Toward Jerusalem Council II

Toward Jerusalem Council ll

"Toward Jerusalem Council II" is an initiative of repentance and reconciliation between the Jewish and Gentile segments of the Church. Our vision is that one day there will be a second Council of Jerusalem that will be, in an important respect, the inverse of the first Council described in Acts 15. Whereas the first Council was made up of Jewish believers in Yeshua (Jesus), who decided not to impose on the Gentiles the requirements of the Jewish Law, so the second Council would be made up of Gentile church leaders who would recognize and welcome Jewish believers in Yeshua back into the Body of Messiah without requiring them to abandon their Jewish identity and practice. The "Toward" indicates that we do not have the authority to call such a Council, but we can work and pray for those who can. The ultimate purpose in unifying the Body and restoring Jewish believers to their rightful place is in preparation for the coming of the Lord Yeshua (Jesus) in glory and the full accomplishment of His work of redemption in the Kingdom of God.

Who has organized TJCII?
A few years ago, John Dawson, Dan Juster, Marty Waldman, and others had a vision of tearing down anti-Semitic strongholds in the Church and moving toward reconciliation of the original division in the Church, so the Church might be restored to its original First Century unity of Jew and Gentile. A "Toward Jerusalem Council II" committee was formed to facilitate a Second Jerusalem Council that would unite Jews and Gentiles in Messiah Jesus. The hope of TJCII is that the Church at large will seek to recognize and welcome Jewish believers in Yeshua without requiring them to abandon their Jewish identity and practice.

"Toward Jerusalem Council II" is an initiative of repentance and reconciliation between the Jewish and Gentile segments of the Church. The vision is that one day there will be a second Council of Jerusalem that will be, in an important respect, the inverse of the first Council described in Acts 15. Whereas the first Council was made up of Jewish believers in Yeshua (Jesus), who decided not to impose on the Gentiles the requirements of the Jewish law, so the second Council would be made up of Gentile church leaders, who would recognize and welcome the Jewish believers in Yeshua without requiring them to abandon their Jewish identity and practice.

The initiative is led by an Executive Committee of fourteen leaders, seven Jewish and seven Gentile, while both, the Jewish and Gentile members being broadly representative of the different international movements and churches, historic and modern that confess Yeshua (Jesus) as Lord and Savior. The committee members offer themselves as servants of this vision:

• To make known to church leaders and Christian scholars the restoration of the Jewish segments of the church (the church of the circumcision).
• To foster repentance for the sins of Gentile Christians and the Christian Church against the Jewish people, especially for the suppression of the corporate Jewish witness to Yeshua, the Messiah.
• To foster intercession for all the churches of the nations to abandon all forms of replacement teaching concerning the calling and election of Israel and to recognize the place of the Jew in the body of Messiah.
• To encourage the Messianic Jewish community in and out of Israel to enter into this vision of reconciliation and restoration and thereby fostering unity among the different streams and organizations within the Messianic Jewish Movement.
• The Executive Committee will seek to do everything possible to forward a convocation of a second Council of Jerusalem. This can only happen under the special leading of the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can show us how a Council recognized by all churches, denominations and movements can be possible.

Within this process toward a second Council of Jerusalem there would be a gathering in Jerusalem as representative of churches/ denominations and continents as possible for the purpose of issuing a call to the whole Christian world for the recognition of the church of the circumcision at a second Council of Jerusalem.

We are doing this so that God may be honored in the reconciling work of His Son through the healing of the original schism in the Body of Christ, that between the Jewish and the Gentile components.

The ultimate purpose in unifying the Body and restoring the Jewish believers to their rightful place is the hastening of the coming of the Lord Yeshua in glory and the full accomplishment of His work of redemption in the Kingdom of God.

"If their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance
mean but life from the dead?" Romans 11:15

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