Put Away the Old for the New

Hebrews 10:9 KJV

Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

I am reminded of the words of John the Baptist when he said "I must decrease but He must increase".  In order for the one to be established, lifted up and made all that it is meant to be, the other must be cast aside. It is not enough to merely make it second place. It must be removed completely. Thus John the Baptist was not only retired but removed from the earth. 

A monstrous error is happening in modern Christianity with a fascination in Judaism. Otherwise sound believers are allowing themselves to be swept into the current of old Jewish thought. Christians who should be 

• Faithfully attending
• Financially supporting and 
• Actively serving 

in local Baptist churches are yoking up with so called Messianic Jewish assemblies. These are neither churches, nor genuinely Christian. They are an attempt to meld the first covenant with the second and it is opposed to Biblical teaching. The first (Old Testament Judaism) is to be cast aside so that the second (New Testament local Baptist churches) may be established. Even Jews who convert to Christ are scripturally expected to leave Judaism for the New Testament Church. Need we be reminded that the context of the New Testament instructs those first century Christians, whether Jew or Gentile, to bond together in a local church?

It is true that there is much to learn doctrinally and historically from the Jewish traditions and teachings. It is true that New Testament Christians ought to love and desire to reach Jewish friends and neighbors. But Judaism has been set aside for New Testament Christianity and that is conducted within a local church.