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The determining factor was this: Those who manifested humility and purity of heart, accepted Him; those who didn't, rejected Him. At the time of Christ, knowledge of the prophecies was beside the point, so to speak. Salvation was gained through humble acceptance of the will of God as manifested through the words and actions of Christ, and not through knowledge of the prophecies (13:3) Through Christ's coming, the people were tested. The humble and pure in heart were separated from the proud and hypocritical even as the "wheat" is separated from the "tares" (Mat 13:3). People were not separated according to their knowledge, their religious practices, their rank in life, or the particular circumstances in which they happened to be. They were separated according to the condition of their hearts. (13:4) see If God had wanted us to know how the Christ would come in order that we could have easily recognized Him, He could have given us, in simple language, the year, the place, His name, a description of His life with all the details that would distinguish Him from others, and then stated that this prophecy was to be taken literally (13:5) Obviously, it was not ours to know these things
(13:6)
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