Old Testament Saints: Saved By Grace

We believe in and uphold Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) and Tota Scriptura (All of Scripture). Every single Book of the Bible is equally God-breathed, and thus equally and fully inerrant and authoritative. We need the whole Counsel of God, not just part of it, if we are to be fully equipped for our faith and life. We need all Scripture – all 66 Books, Old Testament and New Testament – because “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16).

But, this being so, how are we to understand the place of the Law of God in the life of faith? Many are under the impression – wrongly – that the Law was given to the Old Testament people of God as a means of salvation; that Old Testament saints were saved by Law-keeping. This is basically the position, for example, of classical Dispensationalism. The original 1917 Scofield Reference Bible note on John 1:17 states:

“Grace… is… constantly set in contrast to law, under which God demands righteousness from man, as, under grace, he gives righteousness to man… Law is connected with Moses and works; grace with Christ and faith… Law blesses the good; grace saves the bad… Law demands that blessings be earned; grace is a free gift… As a dispensation, grace begins with the death and resurrection of Christ.”¹

Scofield names seven Dispensations in total, and depending upon which era of history man is in, the specific requirements for obedience change. Each time man fails, God inaugurates a new “test”.² All the earlier Dispensations uphold salvation by works. It is in the new Dispensation of “Grace” that the way of salvation changes: “The point of testing is no longer legal obedience as the condition of salvation, but acceptance or rejection of Christ, with good works as a fruit of salvation.”³

This Dispensational hermeneutic does great violence to the unity of Scripture, as the Word of God is carved up into segments, rather than viewed as a consistent whole. What is more, by teaching two ways of salvation – works in the Old, and now grace in the New Testament – Dispensationalism also fundamentally undermines the Gospel. Indeed, I would suggest that what we have here is a different gospel entirely. We have a different god with a different standard of holiness, who changes how he interacts with human beings according to their success or failure in each Dispensation. This god seems to be trying to find a way of salvation that works, and yet keeps failing!

Where is the Sovereign Creator of Isaiah 46:9-10? “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (ESV). Where is the Sovereign Redeemer of Ephesians 1:11-12? “In Him, we also have been made an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, to the end that we who first have hoped in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”

Scripture teaches clearly that there is but one way of salvation, and that is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. This was every bit as much the case for the saints of the Old Testament as it is for us today. Our Lord states very clearly: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). True, saving faith will always result in obedience to God’s Word, but good works are the fruit, not the root, of salvation. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Let’s consider some key Old Testament passages to demonstrate this.

Adam and Eve: Clothed in Righteousness

In Genesis 3 we find the terrible, tragic account of the fall of man into sin. At first, Adam and Eve seek to hide themselves from God, and make a futile attempt to cover their own sin and shame: “[T]he eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings” (Genesis 3:7).

Who by their own hands can ever cover their sin from the sight of Omniscient, Almighty God? Who by their own works can ever hope to be justified before Him? God knows exactly where Adam and Eve are, and He knows exactly what they have done. In consequence of their sin and rebellion, God pronounces a curse upon the serpent, the woman, and the man. And yet, in the midst of these terrible events, God gives to man a ray of hope. In wrath, God remembers mercy to His people. As He curses the serpent, God says: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel” (Genesis 3:15).

God makes a promise: Though the serpent – Satan – appears to have been victorious in bringing about man’s fall into sin, and into all its terrible consequences, there is hope. At some point in the future, a Deliverer will come – a promised Seed of the woman – who will finally crush the serpent’s head, and liberate God’s people from their slavery to sin and death. This is rightly identified as the protoevangelium; the first Gospel message in Scripture.

What is the response of Adam and Eve? It seems clear from context that their response, in the midst of their shame and horror, is faith. They believe the promise of God. And the result is what we would expect: They are justified, by grace, through faith. Though unrighteous in themselves, they are declared righteous by God. And this is illustrated powerfully by God’s gracious actions: “Then Yahweh God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them” (Genesis 3:21).

Adam and Eve had tried in vain to cover their own sin and shame. Now, God clothes them. An animal dies; the first death in history, and a terrible reminder of the seriousness of sin, and the consequences of it: Death! And yet at the same time it is a picture of the grace and mercy of God to His people. An innocent animal dies as a sinless substitute, in place of the guilty sinners. Those guilty sinners, justified by grace through faith, are clothed with garments of skins. Their sin and shame is covered over by a sovereign act of God’s grace.

