The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them." Acts 22:30
The leader of the Roman soldiers who were detaining Paul was curious. “Why are these Jewish religious leaders so angry with this man, Paul, who like them is so religious?” From this, be reminded that in the eyes of the world there is little difference between religions and religious people. After 9/11 how many times did we hear, “Jews, Christians and Muslims all worship the same God”? Untrue. Any understanding of these three monotheistic religions makes it clear that we do not.
Obviously the Muslim deity is not the same as that of Christians and Jews. While there are many peaceful Muslims, there are foundational teachings in Islam that are not peaceful. The religion and its teachings are completely different from both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible that define Judaism and Christianity.
Sadly, many believers in Jesus also fail to see the difference between Christianity and Judaism. Christians and Jews both embrace the entire Old Testament of the Bible. However, Judaism embraces only the Old Testament. Christians, on the other hand, embrace both the Old and New Testaments. The difference is that the Christian God of the Old and New Testaments has a Son, Jesus, who died and rose to deliver His people from their sins. Judaism completely rejects this.
Think of it this way: Someone claims to know me. That person knows I live in California, love to eat nachos, and listen to jazz music, but denies that the Errol he claims to know has a wife and three daughters. I have a wife and three daughters (which is a far more important fact than location, dietary, and music preferences!). I submit to you that the person does not know me!
In like manner, 1 John 2:23 makes it crystal clear that anyone who claims to know the God of Christianity but denies the Son of God, Jesus, does not know God either:
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
Yes, it is true that Christians believe in the God of “biblical Judaism,” but we embrace all of His revelation of Himself in both Old and New Testaments. But to reject the New Testament is to fail to understand the real meaning of the Old Testament that points to Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. Let us pray that Jewish people will come to faith in Jesus, their Messiah!
Let us pray for Muslims to come to faith in Jesus, who is the one and only true and living God—and not the god of Islam.
As for Satan’s lie that all religions teach essentially the same thing, more next time.