Why did Family Bible Church "go Messianic?"

Isn't that a step backward toward "the Law?" What about Grace?

If you are already a Christian and you are already saved,
why is all this "Messianic stuff" important?

What will your Christian friends think?

What will your Jewish friends think?

Answers to all these and more are being prepared ... Stay Tuned!

In the meantime, click on the links at the top of this page for more information about the "Messianic Movement."

Why is Family Bible Church “going Messianic?”

There is a long list of reasons why Family Bible Church has made the decision to become a Messianic Jewish congregation. Some of those reasons include the following:

1. The Pastor of Family Bible Church is a Jewish Believer in Mashiach who for too long has remained ignorant of his Jewish heritage, having been content to live fully-assimilated as a Gentile Christian for 49 years.

2. The Bible teaches that the Gospel is to be presented “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek/Gentile.” Although billions of dollars are being spent by individual Christian churches, denominations, and other missionary outreaches to send missionaries to Gentiles, we believe that very little is being done to present the Good News of Mashiach's Kingdom to the Jews.

3. The traditional thinking of most Gentile Christians is that on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the Upper Room, Peter went out into the street and preached the first “Christian Sermon,” and there was suddenly created a “Christian Church” with over 3,000 members. After studying the Scriptures intently for the past two years, I have discovered that it simply isn't true. What happened was that under the direction of Ruach HaKodesh, Kefa, a Torah-observant Jew who was a witness to the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua HaMashiach, testified to thousands of other Torah-observant Jews as to what he had witnessed, and as a result that day there were over 3,000 Torah-observant Jews who became Believers in Melech Yeshua HaMashiach, and Nazarene or Messianic Judaism became a part of main-stream Judaism alongside the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes. The “church” did not become a separate entity from Judaism until almost exactly 100 years later during the Bar Kokhba Rebellion. Therefore, if anyone desires to experience the “First-Century Church” the only place where they can do so is in a Messianic Jewish synagogue.

4. There is no place for Messianic Jewish worship within a over 100 miles of our location. 

3.

I fully understand that “conventional” Christian theology teaches that the “Church” came into existence at Pentecost and will cease to function in its present capacity at “the Rapture,” and that the “Church” therefore consists of all the saints of the present age, and I faithfully taught that doctrine for over thirty years. My recent studies of the Scripture have left that teaching in some doubt in my mind for the following reasons:

a. The Greek word that is translated “church” in the English Bibles is ekklesia (ekklesia), or “called out” or “the called out ones” when used with the definite article (“the”). This concept carries with it the idea of being “elect” or “chosen,” and it should be properly translated as “called out.” Other than the religious bias of the translators and the traditions of men, there is absolutely no grammatical reason for this word to be translated “church.”

b. The Hebrew word arqm (miqra) carries the same meaning as the word ekklesia. and is used in the Tenakh to refer to the “holy convocations” of Israel, and can readily be translated as “called out.”

c. While most “conventional” Christian theology teaches that the so-called “Old Testament Saints” were saved by observance of Torah, the Brit Chadasha (particularly Hebrews 11; Romans 3:21-4:25; Romans 11) teaches that salvation (justification) has always been on the basis of faith in Mashiach, totally apart from any “works of righteousness.”

d. The “called out ones” before the resurrection of Mashiach were justified (saved) by faith in the completed work of Mashiach yet to be performed.

e. The “called out ones” after the resurrection of Mashiach are justified (saved) by faith in the exact same completed work of Mashiach that has now been performed.

f. The “called out ones” before the resurrection of Mashiach were either born or adopted as Israelites. (Gen. 17:10-13; Exod. 12:43-51; Deut 16:10-11; Josh. 8:33)

g. The “called out ones” after the resurrection of Mashiach are either born or adopted as Israelites. (Rom. 9:1-8; cp. Rom. 8:15; Rom. 8:23; Rom. 11:17-27; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5; Eph. 2:11-13)

h. The “called out ones” before the resurrection of Mashiach and the “called out ones” after the resurrection of Mashiach are therefore related to Mashiach in exactly the same manner. (Rom. 3:30)

 i. Where, then, is the scriptural basis for saying that “the called one ones” before the resurrection and the “called out ones” after the resurrection are two different groups of humanity?

 j. There is, therefore, no apparent Scriptural basis to claim that G-d started something “new” or “different” at Pentecost, only that Ruach HaKodesh was now to permanently indwell those who came to faith in Mashiach, whereas before the resurrection that indwelling seems (from our limited human perspective) to have been more temporary in nature.

Isn't that a step backward toward "the Law?" What about Grace?

If you are already a Christian and you are already saved,
why is all this "Messianic stuff" important?

What will your Christian friends think?

What will your Jewish friends think?