Salvation and the Law before Jesus

lenraff

Well-Known Member
John closed the old testament, until rose from the dead, the old covenant was in force, ie the law. When Jesus healed He told them to show themselves to the priest according to the law of Moses.
 

Jan51

Well-Known Member
Suppose a Hebrew who lived prior to Christ took the stance that he would believe in the coming Messiah for salvation, but that he would not keep the Mosaic Law.

Could such a person be saved?
The Law of Moses requires obedience to the Lord. I think that statement would qualify under the Law of Moses as "intentional sin," which I believe has no sacrifice that atones for it, and may result in the death penalty. Not sure if you'd say such a person "couldn't" be saved, but more likely, a person who would say those two things probably is not.
 

cavalier973

Well-Known Member
The Law of Moses requires obedience to the Lord. I think that statement would qualify under the Law of Moses as "intentional sin," which I believe has no sacrifice that atones for it, and may result in the death penalty. Not sure if you'd say such a person "couldn't" be saved, but more likely, a person who would say those two things probably is not.
I come at it from the other side: true faith produces obedience, so someone in pre-Jesus Israel who believed God would have followed the Mosaic Law to the extent he was able (i.e. as God graciously gave him the impetus and power to do so).

Thinking through it, I would say that refusing to participate in the requirements of the Mosaic Law would have been dishonoring to God, because I think the ceremonial law and sacrificial system was set up to point to Jesus as much as it was to show us how impossible it is to be sufficiently holy by our own power. I dont think that someone in those times who truly believed in God would have discarded the rules God gave.
 

antitox

Well-Known Member
Even in the OT law you still had to believe in the Lord. It still required to trust and obey. Those who were faithful to the Lord would enter in to what was to come. In Heb 9:15 it states "Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant." This shows that those who followed God would enter into what we have received. It shows that He is absolutely just.
 
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