The “Get More Jewish” Doctrine Won’t Stop Judgment OR Bring Revival

by JRP Ministry Staff on 08/26/20

 Isaiah 64:5–7 (NASB95)

5 You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, you were angry, for we sinned, we continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved? 6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 7 There is no one who calls on Your name, who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us and have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

These verses couldn’t be more plain concerning the sin of self-righteousness based upon good works, traditions, or anything else other than Jesus.  Jesus is our righteousness and during this time where judgment is being released from Heaven and more is being promised, it is high time that we repent from our high, moral tone proclaiming that we have need of nothing.  No wonder the Lord is pouring out His wrath!

If we are to appease the Lord’s wrath, we must repent and circumcise our hearts! This is repeated in Lev 26:41; Deut 30:6 as well as in Jeremiah 4:4 –

Jeremiah 4:4 (NASB95)

4 “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”

The apostle Peter experienced this truth through the Lord’s revelation that came in the form of an open vision in Acts 10:10-16.  He testified in verses 34-35 that, “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.”  We can learn a lesson from Peter in that we must have experiential revelation of scriptural truth; the mind alone can never get us there.  But we must read further to see that Peter didn’t believe in self-righteousness, but in a righteousness that comes by Christ alone – vs. 36 “The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace (or the gospel of peace) through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all).”  Christ alone!

This truth was further amplified when Peter witnessed the Holy Spirit falling on the Gentiles at Cornelius’ house in Acts 10:44-46.  Those who were with him, of the circumcision (Jewish converts who believed and demanded that Gentile converts follow the law and the traditions of the Jews), “also witnessed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles also.  For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God.”

Here we begin to see another root of the problem that demands more “Jewishness” instead of true righteousness in the Church:  there is so little of the Holy Spirit being made manifest in our lives.  Why?  Because we have resisted Him and grieved Him on a continual basis.  We have refused to listen to His voice and because of all of this great judgment is upon the Church, pastors, congregations and this country.

The declaration of truth secured in Peter’s account cannot be over-emphasized.  It was so powerful, that it became the foundational revelation that he relayed to those who believed that Jesus plus circumcision was the only proper way to be saved and walk in revival with Him.  Jesus wasn’t enough for them and it appears that Jesus is not enough for us!  When will we learn?!

Legalism that grows in the hearts of Christians will not be satisfied until pride fills the heart and chokes the life that flows from Jesus who is The Life.  The Lord is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble (Ps 138:6; Pr 8:13; Jer 50:31; Is 2:12; Lk 1:51; Ja 4:6; I Pt 5:5).  This issue is no trivial thing; it is the heart and the foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Church loves its national Christian conferences but what have we learned from the first true leadership conference of the New Testament recorded at the Council at Jerusalem to discuss this very issue?  In Acts 15 we read the proceedings and the decisions that were made.  These were foundational discussions regarding the truth of the liberty that Gentile Christians were to have and yet we have wandered from the truth that was debated and decided upon there.  

The Lord pounded the truth of His message through the experiences He orchestrated for Peter, and other witnesses, in what they experienced with Cornelius in Caesarea.  This would again be foundational for the decision that would be rendered for the Gentile church at Antioch.  In addition to Peter, the Lord brought Barnabas and Paul who confirmed what the Lord was doing in Antioch (Acts 15:12) where large numbers turned to the Lord (Acts 11:21, 24 & 26) because of the preaching of men from Cyprus and Cyrene, Barnabas and Paul.

We can only imagine the drama and heated debates that took place during the Council in Jerusalem  based upon the gulf that stood between the party of the circumcision and the freedom that was announced in the final resolution sent to Antioch.  Peter basically rebuked the Pharisees and their yoke of bondage saying,

Acts 15:8–11 (NASB95)

8 “And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; 9 and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10 “Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?  11 “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

 

So, what does this mean for us?  It means that more Jewishness, no matter how important we or others think it is, is nothing but a yoke (a burden) that Jesus never meant for us to carry!  We are free to serve the Lord in the truth; as we repent of our pride and our sins, He will walk with us without the necessity of following Jewish traditions that spiritual Pharisees demand we walk in.

 Why is this so important?  James makes it clear when he recounts, “and with these words (i.e. Peter’s testimony) of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, After these things I will return and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins and I will restore it in order than the rest of mankind may seek the Lord and all the Gentiles who are called by My name…” (Acts 15:15-18).  The Council agreed with James who summed up the argument saying, “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.” (Acts 15:19-20).

Nowhere in the letter to Antioch did the Church leaders, gathered in Jerusalem, tell the Gentiles to “get more Jewish because it will help you get closer to Jesus.”  No, quite the contrary!

Peter, James, Barnabas and Paul made a strong case during that council meeting that stands to this day.  But the Lord saw fit to pound this basic and essential doctrine of freedom further because He knew that our hearts were bent on obtaining righteousness through the easiest form of legalism that exists – Jewish tradition, i.e. Judaism.  This time He took a sledgehammer and told Paul to swing until the deception of “Get More Jewish” could be recognized and refused.  Paul did it without the niceties of flowery speech.  You really can’t find stronger plain talk than the Book of Galatians.

To start with, I can’t do justice to the severity with which Paul pounds the Galatians and their drift away from the Lord by swallowing, hook, line and sinker (or should I say “stinker) the deceptive teaching of what could be called the party of “Get More Jewish”.  However, I will make a few key points that I hope will uproot this heresy in our hearts.

