Is it possible for a Christian to convert to Judaism?
Thank you for your question. Yes, it is possible to convert from a so-called Christian to a so-called Jew, but first lets consider what it really means to be either. According to the Bible, the only conversion that means anything is not conversion from Christian to Jew or from Jew to Christian, but from unbeliever to believer.
John the Baptist warned that Jewish ancestry was not enough to guarantee salvation. (Matthew 3:9-11)
Even a Jew by birth is not a "Jew" in the truest sense unless his heart is converted:
"A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code."
(Formal conversion through a rabbi would obligate the convert to undergo the ritual of circumcision and adhere to strict religious rules, many of which have only the most tenuous basis in actual Biblical commandments)
In 1 Cor 7:18, the apostle Paul tells the uncircumcised not to seek to become circumcised. It seems clear that Paul is saying that non-Jewish believers should not convert to Judaism:
"Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts." -- 1 Corinthians 7:18b-19:
What does it mean then to keep God’s commands? A crowd once gathered around Yeshua (Jesus) and asked him "What must we do to do the works God requires?" He answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." (John 6:36) On another occasion, he declared that whoever believes in him will have eternal life, but whoever did not would remain condemned.
Note that I said remain condemned, not be condemned. In Yeshua’s words, he who does not believe is condemned already. That is because there is a gulf of unrighteousness between Man and God. The Bible tells us that everyone has sinned (Romans 3:23, or Isaiah 53:6) and fallen short of the glory of God. Because God’s standard is absolute Holiness, it is impossible for anyone to attain it on his own. No matter how many or how great his good deeds may be, it is impossible to regain that "perfect score" once even the tiniest sin has been committed.
How then can anyone be redeemed, if he cannot redeem himself? Only by the grace of God. So does God just shrug and let everyone off the hook? No, if God were to lower the standard he would be making himself less than God. The World to Come would be no better than The World That Is if all the sinners simply marched right in unchanged! What God has done is to offer his own righteousness to pay the price. The Bible says the wages of sin is death, so in order for God to pay, he had to come into the world as a mortal man of infinite righteousness to die. Now most of us do not have enough righteousness to survive death, but the Son of God Yeshua did! He literally rose bodily from the dead in three days time, proving he had the authority to the price of sin once and for all for all mankind.
You might say that God has set a trust-fund of righteousness with a balance of infinity. Anyone with a need can draw on that account simply by asking for it. Since absolutely no one on earth has perfect righteousness on his own, anyone who fails to take advantage of this offer will simply come up short.
"Cashing in" this way – by simply acknowledging your need to God and accepting his gracious gift – is the beginning of a true relationship with God. It doesn’t come from circumcision or baptism or conversion to this or that religion. Having taken God’s hand this way, what remains is to learn to walk with him, to know and do more and more of his good will.
David
Brown
AMF International
http://www.amfi.org