Two types of salvation?

[timf]

I was intrigued by the recent resurrected thread titled two types of salvation. In reading the original thread, I was not sure what the OP was proposing. However, it did raise what I thought was an interesting question. Was salvation different in the Old Testament?

Eze 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Does this mean that dying in a situation of law fulfillment would qualify one to be resurrected to life?

Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Would this be different than the eternal life one has as a Christian placed into the body of Christ?

Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

The use of present tense indicates to me that we have salvation (new and eternal life) when we are “made alive” in Christ. This would seem different than what the faithful of Israel could expect.

 

[Van]

I was intrigued by the recent resurrected thread titled two types of salvation. In reading the original thread, I was not sure what the OP was proposing. However, it did raise what I thought was an interesting question. Was salvation different in the Old Testament?

Eze 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Does this mean that dying in a situation of law fulfillment would qualify one to be resurrected to life?

Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Would this be different than the eternal life one has as a Christian placed into the body of Christ?

Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

The use of present tense indicates to me that we have salvation (new and eternal life) when we are “made alive” in Christ. This would seem different than what the faithful of Israel could expect.

Yes the New Covenant is different than the Old Covenant.

What was different? The means of entry!

Under the Old Covenant if a person's faith was credited as righteous, they had gained approval through faith. But they did not receive (at that pre-Christ time) what was promised. There were not spiritually born anew nor indwelt with the Holy Spirit. When they died, they were taken to "Abraham's bosom" where they waited in comfort until Christ died as the Lamb of God.

Once Christ died, then the OT Saints were led like captives to heaven, having been made perfect by the washing of regeneration.

Now the entry differs, when God credits a lost person's faith as righteousness, He immediately sets them apart (the sanctifying work of the Spirit) into Christ where they undergo the washing of regeneration, and are then indwelt during the remainder of their physical life, and forever.

 

[37818]

1 Timothy 2:3-6, For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

John 14:6, . . . Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Salvation has always been through God's Son.

John 1:18, No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

Was salvation different in the Old Testament?

Nope.

In a Word, they and we eat the Same Spiritual Meat, and drink the Same Spiritual Drink,
for they drank of that Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ
(1 Corinthians 10:3,4).​

Does this mean that dying in a situation of law fulfillment would qualify one to be resurrected to life?

No.

JESUS IS THE SAVIOR! THERE IS ONE WAY OF SALVATION!!

This is a little of the outline (while there is still much there) to:

A Body of Doctrinal Divinity.

John Gill, 1697-1771
​

BOOK 4.

Of the Acts of the Grace of God Towards and upon His Elect in Time.​

Chapter 1.
Of the Manifestation and Administration of the Covenant of Grace.

"The Covenant of Grace was a Compact in Eternity, between the Three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit;
in which Each Person agreed to take His Part in the Economy of man's Salvation:

The Covenant of Grace is but One and the Same in all Ages, of which Christ is the Substance;

being given for "a covenant of the people", of all the people of God, both Jews and Gentiles,
Who is "the Same" in the "yesterday" of the Old Testament, and in the "today" of the New Testament, and "Forever";

Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life", the Only True Way to Eternal Life;
and there never was any other way made known to men since the fall of Adam;

no other name under Heaven has been given, or will be given, by which men can be saved.

The Patriarchs before the Flood and after, before the law of Moses and under it, before the Coming of Christ,
and all the saints since, are Saved in One and the Same Way, even "by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ";
and that is the Grace of the Covenant, exhibited at different times, and in divers manners.

For though the Covenant is but One, there are different Administrations of it;
Particularly Two, One before the Coming of Christ, and the other after it;

which lay the foundation for the distinction of the "First" and "Second", the "Old" and the "New" Covenant,
observed by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 8:7,8,13; 9:1,15; 12:24),

because by the First and Old Covenant, is not meant the Covenant of Works made with Adam,
which had been broke and abrogated long ago;

since the Apostle is speaking of a Covenant Waxen Old, and ready to vanish away in his time:
nor was the Covenant of Works the First and most ancient Covenant;

The Covenant of Grace, as an Eternal Compact, was before that;

but by it is meant the First and Most Ancient Administration of the Covenant of Grace
which reached from the fall of Adam, when the Covenant of Works was broken,
unto the Coming of Christ, when it was Superseded
and Vacated by another Administration of the Same Covenant, called therefore the "Second" and "New" Covenant.

