Are the Jews forgiven their sins when they ask?

Christians ask forgiveness of their sins through faith in Christ, Jews ask the Father for forgiveness of sins through repentance of sin.

Repentance to the Jewish mind is much more involved than repentance in the Christian church. It is a spiritual process. Their ultimate goal of all repentance is to change one's spiritual and mental outlook. Since a sinner has opposed God's will, she/he must submit to God's authority and lead new moral life following the precepts of Judaism.

Jews believe in a Messiah, but to them a Messiah delivers the earthly Jerusalem. They deny Christ, mainly based on that Christ did not deliver them from Rome. They feel that scripture tells us that Cyrus of Persia was a Messiah when he decreed that the temple should be rebuilt.

Isa. 45:1 Cyrus, God's Instrument Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him— and the gates shall not be closed:

They say that when scripture says “anointed one” it means a Messiah.

We are given eternal life through the forgiveness of sin. We do this through Christ’s work for us, for the blood Christ gave on the altar. Jews ask forgiveness through the Father and repentance, only. Are they denied this forgiveness? Does God give them eternal life because God promised them He would be faithful to them or does their denial of Christ as the Messiah mean they face death?

They will be rewarded, for they were placed into a deep sleep, and this is not of themselves. Those who God has chosen, these will be awakened.

Romans 11:7-8 NLT - 7 So this is the situation: Most of the people of Israel have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have--the ones God has chosen--but the hearts of the rest were hardened. 8 As the Scriptures say, "God has put them into a deep sleep. To this day he has shut their eyes so they do not see, and closed their ears so they do not hear."

How are they awakened? Ezekiel informs us below, in both chapters 11 and 36.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 NLT - 25 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations."

Once this Holy Operation of Christ is complete, a believer is awakened. They are made "alive." This Holy Operation described above is fulfilled by Christ and explained beautifully in Colossians 2:9-15. Here is a portion of it:

Colossians 2:11, 13 NLT - 11 "When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision--the cutting away of your sinful nature. ... 13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins."

To be forgiven, to even be given the opportunity to repent, these are the work of God, for no one can redeem themselves. In order to believe, our Heart must first be changed. To choose Christ, this cannot be done until the Adamic Curse is lifted . . . the Circumcision of Heart.

Romans 2:28-29 NLT - 28 "For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God's Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people."

So what you are saying is there are two paths to eternity with God.

The word, "Christ" means "anointed" in Greek, just as "Messiah" means "anointed" in Hebrew. Jews reject Jesus as their Messiah. The only thing they can offer to God is the blood of bulls and goats, and, oops, there's no temple or tabernacle at which to make such offerings, and no Levites or priests to deal with them. That leaves the Jews without any options.

God alone knows the heart of each person, and it is His sovereign right to decide who is forgiven and who isn't. However, if He is to be consistent with His written word, He will reject the repentance of the Jews who have rejected His Messiah.

Only through the blood of Christ are sins forgiven when repenting. Non-Christians do not receive forgiveness of sins through repentance.

John 10:1-2
1Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

7Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

"No one can come to the Father but through me", so said Lord Jesus. We do not receive eternal life through forgiveness of sin. We receive life from Christ, when we accept Him - John 1:12.

Lord Jesus also said, John 11:25 & 26" “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

There is no longer any distinction between Jew and Gentile. If a Jew truly believes, he/she will be saved. But the Jewish idea of a Messiah is false and cannot save them. I suggest you look up Professor James Tour. He a brilliant scientist, a keen evangelist and a converted Jew. He has some good insight into what is means to be raised a Jew and become a Christian or Messianic Jew as he describes himself.

https://www.jmtour.com/personal-topics/personal-statement/

Hello Blik, while it may be true that the Jews of today, "ask forgiveness through the Father and repentance, only", that was hardly the case in the 1st Century and earlier (as I'm sure that you are already aware), when the Jews sacrificed millions (billions?) of animals to atone for their sins.

The death/blood of an innocent/spotless animal was required to make atonement for sin for the people of Israel. The thing is, none of the animal sacrifices actually atoned for their sins (see the two verses below) because there is only One sacrifice and One Man's shed blood that can do so.


Here are a couple of things that the Lord Jesus told the Jews when He walked among them/taught them prior to His crucifixion.


Also, here is something that the Apostles Peter and John said to the rulers and leaders of the Jews concerning Jesus and the way of salvation for the Jews after Jesus had ascended.


God bless you!

