Salvation in the Old Testament
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Salvation is the adjustment a person makes to the Justice of God
when he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. The justice
of God was satisfied when Christ bore our sins in His body on
the cross. This makes is possible for God to reconcile the believer
to Himself and to impute righteousness to the believer. Gen. 15:6
The Gospel is the information provided in the Bible to give us
the facts about God's provision for us.
The death of Christ on the cross was predetermined by the decisions
of the Divine Decrees so that, from the standpoint of the OT times,
Jesus Christ's substitutionary atonement was certain to take place,
even though the actual efficacious sacrifice had not yet occurred.
The justice of God was satisfied.
OT believers received Jesus Christ as Saviour as He was revealed
in OT times. Sometimes He was called Elohim, Jehovah-Elohim, or
Jehovah plus a noun (God our Righteousness, etc.). Whenever there
was positive volition at the point of God consciousness, God provided
Gospel information to the individual.
The first statement of the Gospel is recorded in Genesis 3, at
the time of original sin, Man's fall. When Adam and Eve fell,
they only had one count against them - negative volition to the
command regarding good and evil. Good and Evil is the plan of
Satan; so knowledge of good and evil is knowledge of Satan's plan.
Adam and Eve, in their innocence in the garden of Eden did not
need to be introduced to Satan's plan or to be inculcated with
it. Therefore, this one tree was forbidden.
Eve partook of the tree in innocence, Adam partook in cognizance.
He had seen the first sinner, Eve, disobey God, but he took part
anyway. Remember, there was no immorality involved here, because
at the time they were neither moral or immoral. Their sin was
merely rejection of what God had commanded. This brought instant
spiritual death.
At this instant, man no longer ruled the world; Satan became the
ruler of this kosmos. The coup d'etat was complete; and man was
now subject to Satan as far as this world is concerned. Mankind
immediately became marked with the "mark of Adam", the
Sin Nature.
To the question "Which came first, personal sin or the Sin
Nature?" the answer is that personal sin came first and caused
the existence of the Sin Nature. The human spirit was cancelled
out in the sense of spiritual death.
For the rest of the human race, the Sin Nature is inherited at
birth, so the Sin Nature is present before there is any opportunity
for personal sin. Also, Adam's sin is imputed to us, so that we
are born with two strikes against us. "For as in Adam all
die ..." Note : we are not called sinners because we sin;
we are sinners because we are born, with a Sin Nature, and having
Adam's sin imputed to us.
This is the reason that God, with His character of absolute Justice
and Righteousness, is not free to enter into a relationship with
us unless it can be done without compromising his integrity. And
that is only possible if all the sins of the world are judged.
But the Lord has found a way to save mankind. Gen. 3:15, "I
will put enmity (hostility) between you and the woman, and between
your seed and her seed; it shall bruise (crush) thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel."
The "seed of the woman" is the title for the Lord Jesus
Christ in virgin birth. The Sin Nature and Adam's imputed sin
is passed down through the male; and Christ was not born of a
male-female relationship. He was able to avoid that result of
the curse. The Lamb of God had to be without spot or blemish.
At the Second Advent of Christ, the head of Satan will be crushed,
and he will no long rule the world -- Christ will rule the world
and Satan will be imprisoned for 1,000 years.
The pattern of salvation in the Old Testament is exactly the same
as the pattern of New Testament salvation. Gen. 15:6, "Abraham
believed God, and God imputed it to him for righteousness."
Imputed righteousness means that God's Justice has been satisfied.
This verse is found in the context of Rom. 4:1-4 (READ).
Comments:
1. There never was a time, and there never will be a time when
God is not saving mankind. Rom. 10:13; 2 Pet. 3:9
2. The Gospel was clearly declared in Old Testament times. Rom.
1:1-4; I Cor. 15:3-4; Acts 3:18. The passage in Isa. 53:5,6 has
exactly the same boundaries as are found in I Cor. 15:3. Dan.
12:2,3 has the boundary of the resurrection.
3. Regardless of age or dispensation, man is always saved in the
same manner - positive volition to the Gospel expressed in a non-meritorious
way, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12; Gal. 3:6-8
4. Positive volition existed in Old Testament times, both at the
point of God consciousness and the point of Gospel hearing. Ex.
33:7; Gen. 15:6
5. While revelation from God is progressive, reaching its peak
with the New Testament scriptures, it has always been, nevertheless,
sufficient for salvation of souls at all periods of time.
6. The object of faith in salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ,
Gal. 3:26. However, the revelation concerning Christ varies in
different ages.
7. Jesus Christ was first revealed as Saviour at the time of man's
fall, Gen. 3:15. He is represented as the "seed of the woman".
8. Jesus Christ is usually revealed in the Old Testament by "shadows".
For example, in the Tabernacle, in the feasts, in the modus operandi
of the Levitical priests.
Another means of revealing Christ was through "inanimate
revelation", that is, through things in nature like the burning
bush, the Rock, the Shekinah Glory, or through the typology of
the furniture in the Tabernacle (Num. 17:7). The Mercy Seat, the
hilasterion, was the place of propitiation in the Holy of Holies.
The Levitical offerings were "witnessing by ritual".
The burnt offerings taught propitiation, with emphasis on the
word of Christ, the Lamb of God. The meal and fruit offerings
revealed the Person of Christ on the cross. The peace offering
taught about the barrier between God and man being removed.
The gospel was presented in the Old Testament directly in theological
teaching. Isa. 53 was straight doctrinal teaching which showed
that Christ carried our guilt as well as our sins.
9. Once the reality is come, we have the New Testament, which
is historical Christology.
10. According to Isa. 55:6, salvation in the person of Jesus Christ,
is always available. Acts. 4:12.
11. Many conversions are recorded in the Old Testament, including:
Noah was declared "just" in Gen. 6:8,9, and was said
to have righteousness in Heb. 11:7. Heb. 11 shows the spiritual
life of OT believers. The OT imputation of righteousness is seen
in Psalm 24:5 and Isa. 61:10.
For Abraham, compare Gen. 15:6 with Rom. 4:1-4
Job gave perfect testimony to salvation in Gospel form -- death,
burial, and resurrection. Job. 19:23-27.
Many Gentiles were saved in the Old Testament. The citizens of
Nineveh responded to the Gospel when Jonah preached to them. Matt.
12:41; Luke 11:32. See also Rom. 9:24,25; 9:30-33. See Daniel
regarding the salvation of Nebuchadnezzar.
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