Dr. Couch, what happened to the Jews who accepted Christ as their Messiah in the Gospels?
ANSWER: Good question. You're right. They did not know fully of the fact of His work as the Savior, though they may have known more than we imagine. But if they accepted Him as their Messiah I take it they were acting on all the revelation they had and they were saved! Apparently, the Jews were saved by having faith in what God was revealing, like Abraham as seen in Genesis 15:6. He just believed God and that was sufficient at that point.
However, they knew that the Messiah would justify many (Isa. 53:12). And, "they would be given the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins" (Luke 1:77). In the book of John the verb "to believe" in Christ is used some 90 times. The Jews believed in Him by what He said or by what He did. Surprisingly, the noun "to believe" is not used at all in John! So "to believe" according to John is an active idea! The Jews were holding on to the Lord then by faith. He was the object of that faith but it was not fully understood theologically by all the people.
They would then be added to the church in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit was poured out.
I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.
—Dr Mal Couch (5/11)
