How were people saved before Jesus died for our sins?

In the same way as New Testament believers: by faith. Abraham believed God and this was counted righteousness for him. And God could do this, righteously, because He looked at the (then future) sacrifice of Christ: Romans 3:25.26.

Although the sacrifices of old could not remove the guilt of the offerer, where there was faith in God there was blessing. There could not be the revelation of the truth of redemption as now known in the death of Christ, nor could there be the knowledge in the heart of no more conscience of sins; nevertheless God, in view of the sacrifice of Christ, could remit the sins of those who believed in Him. Therefore we see Christ presented as mediator of a new covenant, secured by His death, by which there is redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant: and those called to partake of the blessings of the new covenant receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. This is in marked contrast with the law, which if Israel had kept they would have retained the earthly inheritance: but those partaking of the heavenly calling receive their inheritance by divine promise; it does not rest on their responsibility and cannot therefore be lost.

How, then, was Abraham justified? Did God justify his flesh? Did God account him righteous by works of flesh? Can Abraham boast before God of being better in the flesh than others? In nowise. This is made perfectly clear by the scripture which reads, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Abraham, as in the flesh, was a sinful man, was a guilty man. He had a record of sins. But God pretermitted his sins in anticipation of the cross of Christ; canceled the record, all the charges in it; released him from the necessity of standing at the great white throne to be judged for his sins — delivered him definitely and finally from the eternal due of his sins. He formally, definitely and finally, declared him to be a righteous man. He judicially pronounced him to be no longer in his sins. By a judicial decision he made him a righteous man. But it was explicitly on the principle of faith that He did this. The scripture quoted by the apostle from Gen. 15:6 makes this perfectly plain. "The father of all them that believe" was justified by faith — not by works.

The word translated in this scripture "propitiation" should be, without doubt, rendered "mercy-seat." It is the same word in Heb. 9:5, where it is so given. This will explain the term "set forth." In the tabernacle the mercy-seat in the holiest was shrouded from the view of all, save the high priest on the day of atonement. Really, therefore, it was a concealed mercy-seat. In contrast with this Christ as the mercy-seat is exposed, exposed to all in this day of grace in the preaching of the gospel, and every one is free, nay, is invited to approach. But whoever would respond to the invitations of grace must come "through faith in His blood," an allusion surely to the blood annually sprinkled on and before the mercy-seat in the wilderness. On the mercy-seat it made propitiation, inasmuch as it answered all the claims of a holy God in respect of the sins of the people, glorified Him according to all that He was; so that He could righteously maintain relationships of grace with Israel. Before the mercy-seat, where it was sprinkled, not once, but seven times, it was God's perfect testimony to man that propitiation had been, made. Now it is in the gospel that the testimony is rendered to the fact that propitiation has been made by the blood of Christ (He made peace by the blood of His cross), and whosoever receives this testimony, and comes to Christ, as the mercy-seat through faith in His blood, finds that all his sins have been for ever cancelled, put away. But here our attention is directed rather to God's action. This blood on the mercy-seat, Christ in the efficacy of His sacrifice, declares God's righteousness in "passing over," through His forbearance, the sins of the saints of old (for the blood of their sacrifices derived its value from its typical reference to Christ); and it also laid the foundation on which He can be just, on which He can act righteously in grace, seeing that He has been glorified by it concerning our sins, and justify, declare righteous, every one who believes in Jesus. In this wondrous way God is set at liberty to justify freely the ungodly by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. How blessedly simple! And what encouragement is thus given to approach the mercy-seat (Christ) in fullest confidence in the efficacy of His precious blood! E. D.

The rendering of this passage is admittedly difficult, as may be gathered from the diverse views which have been propounded. The order of the words is as given in our translation - "A propitiation [propitiatory, or mercy-seat] through faith in His blood." But the question is whether we are to construe "in His blood" with faith, or whether "in His blood" should not be connected with propitiation, as the means indeed by which propitiation has been made. We have no hesitation whatever in adopting the latter view; for it is very evident from what took place on the day of atonement that the blood sprinkled upon the mercy-seat constituted the propitiation. If this interpretation be correct, faith is the subjective means of appropriating Christ, as set forth by God as the propitiation. In other words, God sets forth Christ as a Mercy-seat, in virtue of His blood (for His blood is the testimony that He, the righteous One, laid His life down under the judgment that lay upon man), and faith receives, or appropriates, Him in the character in which He is set forth. Thus faith (as ever) thinks the thoughts of God. Another consideration justifies the above interpretation. The object God has in setting forth Christ as a propitiation is "to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God," etc. That is, in view of the propitiation to be effected in the blood of Christ, God could righteously, in His forbearance, "pass over" the sins of the saints of old; and now He can, on the same basis, show forth that He is righteous in justifying everyone who believes in Jesus. For having been infinitely glorified in the death of Christ under man's judgment (and it is to this the blood bears witness), He can declare His righteousness in the remission of the sins that are past (the sins of Old Testament believers), and in the justification of everyone who is of the faith of Jesus.

