Well, I guess this little feature was at least somewhat popular with some as I got some encouraging feedback and some related follow up questions.
QUESTION: This comes as a two parter – kinda sorta….How were the Jews saved before Christ’s Resurrection? And related but from a different source: Were all Jews saved just because they were Jews?
ANSWER: The central necessary condition, in the Old & New Testament’s was the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God. The necessary action on the part of every human being has always been faith in God. In Genesis 15 God promises the extremely old Abaham an heir and innumerable descendants. “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)
And some may suggest that it was the Old Testament sacrificial system that paid for their sines. But we read in the first ten verses of the tenth chapter of Hebrews that this only pointed to the sacrificial death of Jesus, the Lamb of God, on the Cross. We were “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)
God’s requirement was always faith. But that faith was based on the amount of revelation that was available. Adam knew no details. But Adam believed God’s word that the Seed of the woman would vanquish the seed of the serpent. And Adam so believed. Abraham knew more and believed more. But they both put their faith in God and what He revealed to them. When Moses came and Scripture was eventually written down, believers came to the understanding that God would send a Savior to take care of the sin problem.
We now, in live in the time after the death and resurrection of Jesus have a fuller picture. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” (Hebrews 1:1-2). But it is still the same process at work. Salvation is through faith in the promises of God.
Go to Hebrews chapter 11 and we find a list of numerous Old Testament saints who were declared righteous (saved) by their faith. It included not just Moses and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob but also Gideon, Samuel, David, Samuel and the prophets – and even the prostitute Rahab. Hebrews 11:39 sums it up. “And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith.”
So, were all Jews saved because they were Jews. NO! Faith was the requirement. And from the story of the rich man and Lazarus that Jesus told in Luke 16, we learn a little about what salvation meant at the time. Before Christ’s Resurrection, those that were deemed righteous through faith went to a place called Abraham’s bosom or Paradise for those who died in faith. And the unrepentant dead were sent to a place of suffering. Taken together, this was called Hades. There was a great impassable gulf between the two. Though Jesus told how the two could see each other.[i] [ii]
[i] HOW WERE PEOPLE SAVED BEFORE JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS?, Got Questions, viewed August 21, 2026
[ii] Is Paradise Different Than Heaven, Acoustic Truth Ministry , viewed August 21, 2026
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