Renegade Jew

A rebel from Judaism

Unlike a lot of people these days, I don't like to talk about myself. In fact, I find people who spend too much time making themselves the centerpiece of the conversation to be shallow, insecure and narcissistic.

And yet, I'm often asked to explain why a Jew such as myself made the decision to become a Born-Again Christian on a hot summer evening in 1979.

Why? Because I considered the overwhelming evidence for Jesus Christ. And I realized that once I made that decision for Christ, there would be no turning back. I would lose friends, and I did. I would be scorned and shunned by family members. And that happened. And I would be considered a fool who was talked into Christianity because I was too dumb to know any better.

Actually, there were always those who saw me as an idiot who would never succeed at anything. So, I guess that my decision to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior confirmed those suspicions in their minds.

How did I come to Christ? The Lord sent people my way who shared the Gospel with me. At first, I was skeptical. If God really existed, I asked, then how come there are so many different religions in the world all claiming exclusive truth? Why should I consider Christianity to be any more valid than any other religion?

I used to be an agnostic who really didn't know if God existed. Though I had attended Hebrew School as a young boy and received a Bar Mitzvah at age 13, none of that convinced me that God existed. To me, that was nothing but dead, cultural religion that had no impact on me.

But when people starting sharing the Gospel with me, I began to read the Bible. I saw incredible things in the Bible that I never knew existed. Not only was God real, he actually spoke to His creation! He wasn't some ancient historical-religious figure who vanished 3,500 years ago as Judaism portrayed Him.

And I discovered something else--that the entire Old Testament literally proclaimed Jesus Christ to be the Jewish Messiah. For example, King David described Christ's crucifixion (Psalm 22) nearly 1,000 years before Christ appeared on earth. 

The prophet Micah revealed the Messiah's birthplace to be Bethlehem Ephratah nearly 600 years before Christ was born. (Micah 5:2) Nearly 800 years before Christ was born, the prophet Isaiah revealed that the Jewish Messiah would be born of a virgin birth. (Isaiah 7:14)

And Isaiah also revealed the life, ministry, death and resurrection of the Messiah. Here's what Isaiah wrote: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6)

And there is so much more. Why then, considering the overwhelming evidence for Christ, do the majority of Jews today continue to reject Him? Because they're following a counterfeit, man-made religious system that glorifies the rabbis. And because that system is so intertwined with their culture, those Jews who dare to reject that religious system are considered traitors and scum. Like I am.

Nevertheless, I know the truth and that truth has set me free from my sins and eternal damnation. That truth is this: "That God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) And this: "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 John 5:11-12)

What makes that true? The historical-prophetic evidence that backs it up. That is why I became a Christian--by faith based upon the evidence.

There is simply no other way. And there is simply no other way to eternal life except through faith in the Son of God Jesus Christ.