I clearly remember many times when, as a Muslim, I would enter the bathroom, take off my pants, and then realize that I was not sure whether I had entered using my left foot.
This is above my pay scale, but as an ignorant person, if I understand you correctly, you are saying religion is not about simply being rewarded or penalized for doing good or bad because we are all sinners. The law is secondary. You are saying righteousness must be in the heart and the mind and precede the obeying of law. And that this is fundamental to Judaism, recognized by Jesus, and was a basis of his frustration. So, to return to true righteous Christianity, the path of understanding is through Judaism as taught by Jesus. Am I close?
I particularly enjoy the concept of the promise to Abraham. It means, to me, that nature affects us all, regardless of the laws we obey. Given I personally view religion as a way to explain nature, our history and our evolution, I find the translation of religion into nature interesting. IMHO, nature gives us right vs wrong, how to live, and many of the things Judaism and Christianity teach us. Religion is IMHO a way to describe nature along with its infinite unknowns. So I enjoy what you have to say Danny. Although I am secular, I do not find a lot of distance between myself and religious Christians.
Wow, lots to unpack here. But a simple question to start: what is the incentive? People need an incentive to perform. If God gave us his grace upfront (salvation from Egypt is a clear example, Jesus give us his righteousness is another), then we have no incentive to perform. If we should not try to keep score of good vs bad deeds, at which we will fail, who will?
It’s love. When you truly realise who he is and what he did,when you understand his character fully, it stirs you to love because it’s the true worship of a good, righteous and holy God that sacrificed himself in your place. Wanting to honour him, do everything as if it’s for him. The way you do things for the people you love. The Bible is a love story from God to his people.
I think people do good deeds not because they’re trying to earn God’s favourite but because it just comes naturally as the Spirit of God softens our hearts.
I think, like the 2 Hebrews at the beginning we are saved by the blood of the lamb we put on the doorposts of our hearts.
Truly grateful for this article. Reading it helped me to experience to a certain extent God's unconditional, unearned and healing love. Plan to read it many more times so that I become more spiritually Jewish..
Thank you for this. I've been studying Judaism for ten years or so now: the good, the bad, and the ugly,reading the weekly Torah portion and commentaries. Every time I read I discover that much (most?) of what Jesus preached was basic Judaism, and it has occurred to me that Christianity is a bit like worshipping a false g-d.
You always bring a new perspective for me to ponder.
Thanks for this .So few acknowledge Israel's heritage. On the contrary, Judaism and Israel are accused of being an obstacle to humanity.
The Jewishness of Jesus was largely forgotten because of Paul. Paul did everything he could to detach Christianity from Jesus himself, whom he never knew and about whom he didn't much care, and surely, to detach Christianity, which he theologically invented, from Judaism. There are so many aspects of Christian anti-Jewish sentiment that would have offended Jesus to his core.
Thank God for the Gospels. They were theologically influenced by Paul, as he wrote first. But they give us such important information about how Jesus thought, his deep Judaic essence, what he might have said, and who he preached to and why. It was all about decency and repentance .And putting a limit to over interpretation and manipulation of the Torah and the Prophets. Jesus was zealous for the Torah, which doesn't mean " law" but " instruction".
The best of Christianity was not its " salvation" or human sacrifice theology but its basis on Israel's ethics and morals. It's what contrasted so severely with the pagan Roman world. It contrasts with Islam as well.
Paul was a Jew. He didn’t separate Christianity from Judaism. He taught that it wasn’t necessary to become a Jew and be bound by Torah laws. He understood that like the 2 Hebrews in Dan’s story, we are saved by grace. The heart of the law is God’s grace to the Jews. I think that’s what Dan was trying to explain. Thats why we become like Jews. Not beholden to the law but understanding the love of the law as the heart of God
Thank you so much for this article. It’s extremely helpful to me. Please write more articles for Christian’s. We are a confused bunch and the clarity you bring with your theological and historical knowledge is priceless.
“Four hundred years before God liberated Israel, God asked Abraham to perform a ritual that was known in antiquity. Entering into an agreement between two parties involved slaughtering an animal, dividing it into pieces, and passing between those pieces. The parties were symbolically declaring, “May what happened to this animal happen to me if I fail to uphold the terms of this covenant.”
