In previous articles, we surveyed Christ’s view of the Old Testament, followed by the Prophets’ and then the Jews’ view of the Old Testament. Now I would like you to reflect on your own view of the Old Testament; specifically, consider your view of Old Testament salvation. If you go wrong here, you will go wrong in all your Old Testament preaching. It is therefore vital that we establish biblical presuppositions in this area. They are already implied in our previous discussions. However, I would like to make what is implicit explicit.
I recently heard a sermon in which the preacher said, “No Old Testament saint was born again.” Later on, the same preacher asserted that Old Testament saints were saved by a mixture of “faith and works.” He then denied that any Old Testament saint was saved through Christ, as “Christ hadn’t even died yet.” The one benefit of such statements is that they are clear; however, as we shall see, they are clearly wrong. However, it is to be feared that many Christians do hold these erroneous views—though perhaps much less clearly and perhaps not so consciously.
This article aims to remove this confusion and to establish that Old Testament saints were saved by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone. Old Testament saints were saved in the same way as New Testament saints. To put it more bluntly, the way of salvation has been, is, and always will be the same for all.
There are a number of New Testament verses that establish this. For example, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). This did not just begin to be true from Matthew 1:1 on; it has been true since Genesis 3:15. There has only ever been one way for sinners to approach the Father: through His Son. Another example is this: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). In the previous verses, Peter makes clear that the only name that saves is that of Jesus Christ. But did this only become true after He was formally and publicly given this name in Matthew 1:25? No, of course not. In the Bible, a person’s name often referred to a person’s character and abilities. The eternal Son of God had the character and abilities of Savior long before He came into the world and was named in Matthew 1. Anyone in the Old Testament who called on His “name,” or His character and abilities, was promised salvation. The fact that just before Acts 4:12, Peter quotes an Old Testament verse and explains it as a reference to Jesus Christ (Acts 4:11, quoting Ps. 118:22), also supports this view of the Son of God as the Savior in both Old and New Testaments.
One final example may be given from John Calvin’s comments on John 17:3: “Surely, after the fall of the first man no knowledge of God apart from the Mediator has had power unto salvation (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:24). For Christ not only speaks of his own age but comprehends all ages when he says: ‘This is eternal life, to know the Father to be the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.’” [1]
Further examples might be furnished from the lists of Old Testament saints in Hebrews 11. They are set forth as trailblazing examples of faith for New Testament believers. Bear in mind that this list appears after ten chapters full of preaching Christ from the Old Testament. Their faith was faith in Christ. But, for our purposes, let’s focus on 1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” We will ask three questions:
- Did fallen humanity need a mediator in the Old Testament?
- Did God require a mediator in the Old Testament?
- Was faith mediator-centered in the Old Testament?
The New Testament clearly reveals not only that there is one Mediator between God and man, but also that fallen humanity cannot be saved apart from that Mediator. All evangelicals agree on this. However, there is considerable confusion, contradiction, and disagreement when we move into the area of Old Testament salvation. There is no disagreement that Old Testament characters are in heaven (e.g., Abraham, Isaac, Jacob [Matt. 8:11], Elijah, Moses [Matt. 17:3]); there is much disagreement over how they got there. Many Christians seem to think that they got there through a combination of a general faith in God and trying their best. In other words, no mediator was necessary. If this is true, either one of the following conclusions follows:
Old Testament Saints Were Not As Sinful As New Testament Saints.
If, as some claim, no mediator is necessary in the Old Testament, then it must be because Old Testament saints were not in such a dreadful spiritual condition as New Testament saints (Rom. 8:7; John 3:3; Eph. 2:1).
But no one would attempt to argue that the Old Testament is less damning in its depiction of the universal sinfulness and spiritual deadness of humanity. Even the Old Testament saints’ lives are painted with very black colors. Verse after verse preaches the reign of death over all (e.g., Eccl. 7:21; 1 Kings 8:46; Ps. 143:2; Job 9:2, 25:4; Deut. 27:26).
Conclusion: Because Old Testament saints and New Testament saints are equally sinful, they equally need a mediator to approach God.
Old Testament Saints Were Saved In The Opposite Way To New Testament Saints.
If we accept that Old Testament and New Testament men and women were equally sinful and therefore equally in need of a mediator, and yet that a mediator was not provided for Old Testament believers, then they must have gotten to heaven by works rather than by faith in a mediator.
Matthew tells us that “many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 8:11). Will some be sitting at that table who got there by works and others who got there by renouncing their works and putting their faith in a mediator? Are there going to be some at the table who are proud of their works and others who say, “Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:9)? Are there going to be some at the table who were saved by the Mediator and others who never knew Him? Are there really going to be some who were saved by the blood of bulls and goats, and others who were saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ? Of course not.
Conclusion: Because Old Testament saints and New Testament saints both sit at the same table in the kingdom of heaven, they were equally saved by the same faith in the same Mediator who sits at the Head of that table. In the words of our text: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Question Two: Did God Require A Mediator In The Old Testament?
Perhaps it might be argued that although Old Testament and New Testament people were equally sinful, and both equally in need of a mediator, God made a special exception for some pre-New Testament sinners. If so, then God was more merciful and more forgiving in the Old Testament than in the New. Then God was not so exclusive in His demand for faith and was not so intolerant of people offering a mixture of faith and works in the Old Testament. If so, then God’s love was wider in the Old Testament than in the New!
Stating this clearly shows its absurdity. If the Old Testament teaches us anything, and if the New Testament makes any claims, it is that the mercy and love of God is manifested even more widely and magnificently in the New Testament than in the Old.
