Was there any saving power in the Judaism of Christ's day?
No. By Christ’s day, Judaism had become a watered-down religion of 613 rules and regulations, not the pure Law given at Sinai. It had no saving power. Only a few bona fide believers, such as Zacharias, Elizabeth, Joseph, and Mary, were true believers, while most were merely religious.
Les explains that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to call Judaism “the Jews’ religion” because it had degenerated over 1,500 years from the pure Law given at Mount Sinai, with Israel’s priesthood and sacrificial worship. By Christ’s day it had become 613 rules and regulations, including stipulations like how far one could walk on the Sabbath. There was no saving power in that Judaism. Yet there were a few bona fide believers—Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist, and no doubt Joseph and Mary. But precious few Jews were true believers when Christ came to Israel. Most were religious: they kept the feast days and practiced the sacrifice. Josephus claimed that at the time of Christ, one million animals were sacrificed every year.