Messianic Apologetics

When a person becomes a new Believer in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and embarks into his or her own study of the Scriptures, the individual has questions and is searching for answers, especially in regard to the end-times. A critical question asked by many who are searching is: “What should I expect?” One may confide is his or her friends or Bible teachers with various questions and inquiries, and in many cases may accept their views at face value. But after further examination, though, a Bible student may find their opinions of Scripture to be inaccurate or incomplete.

As Messianic Believers who have a Torah foundation in our walk of faith, we have a responsibility to present a complete salvation message to others, and most importantly have the assurance ourselves that we are redeemed children of God.

How many of you have been in a Messianic religious setting as of late where you have heard someone use the words God, or Lord, or even Jesus Christ—and then someone gets up and publicly chastises the person? How many of you have been told that if you do not use Hebraic names and terms for the Father and the Son that your prayers will neither be heard nor answered?

Why do we need to follow the dietary commandments the Lord gave us?

The holidays that we find in the Holy Scriptures give us a great opportunity as Believers to commemorate Biblical history and the work of our Messiah.

We as Messianic Believers come into direct contrast with many Christians because we do not observe this “Lord’s Day,” as they call it. We keep the Biblical seventh-day Sabbath or Shabbat, the day of rest that God established for His people going back to the start of human history (Genesis 2:3; Exodus 20:11).

Some of the most frequent questions I am asked from people are: Why Messianic apologetics? Why is it important? Why do all that hard work?

You should be motivated to pursue Messianic things first and foremost, because the Holy Spirit has convicted you and personally shown you that there is indeed “something” to all of this. Your motivation should be wanting to get the most out of your relationship with the God of Israel, pursuing full compliance with Holy Scripture, and living as a disciple of Messiah Yeshua.

When many people read the Bible, one of the biggest mistakes that can be made is reading it as though it were written directly to a person living in the Twenty-First Century. Whether we consciously realize it or not, the events of the Bible not only took place in another century, another part of the world, and in another culture—but in different centuries, different parts of the world, and different cultures.

How many of you, in your quest to become Torah observant, have been accused by Christian friends or family of being a “Pharisee”?

This article addresses the clause “under the Law” (Grk. hupo nomon), how it is used, and what it means in its appropriate context in view of what both the Tanach and Apostolic Scriptures tell us about the significance of God’s Torah.

In theory, most evangelical conservative Christians claim to honor the Bible as if all of it is the inspired, inerrant Word of the Lord. However, in practice, the same cannot often be said, especially when it comes to many Christians’ attitude concerning their approach to the Law of Moses, or the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy).

In the annals of Christian teaching, Protestant or Catholic, one common thread often runs throughout: the institution known as “the Church” sees itself as being separate from Israel. As some would dogmatically declare, “The Church is not Israel!”—and depending on your view, this is correct. The Church institution by-and-large does not consider itself part of, or at times even related to, Israel.

In studying the Bible, many Christians unfortunately find themselves only reading the New Testament or the Apostolic Scriptures. Although these important Scriptures speak of the gospel message, testify to the works of our Lord Yeshua (Jesus), and speak of issues that the First Century Believers had to contend with, these writings comprise less than one-third of the Bible. Those whose focus is almost exclusively in this part of the Bible can have an unbalanced approach to our Creator and His plan for the ages.