Response To Rabbi On Isa 43:11/How Do We Interact With Jewish Rabbis Respectfully Whilst Sharing The Gospel!!!

Dear Respected Rabbi Mike Hendersen,

Shalom! Thanks for your question on Isaiah 43:11...when it states clearly that there is no other Saviour other than the Lord God of Abraham, why do Christians believe that Christ is their Saviour? Whilst answering your question, I would try to base my answers on the Scripture portions (hyperlinked for your easy referencing) pertaining not only to The Blessed Tanach but also the New Testament portions of the Christian Bible. In the course of my response, I would also throw light on the history asssociated with the constant progressive revelation of God’s Will and His constant, progressive sanctification of the Priestly, Blessed Nation of Israel (Exodus 19:5-6).

The answer to your question based on Isaiah 43:11 is both simple as well as profound. Christians not only believe that Jesus Christ

A) as the God-ordained Saviour who died an atoning death for their sins and rose again from death (in essence what is called by the New Testament Section of The Bible as the Gospel) to become Christians in the first place (1 Cor 15:1-4/Rom 10:9-10) but

B) they continue standing steadfastly on that truth because on accepting the truth that Christ as the God-ordained Saviour (who died a substitutionary death on the Cross for their sins) in their lives, they have always experienced His power of deliverance from sin borne out of selfishness, when they trusted Him to deliver them from their clutches of sin/utter selfishness (everyone is born with, the innate rebellious Adamic nature of wanting to live life on one's own terms rather than the terms of the Creator to whom we all owe so much, including our very bodies). My experience, which I shared of total transformation of spiritual priorities after accepting Jesus as the God-ordained Saviour in my life, with Respected Rabbi Waldman has been similar to that of countless Christians in the last 2 thousand years, In essence it can be said that every Christian has a BC and an AD experience in his life meaning that

i) before that Christian accepted the God-ordained Saviour Christ into his/her life as His own God-ordained Saviour, he/she had been a hopeless sinner living to satisfy one's own personal desires but

ii) after Christ's advent into his/her life that person now (with the Spirit of Christ indwelling him/her/Romans 8:9….this has to be personally experienced as the good ole saying goes….proof of the pudding is in the eating thereof) starts living a God-pleasing life to such an extent that he/she being now empowered from within not only says NO to sins such as Lust of the Eyes, Lust of the Flesh and Pride of Life (Genesis 3:6) but YES to even Divine Demands to sacrifice even his/her legitimate rights for pleasing and glorifying the Almighty by the strength of the God-ordained Saviour. For instance, in my own life giving up pleasure-seeking, debilitating addictions depending upon the Saviour’s power was relatively easy but when it came to giving up my lucrative Government of India Job in order to enter full-time Priestly Ministry, I had to rely more on His power.

The following Scripture portions which I am quoting verbatim here-below, were actually written 2000 years back, by a rabid Jew (who persecuted Christians-Acts 26:1-20) before he became a Christian namely Apostle Paul. These relevant Scripture portions (relevant all through the last 2000 years) sum up the transformation a Christian experiences at the point of his/her regeneration (read becoming a Christian), …

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When you came to Christ, he set you free from your evil desires, not by a bodily operation of circumcision but by a spiritual operation, the baptism of your souls. For in baptism you see how your old, evil nature died with him and was buried with him; and then you came up out of death with him into a new life because you trusted the Word of the mighty God who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead in sins, and your sinful desires were not yet cut away. Then he gave you a share in the very life of Christ, for he forgave all your sins- Colossians 2:11-13

When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun! All these new things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him. For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. We are Christ’s ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you—be reconciled to God. For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us! - 2 Corinthians 5:17-21