Around the World: Lesson 2

Overview

The Exclusive—and Inclusive—Gospel

Christianity is often criticized for its exclusivity, but every major world religion makes exclusive claims of its own. What sets the gospel apart is that it is at once exclusive and inclusive: salvation comes through Christ alone John 14:6, yet that one way is opened to all who hear and believe. Our calling is to plant and water the seed of the Word, trusting God to give the growth.

Following Up on Judaism

Observant Jews affirm Maimonides' Thirteen Principles of Faith each week, much as we confess the Creed. The Talmud also lifts up God's thirteen attributes of mercy—reminding us He is merciful and just, demanding a penalty for sin. That tension is exactly where we find our richest connecting point: God Himself, in the person of His Son, bore the just penalty so that we might receive mercy. A common question is whether we still need to share Christ with Jewish friends since they are God's chosen people. We do. Jesus spoke John 14:6 as a Jew to a Jew. Paul's anguish in Romans 9–11 and Jesus' lament in Matthew 23:37 show that the gospel was for Israel first, and through the Gentiles returns to them. In Christ there is no distinction Galatians 3:28. Beware the dispensational pre-millennial movement that supports Israel politically while withholding the gospel—one author rightly calls this "theological anti-Semitism."

Understanding Islam

Islam began in 610 with Muhammad's claimed revelations from the angel Gabriel and rests on six articles of faith: one God (Allah), angels, the books of Allah (especially the Quran), the prophets (with Muhammad as the final "seal"), the Day of Judgment, and predestination. Its practice is shaped by the Five Pillars: the confession (Shahada), ritual prayer five times daily, Zakat (almsgiving and purification), the fast of Ramadan, and the Hajj to Mecca. Paradise in Islam is a sensual reward earned by deeds outweighing sins, and martyrs in jihad bypass judgment to be with Allah immediately.

We will hear familiar names—Abraham, Ishmael, Moses, Jesus—but the meanings differ sharply. The Quran calls Abraham the first Muslim and traces its line through Ishmael rather than Isaac. Jesus is honored as a sinless, virgin-born, miracle-working prophet, but His divinity, crucifixion, and resurrection are denied; Muhammad, not Christ, is named as the final intercessor. The Quran also teaches that the Bible has been corrupted. Similar vocabulary does not equal shared theology.

Pastoral Application: Sharing Christ with Muslim Neighbors

Don't open with criticism of Muhammad or arguments from the Quran—we have one revelation of salvation, the Holy Scriptures, which alone are God's living and transforming Word. Instead, begin with the genuine connecting points: a shared belief in one God, in Jesus' virgin birth, miracles, and sinlessness, and in coming judgment. From there, lean into the law–gospel distinction. Islam, like the burden a Jewish convert takes upon himself, places the weight of righteousness on the worshiper's own deeds. Scripture is clear that no one is justified by works of the law (Romans 3:20; James 2:10). The law crushes every one of us—and that is precisely where the good news breaks in. Christ has fulfilled the law, borne its penalty, and freely gives us His righteousness. Walk in that freedom, and invite your neighbors—Jewish, Muslim, or otherwise—into it. God in His mercy has built connecting points into every culture because He desires all to turn to Him.

Transcript

So let's open in prayer. 2s

Lord, we thank You so much for gathering us here today. 5s

We thank You for Your Word of both law and gospel. 8s

We thank You that You have called us to live in the light of Your gospel. 12s

We ask that You would lead us in this time of study in understanding our neighbors better 17s

and understanding how we can better proclaim Your truth and Your Word and salvation in Christ and Christ alone. 25s

Lord, use this time of study to know You better and to open our hearts more and more to You. 34s

We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen. 40s

Okay, so I'm going to tell you right now I know I talk fast and now I feel like we're under pressure. 43s

So I'm going to talk even faster. So sorry. 51s

So what you're being handed right now, which I can make copies of more because I am a horrible estimator and I thought, yeah, I think about 40. 56s

I think you're more than 40. So forgive me for my bad estimating skills. 69s

So we started with Judaism last week. Right now we're looking at different face around the world, major, major world religions. 76s

And with Christianity, we have an exclusivity claim that is not well appreciated by a lot of others. 89s

