Breaking Away From Judaism

Jews at the time of Christ did not understand that salvation and eternal life were for an individual and not a nation. People in the Old Testament were saved by faith just like we are today; the only difference was that they put their faith in the coming Messiah, whereas we look back to the cross.

Jesus initiated a radical shift away from Judaism when he commissioned the disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations, but we find in Acts chapter ten, the rabbinical teachings from the Talmud were so ingrained in the apostles, that after the Day of Pentecost, they still only preached to the Jews and God had to show them that He was not a respecter of persons.

It would take some time before the Christian Jewish leadership fully understood Jesus’ command to preach to Jew and Gentile alike and the historical event in Joppa set the apostles on the right track. The apostle Paul would later sum it up this way: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”