JD: You know I think it might be helpful to begin with the matter of the thousands of first century Jews who knew the Hebrew Scriptures but they came to believe that Jesus Christ was truly the Messiah.
DJ: That’s absolutely right. This is not something that is just a Christian invention, hundreds of years after the fact we go to Acts chapter 1 & 2. In Acts chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost we know from Acts chapter 1 that there were 120 Jews present and they were all Jewish. And then because of being the day of Pentecost which is one of three of the Jewish feasts where Jews from all over the world were to be in Jerusalem. We read in verse 5 chapter 2 there were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews devout men from every nation under heaven. Then as you go on down through the chapter you find that there were 14 countries or regions that were mentioned that included both Jews and Gentiles. And then you get down to verse 41 and you find that there were actually 3,000 who came to saving faith in Jesus Christ on that day alone.
We also know that the apostle Paul first of all he was a
Pharisee of the Pharisee he describes himself that way, Hebrew of the Hebrews.
He studied under Gamaliel who was a very well respected teacher of the Jewish
scriptures of the law in that day. And Paul, after he received Christ as his Savior
being encountered on the road to Damascus he preached Christ in the synagogues
that he is the son of God. So you have all of the first believers in all of the
New Testament churches, all of the first Christians actually came directly out
of Judaism and embraced Jesus Christ as their Messiah, as their Savior, as
their redeemer.
JD: David James with the details on how the Old Testament Hebrew
Scriptures presented Jesus Christ as the Savior for the Jews who converted in
the first century of Christianity.
We report this information because it is setting the stage
for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
On the day of Pentecost, Acts chapter 2, in the city of
Jerusalem some 3,000 Jews came to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. In other
words they got saved. These Jews only had the Hebrew Scriptures to present
Jesus as the Savior of the world. On that day Peter presented Jesus as the
Savior from the Old Testament text. He gave the Gospel, I Corinthians 15:1-5,
which in indeed is the power of God unto salvation and to the Jew first, Romans
1:16.
