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How were people saved in the Old Testament? Did people in the Old Testament get saved by performing sacrifices? Were they saved because they were Jews? If not, then how could they be saved if they had never heard of Jesus, the cross or the resurrection? Some people say that God credits salvation to people who are sincere in their understanding of regardless of what they believe as long as they are faithful. They extend that thinking to the saints of the Old Testament who were saved because they believed what God had revealed up to that time which excluded the knowledge of Christ dying for sins on the cross. Let's see what the Bible says about people in the Old Testament in their salvation. Works vs Grace Some mistakenly believe that salvation in the Old Testament was based on keeping the law, doing sacrifices and doing good works. This is refuted multiple times in the Bible. "It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins?" (Hebrews 10:4). "By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight?" (Romans 3:20 ). Those activities, though God-honoring, are not the manner in which a believer was ever, or ever will be saved. Salvation through Christ Every sacrifice and prophecy ultimately points to Christ and his work on the cross. The people who believed in Christ in the Old Testament had less information about the ultimate sacrifice, but had the faith to believe that God eventually would resolve the problem of sin. Romans 3:25-26 teaches us that Christ died for sins of all time, including those of the Old Testament. Christ was foreordained to be the Lamb of God since before the world began. Revelation 13:8. Isaiah 53:6 tells us that "the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." The salvation that God imputed to Old Testament believers was based on the death of Christ, which in the mind of God was as good as accomplished even before the creation. Salvation through faith in Christ The greatest example of salvation through faith was Abraham. "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness... ...But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness" (Romans 4:3, 5). Abraham didn't earn salvation, it was accounted to him for his faith. But what exactly did Abraham believe? Some would say that Abraham simply believed that God would multiply his seed like the stars of the heaven. That is the immediate context of Genesis 15:6. But Christ tells us that Abraham believed something more about the Seed that would be multiplied. "Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56 ). Abraham knew that the Messiah was coming and trusted God to work out the matter of salvation at a future time. Abraham was saved by faith in Christ. Job knew that "my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God" (Job 19:25 -26). Obviously, Job didn't know how or when, but he trusted God to take care of his redemption. Moses also trusted in Christ many years before Christ came. Hebrews says Moses "...esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt ; for he looked to the reward" (Hebrews 11:26 ). Although we look back to Christ's life and death, we don't know all the details, only what God has chosen to preserve in His Word. The Old Testament believers didn't know all the details about the Messiah either, but they trusted Him for their salvation. They looked forward to Christ who was coming. We look back to Christ who has come.
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Ron Mills' Story - At the age of 22 I started to consider suicide as an answer to feelings of hopelessness. By the time I was 23 I would get brief periods of wondering “is this all there is to life?" I remember going to night clubs after drug use and drinking and just standing amongst hundreds of people and feeling very alone and tired of life. There had to be more to this Life (more...)