The Eternal Consequences of Idol Worship

The Eternal Consequences of Idol Worship

I have been told that if I don't believe in Jesus as my savior I am going  straight to Hell after I die. This seems like a compelling reason for me to believe in Jesus particularly since I have also been told that there is no consequence within Judaism if I believe in Jesus. Therefore, I have nothing to lose by believing in Jesus, so why shouldn't I believe in him as my savior?  

Answer: Actually, belief in Jesus is a horrendous sin with grave consequences for any Jew who professes to do so. To understand this let us look at the tragic apostasy of the  Northern Kingdom of Israel and its dominant tribe, Ephraim. God, speaking through the  prophet Hosea declares, "When Ephraim spoke with trembling, he became exalted in  Israel; but when he became guilty through Baal, he died" (Hosea 13:1). When they served  God, Ephraim was "exalted," but when they became guilty of idol worship and remained  unrepentant despite prophetic warnings to cease their sinful ways they signed their own  death warrant. Ephraim died a spiritual death long before it suffered national destruction.
From the prophetic message we learn that apostates, even during their lifetime are  reckoned as dead as long as they remain unrepentant. The prophet not only denounces  belief in molten images fashioned by craftsmen, but also those who trust in a false savior- god: "And I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt, and gods beside Me you  should not know, and there is no savior but Me" (Hosea 13:4).

God desires the apostate's repentance and beckons him/her to renounce iniquity: "From  the clutches of the grave I would ransom them, from death I would redeem them, I will  be your words of death; I will decree the grave upon you. Remorse shall be hidden from  My eyes" (Hosea 13:14).

For the apostate who does not repent, God says, "I will decree the grave upon you." In a  more literal sense, "I will be the cause of your being cut off to the grave." Katavcha, from  the verb ketev, denotes "cutting" (e.g. Psalms 91:6). Its primary meaning is "to cut," but  in Hosea 13:14, ketev takes on the secondary meaning "decree." In Hebrew, the primary  word for decree is gezayra, the root of which is gezer, "to cut." There are a number of  word roots in Hebrew whose primary meaning is "cutting," yet have a secondary meaning  of a final, permanent decision or ruling (e.g., pasak, chakak, gezer, charatz, karat).

As we see, the belief in the false savior-god Jesus is a grave sin. The unrepentant apostate  is not only shunned and considered dead by the Jewish community. God Himself  considers the unrepentant apostate as spiritually dead in this life and in physical death the apostate is all the more so "cut off."
Source:  Jewsforjudaism.