There has been a lot of ‘hullabaloo’ (a Webster’s
Dictionary term for
uproar, hubbub, confusion, loud noise and clamour) about Old Testament
(OT)
salvation vs New Testament (NT) salvation.
Are they the same? Did men in the OT get saved the same
way as they do
in the NT? Did men in the Old Testament get saved by looking forward to
the
cross? Was the
righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to OT saints? Did
Abraham see Jesus shedding his blood on a Roman cross and see his
resurrection?
Instead of debating off the top of our heads or sprouting
tradition, let
us resort to the scriptures and let them speak for themselves.
I’m sure, that at the end of asking eight simple
questions, we shall be
in no doubt. In addition, we’ll look at what scripture means when it
says that
Abraham “saw” Christ’s “day” (John 8:56).
Q1 Did saints
in the OT have their sins taken away?
No. Scripture makes it crystal clear that the blood of
bulls and goats
couldn’t take away sins (Heb 10:4). Quite simply, OT blood was not
God’s blood
that purchased his church (Acts 20:28). They had to make do with animal
blood
which was sufficient to atone for and forgive their sins.
David said that OT saints only has their sins “covered”
but not
washed away (Rom 4:7)
But now, Scripture says that Jesus has “washed us
from our sins in
his own blood” (Rev 1:5).
Q2 Did saints
in the OT have clear consciences?
No. As their sins weren’t taken away, God never allowed
them to have a
clear conscience. Their sins still remained with them. Even though the
high
priest would show the animal blood to God, their sins were atoned for
and
forgiven, but not taken away.
The guilt of their past sins was ever present with them.
They would go
to the altar with animal blood, but this wasn’t good enough to “purge”
their “conscience” (Heb 9:14).
As a NT saint, you may have memories of sins, however the
guilt, the
shame, the pain, the hurt and the responsibilities of past sins have
all been
laid on Jesus. The Christian’s conscience should be free and clean as
all the
hurt and pain has been washed away by the blood of Jesus.
Q3 Did saints in the OT become members of
Christ’s body?
No. They became members of Abraham’s body as Lazarus did
(Luke 16:23).
However, scripture says NT saints “… are members of his body, of
his flesh,
and of his bones.” (Eph 5:30). Abraham’s bosom, was the closest
thing that
an OT saint could get into anyone’s body.
Q4 Did saints in the OT become born
again?
No. Nicodemus as a ruler of the Jews, would have been
exceedingly well
versed in the scriptures, yet he hadn’t heard of this term. Nicodemus
epitomized
Jewish ignorance by saying to Jesus “How can a man be born when he
is old?
can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?”
(John
3:4). There is no new birth in the OT. No-one was put into the death of
Jesus
Christ. No-one could get a second chance by getting spiritually born
again.
Q5 Did saints in the OT get spiritually
circumcised?
No. Scripture says “In whom also ye are circumcised
with the
circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of
the
flesh by the circumcision of Christ:” (Col 2:11). Spiritual
circumcision
means to have your sins removed from your soul. That’s why when a
Christian
dies, he goes straight to heaven. OT saints couldn’t go straight to
heaven, as
their sins were still attached to their soul.
Q6 Did saints in the OT go to the third
heaven when they died?
No. They went to Abraham’s bosom (Luke 16:23). Their
souls would still
have their sins attached to them until Jesus would come and take them
up to
heaven by taking “captivity captive” (Eph 4:8). The best that
the OT
saint could get was to be put into Abraham as a sort of temporary
resting
place, until Jesus descended into hell to take them out.
Q7 Did saints in the OT get redeemed?
No. Scripture says “And for this cause he is the
mediator of the new
testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the
transgressions
that were under the first testament, they which are called might
receive
the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Heb 9:15)
The OT saint had his sins forgiven but the guilt wasn’t
taken away.
Furthermore, scripture says that God has “…mercy for thousands,
forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear
the
guilty…” (Ex 34:7). No, the OT saint was still guilty even
though
forgiven.
This makes sense when you realize that the blood of bulls
and goats
couldn’t even be compared to that of the blood of God himself (Acts
20:28).
Q8 Did saints in the OT get adopted as sons
of God?
No. Scripture says “For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage
again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry,
Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that
we are
the children of God:” (Rom 8:15-16).
And again, “For ye are all the children of God by
faith in Christ
Jesus.” (Gal 3:26)
Q9 Did the OT saints ever receive the promise
of the Spirit?
No. Scripture says “That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the
Spirit
through faith.” (Gal 3:14)
The OT saint was “Abraham’s seed” (physical
seed) (John 8:33).
The NT saint is also “Abraham’s seed” (spiritual seed) “…that
he
might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not
circumcised…” (Rom
4:11). Abraham was a good ‘go-between’ between the OT saint and the NT
saint,
with each having something in common i.e. that of Abraham as their
father.
But didn’t Abraham get saved by faith?
No, Abraham “…believed in the LORD; and he counted it
to him for
righteousness.” (Gen 15:6). This had nothing to do with his getting
saved
because he believed God.
We have already seen, that typical of OT saints, Abraham
1.
was not regenerated
2.
was not put into the body of Christ
3.
his sins were not washed away or taken away in any shape or form
4.
sins were not paid for
5.
was not adopted into God’s family
6.
was not spiritually circumcised (his sins were still attached to him)
7.
was not born again and
8.
when he died he went to Abraham’s bosom until Jesus went and got him
out of
there.
What about the verse that says Abraham
“saw” Christ’s “day”?
This scripture has been badly bent out of shape. Some
well-meaning preacher
earlier this century, put the following spin on it and it has stuck
ever since
- “Abraham saw Jesus Christ go to the cross, die and then get
resurrected.”
No. Abraham saw Christ’s day, in that he looked forward
to the
resurrection of his own son after he was going to slay him. Without
even having
a clue about Jesus Christ, Abraham “saw” Christ’s “day” in
that
he performed and lived out something that would take place 1850 years
into the
future. He was enacting a type and foreshadow of things to come whereby
God
would provide “himself” (Gen 22:8) as the lamb to be put to
death and
resurrected.
What obedient Abraham “saw”, was that Isaac would
let himself be
killed and then God would resurrect him to life. This was seeing
Christ’s day.
Conclusion:
No, dear reader, we have seen, the belief that Old
Testament salvation
is the same as New Testament, is just heresy. Truly, we are
“approved unto
God” when we “study” by “rightly dividing the word of
truth” (2
Tim 2:15)