How Were People Saved in the Old Testament?

Have you ever wondered how people in the Old Testament were saved—how they were declared righteous before a holy God? It can appear that it was through their own personal righteousness and law keeping, however, the same gospel that saves us today was at work even then, by faith.
 
1. It Was Always About Faith-  The Bible makes it crystal clear: Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). This happened before the Law, before circumcision, before the temple. Abraham simply trusted God’s promise; and God declared him right with Him. That’s the heartbeat of the gospel: faith alone.
2. The Law Showed the Need, It Didn’t Save- God gave Israel the Law through Moses to reveal His holiness and our sin. But no one was saved by keeping it perfectly; because no one could. As Paul later wrote, “by the works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16). The Law was like a mirror; it showed the dirt, but it couldn’t clean us.
3. Sacrifices Pointed to Jesus- The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin (Hebrews 10:4). So why all the sacrifices? They were shadows; aids pointing to the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. Every altar, every drop of blood, every Day of Atonement was a signpost saying: “One day, the final sacrifice is coming.”
4. Jesus Fulfilled the Law; So is It Still Binding? Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). He perfectly obeyed every command, bore the curse for our failure (Galatians 3:13), and became the final sacrifice. So is the Law still binding on us?

• Ceremonial laws (sacrifices, feasts, priesthood) are fulfilled; Jesus is our Passover Lamb, our High Priest, our Sabbath rest. We don’t repeat the shadows now that the Reality has come.
• Civil laws for ancient Israel aren’t our national code, but their underlying principles of justice still teach us God’s heart (and wisely, our nation has built many of our laws on the Jewish civil law).
• Moral law (the Ten Commandments, love God and neighbor) remains; not to save us, but because it reflects God’s unchanging character. Jesus summed it up: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). We obey from salvation, not for it. We obey out of gratitude and love for a good Savior.

5. Repentance, Faith, and God’s Mercy- Think of David after his great sin. He didn’t run to more sacrifices; he ran to God in repentance: “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10) and then he says: “you do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it, but my sacrifice is a broken and contrite heart”... Or Habakkuk’s famous line: “The righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). Old Testament saints were saved the same way we are; by grace through faith, looking forward to the Messiah we now see clearly in Jesus.
So What Does This Mean for Us?

1. The gospel isn’t Plan B. God didn’t scramble after the Old Testament failed. The promise of a Savior runs from Genesis 3:15 all the way to Revelation. This is actually our December series!
2. We’re part of the same story. Noah, Abraham, Rahab, David—they’re not distant heroes. They’re family (and some of them were as jacked up as us). Saved by the same blood, the same grace.
3. So should I ignore 75% of the Bible (the Old Testament- Tenach)? No, because Jesus says the Old Testament is about him.  John 5:39. We skip that, we miss the backstory of our Savior.  It’s the foundation.  Secondly, Paul says that all scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correction and training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16) and that includes Leviticus! (teaches that sin is serious).  So, our practice of doing a Seder is valuable, because it is a teaching tool about Jesus.