Do Christians and Jews worship the same God?

by Scott Rossy
A friend once asked me: “Since both claim to be worshiping the God of Abraham, do Christians and Jews worship the same God?”

I told her no, and gave her my reasons. She asked a bible teacher at her church and he responded by saying yes. He backed up his point by quoting the story of Paul while at Athens when he said “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.  For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:21-23). His (the bible teacher) point being that the Athenians were worshiping God, but they were just doing it in ignorance.

Notwithstanding his point, I still believe the answer is no.

I think the question should really be; “Does God accept their worship?” Many people “claim” to worship God, whether they are a Jew or a Gentile but does God accept or is He pleased with their worship?

When speaking of whether we worship the same God, I understand the question to be all encompassing, concerning our entire life offering, meaning; do we serve the same God? Do we pray to the same God? Do we have faith in and are we trusting in the same God?  Do we know the same God and are we known by Him? Do we all have equal access to Him? Are we all a part of His family? But even more importantly, does He accept or receive our worship, our prayers, our service, our life? Is He pleased with it? We may claim to be serving, worshiping, and praying to Him, but is it on His terms?

I believe the answer to this question is clearly, No. Reason being that Jesus Christ is the only way of access to the Father.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5)

There is no other way to come to the Father. All access to the Father is in and through Christ. Access to the Father not only for salvation, but also for prayer and worship as well. It is not possible to come to the Father some other way, to side step Christ and then expect Him to accept our worship. Only those (both Jew and Gentile) who have been adopted by the Father and have born into His family are at peace with the Him. Those who are outside of Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, are still abiding under the wrath of God. They have never been reconciled to the Father. Man may claim that he is worshiping the Father and that the Father is pleased with or accepts his worship but that is not the case.

“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.” (Proverbs 15:8)

“He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” (Proverbs 28:9)

Scripture is filled with examples of God rejecting the worship of man. This was particularly true of the covenant people of Israel and Judah. God rejected their worship in Isaiah 1:11-15 saying:

“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?  “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.  “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.  “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”

This is an example of people coming to God based mostly on the fact that they are the physical descendants of Abraham and assuming that He will be pleased with and will accept their worship. They overlooked the fact that their hearts were not right before Him. They still had hearts that were evil and corrupt. They possessed hearts of stone. They were never forgiven, cleansed, washed and purified. God will never accept worship from such a vessel. Even we as His children today will have our worship and prayers rejected if we cherish sin in our hearts, so how much more those who are outside of His family?

Being a descendant of Abraham wasn’t enough. John the Baptist said to the Jews of his day, “Do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9). Jesus said to the Jews who claimed that they were Abraham’s children, “You are of your father the devil.” (John 8:44). All who are outside of Christ are children of the devil, whether they are a Jew or a Gentile. So in what way can it be said that God accepts their worship? It can’t.

Old Testament saints

So what about the OT believers? Since Jesus had not yet come, was their worship, etc. accepted by the Father. Was it pleasing to Him? Where they coming to Him on His terms? Yes, it WAS accepted by Him. It was accepted by Him because they also were coming to God based on the cross of Christ. There is only one way of salvation. The cross of Christ is the way of salvation under both Covenants, the old and the new. Humanly speaking, they were looking ahead to the cross just as we look back to the cross. It was necessary for Christ to step into time during the incarnation but from God’s viewpoint, Christ’s atoning work was already accomplished. “For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.” (I Peter 1:20). He does not exist in time. He does not see “history” and “time” as we do. He sees as one, what is to us the past, present and future. Because of this, God accepted Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, David, etc. because from His viewpoint, their sins were already atoned for. Christ’s atoning work was a done deal. These godly men of faith understood that “the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” (Romans 4:5). They had placed their faith Him and understood that salvation was to come from and be provided by Him. They may not have had the understanding that we do today but they were trusting in the One who is to come, just as we trust in the One who has come.

Those who are outside of Christ (Jew and Gentile) are separated from God and still have their debt of sin remaining. It’s still between them and the Lord. It hasn’t been dealt with. As a result, God’s wrath is abiding on them.

”Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)

There is simply no other way to the Father than through Christ for both Jew and Gentile. Claiming to worship the God of Abraham without faith in the Christ (Messiah, Anointed One, Branch, Servant of the Lord) wasn’t acceptable in the OT and it is still the case today.

Worship in truth

Concerning worship, Jesus said, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24). To worship in truth is to worship in and through Jesus because He alone is the truth.

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

“truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21)

The Holy Spirit

It is necessary for the Holy Spirit to be present for all true worship to take place. At least worship that is pleasing to the Lord. It’s only what the Holy Spirit produces in us that is pleasing to the Lord. Apart form the Holy Spirit, no good indwells us. There’s nothing but our wicked, corrupt flesh. And since the unbelieving, unregenerate do not have the Spirit within them, all that’s left is their wicked flesh and the wicked flesh cannot produce a life that is pleasing to the Lord. “The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7-8). Those who are outside of Christ, whether they be a Jew or a Gentile possess neither the Holy Spirit or know the truth. They are still abiding in darkness. In fact, those who have never been born again with the Holy Spirit don’t even have the ability to understand the truth. “ The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (I Corinthians 2:14)

Regarding the Gentiles in Athens, Paul never said that the Father accepted or was pleased with their worship. He claimed that what they were doing was done in ignorance. That’s not a commendable place to be spiritually. I’m not sure why someone would use this verse to prove that those who are outside of Christ are presenting worship that the Father accepts.  Paul proclaimed the truth to them. He didn’t want to leave them where they were, in ignorance. He wanted them to convert. The same with the Jews of their day.  Peter, James, John and the other Apostles took the gospel to them because without it they were still rejected by God. If God accepted their worship, why would the Apostles have endured all the suffering and persecution that they did in order to try and persuade them to turn to Christ?

 “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.  Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.” (I John 2:22-23)

Salvation is available to all today, no matter what our ancestry may be. No matter where we are born or where we live. We may be born a Jew or we may be born a Gentile. The salvation that God has provided for man is in/through and by His Son. The message that Paul proclaimed to those in Athens is still true to man today. He concluded by saying:

“God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness  through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)

Jesus says: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)