Amy I apreciate you taking the time to expand on your answer, and I say this with ALL DUE RESPECT . . . your latest post goes to prove that you are lacking in understanding of what is being dealt with.
What you have essentially said is that folks that were saved under the Law were faced with having to accept something else for "another" or a "better" savlation once they were face to face with Christ.
There is a couple of mistakes here, and I pray that you will read this in the manner in which I am wanting to deliver this and that is love.
The OT Jews were not saved by the Law. They were saved by grace through faith just like you and I. The law had nothing to do with their salvation. The law was given to saved folks. Exodus 12 is an OT type (it's really a dual type, but we won't go there) of eternal salvation.
That is Exodus 12 is a picture of death and shed blood being done by another on behalf of the undeserving. Meaning it's a picture of Christ dying in our place even though we were deserving of death.
So ALL the folks that left Egypt were saved. They crossed the Red Sea (type of baptism) and they were headed toward the promised land (the better portion). The law was given to them during their journey. So the law was given to saved individuals.
Now the second part of why your statements are incorrect is because these saved Jews were not in "need" of eternal salvation. They already had it.
So when Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom He wasn't preaching to a bunch of people who's forever and ever and ever and ever destiny was the lake of fire. He was preaching and teaching to "saved" individuals.
Now where you did state a case correctly is that they were looking for their Messiah. The Jews rejected Jesus as their King/Messiah. So they didn't lose their eternal salvation, they simply lost the opportunity to rule and reign with Christ in His coming kingdom.
The offer of the kingdom to Israel was a national offer, meaning the entire nation had to believe and repent in order for the kingdom to be established.
Now we know that some believed and repented, but most did not. Because of that the offer of the kingdom was taken away from Israel and given to a new nation that would produce the fruits of it.
Now the offer of the kingdom was going to be open to the Gentiles. However, there was a problem with offering the kingdom to the Gentiles. They were a people without a God according to Scripture and they were not within the lineage of Abraham.
So in order for this to be taken care of they had to be placed in the same spiritually alive position that Israel was in during this time in order to entertain and even comprehend the offer that was being put forth to them.
And the only way a person can be made spiritually alive is by God's grace through faith apart from works.
So a Gentile (and Jews alike now) have to be saved by grace through faith apart from works before they are introduced to the offer of the kingdom.
Now, you tell me. How many Jews that were present during our Lord's ministry to Israel and heard Him teach and understood what He was saying, but rejected Him, were saved?
This is again one of the biggest reasons why I asked the question a while back as to how the Jews were saved prior to Jesus' ministry. And we both agreed that it was by grace through faith.
So the answer to your question is they were ALL saved. Jesus came with a message that was only directed to forever and ever and ever and ever saved (spiritually alive) people, because it was a spiritual message. So if they were spiritually dead He would have been offering something to them that was IMPOSSIBLE for them to receive, because they wouldn't be able to understand the offer anyway.
Even the most faithful Jew will be condemned by not believing in the One God has sent.
This is absolutely true, but the condemnation is only for a season. Notice even the most haneous sin and how it is dealt with in Scripture. Matthew 12 is where the religious leaders ascribe Jesus' power to Satan and they were told they blasphemed the Holy Spirit. Notice specifically what it says about the forgiveness. It says that sin is not to be forgiven in this age or the age to come.
What is the age to come? It is the coming kingdom of Christ. They are not going to be able to rule and reign with Christ, but it does not speak of that sin being counted against them in eternity (endless ages).
See another mistake that folks make is that they believe the next age is eternity, but they skip right over the kingdom.
Sister God has revealed so much Truth to you over the time that you have spent on this board. And I know that you are struggling with some of it, but be opened minded and don't close God out on these things.
I know you don't like me bringing this up, but you have seen one of the great breakthroughs for a believer and that is seeing that warnings are to believers. And there are only three options in how to deal with those. One they "really" aren't to believers (and you have already correctly stated that they "really" are to believers). Two believers can lose their eternal salvation (which we know is not possible). Or the Biblical option and that is that there is something else beyond everlasting life that is available, but is also conditional and that is rulership in the coming kingdom of Christ.
They cryers Jesus was saying will stand before Him and cry Lord, Lord are going to be the very people He spoke with and ministered to when He walked the streets of Jerusalem.
This is true, but because the gospel of the kingdom is open to us today there are also going to be criers that say Lord, Lord that are saved today. And they will say the same thing in that "we deserve a place in your kingdom, because look at all the [good] works we have done in your name."
And He is going to say the same thing to those folks. I never knew you. Their works might have been good in the eyes of the "church," but they were works of iniquity in the eyes of the Lord.
May God have mercy on our eyes and ears! You have come to far to go backwards! Keep pressing toward the Light, because there is a prize that awaits you if you do!
