In the early years the Christian community, led by the apostles themselves, displayed a religious and cultural uniqueness, derived from the Hebrew Scriptures and the heritage of Israel. This from the very first irreconcilably separated it from all forms of Judaism. These first Christians saw themselves as "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God" (I Peter 2:9). Their evolving new covenant theology included their rejection of not only the Oral Torah and Jewish halakhic customs, halakah, but the Law of Moses itself. Very early the apostles denied that the Church of God, as the new Israel of God, was subject in any way whatsoever to the Mosaic code. This and their new covenant theology led to continuing cultural conflict.

Three major distinctions, and many minor ones, distinguished the Church of God (the qehal�el) from the Judaisms of the first century. These irrevocably separated the two communities. The essence of the apostles� doctrines and the response of more or less observant Jews were:

• The Mosaic covenant with its Torah, the Law of Moses, ceased at Jesus� death and a new and better one, with the Law of the Messiah, superseded it.

The first covenant, the Mosaic one, ended in order to establish the second, the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:7, 8:8, 8:23; 9:10, 9:15; 10:9). The Torah is now wholly null and void as a legal code but the Hebrew Scriptures, inspired by God, are profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (II Timothy 3:16). The halakhic traditions and interpretations of the Pharisees (Matthew 15:6-9; Mark 7:5-9; Titus 1:14) and the teachings of the Essenes (Colossians 2:20-23) have no spiritual legitimacy whatsoever as they are simply the ideas, fables and rites of men. At the death of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, all the children of Israel by fleshly descent, except for a remnant called to be part of the qehal'el, the new Israel of God, became spiritual Gentiles (Romans 11:5-9, 11:17-20). Any continuing relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, requires faith in Jesus Christ of Nazareth and not vain reliance on the onetime covenant mediated through Moses (Galatians 2:16; 3:11).

The response of Jews was, however, that the covenant between God and the People of Israel, embodied in the Hebrew Scriptures, remained eternally valid and could not be superseded (Wigoder 1989:163).

• Jesus of Nazareth, truly God and truly man, is God incarnate in whom the divine and human natures are perfectly and inseparably united.

Jesus is the eternal Word, through whom and for whom God created all things. Before his human birth, he existed eternally with God and as God (John 1:1-2, 1:14; Revelation 1:8). God created everything in the universe by and through Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:16; John 1:3). Jesus is the Christ, or Messiah, sent from God to be humanity�s Savior and redeemer (John 1:29; 3:15-17; Acts 4:12). Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, engendered in the human flesh of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18� 25; Luke 1:34�35).

The response of Jews was that God was incorporeal and could never be visible in human form (Wigoder 1989:163).

• Salvation and life eternal is the gift of God, by God�s grace, only through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the Christ, or Messiah, sent from God to be the savior and redeemer of humanity (John 1:29; 3:15-17; Acts 4:12). In Jesus Christ, the whole sinful world became reconciled to God (Galatians 4:4-5; 3:13; II Corinthians 5:18-19). Eternal salvation is only through Jesus� death on the cross and "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12 NASB). Jesus made atonement for the whole human race (Romans 5:8�11) and God has given him a name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9�11).

The response of Jews was that most Jews hold that individuals can achieve salvation through their own effort and that keeping the commandments, according to the traditions of the fathers, is necessary for the salvation of the Jewish people (Wigoder 1989:163).

Moreover, the apostles construed the Torah, the Law of Moses,^F1 as the national civil and religious law of the physical nation of Israel, together with various and sundry terms and conditions of the Mosaic covenant itself, which ceased altogether at Jesus� death. In their understanding the Law of Moses allowed some variance with the underlying spiritual intent of God�s law which God did not incorporate into the New Covenant with the new Israel of God (that is, the Church of God).^F2 The apostles, however, taught that some of the matters included in the Mosaic Code nevertheless also applied to the new and better covenant and could be found in the Law of the Messiah. The apostle James referred to the latter as the royal law (James 2:8).

Until about CE 60, the apostles expected Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah^F3 to return to set up his kingdom, the Kingdom of God, during their lifetime (I Thessalonians 4:15-17; I Corinthians 15:51-52). Their later writings reflected their slow realization that his return would not occur in their day (II Timothy 4:3-8; II Peter 1:14-15, 3:8-9). They proclaimed a future one-thousand-year reign of the resurrected Jesus as the Messiah (Revelation 20:4-5). In theology this teaching, rejected by the Greco-Roman Orthodox, is known as chiliasm or millennialism.

The thousand years, commonly referred to as the Millennium, was to follow the return of Jesus Christ, in his second coming as King of kings, and the resurrection, or regeneration, to eternal life of those of his followers who had died in the faith or who remained alive at his return (I Thessalonians 4:17). Following this one thousand years would occur a general resurrection of the dead�a massive resurrection of humanity�in a Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-13).

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^F1Narrowly construed the Law of Moses consisted of the "statutes and judgments" set forth in Deuteronomy 12:2�26:15. This was part of the Book of the Law of Moses (Joshua 8:31) which Joshua read before the assembly of Israel (Joshua 8:35) and wrote on an altar of uncut stones (Joshua 8:32). The Book of the Law of Moses was kept with the Ark of the Covenant, that contained the two tablets of stone, duplicate originals, upon which God inscribed the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 10:5), and it was to remain there as a "witness" in perpetuity (Deuteronomy 31:26). Broadly construed the Law of Moses refers to the Torah or first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. This was the first-century CE use of the term as used by Luke (see Acts 28:23 and Luke 24:44).

^F2See for example Matthew 5:17-37. From a legal perspective the basic difference between the Ten Commandments under the Mosaic Code and the New Testament Law of Christ is that the violation of the former necessitated actus reus (a bad act) while a breach of the latter simply required mens rea (a guilty mind). The Law of Christ went to the issue of the intent of the heart and dealt with the guilty mind. The Law of Moses disregarded the guilty mind, except arguably as the tenth commandment dealt with lust. Yet, even lust was understood in the Torah to be exhibited by proscribed outward behavior rather than the intent of the heart. Thus, under the Law of Moses, sin required the commission of a guilty act or a wrong deed. Under the Law of Christ a guilty thought comprised a sin even though no bad act occurred. In this sense two people could commit the identical act and one would be guilty and the other not since intent is an element. In apostolic terms, the change of the law to include intent permitted the realization of the policy aim underlying the Ten Commandments, that being doing all things with love toward God and toward neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40).

^F3The first Christians, who saw Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and quite early attached the messianic title to his name, knew Jesus as "Jesus Christ" the name by which he is consistently given in the New Testament. Jesus Christ was popularly known as Yeshu�a Ha-Notsri in Hebrew.

Page last edited: 01/26/06 07:12 PM

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