Alive in Christ - Old Testament Saints looked FORWARD to the Messiah to Come

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Old Testament Salvation

Old Testament Saints looked Forward to the Messiah to Come

The Old Testament saints were saved by faith in the promises of God. More specifically, they were saved by their faith in the promise of the Messiah to come. They looked forward to the Messiah and His sacrifice!

They looked forward to the single offering that could take away their (and our) sins:

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Heb 9:28

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isa 53:11, 12

10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isa 53:6

Now if their sacrifices could not save them, and God did not even desire them, then they must have been saved by some other means.

Isaiah 53
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Old Testament believers were saved because they had faith in the Messiah to come. They looked forward to the Messiah who would save them from their sins. Their very own prophets told them that they needed to believe on the Messiah to recieve remission of sins.

To Him give ALL the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall recieve remission of sins Acts 10:43

...the prophets...shewed before of the coming of the Just One... Acts 7:52

22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
Acts 26:22, 23

21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Romans 3:21, 22

The Law and the Prophets both testify that faith is throught the death and resurrection of the Messiah. Abraham was saved because he believed God's promise to him. The Jewish people were saved by faith in God's promises. They were saved by believing in God's promise that a Saviour would come and save them from their sins.

Now if the Law and Prophets testify of Christ, then of course we should be able to search them and prove it. The Bereans searched the scriptures (the Old Testament) to prove that the Gospel as taught by the apostles was correct.

4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him [Abram or Abraham], saying, This [Ismael] shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Gen 15:4-6

The Lord promised Abraham that his decendents would be countless, and Abraham believed Him. Because of his faith, God granted him righteousness. He was saved by faith. God gave Abraham another promise, that in him would all nations be blessed. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (Gen 22:18). This meant that throught his decendents the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, would come, and through him the Gentiles would be saved. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed (Gal 3:8).

Some years after Issac was born, Abraham's promised son, God tested his obediance and faith. He told Abraham to take Issac and sacrifice him! But Abraham still had faith in God's promise that he would have decendents; he believed that God could even resurrect his son from the dead!! (see Heb 11:19.) On their way, Issac asked Abraham, "Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham responded "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:" (Gen 22:8).

In saying that, Abraham prophetically stated that God would provide Himself as an offering! God Himself would be the offering! This is the first indication in the Bible that God Himself would offer Himself an offering for our sins. And although this fact was not made manifest to Abraham, he was indeed saved by faith, for he believed the promises of God.

Now the Jews should have known this, but they didn't. Despite looking forward to the Messiah, most of the Jews did not understand His mission here on earth. They thought He was supposed to save them from Rome, but He came to save them from a much more oppressive tyrant, their own sins! They did not understand that Christ would "bear the sins of many" (Isa 53:12), "make His soul an offering for sin" (Isa 53:10) and "justify many" by His sacrifice.

26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.
27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.
Acts 13:26, 27

Salvation in the OT "The just shall live by his faith"

God doesn't change. Neither does his salvation.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and ALL our righteousnesses good deeds are as filthy rags: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities sins, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6).

Romans 4
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: Romans 4:11

21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: Rom 3:21,22

31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. Romans 3:31

Romans 9
30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. Gal 3:21

The Gospel is first presented not in the New Testament, not in Isaiah 53, but in Genesis! The Gospel is concealed in the geneology in Genesis Ch 5. The first ten generations, Adam to Noah spell out the Gospel as shown below.

Name	Meaning
Adam	man
Seth	appointed
Enos	mortal??
Cainan	sorrow??
Mahalaleel	the Blessed God
Jared	shall come down
Enoch	teaching
Methuselah	his death shall bring
Lamech	despairing
Noah	rest

If you put them together, it reads: Man [is] appointed mortal sorrow, [but] the Blessed God shall come down teaching [that] His death shall bring the desparing rest.

Straw Man arguments can't stand the heat!

Some may tell you that the Old Testament sacrifices actually saved the Jews, and that they didn't look forward to Christ for their salvation. An argument commonly used is this: "Some claim that the Jews looked forward to the cross for their salvation, but this cannot be true because execution by crucifixion was not used till centuries later."

A "straw man" argument is when the main argument is avoided by setting up a diversionary argument. This "straw man" argument is then much easier to disprove than the real argument, and the user of the "straw man" argument decieves us into thinking that he's disproved the real argument.

Lets look at the case above. The real argument is that the Jews looked forward to Christ for their salvation. The "straw man" argument is that the Jews looked forward to the cross for their salvation. (I have actually heard this argument used.) They change one word, change the argument completely, disprove the "straw man" argument, and then claim that they've disproven the real argument. Yes, the cross did not exist during Old Testement times, but there was plenty in the Law and Prophets to lead them to Christ; the Passover feast, Abraham's salvation by faith, and Isaiah 53 are just some of the many pointers to Christ in the Old Testament. Don't let anyone fool you with riduculous "straw man" arguments; people in the Old Testament were saved by looking forward to Christ who would save them from their sins.

The Law was just a schoolmaster, to bring/lead them to Christ! The Gospel, concealed in the Law, was made clearer by the Prophets (especially Isaiah), but was still hidden until Christ appeared and it was made manifest. The Law was intended to prepare them for Christ. The Jews were indeed looking for the Messiah, but they were not looking for Him out of truth. They were looking for Him, but they were looking for the wrong man! They were looking for a saviour from the Romans, not a Saviour from their sins! This was because they, for the most part, were ignorant of the specifics of their own scriptures. They knew that a Messiah was coming but didn't understand why He was coming. However, they were not all ignorant. One man who understood the mission of the Messiah was Simeon, who saw Him as a baby shortly before His death.

Luke 2
25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

He knew that the Messiah was God's salvation, would be a light to the Gentiles, the glory of Israel, and would be hated and spoken against!!!

9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Abraham believed God, and HE accounted it to him for righteousness, but Abraham circumscised himself afterwards. Why did he do this? Was this part of his salvation? Was he saved by faith + works? Absolutly not. Abraham was saved by faith, but he acted on that faith by being circumcised. His circumcision was an act of faith, an act of obediance. His circumcision, like our New Testament baptism, is just an outward sign of his faith. Baptism neither saves us nor has any affect on our salvation, it is just an outward sign of what has already happened in our hearts when Christ entered and cleansed us of our sins. Likewise, Abraham's circumcision was just an outward expression of the faith that he'd already had before he was circumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: (Rom 4:11)

And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
I Cor 10:3, 4

28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither [is that] circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter; whose praise [is] not of men, but of God.
Romans 2:28-29

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Rom 3:21

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