God asked Abraham to slaughter the animals, but then God put Abraham into a deep sleep. God alone, represented by a smoking firepot and a flaming torch, passed between the pieces. God was declaring that the fulfillment of the promise ultimately rested upon him. He was taking the covenant oath upon himself and guaranteeing the promise made to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 15:7–18).”
This struck me as being a good answer to the claim that Islam is an ‘Abrahamic religion’. It makes the very term a self-contradiction, for one, and it completely undoes all the daily observances and commands necessary to attain paradise. It preempts Islam.
I have used the illustration of a library to describe how Christianity is either not a religion, or the one different from all the rest. Every book represents every system that man has devised to attain salvation. And every book is similar, but different.
Similar in that every one has a goal and a way to reach the goal.
The goal may have a different name or description, but basically it is a magnified version of what the mind can most imagine as the ultimate enjoyment in earthly life.
The way is same as to what the human body can do (pray, sing, shout, chant, sit, stand, kneel, walk, give, don’t give, help, don’t help, sacrifice, don’t sacrifice, what to sacrifice) and as different as anyone can spin those.
What is identical in all of them is that the achievement of the goal depends upon the performance of the prescription. It’s up to you, the worshipper.
In truth, the goal isn’t a thing, place, or state, primarily. It is God himself, to be in his presence. The way is holiness: absolute moral perfection in thought, word, and deed every single instant of your life, according to a standard of perfection you can’t humanly attain. So the achievement of the goal doesn’t depend on you, can’t depend on you, but what was done for you by someone who could.
You caught me. I had to upgrade to paid to see where you were taking this. Glad I did. For me, The christian Bible is composed of Old and New Testaments/Covenants and the Old, the Torah, is the illustrated part of the Bible. It is the pictures and videos that illuminate the new covenant and make it clear and poignant and moving and exciting and gives me the perspective to see who I am. It is all God breathed. I love Gods' love for the land of Isreal and His covenant with the Jews. I love his covenants with David & Levi and others. His love for and covenant with the earth and especially with we gentiles. Until someone helped me begin to "see" the Old Testament, my vision was too one dimensional. Now looking forward to all of creation entering into the glorious liberty of the manifestation of the sons of God.
Not a new angle - but one we as believers in Jesus Christ, the Lord should more often consider. Action for God comes from the Love, HE instills in us. It's not "what must I do to please God?" and "how do I show, that I love God?" it's
God loved me first in an incredible way and placed me into His Kingdom. Hallelujah.
Woe to me if that doesn't let me cry out: "Lord Jesus Christ, let me walk as you walked on this earth!" (See 1st letter of John)
Thank you Dan. It is good to be reminded that we are grafted onto the Vine. There is a wonderful trilogy by Lawrence Feingold titled "The Mystery of Israel and the Church." It is summarized in an interview with the author on The Association of Hebrew Catholics website. And another wonderful book titled "God Keeps His Promises" by Scott Hahn delves into our covenantal relationship with the Father. As to the discussion about works and justification, see Matthew 16:27.
Everyone is forgiven, but it does us no good until we repent (change our minds) and believe we are forgiven. If a person doesn’t believe that God loves them, then his love and forgiveness mean nothing to them.
This does not mean God’s love is worthless to a person if they don’t believe he loves them. God desires their good, and will continue to do all he can to bring them to the point where they see that he died for them and that he loves them.
Perfect grace is given unconditionally to all. The Christian is one who realises that God’s undeserved grace has been given to him (see ‘The Inescapable Love of God’ by Thomas Talbott).
This is above my pay scale, but as an ignorant person, if I understand you correctly, you are saying religion is not about simply being rewarded or penalized for doing good or bad because we are all sinners. The law is secondary. You are saying righteousness must be in the heart and the mind and precede the obeying of law. And that this is fundamental to Judaism, recognized by Jesus, and was a basis of his frustration. So, to return to true righteous Christianity, the path of understanding is through Judaism as taught by Jesus. Am I close?
