essianic Jews of today. They were more like the Chassidim, the ultra-Orthodox Jews. The Believers who came from Jerusalem were definitely like the Chassidim, and those in the outlying regions of Samaria and Galatia were still sufficiently observant to demand complete conversion to Judaism.
Those who quote the books of Romans and Galatians to people who are just dabbling in Torah observance, to try and make them abandon the Torah and go back to living like Gentiles, are really quoting the wrong books. These books were written neither for the Gentiles nor the slightly observant, but for the Chassidim, to try and persuade them to be more accommodating toward people like Cornelius and other "G-d Fearers" who had already come part of the way.
For an elaboration of this subject, see my article on How Jewish Was The Early Church?
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