First, Paul was amazed how quickly the Church of Galatia deserted (this is Paul’s language in Gal 1:6) the Lord.  He’s not talking about doctrine; he is making the point that because they have shifted their thinking, embracing the doctrine of the Judaizers, they have left the Lord.  In other words, they are not aligned with Him, His plan, or His purpose.  When we are not aligned with the Lord, it is impossible for Him to lead us into truth, to protect us, to pour out His Spirit, send revival, etc.  Nothing works without being where Jesus is.  That should make anyone who believes they can be better Christians and more holy by following Jewish traditions such as observing Jewish feasts, tracking the Jewish calendar, celebrating the Passover seder, blowing shofars and prayer shawls to stop and throw it all out.  All of this simply points to Jesus, but it is not Jesus.  If you get this point, you will feel a thousand-pound weight lift from your heart and spirit.  The doctrine of “Get More Jewish” is nothing but a burden we were never designed to carry.

Regarding the needless focus on the Jewish calendar and all the speculation that has its own momentum in Pentecostal and Evangelical circles concerning when Jesus is coming back, we need to resolve something here and now.  Jesus holds time in His hand; better yet, He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  If you want to know what time it is, as far as the end times are concerned, resolve yourself to understanding that all you need to know is what He told us before He ascended – stay awake (Matt 24:42, 44, 25:13, Mk 13:35, Lk 12:40).  Why did He tell us to stay alert?  Because He would be speaking to us through His Holy Spirit.  Jesus was constantly telling His followers, “He who has ears, let him hear”, in Mt 11:15, 13:43; Mk 4:9, Lk 8:8, 14:35; Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29, 3:6, 3:13 and 22.  The last four references were messages to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea – all seven churches.  This is a resounding message to all believers.

The strength of the repetition in this message is for us, His Church, today.  We weren’t called to figure things out, we were called to follow Jesus and listen to His voice.  Anything, especially the devilish “Get More Jewish” doctrine of demons, is nothing but a distraction designed to make certain that we desert Jesus who is The Truth.  Paul called it out to the Philippians when he said, “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision.” (Ph 3:2) Those who promote the “Get More Jewish” doctrine are nothing but evil workers teaching doctrines of demons, designed to ensnare believers.  That is as plain as anyone can say it.  The context of this verse has to do with Paul describing his former way of life as a Pharisee, “as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.” (Ph 3:6)  However, in his life as a follower of Christ, he counted his former way of life, the pursuit of Judaism, as rubbish in order that he could know Christ and the righteousness that comes from Him alone! (Ph 3:8-9)  So why would we attempt to incorporate trash into our walk in a futile attempt to win the favor of the Lord who has called us out of that mess?

But Paul didn’t stop there.  In the first chapter of Galatians, Paul recognized that the doctrine of the Judaizers was nothing but a distortion of the gospel.  He goes on to throw two large boxes of dynamite into the mix.  He repeats a demand that for anyone who is preaching anything contrary to the true gospel of Christ, i.e. that of the Judaizers, let him be accursed!  This should be sobering for anyone who expounds the “Get More Jewish” doctrine or is attempting to embrace more Jewishness into their walk with Jesus.  The essential element of following Jesus today is the same as it was for Moses and the Hebrews before they left Egypt.  The Lord spoke through Jeremiah –

 Jeremiah 7:22–24 (NASB95)

22 “For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’ 24 “Yet they did not obey or incline their ear but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.

The priority for our lives in following Christ is to hear His voice, believe what He says and act upon it.  This is true piety; this is what faith in Christ is all about.  The question we need to ask ourselves is, “Why am I so stubbornly reluctant to surrender my self-righteousness by attempting to be more Jewish?”  The truth is that if we want to be closer to the Lord, we must confess our sin, take it to the Cross, and receive not only His forgiveness but His righteousness.  We must receive Jesus into our hearts anew and afresh.

 Paul testified about his former life that was steeped in Judaism.  He was advancing beyond all of his contemporaries and extremely jealous for his ancestral traditions (Gal 1:13-14).  But as a Christian and Apostle, he spoke of the new life he had in Christ – “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” (Gal 2:21)  Paul repudiated Judaism, so why are we attempting to keep in alive?  Paul’s questions to the Galatians are the same questions the Spirit of the Lord is asking to us.

Galatians 3:1–5 (NASB95)

1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

 

More could be covered in this article, but I would encourage you to saturate yourself in Paul’s letter to the Galatians because of its complete and multi-faceted repudiation of Judaism.  But Paul didn’t stop there.  I encourage you to make a careful study of all that Paul taught in his letters.  As you do, I pray that the Lord’s message, by the power of the Holy Spirit, may bring revelation to your heart and set you free from the chains and bondage that always result when we embrace the doctrines of men and demons.  When we understand this issue in this light, we will find it easier to walk away from our striving in the flesh and begin again to trust the Lord who is our righteousness.

Finally, there is no evil in studying Jewish tradition or customs, but when we begin to practice it, our faith becomes corrupted, we become enslaved and as Paul emphatically stated in Gal 2:21, “…Christ died needlessly”.  It was for freedom that Christ set us free! (Gal 5:1)  Therefore, let us stand firm in Christ and walk in His peace.

Mark Biteler