Salvation is not a Reward
for the Righteous.
It is an available Gift
for those who understand their Guilt!
Question ~
How were the people of the Old Testament saved?
Short
Answer ~ It was NOT by keeping The Law—an impossible
task. “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Romans
3:20a). They were saved by God’s grace
activated by their FAITH in the coming Messiah.
“If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but
not before God. For what does the
Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted
as grace but as debt” (Romans 4:2-4). In
other words their salvation was based upon the Cross of Calvary just as those
of us who live after the time of Jesus Christ.
Summary
~ Jesus Christ is the center point of human
history—even our time is dated as Before Christ or After Christ. Today, we look back to the substitutionary
work of Christ on our behalf at the Cross of Calvary. Old Testament saints looked forward to the
coming Savior—The Messiah and His sacrifice for them.
The
“Hall of Faith” ~ “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.
… By faith Abel… By faith Enoch… But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
By faith
Noah… By faith Abraham… By faith Sarah… These all died in faith… Therefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. … By faith Abraham… By faith
Isaac… By faith Jacob… By faith Joseph… By faith
Moses… By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry… By faith
the walls of Jericho fell down… By faith the harlot Rahab… And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon
and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and
Samuel and the prophets: who through faith
subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths
of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of
weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the
armies of the aliens. Women
received their dead raised to life again.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might
obtain a better resurrection. Still others
had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were
tempted, were slain with the sword. They
wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted,
tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in
dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony
through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something
better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by
so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which
so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God. (Hebrews 11:1—12:2).
~
Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW
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