bridgelight-blog1

[bridgelight-blog1]

Some people say "seeing is believing." We learn from the Bible that "being is believing." You are what you do, and you do what you believe. You can say all kinds of things and not do them, but you will ALWAYS do what you REALLY believe. Therefore what you believe is what you become, and who you are is a product of what you really believe.

Be real. Be transparent. Be honest. Be bold. Be humble. Be you.

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Other than the Noachide distinction, this is really good stuff. As to the Noachide distinction, I think the sages have dismissed the mixed multitude (Exodus 12:38) that also stood at the foot of Mt Sinai entering into the covenant along with the blood-sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Unfortunately, the sages typically represent the ‘erev as being the cause of idolatry and rebellion.

The Jewish concept of salvation cannot properly be understood without considering these significant facts:

1. The gates of salvation are open to all men. it is not limited to members of the House of Israel. The righteous among the non-Jews have a place in the world to come. For this reason the seven laws of Noah were given to mankind. While Jews are required to observe 613 commandments, non-Jews can attain salvation merely by observing the seven Noachian commandments, prohibiting idolatry, blasphemy, cursing of judges, murder, incest, and adultery, robbery and the eating of flesh with the blood of life in it.

2. In keeping with this universalism, certain Jewish thinkers have declared that Christianity and Islam, as Judaism’s daughter-religions, have their part to play in the scheme of salvation. They help prepare the soil for the messianic kingdom.

3. There is no salvation in Judaism by faith alone or by the mere acceptance of a creed. Nor is there salvation attained by meditation. God freely remits the sin of the penitent. As a result of each man’s awareness of the manner of life required by God, the whole world will awaken to the demands of the higher life. Salvation will be complete when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” - Rabbi Abraham Shusterman

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There is no way for Jews to understand Jesus because Christians don't understand him, either.

Of course Jews can’t accept "Jesus," and they’re right not to. Christians are unknowingly presenting a skewed picture, a caricature of sorts, that misrepresents vital aspects of who he is and what his teachings are all about. This skewed perspective violates basic Jewish understanding about God, messiah, and salvation, and therefore, in Jewish eyes, invalidates this caricatured "Jesus" as being the Anointed one of God.

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Ha, even Google can’t tell the difference. However, I believe there is, and should be, a unique aspect to believing in Yeshua as the messiah. It is really neither Judaism nor Christianity as we know them today. It is believed this perspective was known simply as the Way, a sect within Judaism at its inception.

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Sanctifying Shabbat, from “Gates of Shabbat, A guide for observing Shabbat” by the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

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