Does that mean that it is any less true? No. 98s

No. And when we look at these other religions, we see that there are exclusivities built in or in other religions. 102s

But for some reason, the Christian faith is attacked for having exclusively one way to the Father, which is interesting because it is also the most inclusive. 111s

Right? That all who hear the gospel and God wants all to hear the gospel. 126s

So when we proclaim that word, we are planting those seeds. We know that God will do the growing. 134s

But we are planting and we are watering those seeds of faith and it's not only for a select few. 142s

Right? So there is this exclusively inclusive beauty to or inclusively exclusive beauty to our faith. 153s

So we started with Judaism and as I said, I thought that would be the easy one to start with. 164s

There's so much and go back and look at the stuff. 170s

I'm not going to rerun over that totally. 176s

But in your hands, you'll see that we have the 13 principles of faith, which is very interesting because these are affirmed weekly by the observant Jewish people. 181s

So when an observant Jewish person goes to synagogue, this is spoken or actually it's sung at every single prayer time, synagogue time of meeting. 193s

And it's very similar to how every single week we have our creed and we say our creed. 207s

And it is something that I believe, I believe, I believe every single one of these statements starts with I believe. 212s

And a lot of these principles of faith are really great ways to connect our faith, to connect the Jewish faith with the Christian faith. 222s

We can find a lot of connecting points in those. And then we also do, do, do, do, do, do, do. 237s

Nope, I'm jumping ahead. All right. There was a question last week and I will say as I was going through to answer these questions that I wrote down, I looked at my writing and I went, whoa, I have no idea what's meant by this. 247s

My shorthand apparently is too short. So, so I'm hoping that I can answer these questions and if I've missed the question somehow, just bring it back to me and I will do better. 262s

Also, I do want to, do want to stress again how, what we're learning about the Jewish faith, about today we're going to talk about Islam. 278s

It's very generalized. There is so much in these world religions, just like it would be difficult to get into the full nitty gritty. 287s

I mean, we're still learning the full nitty gritty within our faith, right? So, it's the same thing. This is all very cursory. It's not that, it's not the same story for every single Jewish or Islamic person we meet, right? 300s

Just like as Christians, we all have our own stories and journeys of faith. So, one of the questions that came up last week was if about conversion into Judaism, right? 317s

Like, can you convert? Because they don't really have evangelists like Christians do. There are, there is one group I found, there is one group, I believe it's the reform Jewish group. 331s

I think that's right, that does have a little bit of an evangelistic approach to it. So, one can convert to Judaism. The most common convert is one who is marrying into a family, a Jewish family. 346s

Or, and this one was really interesting to me, someone who is seeking a deeper religious life. 362s

And I thought that that was interesting because they are seeking a deeper religious life and they seek it by, and in their conversion they are saying, I will take upon myself the burden of the law. 370s

And I thought it was really interesting because as people we want to have something to do. We are task people, even for non-task oriented people, we are still task people. 386s

We want to do something, we want to feel like we are moving forward and that we are productive. And so, if we take the burden of the law upon ourselves, we are doing something, we are charged with doing something and it feels like maybe I am having a deeper religious or more intentional religious experience because I have to do and live up to all this. 401s

Instead of living intentionally in the freedom that we have in Christ, we can have a deeply religious experience and life as a Christian people by really leaning into and walking in the freedom that we have in our salvation in Christ. 429s

Another question that was brought up was how can we reconcile the Jews being God's chosen people and Jesus being the way to the Father. And remember Jesus was talking to Thomas when he said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus was Jewish speaking to a Jewish man. 456s

So, he is telling this Jewish man, you go to the Father through me. So, there is a misconception that we don't need to witness to Jewish people because their God's chosen people and they have their own way to the Father. 483s

We have Jesus as our Messiah, they have Abraham as their guide, their teacher, that there are these two covenants and that the Jewish people have the covenant through Abraham and that's their way. 500s

And it's sad, a lot of Christians and there is a strong movement within some of the Christian denominations that we should support Israel but not that we don't support Israel but with the intent that that will lead us to the end times. 515s

