Jewish Salvation and Gentile Believers
If Jesus was politically correct, He would have never said what He said to the woman at the well. He told her, "Ye worship what ye know not: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews," (John 4:22). Well, since by the Savior's own words salvation is of the Jews, then we need to ask ourselves, "Have I been saved with Jewish salvation?"
What exactly is Jewish salvation? Isaiah 59:20 points to the answer. "And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord."
The "Redeemer"--Jesus--comes to (read, saves) those that "turn from transgression in Jacob." What is transgression as defined "in Jacob"--in Judaism? It is breaking God's Ten Commandments. Jewish salvation, then, is conferred upon those that repent of breaking God’s Law.
This matches exactly the New Testament gospel. Jesus preached, “The time if fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel,” (Mark 1:15). And Paul preached “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Acts 20:21).
There is only one gospel. There is only one way to God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father but by me,” (John 14:6). And Paul wrote, “There is….one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” (Ephesians 4:4 & 5). This removes all possibility of there being more than one gospel, more than one way to heaven. It also means that there not one set of moral requirements for Jews and different one for Gentiles—for Christians. The gospel is about salvation from sin. And since there’s only one gospel, then there are not different definitions of sin for different groups of people. God’s moral standards for Jews and Gentiles are the same—and sin is the same for both.
What are the moral standards God gives to both Jews and Gentiles, that apply to both Jews and Christians alike? Hebrews 9:15 answers the question clearly. It tells us what the sins are that Jesus died in order to gain for us forgiveness. Listen: “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” And what was sin as defined under the Old Covenant? It was breaking God Ten Commandments. Therefore, the moral standard given by God Himself for all people (not just the Jews) is the Ten Commandment law of God.
Paul, under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, leaves no wiggle room on this point. He writes in Romans 3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” He also writes in Galatians 3:22, “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” So, the Ten Commandments apply to everyone.
Even the New Covenant itself confirms that God’s moral standards are the same for all people—for Jew and Gentile, Jew and Christian alike. In the New Covenant, God writes His Law in the hearts and minds of believers in Jesus: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts,” (Hebrews 8:10). This passage in the New Testament book of Hebrews is a direct quote from the book of Jeremiah, chapter 31, and this fact has definitive significance. In what way? The law that is to be written in our hearts in the New Covenant is the law of God recognized in the days of Jeremiah: namely, the Ten Commandment law of God. The law written in our hearts in the New Covenant is the Ten Commandment law of God that Jeremiah knew. So, the moral standard, the Ten Commandments, are the same for Jew and Gentile, Jew and Christian alike.
By the way, did you notice with whom the New Testament acknowledges that the New Covenant was made? “The house of Israel.” Search from Genesis to Revelation and you will find that there is no salvific covenant made with the Gentiles. But, then, this is no surprise. After all, Jesus did say that “salvation is of the Jews.”
So, what hope is there for non-Jews? How can Gentiles get into a covenant not made with them? That’s easy: convert. “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise,” (Galatians 3:29). If Gentiles will simply repent of the sins that Jews have to repent of and accept the Jewish Messiah—that is, the real Jewish Messiah—as their personal Savior and Lord, then the Gentiles will become “Jews”—that is, spiritual Jews—and the blessings of the New Covenant will be theirs, too. They will be recipients of Jewish salvation.
Why is it important to understand this? What difference does it make? The vast majority of Christians have been misled regarding the moral standards the Lord expects them to live by. Most Christians bow to graven images, which is defined as sin by the second commandment, and even more Christians break the fourth commandment every week because they have been taught a different day of rest than the fourth commandment requires.
Bowing to images and breaking the Sabbath are still sins that required the blood of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, to be shed in order to be forgiven. Yet most Christians transgress on one or both of these points, repenting and asking forgiveness for neither, in spite of the fact that Jesus died in order to provide forgiveness for both. However, it is true that most Christians are ignorant of these things. But, as Paul said to the Athenians, so God says to the people of our day, “the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent,” (Acts 17:30).
Jewish salvation as taught in the Word of God (and unamended by rabbinical, human authority) isn’t just for Jews. It’s for everyone. And more than that, it’s the only God-authorized gospel. So, repent of transgression of all of God’s Ten Commandments and accept Jewish salvation today!