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If you consider yourself a "Christian" today, either a Roman Catholic or a Protestant, then whether you realize it or not you are a member of the Church of Constantine. The Church of Constantine and its Religious Belief System is a far cry from what the Messianic Branch of Judaism taught in the first century. Such a radical departure from "the faith once given the Saints" as expressed by Jude 1:3 is termed today "Replacement Religion". Let us dwell on the following New Testament passage and notice clearly that not only does Jude mention a specific and particular "faith" as designated by the definite article "the" but also mentions very interestingly a "common salvation".
Jude 1:3 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (KJV)
We should be struck immediately by the notation of this writer that there exists in his day a "common" salvation which is connected to a particular faith, called "the" FAITH, which was once and for all given to all of mankind.
Answer for yourself: How are we to understand this?
It really is not that hard. We need to understand that within Judaism and the Covenant of Moses are 613 Commandments or Mitzvoth which is the foundation of the Jewish faith. Digging deeper we find as well the basic 66 Commandments or Mitzvoth of the Covenant of Noah upon which the Covenant of Moses built upon. These Laws and Commandments given to Noah were previously given to all of Gentile mankind.
Answer for yourself: What is the implication of all this?
Well get ready for the shock of your life. This means that the very basis of Judaism today is the foundational Covenants first given to the non-Jew. In other words there is a place within Judaism a prior "faith" for the non-Jew without requiring his conversion to Judaism. Now at times Judaism and bigoted Rabbis did not always teach this but at times they did. Rabbi Hillel stands out as one who taught this truth and there were may others in the history of Israel. We are possibly more acquainted with this ancient concept today when we head sermons on being "grafted" into the Israel of God. We understand this simply as "Olive Tree" theology where the two peoples, both Jews and non-Jews, represent the one people of God. What I want to draw your attention to is the fact that within in one Religion, Biblical Judaism, was a collection of Covenants; some for the Jews and some for the Non-Jews as well. And more to the point when one sees this "overlap" of Covenants whereby the 66 Laws of Noah are contained within the 613 Laws of Moses then one should expect that there would be an overlap of Worship within them both as pertaining to both the Jew and the Non-Jew.
We see that the Hebrew term for the word "common" in the Greek according to theStrong's Concordance # 2839 is "koinos" (koy-nos'); probably from 4862; common, i.e.; which literally can mean "shared by all".
Exod 12:49 49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger (non-Jew) that sojourneth among you. (KJV)
Answer for yourself: What should that teach us? We should see clearly that whether we were born Gentiles and non-Jews or Jewish by birth then together we as the one people of God share a common salvation and similar Covenants which overlap as consist of many of the same Laws and Commandments; many of which are identically the same, which reflect to each category of people their unique Covenant stipulations and personal requirements before God . Upon study we should see and become aware that the Jewish Covenant, the Covenant of Moses, is clearly based off of the prior Covenant of Noah given to the non-Jew.
Answer for yourself: So why is this of major importance to the Gentile Christian today? Simply because the New Testament records for us that the early Jerusalem Church as founded in Acts 15 lays down the requirement for the non-Jews to be accepted into the Israel of God without prior conversion to Judaism as had been expected up until that time. The importance of the prior sentence cannot be overstated. The non-Jewish believers in God were NOT to practice a different religion from the Jew but share the same one and the same "pattern of worship" as given to the Jew was to be shared by the Non-Jew as well. Understand that within this "common salvation" there were differences but the differences were few and we will look at those during our studies in this website. Two-thirds of the 613 Commandments given to Israel concerned the Priesthood only and within the remaining 200 or so let us not forget that 66 were identically the same as shared by the Non-Jew. Within the remaining 200 or so extra Commandments given Israel we see that 66 overlapped with the Laws of Noah given the non-Jew. There was much agreement between these Covenants first given the non-Jews and later reiterated and enlarged upon when given to the Jewish nation. Likewise there is overlap in the worship commanded by God of both the Non-Jew and the Jew as well.
Most Christians are familiar with the account in the New Testament detailing that before Paul's salvation experience on the road to Damascus, he persecuted the early Jewish believers, searching for them in the synagogues (Acts 22:19; 26:11).
Acts 22:19 19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: (KJV)
Acts 26:11 11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. (KJV)
Answer for yourself: Understanding that Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles then did you notice where it was that Paul found the Gentiles being taught about "the Christ" and the Jewish Messiah? What does this say to us about what they were being taught? You really need to think on this as it is very important to recovering that "present truth" which we have lost that I referred about in previous articles.
I have always desired to return to that unique time in the first century, sitting at James' feet or the feet of other Apostles, when I could have heard the "present truth" as taught by the Apostles and Disciples of "the Christ". Notice in the passage below the warning that there exists a "present truth" in the days of Peter which alternately means that not always will "this truth" possibly exist.
2Pet 1:12 12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. (KJV)
Notice if you will that Peter mentioned that there was a "present truth" which he described in the first century which sadly I have discovered, along with other truth seekers, gets diluted, corrupted, and altered down through time due to many influences; none of which are positive. The end result is that what we have inherited today in Western Christianity is anything but the reflection of that "present truth" as it existed in the first century.
It is our task to return to this "present truth" before it would be altered beyond belief as we find it today. This means we have to look to men like James who made a startling announcement in Acts 15 which for all practical purposes today the Church overlooks entirely. James decreed in Acts 15, when the Jerusalem Council made its famous decree, the "necessary things" required of the Non-Jews in order to be "saved" and included in the Israel of God since no longer would the Gentiles be required to be circumcised and converted to Judaism in order to be accepted in the Israel of God.
