from recapturing the Gentile-based church to its persuasion.

Meanwhile, despite their rebuff at the Council, the Messianics in Jerusalem continued to contend that, certainly, at least the Jews of all people must continue to observe the Mosaic Law, and that their faith in Yeshua must be tied to this observance. This is clear from the words of the Jerusalem elders to Paul in Acts 21:20-25. And it is certainly the case with many Messianics today.

At the most liberal end of the Messianic spectrum are converted Jews who simply have a cultural attenuation to Jewish things, but in no way feel bound to them under the New Covenant, and certainly do not feel any need to “restore” Gentiles to such things. As such, the term “Messianic” is often loosely applied to anyone of Jewish origin who comes to faith in Yeshua Christ.

For purposes of this treatise however and going forward, my use of the terms “Messianism “and “Messianic” apply only to those—both of Jewish and Gentile origin—who believe the faith must in some form remain bound to Old Covenant Judaism and that the Gentiles must be restored to this also.