Do Christians and Jews worship the same God?

Christianity has its roots in ancient Judaism, but this does not mean that Christians and Jews worship the same god. Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). The Law of Moses and the prophets pointed to the coming salvation of God (Luke 24:44). What Jesus meant is that the Savior himself was coming from the Jews, not that salvation was only for religious Jews.

On another occasion, Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me, sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:44-46). Darkness is used many times in the Old and New Testaments to refer to the Gentiles or to those who don’t know God (see Ephesians 4:18). Jesus said that anyone who doesn’t believe in him is in darkness, and this must include Jews who do not claim Jesus as their Messiah.

It is true that orthodox Jews worship the one they believe to be Yahweh, as revealed to Moses (Exod. 3:15). But Paul wrote in Philippians 2:10-11 that every knee should bow and every tongue confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord.” This language comes directly from Isaiah 45:23. Paul is saying that Jesus is Yahweh. Therefore, it can’t be said that Christians and Jews worship the same god because orthodox Jews do not acknowledge Jesus as Yahweh (LORD). We should pray that God will send his light by his Spirit to those who think they worship the true God but do not. They worship what they do not know, but true believers worship according to true knowledge, which is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ (Col.2:3).