Is "Salvation from Sin" a Jewish Idea?
By Dr. Nicholas J. Schaser
In the Hebrew Bible, God saves the Israelites from various earthly trials, including bondage in Egypt and socio-political pressure from various nations. When readers arrive at the New Testament, however, the main focus is salvation from sin. For instance, the outset of the first Gospel promises that Jesus “will save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21). These varying views of salvation have become common elements in the perceived difference between Judaism and Christianity. Yet, the so-called New Testament did not emerge in a vacuum with radical innovations foreign to prior Jewish beliefs. If it had, then its content would not have been understandable to the Jews among whom the Jesus movement began. This holds true for the concept of salvation. Instead of generating a unique soteriology that diverged from that of Judaism, the gospel draws on Israel’s Scriptures in its assertion that people must be saved from their sins.
A common form of salvation in the Hebrew Bible is corporate redemption from national aggression. For instance, after the Israelites escape the pursuing Egyptians in the exodus, Moses and his people proclaim, “The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become for me salvation (לִישׁוּעָה; lishuah)” (Exodus 15:2; cf. 14:13). Once readers get to the New Testament, however, the central proposition is that believers have been “saved by grace through faith” (Ephesians 2:8)—i.e., received salvation from their sins. Comparison between these two types of salvation leads to categorical statements of difference between Judaism and Christianity.
Yet, Israel’s Scriptures contain multiple references to salvation from sin. Ezekiel declares that, after God has rescued Israel from socio-political oppression in exile and returned the people to their homeland, the Lord will deal with the problem of sin: “They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols… or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them (וְהוֹשַׁעְתִּי;v’hoshati) from all their backslidings by which they have sinned (חָטְאוּ; hat’u), and I will cleanse them” (Ezek 37:23). Similarly, speaking in the time after Israel’s return from exile, the people of Israel declare, “We have sinned (וַנֶּחֱטָא; va’neheta) [and been] in them continually, but we will be saved (וְנִוָּשֵׁעַ; v’nivashea)” (Isaiah 64:5). In these contexts, salvation from sin is a necessity that exists alongside salvation from earthly oppressors. Indeed, there are many kinds of salvation in Israel’s Scriptures—something that Isaiah 33:6 refers to as a “treasure of salvations” (חֹסֶן יְשׁוּעֹת; hosen yeshuot)—and the Jews who followed Jesus saw the prophetic promise of salvation from sin being fulfilled in the atoning work of their Messiah.
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