I particularly enjoy the concept of the promise to Abraham. It means, to me, that nature affects us all, regardless of the laws we obey. Given I personally view religion as a way to explain nature, our history and our evolution, I find the translation of religion into nature interesting. IMHO, nature gives us right vs wrong, how to live, and many of the things Judaism and Christianity teach us. Religion is IMHO a way to describe nature along with its infinite unknowns. So I enjoy what you have to say Danny. Although I am secular, I do not find a lot of distance between myself and religious Christians.
It’s a bit above my pay scale too but your excellent comment has helped, thanks. I will now reread the piece.
Wow, lots to unpack here. But a simple question to start: what is the incentive? People need an incentive to perform. If God gave us his grace upfront (salvation from Egypt is a clear example, Jesus give us his righteousness is another), then we have no incentive to perform. If we should not try to keep score of good vs bad deeds, at which we will fail, who will?
No incentive except loving God. Not fear, not expecting rewards. This is the heart of God's revelation.
Can humans do it en masse, not in isolated cases?
Perhaps the answer is already in Dan Burmawi's essay: God saved us because of his grace, not because of some bargain or quid pro quo.
Likewise, we should absorb that and learn from that example by performing without expecting anything in return.
That may be the consequence of the verse 1:27 in Genesis: God created man in His image.
It’s love. When you truly realise who he is and what he did,when you understand his character fully, it stirs you to love because it’s the true worship of a good, righteous and holy God that sacrificed himself in your place. Wanting to honour him, do everything as if it’s for him. The way you do things for the people you love. The Bible is a love story from God to his people.
I think people do good deeds not because they’re trying to earn God’s favourite but because it just comes naturally as the Spirit of God softens our hearts.
I think, like the 2 Hebrews at the beginning we are saved by the blood of the lamb we put on the doorposts of our hearts.
Truly grateful for this article. Reading it helped me to experience to a certain extent God's unconditional, unearned and healing love. Plan to read it many more times so that I become more spiritually Jewish..
I am impressed with the extent of your knowledge
Thank you for this. I've been studying Judaism for ten years or so now: the good, the bad, and the ugly,reading the weekly Torah portion and commentaries. Every time I read I discover that much (most?) of what Jesus preached was basic Judaism, and it has occurred to me that Christianity is a bit like worshipping a false g-d.
You always bring a new perspective for me to ponder.
Thanks for this .So few acknowledge Israel's heritage. On the contrary, Judaism and Israel are accused of being an obstacle to humanity.
The Jewishness of Jesus was largely forgotten because of Paul. Paul did everything he could to detach Christianity from Jesus himself, whom he never knew and about whom he didn't much care, and surely, to detach Christianity, which he theologically invented, from Judaism. There are so many aspects of Christian anti-Jewish sentiment that would have offended Jesus to his core.
Thank God for the Gospels. They were theologically influenced by Paul, as he wrote first. But they give us such important information about how Jesus thought, his deep Judaic essence, what he might have said, and who he preached to and why. It was all about decency and repentance .And putting a limit to over interpretation and manipulation of the Torah and the Prophets. Jesus was zealous for the Torah, which doesn't mean " law" but " instruction".
The best of Christianity was not its " salvation" or human sacrifice theology but its basis on Israel's ethics and morals. It's what contrasted so severely with the pagan Roman world. It contrasts with Islam as well.
Paul was a Jew. He didn’t separate Christianity from Judaism. He taught that it wasn’t necessary to become a Jew and be bound by Torah laws. He understood that like the 2 Hebrews in Dan’s story, we are saved by grace. The heart of the law is God’s grace to the Jews. I think that’s what Dan was trying to explain. Thats why we become like Jews. Not beholden to the law but understanding the love of the law as the heart of God
Thank you so much for this article. It’s extremely helpful to me. Please write more articles for Christian’s. We are a confused bunch and the clarity you bring with your theological and historical knowledge is priceless.
Beautiful sermon for this Sunday morning. Thank you, Dan. God be praised.
One cannot fully understand the gospel without understanding first the Jewishness of Jesus and covenant love. Great piece, Dan
no. That is not true.