And so, these Christians will support Israel with their words, with their money but it's really going towards supporting something called dispensational pre-millennialism. 539s

There you go, done. Okay, so we will get into that in one of the Academy classes. 554s

It goes back to the teaching of the literal telling of the end times reading revelation as a linear timeline instead of how it is written which is very spiral with heightened language. 567s

So, we're not studying revelation today but that's where it comes from. It's not biblical, it's not a good reading of Scripture. 583s

Basically, the bottom line of it is that the Jewish people will experience this great religious rebirth, they'll rebuild their temple in Jerusalem which sparks a bunch of cataclysmic events that end in the battle of Armageddon. 595s

And then the Jewish people will finally accept Jesus as their savior and then Jesus can return in glory and God's kingdom which is a thousand year reign of peace would begin in Jerusalem. 612s

So, that's kind of a nutshell. But I thought it was really interesting the author of the book or of the section of the book that I was reading from the Christian difference. 631s

He said that these Christians who are supporting Israel with money but with holding the gospel, they are engaging in theological anti-Semitism. 643s

And I thought that was really interesting that he was really saying that even though they are supporting Israel, they are not being kind to the Jewish people because they're supporting it with selfish means of bringing about the end times and they're withholding the gospel. 656s

They're withholding the truth of salvation in Christ. 677s

So, the Jewish people were God's chosen people. They were set apart. But over and over again, we see how Yahweh hardens their hearts or their hearts are hardened. 687s

Their eyes are closed to his promises. And the prophecies tell of a restoration that would come and that the full promise would be open to and heard and accepted and lived into by a foreign people. 703s

Paul in Romans, he writes about his own anguish and the loss of Israel. And he also says that the gospel came first to the Jews but they rejected it. 719s

And then it was taken to the Gentiles or to the Greek, the Gentiles, who would then bring it back to the Jewish people. 738s

So this is part of why we are called to continue to share the gospel with them. 747s

If you remember Jesus lament over Jerusalem where he says, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, and he wishes to gather them as a chicken, gatherers her brood, he mourned over the lost children of Israel as well. 756s

So being a chosen people of God, they were pulled to be a separate people. The Gentiles through Christ were brought into the fold. 774s

And so Israel, the church, we'll often refer to it as the new Israel, it is the full church. There is no difference of Gentile Jew when we are in Christ. 790s

Paul writes about that as well. So now we're going to get to just a couple of the readings that we have and then we're going to move on to Islam because that's what we're studying today. 805s

So Rabbi Moshebn Ma'amin of the early 20th century wrote this comprehensive code of Jewish law and Jewish philosophy. 814s

This is where the three principles of faith come in and those are used as we use our creed. 827s

And then the Talmud, which contains the Mishnah, which is the oral Torah and its interpretation, that offers God's 13 attributes of mercy. 836s

And that's the second page or the back of the page, which we know that God is a merciful God who forgives, as it says, right in these attributes of mercy, 849s

he's also a just God who demands a penalty for sin. 862s

So when we are speaking with our Jewish brother or sister, any discussion that comes up of sin or repentance or forgiveness really needs to include that need for intercession. 867s

And God himself interceded on our behalf through the second person of the Trinity interceding and taking upon himself the just wrath, the just penalty, so that in his mercy we can have forgiveness. 882s

So we have a lot of really great connecting points when we talk to our Jewish neighbors. 902s

Also, as I'm thinking about this, the everyone his witness workshop that we do three times a year, the everyone his witness workshop has contextual models where you can go back and you can have direct how to have these conversations with my Jewish neighbor. 909s

So with my Islamic neighbor, with my Mormon neighbor, with my Hindu neighbor, they have these context modules so that you can go in and dig into this deeper and have someone walk with you or guide you or have a group where you can learn how to do that better. 932s

So now we're going to move into Islam. 955s

Just a quick background and remember this is very cursory, very generalized. 959s

We're taking a very high view on Islam as a whole. 966s

It's a religion, it's a culture, it's a personal faith, and it's a political system. 972s

It began in 610 when Muhammad was contemplating the polytheistic mechens society and it is told that he began receiving revelations from an angel sent by Allah. 978s