The One we commonly call the Old Testament Administration, and the other the New Testament Administration;
for which there seems to be some foundation in 2 Corinthians 3:6,14 and Hebrews 9:15;

these Two Covenants, or rather the Two Administrations of the Same Eternal Covenant,
are allegorically represented by two women, Hagar and Sarah, the bondwoman and the free (Galatians 4:22-26),

which fitly describe the Nature and Difference of the Two Administrations of the One Eternal Covenant of Grace.

And before I proceed any farther, I shall just point out the Agreement and Disagreement
of those Two Administrations of the One Eternal Covenant of Grace.

1. First, The Agreement there is between them.

1a. They Agree in the Efficient Cause, God:

1b. In the Moving Cause, the Sovereign Mercy, and Free Grace of God,

1c. In the Mediator, Who is Christ; there is but One Mediator of the Covenant of Grace,

1d. In the subjects of these Covenants, or Administrations of the Covenants of Grace, the Elect of God,
in whom the Blessings of it are applied.

1e. In the Blessings of the Eternal Covenant of Grace;
they are the Same under Both Administrations.

Salvation and Redemption by Christ
is the Great Blessing Held Forth and Enjoyed
under the One Administration of the Eternal Covenant of Grace,
as under the Other,
(2 Samuel 23:5; Hebrews 9:15).

Justification by the Righteousness of Christ,
which the Old Testament church had Knowledge of, and Faith in,
as well as the New Testament (Isaiah 45:24,25; Romans 3:21-23).

Forgiveness of sin through Faith in Christ, all the Prophets bore witness to;
and the saints of Old, as Now, had as Comfortable an application of it
(Psalm 32:1,5; Isaiah 43:25; Micah 7:18; Acts 10:43).

Regeneration, Spiritual Circumcision, and Sanctification,
were what men were made partakers of under the first,
as under the second Administration of the covenant
(Deuteronomy 30:6; Philippians 3:3).

Eternal life was made known in the writings of the Old Testament, as well as in those of the New;
and was believed, looked for, and expected by the saints of the Former, as of the Latter Administration
(John 5:39; Hebrews 11:10,16; Job 19:26,27).

In a Word, they and we eat the Same Spiritual Meat, and drink the Same Spiritual Drink,
for they drank of that Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ
(1 Corinthians 10:3,4).

Also see:
2. Secondly, In some things there is a Disagreement
between these Two Administrations of the One Eternal Covenant of Grace.​

 

[Judith]

Keep in mind that the law did not come until Moses. Before Moses there was no law. As to the question is there a difference in then and now yes and no.
Salvation has ALWAYS been by grace through faith. Hab. 2:4, Heb. 11:4-13. So, in that respect the way of salvation has not changed.
The major change is that animal sacrifice is no longer needed. We have the True Sacrifice in Jesus.
OT saints who were under the law kept the law which proved their faith. Before the law they followed the God of creation the best they understood in what little information they had. NT saints keep the commandments which proves their faith.
Now let me say this because someone is going to say no one can keep the commandments. First off, the claim is false. We can keep them we just don't keep them in absolute to the point we never sin.
Keeping the commandments is the practice of a born-again person. That is our goal. The lost will never have/keep that goal. Scripture says if we are not keeping the commandments we are a liar and no truth is in us (we are lost). 1John 2:3,4

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Puts me in mind of:

Luke 18:9-14​

 

[Darrell C]

I was intrigued by the recent resurrected thread titled two types of salvation. In reading the original thread, I was not sure what the OP was proposing. However, it did raise what I thought was an interesting question. Was salvation different in the Old Testament?

Eze 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Yes and no: in all previous economies we see some general consistencies that tie faith and salvation together. If we understand that the will of God is consistent, we understand that He has been saving men and women much in the same way throughout history. What has changed is the progression of the salvation that has been offered.

From the beginning, God has expressed his will for humanity, and it is the response to that will that determines an individual's standing before God. The requirement is obedience to that expressed will, and the terms of reward/judgment are usually pretty clear.

