joelkaki
April 25th 2003, 07:28 PM
I just thought of this today. Maybe the rest of you have thought of this, but I had not until today.
Throughout the Old Testament, we read of God forgiving iniquity, forgiving sin, not reckoning it against us. In Judaism today, they reject Christ for many reasons, but at least one would seem to be that the Messiah is going to set up a physical kingdom and overthrow the oppressors of the Jews (at Christ's time--the Romans). And thus he could not die, for that would leave them with no Messiah. Here is my point:
God is just and holy. He must punish sin. He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. He hates sin, and cannot look on it. But the OT, which the Jew would affirm, says he forgave sins. On what basis? How could he have forgiven David's sin? How come David did not receive eternal damnation? The modern day Jew apart from Christ can have no answer, for no one could be saved in that scenario. Everyone would have to suffer eternity in Hell. But Christianity, the only true continuation of Judaism, provides the answer in Christ.
Romans 3:25--...whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed...
God could pass over those sins, because he demonstrated his righteousness by punishing his sin for the sins of his people in the Old Testament. The Messiah had to die for the sins of the OT (as well as the NT). There was no other way for God to be just and righteous. Our God is just and righteous. The God of present day Judaism is not. But the great news, recently celebrated, is that Christ did not stay dead. He rose! We have a risen Savior. If the Messiah did not die and rise again, we have an unjust and unrighteous God. But thanks be to God, Christ died, he rose again, and God is just, righteous, and holy, holy, holy, and the whole earth is filled with his glory.
Joel
Throughout the Old Testament, we read of God forgiving iniquity, forgiving sin, not reckoning it against us. In Judaism today, they reject Christ for many reasons, but at least one would seem to be that the Messiah is going to set up a physical kingdom and overthrow the oppressors of the Jews (at Christ's time--the Romans). And thus he could not die, for that would leave them with no Messiah. Here is my point:
God is just and holy. He must punish sin. He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. He hates sin, and cannot look on it. But the OT, which the Jew would affirm, says he forgave sins. On what basis? How could he have forgiven David's sin? How come David did not receive eternal damnation? The modern day Jew apart from Christ can have no answer, for no one could be saved in that scenario. Everyone would have to suffer eternity in Hell. But Christianity, the only true continuation of Judaism, provides the answer in Christ.
Romans 3:25--...whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed...
God could pass over those sins, because he demonstrated his righteousness by punishing his sin for the sins of his people in the Old Testament. The Messiah had to die for the sins of the OT (as well as the NT). There was no other way for God to be just and righteous. Our God is just and righteous. The God of present day Judaism is not. But the great news, recently celebrated, is that Christ did not stay dead. He rose! We have a risen Savior. If the Messiah did not die and rise again, we have an unjust and unrighteous God. But thanks be to God, Christ died, he rose again, and God is just, righteous, and holy, holy, holy, and the whole earth is filled with his glory.
Joel