And that angel was Gabriel. 994s

In 622, Muhammad and a little over 100 of his followers moved to Medina and they established the first Islamic community state. 998s

After this, after they moved, Muhammad had another revelation from Allah that he should organize an established and order that consecrated him as a prophet and messenger of Allah and that he would be the ruler and that all those. 1010s

This is what he was revealed to him. 1033s

Can you imagine being revealed that you should have everyone follow you? 1036s

And that you are God's own messenger and that we are God's messengers, but anyway. 1042s

And that all of Muhammad's followers should put their brotherhood of faith and loyalty to Muhammad above all. 1051s

Now there's a difference. 1060s

We don't proclaim that anyone is our follower, certainly, and that no one puts their faith and loyalty in us and certainly not above all. 1062s

Then he received another revelation that he should fight back against injustices that pagan mechens had perpetuated against his followers. 1075s

And this revelation we know as jihad. 1085s

So in the early time of Muhammad's rule, there was actually a large Jewish population that they were allies, that the Muslim and the Jewish people, they were allies. 1089s

And then the Jewish people were accused of conspiring against Muhammad and his followers with his enemies. 1102s

So in 628, Muhammad led a group to destroy the largest Jewish community in Arabia. 1112s

They beheaded the Jewish men and they enslaved the Jewish women and children. 1119s

And Muhammad died in 632. 1125s

I told you, it was very overview. 1129s

So with the Islamic faith, there are six articles of faith. 1132s

The first is the most important doctrine of Islam and that is that there is one God, one God named Allah. 1138s

So we have one God, Allah. 1150s

That's the number one doctrine. 1156s

It's Arabic for the God. 1159s

And a Muslim must confess Muhammad as the final prophet, which is known as the seal of Allah's prophets as he is called in the Quran. 1162s

So in the holy book of Islam, they have the Quran and Muhammad is named as the seal as the final prophet of Allah. 1173s

Number two, every Muslim should believe in Allah's angels. 1183s

In Islam, angels are messengers who serve Allah and relay communication from Him. 1188s

The Quran mentions angels such as Gabriel and Michael. 1193s

Other angels are in charge of recording man's good and bad deeds and torturing dead people in the grave. 1198s

Another angel named Isra-Fail will blow the trumpet on Doomsday announcing the end of times, the resurrection of the dead and the day of reckoning. 1205s

Something I want to note, as we're going through this tenence of faith, you'll hear a lot of very familiar words that end terms and ideas that we have in our Christian faith, 1215s

which do not let that lead you down the path of, we have so much that's the same. 1230s

So really, it makes sense that we're all worshiping the same God. 1238s

We're all ending up in the same place because that is not true. 1243s

We may have some similar words. 1248s

It does not mean that those words have the same or similar meanings. 1250s

So the third tenet of faith is that every Muslim should believe in the books of Allah, especially the Quran. 1255s

Islam also calls upon Muslims to believe in the books of the Bible, the Torah, the Psalms, and the Gospels. 1265s

But Islamic religious authorities widely teach that the Bible was corrupted by rabbis and bishops, so the final divine message to humanity is Islam. 1272s

So our Muslim brothers and sisters won't necessarily say there's no validity to the Bible, but they'll say it is corrupted. 1290s

It's not the final word. 1302s

It's very interesting. 1305s

I met a woman who was Christian and she converted to Islam when she got married because her husband was Muslim. 1306s

And she said it's pretty much like Christianity, it's just no Jesus. 1314s

I will admit, I thought it was interesting. 1322s

I was young and so I just kind of went, okay. 1327s

Now I kind of go, huh? 1332s

I would love to have a conversation with her again. 1334s

It was just fascinating. 1336s

So the fourth tenet, in addition to the belief in Muhammad as the seal of the prophets, Islam preaches the belief in the prophets of Allah. 1338s

That includes most biblical prophets and patriarchs, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, are believed to be the best of prophets in rank after Muhammad. 1349s

So each of those patriarchs or prophets, including Jesus as a prophet, they all lead to Muhammad. 1363s

And they are less than Muhammad in rank. 1374s

Number five, the belief in the day of judgment or the afterlife is very important. 1380s

They believe that for both the Muslim and the infidel, the afterlife reckoning starts with the grave. 1386s