Probably the single-greatest issue I see in regards to the question of "how God has been saving" and how that differs today (within the New Covenant) is Justification. When, in any Age/Era/Covenant one accepts God's will and responds accordingly, we see a declaration of justification. That doesn't mean they kept the Law or performed the required number of good deeds to acquire that declaration, because the fact is—no one deserves God's mercy. This is God's determination alone. So, in Old Testament economies, when someone was justified, this was similar to how we consider ourselves being "saved" in this current dispensation.

However, I go back to the matter of progression: a declaration of justification (Abraham and Lot, for example) did not mean their sins were atoned for. Still, they were accounted among the faithful. The best illustration of how their justification differed from being born again in this Age, we consider our own position, that of still being in need of the redemption of our bodies. They were, from an eternal perspective saved by grace through faith, despite the fact they hadn't been born again (this would not begin until God began indwelling believers in eternal union through the ministry of Christ and the Comforter). Yet they were no less "saved" than we. Not from an eternal perspective.

We can also distinguish their justification from ours in regards to the eternal perspective: their justification was temporal, ours is eternal. Their justification was a response to their response to God's will, ours is the not based on our temporal lives. One might argue that we are the ones that believe, have faith, plead for forgiveness, thus it is tied to our temporal standing, but, those who argue that fail to acknowledge God's sovereignty in salvation. How? Glad you asked: God is the One who first reveals the truth of the Gospel (which was not revealed in any previous economy), thus that we respond to that truth is a result of God's intervention. He gives men and women the ability to be saved through His work in our hearts. Apart from the Comforter revealing the Mystery of the Gospel of Christ, we would never believe, thus we would never have faith in Christ.

So were the Old Testaments Saints saved the same way? Yes. But they had to wait to made perfect, that is, complete in regards to Eternal Redemption (Hebrews 9:12-15; Hebrews 10:10-14). Saved the same way, but not acquiring that which was only prophecy in the Old Testament economies. They were saved, but their sins were still in need of Atonement, just as we are still in need of bodily redemption.

God bless.

 

[Tenchi]

I was intrigued by the recent resurrected thread titled two types of salvation. In reading the original thread, I was not sure what the OP was proposing. However, it did raise what I thought was an interesting question. Was salvation different in the Old Testament?

Eze 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Does this mean that dying in a situation of law fulfillment would qualify one to be resurrected to life?

Isn't your question here essentially asking if works can obtain salvation ("Does...law fulfillment qualify one to be resurrected to life")? If the OT saint obtained salvation by law-keeping, he would have done so by the very means ruled out under the New Covenant in Christ Jesus:

Romans 3:19-25
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Since God's standard for entrance into His heavenly kingdom is His own holy perfection (Matt. 5:20, 48), no OT law-keeping Jew qualified to enter in, for there was no Israelite who perfectly obeyed God's law. Instead, the record of the OT indicates a regular migration of the Hebrews away from God into sin and depravity (e.g. Judges 2:11-23). And the blood of bulls and goats could not properly atone for the sins of God's Chosen People (He. 10:4-10). So, then, the OT saints absolutely needed the saving/cleansing/redeeming work of Christ on the cross in addition to their obedience to the Mosaic Law.

Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Would this be different than the eternal life one has as a Christian placed into the body of Christ?

I don't know of a reason why those mentioned in this verse should be resurrected to a different sort of eternal life that is not located in Jesus. Christ's atonement paid for sin "once for all" (2 Cor. 5:14-15; 1 Ti. 2:6; 4:10; Tit. 2:11; He. 7-11) which encompasses past, present and future sin. So, then, OT saints are retroactive beneficiaries of the work of Christ at Calvary, enjoying the same salvation you and I as NT born-again believers enjoy.

Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

The use of present tense indicates to me that we have salvation (new and eternal life) when we are “made alive” in Christ. This would seem different than what the faithful of Israel could expect.

If Christ's atonement wasn't for all, the saving effect of his sacrifice extending forward and backward in time, then the OT Israelite would be in a very different, a much inferior, circumstance relative to God than the Spirit-indwelt NT disciple of Jesus.