One Savior-One Cross-One Salvation

The Old Testament saints were saved by the blood of Jesus, not by animal blood, not by law keeping, and not by a separate plan of salvation. They were saved by faith in God’s promise, and the blood of Christ reached backward to cover those who lived before the cross.

Hebrews 9:15 says:

“Therefore He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant.”

That verse is direct. Jesus died for the redemption of the transgressions committed under the first covenant. In other words, His death did not only save people after Calvary, it also redeemed the faithful who lived under the Law of Moses.

Animal sacrifices did not truly remove sin. Hebrews 10:4 says:

“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”

So when Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, and the faithful remnant were forgiven, their sins were not actually removed by animal blood. Those sacrifices pointed forward to the true sacrifice, the blood of Christ.

Romans 3:25 explains this clearly:

“Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.”

God had “passed over” sins committed before the cross. He did not ignore them. He did not pretend they were harmless. He passed over them temporarily because the payment was coming. The blood of Jesus later satisfied the justice of God for those earlier sins.

This is why Jesus is called “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” in Revelation 13:8. In God’s eternal purpose, the sacrifice of Christ was never an afterthought. Before the world was made, God already knew that redemption would come through the blood of His Son.

The Old Testament saints trusted in God’s promise before it was fully revealed. Genesis 15:6 says of Abraham:

“And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”

Paul uses Abraham as the example of justification by faith in Romans 4. Abraham was not saved by perfect obedience to the Law, because the Law of Moses had not yet been given. He was not saved by circumcision, because he was counted righteous before circumcision. He was saved by faith in God’s promise, and the ground of that salvation was the future blood of Christ.

Jesus Himself said Abraham looked forward to His day:

“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”
John 8:56

That means Abraham’s hope was ultimately in the coming Christ, even though he did not understand every detail that later saints would know after the cross.

Peter also says the prophets looked ahead to Christ’s suffering:

“Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully... searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”
1 Peter 1:10,11

The Old Testament prophets were not preaching a different salvation. They were pointing forward to the suffering Messiah. The same Christ who saves us now was the hope of the faithful then.

Isaiah 53 is one of the clearest Old Testament prophecies of this truth:

“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities... the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Isaiah 53:5,6

That prophecy shows substitution. The Messiah would bear sin. He would suffer for the guilty. That is exactly what Jesus did at the cross.

So the pattern is this:

Before the cross, faithful people were saved by faith in God’s promise, looking forward to Christ.

After the cross, faithful people are saved by faith in the fulfilled gospel, looking back to Christ.

But in both cases, the saving power is the same, the blood of Jesus.

This also explains why Moses could appear with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17. Moses was not saved because the Law made him sinless. Moses was saved because Christ would die for sins committed under the first covenant.

David is another example. In Psalm 32:1,2 he wrote:

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity.”

Paul quotes this in Romans 4 to prove justification by faith. David’s sins were forgiven, but the actual basis of that forgiveness was not temple sacrifice alone. It was the coming blood of Christ.

Hebrews 11 gives a whole list of Old Testament saints, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. They lived before the cross, but they were accepted by faith. Hebrews 11:39,40 says:

“And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”

They were not made perfect apart from the work of Christ. Their salvation was tied to the same redemptive plan fulfilled in Jesus.

Therefore, the Old Testament saints were saved:

By grace, not by merit.

Through faith, not by perfect law keeping.

On the basis of Christ’s blood, not animal sacrifices.

Looking forward to the promised Redeemer, while we look back to the crucified and risen Lord.

The blood of Jesus is the only blood that ever truly removed sin. Animal sacrifices were shadows. The Law was a tutor. The prophets were witnesses. The promises pointed forward. But Jesus is the substance, the sacrifice, the Lamb, the Mediator, and the Redeemer of all faithful people in every age.