However, let us pause for a moment or two and consider this common suggestion that God did for a time accept sinners on the basis of their works—their obedience to the moral law. Then we will look at the other frequently heard and related suggestion: that God accepted sinners on the basis of faith in a lesser object—the sacrifices of the ceremonial law.
Did God Accept On The Basis Of Works—Obedience To The Moral Law?
When Paul contended with Judaizers who taught that righteousness could be merited by keeping the moral law, he argued that the law was given “because of transgressions” (Gal. 3:19). It was given to convict of sin and humble sinners. This has always been true—in the Old as well as in the New Testament. “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:2). So, no, God did not accept on the basis of works.
Did God Accept Faith In A Lesser Object—The Sacrifices Of The Ceremonial Law?
Apart from convicting of sin, the law, especially the ceremonial law, was given to show Israel that God required sinners to approach Him through a mediator. It was not given to encourage their faith to rest in the objects that taught them this lesson—the priesthood and the animal sacrifices. Calvin states this graphically: “For what is more vain or absurd than for men to offer a loathsome stench from the fat of cattle in order to reconcile themselves to God? Or to have recourse to the sprinkling of water and blood to cleanse away their filth? In short, the whole cultus of the law, taken literally and not as shadows and figures corresponding to the truth, will be utterly ridiculous.… If the forms of the law be separated from its end, one must condemn it as vanity.” [2]
The prophets frequently condemned Israel for putting their faith in the sacrifices of the ceremonial system. They were not to be the “end” but the “means to the end,” and that end was the Mediator-Messiah, who was the fulfillment or “end” of the law (Matt. 5:17-18).
Conclusion: Because God did not change between the Testaments and was no more forgiving in the Old Testament than in the New, He has always required humanity to approach Him through His appointed Mediator, typified in the Old Testament sacrifice of animals and enfleshed in the New Testament sacrifice of Himself. There has been, is, and always will be only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. As Calvin concluded: “Accordingly, apart from the Mediator, God never showed favor toward the ancient people, nor ever gave hope of grace to them.” [3]
Question Three: Was Old Testament Faith Merely God-Centered, Or Was It Mediator-Centered?
If fallen humanity always needed a mediator to approach God, and if God always required fallen humanity to approach Him through a mediator, was Old Testament faith placed in God in general or in the Mediator in particular? The answer is really implied in the question and we have already suggested the answer in our previous discussion.
However, let us look at this question more directly and in more detail. In The Institutes of the Christian Religion, after quoting numerous Old Testament verses referring to the promised Messiah, Calvin answers our question: “From this it is now clear enough that, since God cannot without the Mediator be propitious toward the human race, under the law Christ was always set before the holy fathers as the end to which they should direct their faith.... Here I am gathering a few passages of many because I merely want to remind my readers that the hope of all the godly has ever reposed in Christ alone.” [4]
We will prove this by looking, first, at the language of Old Testament faith and, second, at the effect of Christ’s death on Old Testament saints.
The Language Of Old Testament Faith
Messiah-centered faith is not always explicit in Moses’ writings, and yet the language of the godly that read the books of Moses shows that these books cultivated this faith. Although the imagery and the terminology used to describe the Messiah differs between the Testaments, both describe the same Messiah’s person and work. As Calvin put it, “Our Heavenly Father willed that we perceive in David and his descendants the living image of Christ.” [5] In fact, Hannah perceived this use of the royal office in Israel long before there even was a King David: “The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed [Messiah]” (1 Sam. 2:10).
Who can read the Psalms without sensing that David is not singing about himself, but is using the imagery of his life to set forth the greatest Davidic descendant? Certainly other psalmists picked up on this (Ps. 89:3, 20, 35, 49; 132).
Subsequent prophets also used this Davidic language to point Israel to the one signified by it.
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Jer. 23:5-6).
And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd (Ezek. 34:23).
And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever (Ezek 37:24-25).
Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days (Hos. 3:5).Is it therefore any wonder that when the Messianic Mediator came in the flesh, the people asked, “Is not this the Son of David?” (Matt. 12:23); the blind cried, “Thou Son of David, have mercy on us” (Matt. 9:27); and the children sang, “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Matt. 21:9)?
Jesus confirmed that Old Testament believers had Messiah-centered faith when He said to those of His own day who eagerly and expectantly looked towards Him in faith: “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: for I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them” (Luke 10:23-24).
The Effect Of Christ’s Death On Old Testament Saints
Another proof that Old Testament faith was Mediator-centered rather than just God-centered is the effect of Christ’s death on Old Testament saints who had died before His coming. Calvin explained this cause and effect: “At the moment of his resurrection, he deemed many of the saints worthy of sharing in his resurrection and let them be seen in the city of Jerusalem (Matt. 27:52-53). In this he has given a sure pledge that whatever he did or suffered in acquiring eternal salvation pertains to the believers of the Old Testament as much as to ourselves.” [6]
These resurrected Old Testament saints were not “surprised” to see the Messiah when He raised them from the dead; He was not unknown to them. They had believed on Him while alive on earth. They had communed with Him when their souls were glorified in heaven. And now they received an early taste of the bodily resurrection purchased by His person and work.
Conclusion: There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, the same, yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8). The Old Testament saints were no less saved, no less regenerate, no less justified, no less accepted than New Testament believers. Like New Testament believers, they too were Christ-centered in their faith.
Principles of Interpretation
- No Old Testament saint was ever saved by morality, by ceremony, by a general faith in God, or by any combination of them.
- Every Old Testament saint was saved by grace alone, through faith alone in the one and only Mediator between God and man.
- The Mediator was set forth in the Old Testament using categories and concepts with which Old Testament believers were familiar.
- Institutes, 2.6.1.
- Ibid., 2.7.1.
- Ibid., 2.6.2.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid., 2.10.23.
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