Messianic Jews are Jewish people who accept Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah promised in the Hebrew Scriptures and revealed in the New Testament. As a Messianic movement within Judaism, they stand in continuity with their people. At the same time they are a Messianic Jewish part of the Christian community. Soteriology is the branch of theology that explores the nature of the God who saves; the manner of his saving activity and the benefits of his salvation.
Messianic Jews today echo the prayers of their spiritual ancestors, the previous generations of Jewish believers in Yeshua before the Holocaust and the many who perished in it. They longed for the spiritual and national restoration of their people.
The presentation of the Good News of the Messiah is the primary means by which God brings humanity into a right relationship with himself. God's sovereign freedom determines those who are redeemed. Whilst Scripture affirms that one day 'all Israel will be saved', the only sure way to receive this salvation is through faith in Yeshua.
In the light of the unspeakable horror of the Holocaust, only the message of the Messiah can bring hope, healing and reconciliation to Jew and German alike. This evidence of a loving God who saves is Good News for people of all nations. Our Messianic Jewish soteriology is grounded in God whose compassion for the suffering of his people is expressed through the suffering of his Son.
The Symposium, a positive contribution to the growing theological maturity of the movement, will continue to construct a distinctive Messianic Jewish theology that is both biblically based, and relevant to the cultural and historical context of post-Holocaust Europe.