Acts 15:19-21 19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. (KJV)
We should learn a lot from this above passage. First of all we see that the non-Jews, both in Palestine and outside Palestine in Asia Minor, attended religious services on the Sabbath (Saturday) and not Sunday. This is part of the "Pattern of Worship" to which we are seeking to recognize let alone return. Also the teaching material of these Non-Jews were these same Covenant stipulations and responsibilities that I mentioned previously which are found in the Laws and Commandments which we find recorded in the Laws of Moses (the Torah). Both the Jews and Non-Jews Covenant stipulations in the forms of Commandments and Laws were taught at these times in order to equip men and women to draw closer to God in their personal lives. This is why as we will see that God commanded the Jews to read certain Torah passages on certain days throughout the year as well as this again is part of this "Pattern of Worship" in order that certain Divine Messages were given on certain special "appointed times" and days with God. God desires that all mankind, both Jews and non-Jews, learn to obey their respective Covenants with Him while at the same time adhering to this "Pattern or Worship" handed down to holy men of old for us today.
Having this record besides the historical evidence from Judaism that attests to the non-Jewish participation in the Synagogues of the first century then we can conclude for certain that not only the early Messianic Jewish believers but the non-Jewish Godfearers as well remained as a sect within Judaism worshipping in the synagogues not only in Israel but in Asia Minor as well where Paul and others ministered.
The earliest Messianic believers were ethnically Jewish and culturally Hebraic. Examination of Acts chapters 1 –10 (which comprise 7-10 years of history) shows us that we don't see any efforts on the part of the Jews to evangelize Gentiles. There are reasons for this that border upon bigotry by the Jews and hostility toward the Gentiles for their harsh treatment toward the Jewish nation in past Jewish history. This is one of the reasons why the Jews enforced circumcision upon the Non-Jew for it was a deterrent to keep them at arms length since many died from such procedures as adults since no longer possessing the mothers's antibodies that guard against infection when a baby. Yet not all of Israel felt this way and there were exceptions but the ruling Rabbi at this time, Shammai, had a dislike of non-Jews to the point where such efforts to reach out to the non-Jew in the middle first century were all but discontinued. That being the case God had to use supernatural means (including angelic visitation, visions, and a sovereign outpouring of the Ruach-Holy Spirit) to show the disciples that repentance had been granted unto the Gentiles also (Acts 10:1- 11:18). The Cornelius event in the New Testament is a very important turning point for Judaism as well and the non-Jewish world and we will examine this in detail shortly. This is a major turning point for the Messianic branch of Judaism but sadly mainline Judaism would not be concerned with this aspect of Gentile Salvation and continue to require full conversion of the non-Jew for inclusion in the Israel of God. Only after the evangelization of Cornelius’s household was there a determined effort to evangelize non-Jewish people by the Messianic branch of Judaism which we see in Acts 11:19-21. But understand that in spite of this division within Judaism the non-Jew still attended the Synagogues and it was there he was exposed to the "pattern of worship" which was the same for the Jew and the non-Jew as handed down since the beginning of time as we shall see very soon in this website.
As alluded to previously Acts 15 records for us that Jewish as well as non-Jewish believers remained a sect within Judaism. The major difference was that now it would no longer be required for non-Jews to be circumcised and convert to Judaism to be recognized as "brothers" in the Israel of God. This chapter (Acts 15) recounts the Jerusalem council, which was established to answer the question, "How are gentiles saved?" Furthermore, they determined the minimum requirements for Gentiles to meet in order to be accepted within Messianic Biblical Judaism. Although Paul is called the apostle to the Gentiles, we must be careful not to think that he established Gentile Churches that met separately from the Messianic Jewish believers which gathered in the synagogue. Throughout the book of Acts we see that Paul’s custom was to evangelize within the synagogue (Acts 13:5,14, 42, 44; 14:1; 17:1-2, 10, 17; 18:4, 8, 19; 19:8). At that time there were many Gentiles, known as Godfearers or proselytes at the gate (David Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary, Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., 1992, p 257), who met regularly within traditional Judaism throughout the world. They were the primary source of Gentile converts for Paul during his missionary journeys. (Acts 13:42-44; 14:1; 17:4, 12; 18:4; 19:10). Evangelization apart from the synagogue was more the exception than the rule (Acts 17:18-34). Thus, Paul, uniquely equipped to evangelize Gentiles, ministered mainly to those who would be most open to his message-Gentiles already meeting in the synagogue. Paul did not have the Gentile believers leave the synagogue and form "Churches." The non-Jews continued to meet in synagogues (except when persecution from non-Messianic Jews prevented them) as was the expression of the Messianic faction within Judaism both inside and outside Israel and in Asia Minor. This view is in harmony with the Pauline epistles where Paul sometimes appealed to the Jewish believers (Romans 2:17-29; 7:1) while at other times he appealed to the non-Jewish believers (Romans 11:13). In the book of Acts we learn that Paul established home congregations from Jewish and non-Jewish people who were already actively participating in the synagogue. Furthermore, they were believers who related to each other in Torah-based communities as one corporate expression (Acts 15:13-21; Ephesians 2:1 – 3:21).
So let us not forget the importance and role of the synagogue in the instruction of the non-Jew and his salvation experience and the types of teaching that he received there let alone the "Pattern of Worship" to which he was instructed and followed. It is here that he received what the Book of Acts calls "Apostle's Doctrine" and "fellowship".
Acts 2:42 42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (KJV)
In closing let us focus on the thought that it was through the Non-Jews continued attendance in the Synagogues of Israel as well as Asia, Minor, that the Non-Jew was to become acquainted with the "Pattern of Worship" given to the Jew from the time of David and beyond and it is through this "Pattern of Worship" that the Non-Jew was taught how to worship the Creator as had the Jews since receiving "the Pattern of Worship" previously from God.