Bible Question: Was it necessary for a person to become a proselyte to Judaism to be saved? If yes, what about those who came to faith before Abraham? |
Bible Answer: Salvation is a New Testament concept. Christ's salvation is the answer to man's inability to keep the law imposed upon the Old Testament believer. While Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, God has operated under different covenants during different periods of time. There are those with Bible degrees that can probably expound on this better than me, but I would break the different covenants down into these phases: 1) Adamic covenant: (Genesis 3:8) Adam walked and talked with God freely until Adam sinned and broke the covenant. 2) Noah covenant: (Genesis 6:9, 6:18, 9:11) Noah walked with God. He was a just man in an evil world, so God protected him and his family from the flood. Noah offered burnt offerings to the Lord. (Genesis 8:20) God gave Noah rules that he shall not eat flesh with its blood. Also, God established the death penalty for murder. (Genesis 9:6) 3) Abrahamic Covenant: (Genesis 12:1-3) God sovereignly chose Abraham as the lineage that would ultimately be the lineage of Jesus, God's only Son. Abraham first instituted the tithe to Melchizedek. I note this because the tithe preceeds the "law" and should not be included as "being under the law" when admonished to tithe. God began to add other Abrahamic laws such as circumcision. Abraham continues the sacrifice of animals first instituted by Abel (Genesis 4:4) 4) Mosaic Covenant: God instituted the law beginning with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). The Levitical law came into being under the covenant established with Moses. This covenant continued until.... 5) Christ's Covenant: (Hebrews 8:6-13) After man had been shown that he was incapable of keeping the law, and that the sacrifice of animals could never redeem sins, it took the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, followed by His glorious resurrection, to redeem us from sin and to conquer death, hell, and the grave. So...to answer your question..."salvation" is through Christ alone (Acts 4:12), but for those who lived before the New Covenant, they were required to join God in the covenant He had established at the time. Hope this helps.... |