You can't be Jews if you believe in Jesus. Just call yourself Christians! That is what people say because that is what they have heard. But why do they say someone can't be Jewish and Christian?

We're not talking about Jews who would prevent other Jews from belief in Jesus because (they think) disbelief in him is what separates Jews from gentiles. Nor are we talking about a segment of non-Jews who wouldn't want Jews in their particular church. Some Jews and gentiles, because of prejudice, say being Jewish and believing in Jesus are mutually exclusive categories merely to exclude one another. But we're not talking about prejudice. Many believe the two to be mutually exclusive because of miscommunication and misunderstanding.

Many Jews (and gentiles) have only a partial understanding of Christianity. Most know that Christians believe Jesus died to atone for the sins of all who believe in him and that Christians say he rose from the dead. Many do not understand how one becomes a Christian or much else about what that becoming does or does not entail.

Misunderstanding is so prevalent that for every four people there are five opinions of what it means to be a Jew. How can a person be certain that Jews who believe in Jesus are no longer Jews when there is confusion over what it means to be a Jew, to be a gentile, and to be a Christian? Would you be willing to examine our viewpoint on these issues?

To Be a Jew

Some say that being Jewish is merely a matter of religion. Since the religion of Judaism teaches that Jesus is not the Messiah, that would certainly mean that a person who accepts Jesus is not a Jew. However, it would also mean that the majority of people now known as Jews are not. The definition excludes atheistic Jews, agnostic Jews and all other nonobservant Jews.

Some have said that a real Jew is one who settles in the Land and raises a family there. While it is admirable to make aliyah, most Jews would object to a definition that depends on Zionism alone. Once again, it excludes a majority of our people.

Others argue that Jewish identity is determined by cultural and sociological rather than religious factors. The interesting thing about those who use this argument is that they often add a caveat: that Jews who believe in "other religions" should be excluded. The caveat undercuts the whole concept, since one cannot use a nonreligious definition to include oneself, then turn and use religion to exclude others. Definitions must be consistent.

There is a way to circumvent the confusion and controversy over what it means to be a Jew. The Hebrew Scriptures pinpoint who is a Jew and why the Jewish people exist. Jews who believe in Jesus accept the Scriptures as the authoritative source of Jewishness.

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

God's promise to Abraham is described further in Genesis 13:15-16 <http://biblia.com/bible/niv/Genesis%2013.15-16> and Genesis 15:4-5 <http://biblia.com/bible/niv/Genesis%2015.4-5>. The Lord reiterates that promise through Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5 <http://biblia.com/bible/niv/Genesis%2026.2-5>, 24 <http://biblia.com/bible/niv/Genesis%2026.24>) and again through Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15 <http://biblia.com/bible/niv/Genesis%2028.13-15>).

Biblically, a Jew is a Jew because of God's promise. The promise concerns the descendants of those to whom it was made. That means the promise of God to the Jewish people belongs to descendants of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah and Rachel. No human being can revoke God's promise. But though that is how one becomes a Jew, being Jewish should be more than race, religion or nationhood. We were meant not only to be a people of promise but also a people of purpose.

That purpose was first outlined in Exodus 19:5-6 <http://biblia.com/bible/niv/Exodus%2019.5-6>:

"Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be mytreasured possession [segullah]. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me akingdom of priests [mamlekhet kohanim] and a holy nation [goy kadosh]."¹

God describes what will be, but allows people to decide if they want to participate in the purpose. A Jew is part of the people of Israel in any case, but some do not know or care what it means. Nevertheless, neither apathy nor even apostasy makes one cease to be a Jew. The Jewish Bible cites case after case of both. God dealt with his people but never withdrew the promise or the peoplehood from the descendants of Jacob.

We see the same thing in Jewish Law:

Even though a Jew undergoes the rites of admission to another religious faith and formally renounces the Jewish religion, he remains-as far as the halakhah is concerned-a Jew, albeit a sinner (Sanh. 44a). According to Nahmanides this attitude derives from the fact that the covenant between God and Israel was made "with him that standeth here with us today before the Lord our God and also with him that is not with us here today." (Deut. 29:14 <http://biblia.com/bible/niv/Deut.%2029.14>; Nahmanides ad loc.)2

Those who choose to hide their Jewishness are still Jews to God.

What Is a Gentile?

The word goy means "nation," and it is usually used for non-Jewish nations. A goy, or gentile, is simply anyone who is not a Jew. To say that a Jew who believes in Jesus is no longer a Jew is the same as saying he or she became a gentile, which is impossible. There are no formerly Jewish gentiles. A person must be born a gentile.

What Is a Christian?

Would it surprise you to know that someone who goes to a church all his or her life nevertheless must be converted in order to be a Christian? Jews and gentiles are what they are because of how they were born, but people become Christians because of what theybelieve. One cannot be born a Christian since people aren't born believing in anything, except maybe the importance of a full stomach and a clean diaper. Who, then, are Christians?

The first Christians were Jewish followers of Jesus, and they were not known as Christians. They described their belief in Jesus and his teachings as "the Way."3 Believing in Jesus is more than a religious idea; it is a personal relationship that affects the manner in which one lives.

The first ones to be called "Christians" were probably mostly gentiles who lived in Antioch. It was not an appellation they chose for themselves. They were called Christians (probably by gentiles) because they were always talking about and trying to be like Christ, which is simply the Greek translation for Messiah. The name might well have been meant to mock them, but it has become a badge of honor for people who love Jesus and want to obey his teachings.

Christians were and are Jews and gentiles who, of their own free will, chose to trust in Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, as the one who offered himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. John 3:16 <http://biblia.com/bible/niv/John%203.16> has often been described as the gospel in a nutshell. It reads: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Note the words world and whoever. These universal terms include Jews and gentiles.

Everyone who chooses Jesus is a convert, whether gentile or Jew. To convert means to turn, not from being a Jew or gentile, not from history or heritage, but from sin. Gentile converts of the first century didn't become Jews, even though the majority of believers in Jesus then were Jewish. Jewish converts today don't become gentiles, even though the majority of believers now are gentiles.

At the point of turning to God, or conversion, everyone must experience the same thing according to Jesus:

Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." (John 3:3-6 <http://biblia.com/bible/niv/John%203.3-6>)