An Objection to Exclusivity: Response Part 4

Objection four was as follows...

"Could the people of God during the times recorded in the Old Testament (B.C) have even believed in Jesus? They could not even be saved if Jesus is the only way, but the New Testament itself says they are in heaven."

This is a good question also. After all, since Christians push so strongly that Jesus is the only way to be reconciled to God (i.e. to be saved from God's eternal wrath), why didn't he make himself known way before he did so that all the people before his time could believe in him?

Let's start the response by looking again at what the book of Hebrews has to say about this matter of faith.

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation."

Romans 4:1 "What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.'”

Romans 4:20 [Still speaking of Abraham] "No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was 'counted to him as righteousness.' 23 But the words 'it was counted to him' were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification."

Clearly, these Scriptures say that it is faith that enabled salvation for the people of the Old Testament, and Romans 4:3 makes it clear that the faith is in God. Further, Romans 4:20 makes it evident that Abraham's faith in God was in the promise of God - that God "was able to do what he had promised".

Now, we might ask, "What has God promised to us in these days since Jesus' incarnation?" Simply what has been revealed to us in Scripture, namely that He has promised forgiveness of sins to all who believe in the work Jesus did on the cross - that Jesus' death alone is the means of forgiveness.

But, apparently, God required faith during Old Testament times too, and the required faith was in the promises he had given. Did they say the name Jesus or an equivalent in another language? Not exactly, but we now know that Jesus and Yahweh (one of God's names throughout the Old Testament) are one and the same God, so technically they did have faith in Jesus, but without all the details of what would happen on the cross. As history continued, more and more began to be known about what the Christ would do, and thus mankind became more accountable for believing each revelation.

One other thing I feel is important to mention is that Jesus' death was absolutely necessary for the people of the Old Testament to be saved. I won't go too deep into this, but the Old Testament saints had to wait for Jesus' resurrection to be in the presence of God (Ephesians 4:8-11, Luke 23:39-43). Observe the following:

Hebrews 9:24 "For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Hebrews 10:1 "For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins."

To sum up then, Jesus took away the possibility of condemnation from the faithful people in the Old Testament times - a condemnation they deserved as a result of their sin. By "faithful people" I mean those that believed the promises coming from the one true God, who we now know is Jesus himself. Some people who lived prior to Jesus indeed had faith in Jesus, but did not have the complete revelation as we now do. We are now responsible for believing very specific things about Jesus, his work on the cross, his subsequent resurrection, and his bodily ascension to the right hand of the God the Father.