Once more, we may note the contrast stated in Hebrews 10:1-4. In those sacrifices there was a remembrance of sins made every year, for it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. What happened was that in His forbearance God "passed over" (the words placed in the margin against Romans 3:25) the sins that were committed before Christ died. Hence the word used so frequently in the Old Testament is "atonement," the literal meaning of which is "covering." In the New Testament that word does not occur — Romans 5:11 being a mistranslation. The rather, we read in Hebrews 10:18, that, "where remission of these is there is no more offering for sin." The word for "remission" means "a sending away," and not merely a covering. So in the Old Testament we find a provisional covering of sin in the forbearance of God, awaiting the complete sending away of sin, which was only accomplished by the death and resurrection of Christ.

Remark, however, first of all, that the sense of guilt, when under conviction of sin, troubles the conscience. It is the conscience that bears the burden of sin when the soul is awakened; and an uneasy, a bad conscience often condemns the soul as distinctly as the word of God. Remembering this, the statements in the above-mentioned chapter will at once be understood. The first point then to be noticed is, that the worshippers under the old dispensation were never made perfect as to the conscience, that they never obtained the priceless blessing of "no more conscience of sins." (vv. 1, 2.) This is shown in a twofold way. The fact that sacrifices were continually offered proved it, because "in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year." (v. 3.) The worshipper might indeed feel, in a certain measure, that the sins he had already committed were removed; but no sooner had his sacrifice been offered, than he began to sin again, and every fresh sin needed another sacrifice. He was therefore never free from guilt before God or in his own conscience. Then we are also told that it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. God passed over the sins of His people, because these sacrifices shadowed forth that of Christ; but they had no virtue to purge the conscience, though they might have sanctified to the purifying of the flesh. (Heb. 9:13.) The burden of sin was thus never wholly removed from the conscience of a Jewish saint.

This leads the Apostle to his next great subject. Just as the Galatians had heard a message and believed it, had been justified by faith, and received the Spirit by faith, so Abraham had heard a message from God. He had believed it, and God reckoned it to Abraham as righteousness. You remember the story — one of the most beautiful in the Bible, to make plain how a sinner is justified. It was a clear, starry night. The Lord brought Abraham forth out of his tent, and He said to him, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them," and He said unto him, "So shall thy seed be." Abraham believed the Lord's word, though he was then an old man, and his wife an old woman. In the eyes of man this promise was impossible; but Abraham believed God, and God counted, or reckoned, this faith to him as righteousness. So the record goes in Genesis 15:5 and 6. Nothing could be more clear and more simple. It was by simple faith in a simple statement. Abraham did not look at the impossibility of the promise, but he looked at the almighty power of the One who made it. And he said, "Yes, Lord, I believe you." And God said, "Abraham, I count you to be a righteous man." Even so does God count me a righteous man, wretched sinner though I am by nature. God says, "Christ died for the ungodly." I say, "That is myself; I believe it: I thank Thee." And God says, "I count you a righteous man." Reader, does God account you righteous? He waits to do so: He waits till you, by simple faith in His Word, trust only to the death of Christ for your sins. Then He says, I count, I reckon, you are righteous. Remember that this happened 430 years before the law was given. Abraham had never heard of the law when God reckoned him righteous. It was all by grace. It was all by faith. "Justified freely by His grace." Rom. 3:24. "Who was raised again for our justification." Rom. 4:25. "Justified by faith." Rom. 5:1. "Justified by His blood." Rom. 5:9.

Faith alone gives life to the soul that hears God's word. Hence all the O.T. saints were spiritually quickened as truly as we who now believe the gospel. And our Lord lays down in John 3 the necessity of new birth (born of water and Spirit) as the indispensable condition of seeing or entering the kingdom of God. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will surely be there, no less than we. There may be the unintelligent plea of circumcision, as in their case answering to baptism. But it is express that Abraham was justified in Gen. 15 before circumcision was instituted in Gen. 17, and the apostle as a certainty reasons on the importance of this fact in Rom. 4. Circumcision was but a seal of the righteousness of the faith he had whilst uncircumcised. The blessing was neither of the ordinance nor of the law which came in long afterwards but of the promise, and thus of faith that it might be according to grace — God's grace, not man's merit. And so it is now. It is judaising and worse to substitute an institution, however precious, for the Son of God and faith in Him and His work, which both quickens and justifies.

This passage has reference to the Old Testament saints whose spirits are now in heaven, made perfect through the offering of Christ. "For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified." (Heb. 10:14). Yet a little later on the writer could say "that they without us should not be made perfect." (Heb. 11:40). The apparent contradiction between the passages simply arises through the use of the term "perfect" in different connections. The great cloud of witnesses of the first verse of Chapter 12 refers to the Old Testament worthies cited in chapter 11, viz., Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, etc., who were reckoned just men not on account of their merit but through faith. With true prophetic vision they foresaw the coming of Christ as the complete solution of all the ills of humanity and as the propitiation, i.e., that God might be just in justifying the believer either antecedent to His coming or subsequent thereto. Abraham believed God and it was reckoned unto Him for righteousness by God, (Rom. 4:3), so with all the others they were justified on the same principle and thus in God's reckoning they were just men.