Salvation in the Old Testament

I had what I will call a “conversation” a few days ago about this very topic. I can’t remember exactly how we got to this topic, but we did. I was shocked at the answer given to me about how old testament saints were saved. I won’t go into detail but I will say that this person was terribly wrong, and evidently doesn’t realize that many times the Old testament was being quoted in the the New Testament. I say this for a very important reason.

That reason being that salvation has always been by Grace alone, through Faith alone in Christ alone. That is a thread that is woven through the entirety of scripture. But on the day of this conversation, sadly, that thread had not been seen by the other person.

We all hopefully know Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”. This text has been the way since the beginning. It didn’t just begin in the New Testament. It didn’t just begin when Jesus became flesh. This scripture applies to everyone who has been redeemed by Christ.

Taking a look into the Old Testament we see many signs pointing to the coming Messiah. We have prophecy explaining in detail His exact birth. Christ’s coming to this earth as Messiah is something all the Saints of old knew about, believed would happen, and looked for. Here is a list of some of these prophecies.

• Gen 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel”
• 700 years before Christ- Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
• 800 years before Christ- Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times”
• 800 years before Christ- Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”

There would be no reason to suggest that Old Testament saints did not receive salvation, did not receive salvation until Christ was crucified, or did not know of His coming to die. The mistake this person made and the mistake many make is to think the Gospel is solely a New Testament idea. It’s always been the same gospel.

Getting back to the Old being quoted in the New, we can see this clear with Paul. In Galatians 3:11 Paul says “Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”. We all should agree with this passage, keeping the law cannot save. But did you know Paul was quoting Habakuk? In Habakuk 2:4 we read “Behold, as for the impudent one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous one will live by his faith.” The thing that should catch your eye is “the righteous will live by faith”…..

We know what faith meant in the New Testament. Hebrews 11:1 tells us “Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Is this something that only applies now and didn’t apply in the old testament? No, it applied to all mankind.

Again Paul pulls from the Old Testament writings in Romans 4:3 “For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED God, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS”. Paul here is quoting Genesis 15:6 “And He believed the LORD, and He counted it to him as righteousness” This was speaking of Abraham, who was 400 years before the law and 2000+ yes before Jesus. We see he was saved by Grace through faith, just as we are today.

Paul quotes the Old again in Romans 6 “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.” Where did he get this from? It was David, in Psalms 32:2 “Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile”. David understood salvation around 1000 years before the death of Christ.

Finally I would like to point to the Prophet Isaiah in chapter 53. The entire chapter is a clear picture of what and where his faith was. Not only does it give a description of Jesus but explains what He comes to do.

The Old Testament pointed the people to place their faith in the coming Christ and the work He would accomplish, as prophecy stated, the New New Testament points us to place our faith in the risen Christ and His finished work. It’s the same salvation for all time periods for all time.