I met a man named Ross today - he was a Jew. I didn't find this out until we had been talking for 10 or 15 minutes about spiritual beliefs. In my manner, I began the conversation asking what he believed. We discussed the law of God and our inability to live up to it, and I explained how Christ's payment on the cross satisfied the law in a way we never could. I continued by explaining that the payment was only for those who followed Christ as Lord, and I asked him if he had ever committed himself to Christ. He said no.
I asked Ross, was there anything preventing him from following Christ with his full heart now and he replied, "I am a Jew." How I pray that God will open his eyes to understand that being Jewish does not in anyway prevent one from following Christ. Christ was Jewish, Paul was Jewish, Peter was Jewish - in fact, all of Christ's original followers, or disciples, were Jewish.
Christ came first to the Jews. Only now, that Christ has been largely rejected by the Jewish nation, do I and the other Gentiles have the chance to follow Christ. Now, I being a Gentile, have the chance to become a true Jew who follows in the steps of the faith of my father Abraham.
Ross needed to understand that being Jewish does not prevent one from following Christ. On the contrary, following Christ defines what it means to be Jewish. "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter, and his praise is not from men, but from God." - Romans 2.
God has circumcised my heart by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ so that I am a true Jew - heir of all of God's promises to Jews - along with all the other believers in Christ.
I pray that God opens Ross' eyes to see that to proclaim his Jewishness is to embrace Christ.
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I have heard from Jewish and Muslim people whom I speak with that Christianity is against their faith because it raises two beings as gods (and sometimes three). The mystery of the trinity in the Roman Catholic faith is considered by some Jews and Muslims to go against the First Commandment. Being raised to believe in the trinity, I have accepted this in my faith, but I'm very close to the idea that the Son and the Father are the same being while being separate. How do you suggest meeting this rift in faiths?
-KaK
Hi KaK, thanks for your comments. I’m very glad that you brought up this question because I believe that an acceptance of the Trinity is absolutely essential for salvation from our sins and eternal punishment. Let me explain why.
First, I guess I should probably define what the term "Trinity" means according to orthodox Christianity. The concept of the Trinity conveys the idea that there is one, and only one, God, yet He exists eternally as three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each distinct person is fully God, yet God is one.
You mentioned that you thought of the Son and the Father as the same being. However orthodox Christianity (and the Bible) tries to be very clear that the Father, Son, and Spirit are not the same being. (e.g., the Father is not the Son; the Spirit is not the Father; and so on). (see
here for a more thorough explanation with pictures!).
Admittedly, three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) with a single essence (God) is a difficult idea to understand; however, orthodox Muslims and Jews usually don't have reservations about accepting other difficult concepts about God, such as his eternal existence (the idea of eternity past hurts my mind), that God "spoke" the world into being from nothingness, etc. Thus, I don’t think the fact that the Trinity is difficult to understand should prevent our acceptance of it if there are good reasons for our acceptance.
Now that I've defined the Trinity, let's talk about the crux of your question - why do Christians believe it? In short, because the Bible teaches it. First of all, I agree with your Muslim and Jewish acquaintances - God is one and worshipping another god is breaking the first commandment. The Bible makes this clear. (“To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him” – Deut. 4; “See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me” – Deut. 32).
However, the Bible is also clear that God is not just a single person, but three. The Old Testament is replete with references to the plurality of the Godhead. For example, God is associated with the plural verb and pronoun. (God said “Let Us make man in Our image after Our likeness.” – Gen. 1; “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil.” – Gen. 3; God speaking to Isaiah: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” – Isaiah 6:8)
There are also several passages where one person is called “God” or “the LORD” and is distinguished from another person who is also said to be God.
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever … You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of joy above Your fellows.” – Psalm 45.
Here, the King is called God whose throne will last “forever and ever,” yet still speaking to the King called God, the author says “God, your God, has set you above Your companions.” Two separate persons are called God – one person called God to be set above His companions and another person called God to do the setting.
Also, there are several instances where the angel, or messenger, of the LORD is also called God. See Gen. 16 where the angel of the LORD is speaking to Sarah’s maid Hagar. “The angel of the LORD said to her further, “Behold, you are with child … Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees” and “Have I even remained alive after seeing Him?” The person who spoke to Hagar was both the messenger of a person who was God and yet God himself.
Evidence of the plurality of persons who are God is also seen in a familiar scripture sung as a Christmas carol heralding Christ’s birth. “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will be upon his shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9. This child, Christ, is also called God.
For the sake of our Jewish friends, I’ve stuck to evidence in the traditional Jewish scriptures; however, references to Jesus’ divinity, as well as the simultaneous divinity of the Father and Holy Spirit are numerous in the New Testament as well. (see e.g., when Paul states “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” – Colossians 2; the Apostle Thomas falls down before Jesus and says “My Lord and my God.” – John 20; Paul encouraging Christians to be like Christ said “Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God … became obedient to death.” – Philippians 2.)
I hope next time you get a chance to speak with Muslim or Jewish people that you point out that there is one God, yet the Scriptures also clearly teach that God is three persons. Without faith in Christ as God, both Muslims and Jews will perish. For Jesus makes it perfectly clear that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father, but by Him. (See John 14.)
Muslims and Jews who do not accept Christ do not know the Father despite the sincerity their beliefs in God. Jesus said to unbelieving Jews during his time, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” It is imperative for us to introduce our Muslim and Jewish friends to Christ as God for he is the only way to the Father as God. This is one of the reasons the concept, or doctrine, of the Trinity is absolutely essential for salvation from our sins and from eternal punishment.
I read, and then I always want to read more! I found this that might be interesting to you: http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=27983
I concur that the translated Bible into English does seem to have inherent terms that lean toward more than one being in God. Yet these discussions always make me wish I understood the authors and their language and understanding at that time. My cousin's wife is a professor of theology who specializes in Biblical languages. It would be interesting to know what grammatical differences and concepts meant to the authors of the Bible. After all, the mustard seed story is hard to understand if you've never seen one!
My concern for Muslims is that a phrase often repeated in Islamic faith as a greeting, roughly translated, is "There is no God but God." It is a very friendly greeting, full of faith and devotion. Yet it is one that divides Christians and Muslims. And how do you approach when you're reaching for understanding first, and acceptance later without losing your listener from their (unfounded) concern that you are taking them away from God?
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