Expert: Rev C.Brian Ross - 11/22/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hello again Reverend Ross!  I hope all is well.

I understand that, according to the Bible, salvation is attained by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  Before Jesus arrived to make "being saved by grace" an option, man was under "the law" and subject to following the Ten Commandments.  This, at least, is my understanding of it----if I am wrong please correct me!  Anyhow, if someone dies, they will go to heaven if they are "saved" and to hell if they are not--to put it kind of bluntly.  My question, however, involves those under the law in the Old Testament.  The 10 commandments were brought down Mt.Sinai by Moses....so God let the people know what the rules were.  So from this point to the time that Jesus arrived, everyone was supposed to follow these commandments.  What was it exactly that determined salvation for the people during this time?  What exactly was the criteria?  Did an individual have to follow every 10 commanment to the letter in order to achieve entry into heaven, or could they get by with following most of them most of the time?  Let's say someone coveted another man's wife and at the moment the sinful thought crossed the man's mind, he drops dead.  Let's assume that he had obeyed the 10 commandments his whole life but slipped at the last moment.  Would he go to heaven?  I'm sure that in the "saved by grace" era the answer would be dependent on the condition of the heart(saved or not) and that there is probably a certain level of leeway or leniency regarding salvation(and that's a whole new conversation in itself!).  But my question is about "under the law" era.  Basically, how good did you have to be under the law to gain enrty into heaven?  What was/were the determining factor/factors?

Thank you for your time!  Best regards---Brad

PS--Thank you for your previous reply.  I have a follow-up question that I will add to this one(it's one I want to ask separately but it is related to this question somewhat).

ANSWER: Hi Brad!

It's good to hear from you again.  You did warn me that you had some other questions to put to me - but you didn't warn me as to the level of difficulty!!!  Nevertheless, I am happy to give you my thoughts - not as a "word from the Lord", but as the thinking of one who, like Paul, has been given some wisdom that may be trusted. (cf. I Cor. 7:25).

I would suggest that salvation is the same in every age - by the grace of God, through faith (Eph.2:8).  WE read, for example, that Abraham believed (had faith in/trusted in) God, so that God declared him to be righteous (Rom.4:3; Gal.3:6; Jam.2:23).  The same Abraham is described as the "friend of God" (II Chron.20:7).  Now, although the terminology is slightly different, all of this means that Abraham is as truly saved as I am, even although, for him, the coming of Messiah was an event in the future.  

The Letter to Hebrew believers emphasise this same point when in ch.11, it provides the great catalogue of Old Testament saints (although, obviously, not a definitive list!).  The first two verses are very interesting (remembering that the original was not written in chapters and verses, any more than you or I would write a letter in that way!  They are merely a convenient way of directing to a particular passage - as in, e.g., a modern contract with its paragraphs and sub-paragraphs.) as they provide a definition of faith, and then state that, by it [faith] "... the men of old received divine approval."  The chapter then ends with the statement that "All of these people we have mentioned received God's approval because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised." (vs.39-40).  However, when we read the accounts of the examples that are given (from the "great cloud of witnesses" [12:1]), we may see that the underlying connection was obedience to the will of God, as it had been revealed to them.  Their 'salvation' - whether at the physical level (the crossing of the Re[e]d Sea), or the spiritual level (being a part of the covenant 'people of God') - is all of God, and His grace.

What, then, is the relationship between these O.T. saints and the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus?  We might illustrate it like this.  My daughters both went to University after the end of educational grants.  They each had to take out special 'student loans'.  When they had completed their studies, each of them was in debt to the British government (well, to the British taxpayer!!), but they didn't have to repay their debt until their earnings reached a set level.  The O.T. saints, it may be argued, were unable to repay their 'sin-debt', but were 'given time' until the Lord Jesus appeared and paid the debt on their behalf (NB the post that I added to my blog, last evening!).  The analogy is by no means perfect - but then, no analogy ever is!

Your fictional individual would have, like you or me, been 'judged' according to his relationship with YHWH. Since, as a Trinitarian, I believe that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God, then there is a very real sense in which the individual could be said to have had a relationship with the pre-incarnate Son, through the Father - rather than the Christian era situation in which I would say that my relationship with the Father is through the Son!
Okay, I hope that I have covered all of the bases and that, even if I haven't fully satisfied you, I have given you some thought-food on which to chew!  I will await your next question with interest (and trepidation!!)

Blessings

C.Brian Ross (Rev)


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your reply!  It was certainly helpful.  My follow-up question was actually answered in part by Eph 2:8.....however, I will pose the question in case any further insight may be applicable.

From the time of Adam & Eve until the time Moses went up the mountain to retrieve the tablets, what critera was set for man to insure salvation?  How did man know what was expected from him as far as God was concerned?

Thank you very much.---Brad

Answer
Hi Brad!

Thank you for your, again interesting, follow-up question!

I think that, this time, Paul has already done most of the work for me.  I would refer you to Romans 4.  In the first part of the chapter, Paul emphasises that Abraham (pre-Mosaic!) was justified by faith, not works.  In the second section (vs.9-17), he shows that Abraham was justified by grace, not law (since it had not yet been given).  In the final section, he emphasise that all was of God, and not of Abraham.

So, I return to my earlier thesis that salvation of whomever, whenever, is of God, and His grace.  As is made clear by the prophet Isaiah, even the best of our good deeds - and we know, instinctively, that even they are never truly altruistic! - are no better than filthy rags.  I recall a Messianic Jew, and expert in the Hebrew language, pointing out (please don't be offended) that this referred to the rags which, in those days, a woman would use during her regular period.  It gave me a whole new insight to the paucity of even the best that I, by myself, can offer!

Galatians 3 is another important chapter with respect to this issue, as is Romans 1:18ff.  This latter covers the Gentiles who, Paul maintains (under the guidance of God the Holy Spirit) are "without excuse" (v.20).  Why did God choose Abraham and his descendants above all of the other peoples?  That, dear friend, is a question that you must take up with Him!!  I can only repeat that "There is none righteous; no, not one" (Rom.3:10); that each one of us deserves nothing but the wrath of a holy God; that in Jesus only (and we do live in the age of the New Covenant) is salvation found; and that it is, for any person, not of works, lest any should boast (Eph.2:9), but wholly, and solely, of the grace of God.

If you have not yet experienced that grace in your own life, may I urge you to seek it for yourself.  If you have, then rejoice in it - and share it with others.

Blessings

C.Brian Ross (Rev)