~Deut
p.s. - remember too what was said in the Book of Hebrews, Chapter 10, about those 1st Century Jews who continued to deny that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior (even though they knew the truth about who He was). The author tells us that for these Jews, who continually rejected the Lord Jesus, that there "no longer remained a sacrifice for sins, only a terrifying expectation of judgment" .. Hebrews 10:26-27.
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If the Jew who sins is still practicing/following the Law of the First Covenant, there is no forgiveness for his sins. Scripture says that one must keep the "whole Law" to have their sins forgiven, and NO ONE can keep the whole Law. Scripture also says that those who "live by the Law shall be judged by the Law." What a horrible judgement that will be IMO.

The Law was NOT intended for the forgiveness of sins, was it?

Romans, Chapter 3:

19) Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
20) Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21) But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22) Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26) To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
27) Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
28) Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29) Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30) Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
31) Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

the Law of the New Covenant, is the Law of Faith!

Hello Stellpony, there are indeed two paths to spending eternity with God,



God bless you!

~Deut
p.s. - I see that you are new around here, so I thought that I should also say, welcome to CChat

Actually, the shedding of animal blood did, in fact, expiate sin. The Word tells us that repeatedly. What animal sacrifice could not do, is produce Holy Salvation. This means that specific sins were paid for by the blood of animals, but that sacrifice did not grant the ability to Repent, nor did it send the free Gift of the Holy Spirit, nor does the animal sacrifice remove the Adamic Curse. Only Jesus sends the Holy Spirit, cuts out the Sinful Nature, and grants the Ability to Repent and Turn to Christ.

Chapters four and five of Leviticus discuss how animal sacrifice produced expiation of sin for the Jews. Very cool.

This is true.

When there is only one path. God expects all men today -- whether Jew or Gentile -- to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one can approach the Father except through the Son. That is ironclad. Why? Because it is the Son who took upon Himself the sins of the world had paid their penalty in full.

There was no forgiveness of sins promised when the blessing of the first covenant was given to Israel. It is an eternal truth that works will nor earn forgiveness. They were given forgiveness through the blood of Christ, using animal blood was a symbol of this. Through this blood they were preserved in sleep until Christ fulfilled it when His spirit was preserved by the Lord at His crucifixion. In Matthews we are told these saints became alive. So until Christ there WAS forgiveness of sin for Jews.

The Jews have been blinded by the Lord to Christ "for our sakes" according to scripture. It is only the Lord who decides on our forgiveness and we are assured of that forgiveness through Christ. I have a hope that the Lord takes pity on the Jews and allows them (because they are blind for our sakes) to be forgiven through repentance and faith in God, knowing God can give them this forgiveness. The Christ we know is God.

If it is true that God offered salvation for works, then God's way's are not eternal, and scripture is clear that God is eternal. It is an eternal principal of God that works will not save us, it is faith that does this.

When Adam and Eve brought death to us through disobedience, God in His mercy immediately gave a way to save lives, and that was by giving blood (Christ's blood) on the altar. Cain and Abel showed us this. Cain sacrificed from his labor,Abel the blood of a lamb. God shed the blood of animals to cover Adam Eve.

The sin offering of animals was symbolic of Christ. It is an eternal truth that there is no salvation without Christ.

When the feasts of atonement were celebrated, the high priest (now Christ) was the only one who could sprinkle the blood of the animals that symbolized Christ on the ark for the forgiveness of sin, just as it is our high priest who is the only one who can take our sins to the Father for forgiveness.

Scripture tells us there is also no salvation without blood, and it is the blood of Christ that is given on the altar for our salvation according to Leviticus.

Also, the gospel of John points out the the word (Christ) was from the beginning.

Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6 NIV)

Jesus also said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (Matthew 28:18 NIV)

So if they don't accept Jesus as the Son of God, they cannot enter heaven.

You made me think about John the Baptist with your post. He preached about baptism of repentance as you say the Jews practice for forgiveness.

Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

But, as to your question, wow, I have no clue. I don't know. I'm sure others know, but I sure don't.

I think it is for the Lord to know, not us.

The Lord tells us there is no forgiveness without Christ. If they are forgiven, then it must be that Christ and God are one, through knowing God they know the spirit of Christ. It is the Lord who decides, not us.

There is only one way. It is through Jesus and His shed blood.

Are Jews forgiven when they ask? The born again ones are. Just like Jesus said to Nichodemus, "You must be born again". Elsewise, they face death.