A common misunderstanding among born again believers—even folks who have been in church for decades— is that people in the Old Testament were saved by keeping the Law.
But the Bible simply does not allow this conclusion!
Before we even consider this inquiry about how people were saved in the Old Testament, we must begin with understanding the nature of God—that is, who God really is. If He truly created everything, then He also made the rules and, they are all based on Him. We begin with the truth that salvation is the same in every age because God is the same. His nature does not change. Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, we see that His nature is a perfect trifecta of unchanging righteousness, justice, and love. God is abundantly clear about Himself: “I am the Lord, I do not change…” Malachi 3:6
- Because God is JUST, humanity’s sin must be judged.
- Because God is perfectly RIGHTEOUS, He cannot overlook it.
- And because He is LOVE, He provided a way for us sinners to be saved from the eternal death caused by our unrighteousness.
His nature is the foundation for the law of sin and death; that is, our sin requires full payment in order to reconcile us to a relationship with God. The Bible is clear: “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus…” Romans 6:23
From the beginning—even since the Garden, we know we could not pay for our own sin, and thus, it required a substitute. The sacrifices offered under the Law were NEVER the solution; they were merely a shadow pointing forward to the ultimate sacrifice of the Messiah.
“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” Hebrews 10:4
The unchanging nature of God requires a perfect and final substitute, and that substitute is, and was always, Jesus Christ. The way of salvation has never changed—because God has never changed. From beginning to end, salvation has always been by grace, through faith, and not of works. Paul makes this unmistakably clear:
“But that NO ONE is justified by the law in the sight of God is EVIDENT, for ‘the just shall live by FAITH.’” Galatians 3:11
He is not introducing a new idea. He is quoting the Old Testament:
“Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his FAITH.” Habakkuk 2:4
From the beginning, the righteousness of our souls has always been tied to faith in God—NOT in good works.
So, if the Law could not save, then what was it for? Well, let’s look at two Scriptures:
“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20
“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Galatians 3:24
The Bible is clear: the Law exposes sin; it never removes it. It points us to our desperate need for a Savior. The Law was never designed to justify, but to convince us that we are, in fact, condemned sinners and thus, MUST seek righteousness through someone who is not already condemned. There was only one perfect substitute, and that is Jesus Christ. Every sacrifice under the Law was pointing us to Christ, the perfect Lamb of God.
The Bible gives us concrete examples from the lives of real people who had faith in God and believed in His promise in order to attain God’s righteousness:
“For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’” Romans 4:3
Abraham was declared righteous by faith over 400 years before the Law was given to Moses. When Paul writes about Abraham’s salvation by faith in Romans, he is not introducing a new idea. In fact, he is quoting King David from the Old Testament, proving God’s righteousness has always been obtained apart from works:
“But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God IMPUTES righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.’” Romans 4:5-8
Paul is directly quoting from Psalms 32:1–2, demonstrating that even under the Old Testament, David understood the blessing of being forgiven and being deemed “righteous” apart from works. Salvation by grace through faith is the same truth David celebrated: that God credits righteousness to the one who believes, not the one who tries to earn it. Clearly, God has always credited us with righteousness apart from human achievement, making it clear that salvation was NEVER earned.
But let’s go a layer deeper, because the Bible remarkably presents the work of Christ in the Old Testament as a finished work—even before it happened!
Because we live inside the constraints of time and God does not, this is a tough concept to wrap our minds around. But, the Old Testament makes it abundantly clear that believers were not trusting in a vague hope of a Redeemer. They were trusting in a sure promise from God, who cannot lie, a promise so certain it was as good as done. For example, the prophet Isaiah speaks of the Messiah’s sacrifice using past-tense language, as if it had already happened:
“But He WAS wounded for our transgressions, He WAS bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
My friend, Isaiah is talking about the Redeemer in the past tense! Wow! God exists wondrously outside of the constraints of time and space. What He declares is certain and can be trusted. Job—long before the Law was given—makes the following staggering statement of faith:
“For I KNOW that my Redeemer LIVES, and He shall stand at last on the earth.” Job 19:25
Job didn’t say, “I hope.” He said, “I know.” He was trusting in a Redeemer who, from his point in time, had not yet paid the price to redeem him, but He knew God for who He says He is and thus, knew he could trust that it was as good as done! Job expresses a full assurance by calling Christ HIS Redeemer in the present tense. This demonstrates that even Old Testament believers KNEW that attaining God’s righteousness, rested NOT in keeping the Law, but in a Savior who had as good as already come and paid the price for their sin debt.
Isn’t this remarkable?
The simplest way to explain it is: In the Old Testament believers looked FORWARD in faith to a Redeemer; in the New Testament believers look BACK in faith to a Redeemer. But both are saved the same way. Neither group stood at the foot of the cross as Jesus died or was among the ones who ran to the empty tomb. But both believe God’s promise of a Redeemer. Paul wrote:
“Now it was not written for his [Abraham’s] sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Romans 4:23-25
In other words, Christ’s sacrifice paid the price for us in exactly the same way He did for Abraham. And today, we have the added historical reality of what the Old Testament believers trusted that God would do for us, ”if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
We have a clear record that salvation is by faith, not works:
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
My friend, there has NEVER been more than one way of salvation. It’s always been the same because God is the same. Salvation has always been: By grace alone. Through faith alone. In Christ alone. In fact, the Old Testament makes it crystal clear and tells us that our BEST righteousness is as “filthy rags.” Isaiah 64:6
One Response
To God be the glory , for the things he has done.