Sorry Pope Francis, the Jews Cannot Be Saved Outside of Christ!
From the Israel National News, here's what it says about the Vatican's statement that Jews can be saved without Jesus where I'll highlight some important points that are against the Biblical teaching that you can only be saved in Jesus Christ:
Jews can secure eternal salvation without converting to Christianity, senior Catholic theologians say in a report published Thursday, in the latest refinement of their stance on a vexed theological issue.
Addressing a question that has long blighted relations between the two faiths, the report also unequivocally states that the Church should not actively seek to convert Jews to Christianity, echoing the stance outlined by former Pope Benedict XVI in a 2011 book.
The report, drawn up by the Church's "Commission for religious relations with the Jews," goes further than Benedict however in effectively affirming that Jews can be saved independently of Christ.
"Although Jews cannot believe in Jesus Christ as the universal redeemer, they have a part in salvation, because the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable," the report concludes, according to a summary released to the media.
The belief that the only way to salvation is through belief in Christ is a fundamental tenet of every strand of Christianity.
But it has also been blamed for creating an evangelical tendency responsible for some of the darkest periods in the history of religion, that are tainted with violent anti-Semitic violence and persecution such as the crusades of the Middle Ages, the Spanish Inquisition, pogroms and more.
The latest report reiterates claims that it is only thanks to Christ's death and resurrection that all people have the chance of salvation, but accepts that Jews can benefit from this without believing in him.
The authors appear to acknowledge that they are effectively squaring a theological circle.
How Jews being saved while not believing in Christ "can be possible remains an unfathomable mystery in the salvific plan of God," they say.
The report, which does not constitute a formal change to official Catholic doctrine, was published to mark the 50th anniversary of the close of a landmark Vatican Council that attempted to draw a line under centuries of persecution of Jews based on Catholic teaching.
The council, widely known as Vatican II, disowned the concept of collective Jewish responsibility for the crucifixion of Christ, decried anti-Semitism and emphasized the shared heritage of the two faiths.
Relations between the two faiths have warmed since then and were helped by a 1998 report from the same commission which called on Catholics to repent for their failure to do more to prevent the Holocaust, while stopping short of blaming the Church as an institution for its silence under the leadership of wartime pope Pius XII.
Catholic-Jewish relations are said to have been bolstered by the election of the current pope, Francis, who has a long-standing friendship with Argentinian rabbi Abraham Skorka, with whom he jointly published a book of conversations about issues of ethics, morality and faith.
He is due to become the third pope to visit Rome's main synagogue when he meets members of the Italian capital's Jewish community on January 17.
The synagogue is located just across the River Tiber from the Vatican, in an area still known as the Ghetto where, under the orders of Francis's predecessors, Jews were confined for more than three centuries until their emancipation at the end of the 19th Century.
AFP contributed to this report.
When it comes to Pope Francis making ridiculous and unbiblical statements one after the other, I am not a bit shocked at it. Now he makes the statement that Jews can secure eternal salvation without the Lord Jesus Christ and that Jews can benefit from His death without believing in Him? That is very absurd considering these words of Jesus and the Apostles. Jesus would have never changed His mind about anybody needing salvation.
Even the Jews need Jesus and they are not exempt from Hell. If they were, why would there be a need to spread the Gospel to the Jewish people?
Luke 10:16 says, "He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me despiseth him that sent Me."
John 5:23 says, "That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent Him.
John 8:24 says, "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins."
John 14:6 says, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me."
1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
1 John 2:23 says, "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also."
Jesus already warned the unbelieving Jews that if they reject Him, they will die in their sins. If that warning did not change, I don't think Peter would be preaching to his fellow Jews in Acts 2. Peter would not even be appointed to be the first pastor of the Jews. Peter's first Sunday service would not need to preach to the Jews the message of salvation if the Jews didn't need Jesus to be saved. But the Jews like every other person is still in need of salvation.
Paul's expression in Romans 10:1-4 says, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." He knew that the Jews were still rejecting Jesus and the natural consequence was that when anybody dies without Christ then the person is headed straight for Hell. The problem was that there were more Jews who continued to reject the Lord Jesus Christ out of their sinful pride. Salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ and the need to repent of one's sinfulness turning to Christ is contrary to the pride of life. For anybody who is not saved, they think that they can earn their salvation with enough good works never mind many of them are living sinful lives. Many people today live sinfully while thinking they are right with God. A lot of unsaved Jews tend to live their lives sinfully while believing they are good enough. Any true Christian would feel crushed by such a heart-breaking truth.
Martin Luther also said, "If we really want to help them [the Jews], we must be guided in our dealings with them not by papal law but by the law of Christian love. We must receive them cordially, and permit them to trade and work with us, that they may have occasion and opportunity to associate with us, hear our Christian teaching, and witness our Christian life. If some of them should prove stiff-necked, what of it? After all, we ourselves are not all good Christians either." If anybody says Luther was Anti-Jewish, he was against Judaism and not the person for being born a Jew. What he was against was that a lot of Jews were known to earn money through chicanery, something that had violated God's Law against cheating others. Many Jews were guilty of the use of dishonest scales and I would assume that many of them refused the Lord Jesus Christ because it would be bad for their businesses. Most Jews today love money over God which is one of the many reasons why they reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior (1 Timothy 6:10).
Luther also said of Judaism, "I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb. For they have justly forfeited the right to such an office by holding the poor Jews captive with the saying of Moses." The rabbis were still continuing to enslave the Jews and holding them captive by misusing the sayings of Moses. Unfortunately for him, Pope Francis is now empowering the rabbis to hold the poor Jews captive. I really feel bad for every person who is still a slave of Judaism. This kind of treachery is getting Israel ready to accept the Antichrist into their country. Fortunately Jewish Christians will miss that great and terrible day when it comes because of the Rapture.
This out-of-print Chick Tract (available by custom order) called "Where's Rabbi Waxman" presents a loving message for the Jewish people. Besides, true Christians love the Jewish people enough to tell them the truth that they cannot be saved outside of Jesus Christ. The Pope's message is nothing more than poison. The message for Jews and Gentiles alike still remains that salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ and nothing more than the same glorious Gospel message. Unless they receive Him as their Lord and Savior, they along with all Jews and Gentiles who reject Christ will go to Hell forever.