Islam teaches there will be a day of resurrection followed by the judgment that all humans will be divided between eternal destinations of paradise and hell. 1393s

So we hear this. 1402s

We say, okay, that's a connecting point because we believe in the afterlife. 1405s

We believe in judgment. 1410s

We believe that there is paradise and hideous. 1412s

There is heaven and hell. 1417s

Which will be the abode of all non-Muslims and hypocrites? 1419s

Hell will be where all non-Muslims and hypocrites live with no exceptions. 1423s

Both the hellfire and paradise are divided into levels of torture or pleasure based on what people deserve for their deeds. 1428s

In Islam, paradise is a sensual place of extravagant food and sexual pleasures, especially for male Muslims who get a number of virgins according to their deeds. 1439s

While prophets in saints pipe down. 1452s

While prophets in saints go directly to paradise after day of judgment, the Quran specifies that martyrs will go to be with Allah as soon as they die in a jihad. 1455s

So this is where if you are martyred, if you give your life for jihad, for the cause, then you don't have that waiting period for the day of judgment. 1467s

You go immediately to be with Allah. 1479s

Other Muslims may be liable to torture in the grave or in a purgatory in order to measure up for the rewards of paradise. 1483s

The sixth tenant, Muslims believe in predestination. 1492s

Islam teaches that Allah forenose and for ordains all the events in the lives of individuals. 1497s

So this can lead to fatalism in the lives of Muslims. 1503s

However, Islamic scholars have struggled for centuries with how this predestination reflects on Allah's justice and that the Quran has described in many verses. 1507s

So note, they do have paradise, they do have a heaven, but it's filled with sensual and self-serving pleasures. 1522s

Whereas in Christianity we know heaven is a glorified new inheritance that we receive, that we participate with the marriage between Christ and his bride, the church. 1535s

So it's not self-serving and we know that it is good, but we don't have a lot of details of what life will be in heaven eternally. 1550s

But what God tells us and what is revealed in Scripture is good. 1566s

It is good. It is in the full presence and full communion with God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 1572s

Hold on a second here. I might be missing a page. Hold on. 1583s

Oh my goodness. I think I'm missing a page. 1589s

Okay. Well, so if we're missing a page, we're missing a page. No, I'm not. Okay. Oh, no, we're good. Sorry. I am so sorry. 1592s

Oh my gosh. I can't wing it with Islam. I can't. So then we have this Islamic creed. 1600s

So we have these tenets of faith that each Muslim follows. And I think it's very interesting. As we go through this, both with Judaism and Islam, we find that there is a heavy, heavy emphasis on law. 1610s

And I think if you were already in service today, you'll find great appreciation for this after hearing the sermon. And if you have yet to go to service, you'll see a lot of really amazing connection and connecting points within that. 1626s

The Islamic creed that if you were to convert to Muslim, you would have to say, I testified. There is no God but Allah and Muhammad, his messenger. 1641s

This is called al-Shahdataan in Arabic, which means the two testimonies. Allah alone has the right to be worshipped, having neither partner nor son. Allah is not a trinity and a Muslim is bound to obey commandments of Muhammad and acknowledge the Quran as the final message from Allah. 1655s

Then you have ritual prayer and this is performed five times a day. Muslims gain more spiritual rewards. Remember that the afterlife Allah has angels who are tallying your good deeds and your bad deeds. And so when you are praying in a group or ideally at mosque, you are gaining more points. 1679s

But if you are Muslim, you are allowed to pray anywhere, wherever you are. They are performed at dawn, noon, mid afternoon, sunset and night. And skipping any of them is a grave sin. 1705s

Lots of bad marks. The prayers take a few minutes unless the prayer wants to recite from the Quran, any verses or stories. So originally the Muslims would pray toward Jerusalem, which is interesting. 1724s

And then the Quran commanded that Muhammad and his followers pray turned toward Mecca. Zakat, this is another important point in Islam. Zakat is often translated as almsgiving. 1744s

Almsgiving is part of it, but the original meaning of that is purification. So again in Judaism we have a lot of purification rituals in Islam. We have purification rituals as well. 1767s