And of course, what we see here in shadow form is the imputed righteousness of Christ. We see pictured His perfect, spotless righteousness earned on our behalf throughout His perfect life. It is that righteousness by which all who believe and trust in Him alone for salvation are clothed. Isaiah 61:10: “My soul will rejoice in my God, For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness”.

Abel: The Sacrifice of Obedience

Man, now dead in trespasses and sins, can no longer enjoy unbroken fellowship with God, because nothing unclean and unholy can enter His presence. There must now be an atonement made for sin. If human beings are to approach God now, they must do so through the blood of a substitute. As it is written, “under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).

Therefore, God ordained animal sacrifices. But again, He did so not as an end in themselves, but as a shadow which pointed forward to something far greater:

“For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:1-4).

Once again, we see that Adam and Eve responded in faith. They taught their children the right way to approach God. Thus, in Genesis 4, we find Cain and Abel offering sacrifice: “So it happened in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to Yahweh of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part, also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions” (Genesis 4:3-4). There’s a problem. To approach God, who is Holy, a blood sacrifice is required to atone for sin. Abel listens to God’s Word, taught to him by his parents, and he is faithful to obey. Cain hears, but disobeys.

Thus, we read: “Yahweh had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard” (Genesis 4:4-5). Notice that the offerings brought by the two men – one acceptable, one unacceptable – are merely a consequence of the real issue. Here we find in Abel the prototype of true religion on the one hand, and in Cain the prototype of all false religion on the other.

Abel is a man of faith, who loves God and takes His Word seriously. As a result, Abel strives to obey God, and so brings the correct sacrifice. God accepts Abel’s offering, as it is brought in faith, manifested through humble obedience. Cain, by contrast, walks in unbelief. He hates God, and despises His Word. He is arrogant in his approach to God, wilfully disregarding the Word clearly spoken to him, and presuming to approach any way he wants, on his own terms.

The primary issue is the heart of the worshippers. You may well present Abel’s offering, but if you do so with Cain’s heart, then your worship is an abomination in God’s sight. ““Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not light a fire on My altar in vain! I have no delight in you” says Yahweh of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from your hand”” (Malachi 1:10). It was as true in the Old Testament as it is today: “[W]ithout faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Hebrews 11:6).

When performed in accordance with the Word of God, by a heart of faith towards God, the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were efficacious to atone for the sins of the one offering them. But they were not efficacious in and of themselves. They were efficacious by grace, through faith in the One of who’s sacrifice they were merely a type and shadow:

“By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies are put as a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:10-14).

Only One Way of Salvation

As Christians, we look back to the completed work of Christ and behold the fulfillment of the hopes of the Old Testament saints. We see in full what they saw only in shadow. They did not yet have the full revelation of the salvation that they enjoyed in Christ. But this doesn’t change the fact: For the Old Testament saint, their faith was placed in God, according to the promise of His Word. And, as we read, “[Abram] believed in Yahweh; and He counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).

Just like Christians today, Old Testament saints were saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. They strove to live righteous lives in obedience to the Word of God, not in order to earn salvation, but because they desired to live lives pleasing to the God in whom they trusted for their salvation by faith. As they offered their sacrifices, time and again, they looked forward to the promised Messiah – He to whom all their sacrifices and ceremonies pointed – who would come to fully and finally deliver them from the tyranny of sin and Satan.

There are not two ways of salvation here. There is one way of salvation, progressively revealed. All God’s people – Old Testament saints and New Testament saints – meet at the cross of Christ, for it is in Christ, and in His sacrifice on our behalf, that all of us find salvation and reconciliation with God.

--- 

1 C. I. Scofield, “Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition”. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org/?q=version=Scofield@reference=John.1, accessed 10^th July 2026.

2 According to Scofield, “A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God. Seven such dispensations are distinguished in Scripture”. Scofield names the Dispensations as: Innocence (at Genesis 1:28); Conscience (Genesis 3:23); Human Government (Genesis 8:21); Promise (Genesis 12:1); Law (Exodus 19:8); Grace (John 1:17); Kingdom (Ephesians 1:10) (Scofield, “Notes, 1917”. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org/?q=version=Scofield@reference=Gen.1, accessed 11^th July 2026.).

3 Scofield, “Notes, 1917”.