ONE FAITH, TWO EXPRESSION THEOLOGY

This theory which is popular in many “Messianic Jewish” circles teaches that Messianic Judaism and Gentile Christianity are two authentic expressions of the one true faith. Messianic Judaism is the authentic
Jewish expression of that faith and Gentile Christendom is the authentic Gentile expression of that faith. Thus it is widely taught in Messianic Judaism that Messianic Jews and Gentile Christians are united together in a single “Church”.

For example let us examine the Messianic Jewish Manifesto. A circle graph on page 45 shows Messianic Jews as well as Gentiles and "Jews who are saved and freely choose to express their faith in a non-Jewish context." as being in the "Church" together. Stern then writes:
...the small circle represents the Jews and the large circle the Church, but now they overlap.
The intersection of the two circles represents Messianic Jews. ... the remainder of the Church
circle represents Gentile Christians. (Messianic Manifesto page 46)

And a few pages later he writes:

The Messianic Jew has two non-neurotic roles to play in the Church. ... the issues raised in this book need to be brought to the attention of all in the Church, Gentile Christians as well as Messianic Jews. The second role he has to play is being instrumental in fostering Jewish evangelism, helping the Church...
(Messianic Manifesto p. 71)

In his Jewish New Testament Commentary he lays out his theology of two paths, one for Gentiles and one for Jews:

      …Gentiles do not have to become Jews in order to believe in Jesus.  This point… is essential for

      Gentiles; because it removes a major barrier, namely, the requirement, in addition to trusting God

      and the Good News, that Gentiles should leave one culture and join another.  Sha’ul saw not only

      that this was unnecessary, but that insistence on it was a grave danger to the truth of the Good

      News (v. 5).  Circumcision (vv. 3-5) quickly become the token of the entire controversy,
      precisely because when a Gentile allows himself to be circumcised, he obligates himself to obey the

      entire Torah, both written and oral; that is, he obligates himself to join the "Jewish" people as a

      Jew, to become fully Jewish. (JNT Commentary p. 526-527)

This ultimately implies that when Gentile Christianity violates Torah, observes Pagan festivals like Christmas, Easter etc; observe Sunday worship, place a steeple (phallic symbol) on their building etc. that these things are valid for their cultural expression of the one true faith and are on a par with Torah Observance, the Biblical festivals, the Seventh Day Sabbath etc.. Thus Pagan customs are placed as equal to the commandments of Elohim.

Thus Stern writes:

      …Christmas, Good Friday, Easter and other events of the Christian calendars… the Bible neither

      requires nor gives warrant for celebrating these holidays… those who wish to celebrate, may; and

      those who prefer not to celebrate, may not…
      (JNT Commentary p. 558)

And the Messianic Jewish book Take Hold has:

Question: How do I politely and without offense answer the question why one observes Saturday as the Shabbat instead of Sunday?

We offer this suggestion: There is nothing wrong with worshipping on Sunday. There is nothing biblically wrong with going to a place of worship on a Sunday and becoming as much involved as one desires.

It is, however, biblically incorrect to call Sunday, or any other day than the seventh day, “Shabbat”. …

Thus we suggest that you merely inform your friends (nicely, of course!) that you do not have a problem with worshipping on a Sunday just as long as they do not insist that it be called “the Sabbath.”
(Take Hold; Ariel and D’vorah Berkowitz; pp. 239-240)


Nazarene Judaism has a totally different stance on these issues. Nazarene Judaism maintains that Torah Observance, the Jewish festivals Seventh Day Sabbath etc. are NOT JUST a Jewish expression of the one true faith. They are he ONLY expression of the one true faith while Christmas, Easter, Sunday Worship are pagan, apostate customs and NOT simply a Gentile expression of the one true faith.

James Trimm