The Quran speaks about these Zakat puns being used for more than helping the poor. They can help the poor in the needy. They can help the officials who are called to be appointed over them. They can use those alms or Zakat to rescue or free those who are in debt. 1781s

Zakat, it's an ordinance from Allah and they trust this because Allah is always and all knowing. So fasting is another important part, fasting during Ramadan. 1805s

Ramadan is a month long festival or holy season fasting happens from sun up until sundown. Everyone is to abstain from food, drink, smoking and sexual relations and it's a way of self purification. 1823s

So if a Muslim breaks the daytime fast without an excuse, he has to take up for that grave sin 60 days of fasting, so 60 more days of fasting or feeding 60 poor people. 1844s

And in Muslim governments, this is very interesting if we were to live in a Muslim government rule as non-Muslims we would still have to follow the Ramadan fasting. 1863s

And anyone who breaks that daytime fast during Ramadan whether Muslim or not has to fast for 60 days or feed 60 poor people. So there's a punishment for both Muslims and non-Muslims who publicly break that daytime fast. 1878s

Another need is a pilgrimage to Mecca, to the holy land and this is a Hajj. So this is an obligation that every Muslim should undertake and do if they have the money to do it. 1901s

And it really or if they are physically able to do it even more importantly, but it's an obligation, it's an expectation at least once in the Muslim's life they will go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. 1931s

The annual ritual is performed in the 12th month of the Islamic calendar and so everyone gathers at Mecca at one time each year and there are millions of people there. 1947s

There's a shrine called the Kaba and it's a cubicle building covered with a black cloth embroidered with golden Arabic calligraphy and the Quran claims that the Kaba is the place of worship that God commanded Abraham and his son Ishmael to build will get to Abraham. 1963s

So five day rituals of the Hajj, so when they go to Mecca they circle the Kaba, so they circle this place of worship seven times, they stand together on Mount Arifat asking God for what they wish and for his forgiveness and then they throw small pebbles at three large stone walls called Jamarat, which symbolizes stone. 1982s

So they are known as the Devil that tempted Abraham to defy Allah and then they slaughter an animal usually a sheep to follow the example of Abraham who slaughtered a ram instead of his son and the meat is then given to the poor and needy. 2012s

So we hear again a lot of really familiar names, we know the name Abraham, we know the name Ishmael, we don't understand Ishmael or Abraham the same as the Muslim. 2029s

So we're going to talk about Abraham because Abraham is a very much contested figure because he holds a lot of significance in Judaism, in Christianity and in Islam. 2044s

Judaism and Christianity follow the lineage of Abraham to Isaac, right, or we come from that lineage from Isaac, whereas Islam follows the lineage from Ishmael. 2060s

So it's very interesting when reading the story of Abraham, you know, he was given that covenantal promise by God that he would have an heir, he would have a son that Sarah would bear a son and that his, or his, his not ancestors, his offspring, thank you. 2075s

His offspring would be more numerous than the stars, right, so he has promised this and he believes it and it is credited to him as righteousness through faith. 2097s

So Sarah is not getting pregnant, is not getting pregnant, is not getting pregnant and so she says here take Haggar, my maid servant and have a baby with her, that's how we're going to get an heir, that's how you're going to get an heir. 2114s

Well, he gets an heir and it's Ishmael and so then Sarah of course, which I don't know, you know this story, you might not know the story, it's worth going back and listening or reading. 2127s

Okay, we're going to take a breath. 2143s

Worth going back, it's so fascinating, but Sarah then is irritated because now jealous, that's for that works too. 2147s

And so she takes it out on Haggar, that Haggar has bore Abraham a son and so Haggar leaves and there is a blessing over Ishmael. 2158s

That is where the line of Islam comes from, Ishmael. 2168s

The Quran separates Abraham from Christianity and Judaism by stating that Abraham is really the first Muslim, that he is a Muslim man. 2172s

And so when Muslims pray, they are supposed to mention both the name of Abraham and pray for Allah's blessings on him or else all of those ritual prayers are annulled. 2183s

So again, even in promises there is just law, law, law, law, law, right, it just weighs heavy. 2196s