“Four hundred years before God liberated Israel, God asked Abraham to perform a ritual that was known in antiquity. Entering into an agreement between two parties involved slaughtering an animal, dividing it into pieces, and passing between those pieces. The parties were symbolically declaring, “May what happened to this animal happen to me if I fail to uphold the terms of this covenant.”
God asked Abraham to slaughter the animals, but then God put Abraham into a deep sleep. God alone, represented by a smoking firepot and a flaming torch, passed between the pieces. God was declaring that the fulfillment of the promise ultimately rested upon him. He was taking the covenant oath upon himself and guaranteeing the promise made to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 15:7–18).”
This struck me as being a good answer to the claim that Islam is an ‘Abrahamic religion’. It makes the very term a self-contradiction, for one, and it completely undoes all the daily observances and commands necessary to attain paradise. It preempts Islam.
I have used the illustration of a library to describe how Christianity is either not a religion, or the one different from all the rest. Every book represents every system that man has devised to attain salvation. And every book is similar, but different.
Similar in that every one has a goal and a way to reach the goal.
The goal may have a different name or description, but basically it is a magnified version of what the mind can most imagine as the ultimate enjoyment in earthly life.
The way is same as to what the human body can do (pray, sing, shout, chant, sit, stand, kneel, walk, give, don’t give, help, don’t help, sacrifice, don’t sacrifice, what to sacrifice) and as different as anyone can spin those.
What is identical in all of them is that the achievement of the goal depends upon the performance of the prescription. It’s up to you, the worshipper.
In truth, the goal isn’t a thing, place, or state, primarily. It is God himself, to be in his presence. The way is holiness: absolute moral perfection in thought, word, and deed every single instant of your life, according to a standard of perfection you can’t humanly attain. So the achievement of the goal doesn’t depend on you, can’t depend on you, but what was done for you by someone who could.
You caught me. I had to upgrade to paid to see where you were taking this. Glad I did. For me, The christian Bible is composed of Old and New Testaments/Covenants and the Old, the Torah, is the illustrated part of the Bible. It is the pictures and videos that illuminate the new covenant and make it clear and poignant and moving and exciting and gives me the perspective to see who I am. It is all God breathed. I love Gods' love for the land of Isreal and His covenant with the Jews. I love his covenants with David & Levi and others. His love for and covenant with the earth and especially with we gentiles. Until someone helped me begin to "see" the Old Testament, my vision was too one dimensional. Now looking forward to all of creation entering into the glorious liberty of the manifestation of the sons of God.
Good post. Thank you.
I love this comment. Thank you. You are confirming my heart (I don’t know how else to describe it)
Nope. The only covenant that matters is the new one which Christ established. Period.
The old Jewish one is irrelevant now. You have it all backwards. Next.
Not a new angle - but one we as believers in Jesus Christ, the Lord should more often consider. Action for God comes from the Love, HE instills in us. It's not "what must I do to please God?" and "how do I show, that I love God?" it's
God loved me first in an incredible way and placed me into His Kingdom. Hallelujah.
Woe to me if that doesn't let me cry out: "Lord Jesus Christ, let me walk as you walked on this earth!" (See 1st letter of John)
Thank you Dan. It is good to be reminded that we are grafted onto the Vine. There is a wonderful trilogy by Lawrence Feingold titled "The Mystery of Israel and the Church." It is summarized in an interview with the author on The Association of Hebrew Catholics website. And another wonderful book titled "God Keeps His Promises" by Scott Hahn delves into our covenantal relationship with the Father. As to the discussion about works and justification, see Matthew 16:27.
Everyone is forgiven, but it does us no good until we repent (change our minds) and believe we are forgiven. If a person doesn’t believe that God loves them, then his love and forgiveness mean nothing to them.
This does not mean God’s love is worthless to a person if they don’t believe he loves them. God desires their good, and will continue to do all he can to bring them to the point where they see that he died for them and that he loves them.
Perfect grace is given unconditionally to all. The Christian is one who realises that God’s undeserved grace has been given to him (see ‘The Inescapable Love of God’ by Thomas Talbott).