“A Gift For All”

Saturday, July 07, 2012

     In April, before "Easter", a couple of members from Jehovah's Witnesses gave me a flyer to their lecture on how Christ could have provided salvation for lost sinners in this generation today. Then it got me thinking.  I thought I've learned about it before, but I'm not sure if it was Bible Scripture or a principle.  And it really made me think about it.  So, how is salvation from Christ still available to people today as it was for people in the times before He was crucified?  How can I respond to people who may ask me that question?

I am in dire need of understanding.

Sincerely,
Wondrous Mind

Dear Wondrous Mind,

We aren’t entirely sure we understand your question, but we’ll do our best to explain how Jesus’ blood pays for the sins of both Old Testament and New Testament believers.  The New Testament teaches that the sacrifices that cleansed the Jewish people from sin never truly removed the sin (Heb 10:1-4).  The Jewish nation (along with all faithful people) needed God’s blood to permanently remove sin and make them righteous.  When Jesus died on the cross, His blood paid the price for those who had gone before and those who were to come after… one sacrifice for all sins (Heb 10:12).

All mankind is saved by faith in God, including those found in the Old Testament.  Abraham lived by faith and is considered the father of the faithful (Rom 4:11-12).  Abraham didn’t understand the mystery of what God would do in Christ, but he did live knowing that God would send salvation (Jhn 8:56).  Moses placed his faith in God (which includes Jesus because Jesus is Deity – Jhn 1:1-3) and was rewarded for it (Heb 11:24-26).  All the faithful who lived before Christ did so in expectation of better things through God (Heb 11:13).  Though they didn’t understand the details, all the faithful of the Old Testament anxiously anticipated the coming of the Messiah (1 Pet 1:10-12).  Jesus’ blood covered the sins of those who looked forward to the coming of the Messiah… as well as the sins of those who rejoice that He already came.

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