In the Jewish faith, Abraham is a patriarch, he is a father, in Christianity we know that he is a man who is saved by faith in the coming Messiah of Jesus Christ. 2204s

We read that in Romans 4-3 where Paul writes about that. 2216s

In Islam, Abraham is an example of perfect morality and obedience to Allah. 2220s

The Muslim scholars, they deny that any wrongdoing was done by Abraham because the Islamic prophets must be infallible. 2228s

So Abraham did nothing wrong, he was perfect because he had to be. 2240s

So then there is Jesus. 2249s

And in Muslim, in the Islamic religion, they do have Jesus, he is understood to be a prophet and a messenger of Allah. 2252s

He was sent to guide the children of Israel with a new revelation, he is amongst the top five prophets in Islam so he does, they do say he was a prophet. 2260s

They also teach that he was Muslim because he would have to be Muslim if he was a prophet of Allah and he preached and he worshiped Allah. 2271s

His miracles, he did do miracles, they were done in the name of Allah and other prophets did miracles of equal measure. 2285s

So Jesus is one of the many prophets. 2295s

The Quran rejects the divinity of Jesus that he was neither God incarnate nor the Son of God. 2300s

They absolutely reject that his death and resurrection are also rejected. 2309s

The Quran states that there was a stand in, that who was crucified on the cross was a look alike to Jesus and that he instead was taken up by Allah himself to be with Allah. 2316s

So Jesus never died but as a prophet, he was taken up to be with Allah and then on the day of judgment, even Jesus rejects the people. 2332s

But it is Muhammad who will be the intercessor. Muhammad will be the intercessor for the people. 2344s

So what are some good connecting points for us? 2353s

The first thing to know is that when we are speaking with our Muslim brothers and sisters, we do not start with saying, what's up with this Muhammad guy? 2358s

Because that is offensive, it's offensive and it's not the way to go. 2367s

We don't want to offend someone from the start. 2373s

Instead, there is a lot within Islam that will bear witness or that does bear witness to Jesus. 2376s

They do believe that there was a virgin birth. 2385s

They do believe that he did perform miracles. 2388s

They do believe that he is sent from Allah. 2393s

Let's not go there yet, right? 2399s

But they do believe that he is sent. 2401s

They do believe that he was sinless. 2404s

So we have a lot of really nice connecting points. 2406s

Don't try to connect it through the Quran though, because we have one revelation of salvation. 2411s

And that is God's Word of Holy Scripture. 2421s

That is the Bible. 2426s

The Quran cannot teach us or tell us the story of salvation, because it is not God's performative and active and transforming Word. 2427s

Scripture alone does that. 2440s

In Islam, paradise is reward for following the law. 2443s

It's reward for good deeds that outweigh the bad. 2448s

So again, here, that law, gospel distinction is absolutely key. 2452s

I am having issues. 2458s

Really, really key. 2461s

Romans 3.20 is great for that that no one is righteous under the law. 2463s

James 2.10, same thing. 2472s

The law and condemnation. 2475s

When we are sharing with our brothers and sisters of the Muslim faith, 2478s

we can really, really go with that law, right? 2483s

Because no one stands under the law. 2489s

We all crumble. 2493s

We all crumble in our own unfaithfulness, in our own unworthiness, our own imperfection. 2494s

But when we have that discussion of law, it leads us into the promise and the discussion of gospel and the good news. 2501s

And so we can share without going with Muhammad, without going into the Quran, 2512s

but we have some connecting points already built in. 2522s

God in his grace and mercy, even when there are cultures or religions that take a stray. 2526s

He builds in connecting points because God's love is for all. 2534s

He wants all to turn to him. 2543s

And so he provides us with those connecting points. 2546s

So that's Judaism and Islam in a nutshell. 2549s

Next week, I believe we're turning to Hinduism. 2555s

And we will, we're just doing Hinduism. 2560s

If you have any questions about Judaism, further questions or about Islam, 2564s

let me know. 2570s

I will do my best to dive into those and do a quick overview or answer of those. 2571s

And then, and then we'll just keep going. 2577s

And by the end of it, we will address the exclusive exclusivity claim. 2580s

So, all right, go and peace to love and serve the Lord. 2588s