Salvation comes from the Jews

Where does Salvation come from? Many Muslims assert that Islam is the final and true religion for all mankind. However, the Jewish Scriptures (the Tanakh) present a different picture. Long before the rise of Islam, the Scriptures consistently taught that God’s plan of salvation would come through the Jewish people and from Jerusalem—not through Arabia or Mecca.

If Islam is truly an Abrahamic faith and if God does not change His promises, then it is reasonable to examine what the earlier revelations declared concerning God’s covenant and the source of salvation. According to the book of Genesis, God established His covenant with Isaac rather than Ishmael. This covenant became the foundation of the nation of Israel and the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan in history.

The prophet Isaiah foretold that God’s law and word would go forth from Zion and Jerusalem. Centuries later, Jesus Himself affirmed this biblical truth when He declared, “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). Following His resurrection, He instructed that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Likewise, the Gospel records and the writings of the apostles consistently show that God’s message of salvation was first delivered to the Jewish people before being extended to the Gentiles.

The apostle Paul reaffirmed this principle, teaching that the Gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). From Genesis to the New Testament, the biblical narrative presents a consistent theme: God chose Israel as the channel through which His promises would be fulfilled and through which the Messiah would come to bring salvation to the world.

Therefore, anyone seeking to understand God’s plan of salvation should carefully consider the testimony of the Scriptures regarding the Jewish roots of God’s covenant, the Messiah, and the Gospel;

1. [Genesis 17:20-21] And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto you at this set time in the next year.
2. [Isaiah 2:3] And many peoples will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 
3. [John 4:22] You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
4. [Luke 24:47] and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 
5. [Acts 3:23-26] For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’ “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, He sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
6. [Acts 13:36-39] “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay. “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. 
7. [Acts 13:45-47] When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ 
8. [Romans 1:16] For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 

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