In this message, Stephen Davey answers one of Scripture’s most profound questions: How were Old Testament believers saved before the cross? The answer lies in the unchanging plan of God—salvation has always been by faith in a substitute. Using Romans 3:25–26, Davey explains that the cross of Christ was both a demonstration of God’s righteousness and a resolution of divine tension—God could forgive sinners in the Old Testament without compromising His holiness because the ultimate payment was still to come. Animal sacrifices never removed sin permanently; they merely covered it. Old Testament saints, therefore, were saved “on credit,” their faith placed in God’s promise of a coming Redeemer. When Christ died, He fully paid their debt and ours—once for all. Davey shows how figures like Abraham, Moses, and David—all sinners—found forgiveness not through works, but through faith in God’s appointed substitute. The cross proves that God is both just (sin was punished) and the justifier (the sinner is forgiven through Christ). The same Redeemer who saved Abraham by promise saves believers today by fulfillment. As Davey powerfully concludes, “Because of God’s justice, no sin will ever go unpunished; yet because of God’s grace, no sin is beyond forgiveness.” The gospel unites all believers—past, present, and future—at the foot of the same cross.
Going to Heaven … Old Testament Style
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