A question about Jesus
Joe Siegler
I’ve been reading the Purpose Driven life recently, and something I read last night made me think. One of the basic tenants of Christianity is that Jesus died on the cross for our/my sins. I’m not here to debunk that or even attempt. I personally believe that, but what I’m wondering is this..
What about the people before that? Most religions are also driven by the fact that theirs is the correct one. Given that’s true, and Christianity is only about 2,000 years old, and assuming for a minute that Christianity is the “correct” one.. What about Christianity and the “B.C.” years? What did the people from back then do for salvation? If Christ wasn’t around, how did people get saved then?
I’m honestly not mocking Christianity, just a question of logic.
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Funny you should mention that.. y’see. Before Christ.. there were JEWS. The Jews had Yahweh.. that’s it. No need for a middle man (personally, I don’t see a need for one now, but I’m not a religions soap box here). Y’know, after Christ…there were still Jews…Jews who didn’t really care much about who Jesus did and did not claim to be. Salvation was dealth with as a matter between you and Yahweh. (I had to take a Philosophy of the World’s Religions course my 3rd semester @ state. I’ve got some books that you might be interested in.)
Jesus, and all the other Jews (and do believe) that if you lead a virtious life you are within god’s good gracea. There is no afterlife mentioned in Judaism until all are risen by the Messiagh and there is heaven on Earth. In other words, people before Christ believed the same things as non-Christians believe today.
Before Jesus, there were Jews and Jews believe everything Christians do up until the point of Jesus dying on the cross. They think he was just a profit, but Jews are God’s choosen people so when He comes back, they are the only ones to get a 2nd chance to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
Why do Jews who say they are God’s choosen people be choosen if they do not belief in Jesus Christ as the Personal Lord and Saviour? Also why does God allow so much killing in this world. I thought and was taught that God was suppose to be a loving and caring God. It seems to me that He is the complete opposite and that He is a vengeful God!!!
This is kind of late but I saw this post of yours when I was looking for a good explaintation of what I understood about this same question but wanted to be better able to explain to someone so I thought I would share it with you as well.
This is from a pastor but I studied this in a Romans class and belieave the same thing in fact the first mention of Jesus was coming was not in mathew but Genesis 3:15
Everyone is saved through Christ. He died for the sins of the world. For them, it was future. For us, it is past, but it was still through Christ. It was His death, His sacrifice. It atoned for the sins of the OT saints as well as the NT saints. And, every time they sacrificed a lamb, and every time they sacrificed a ram, and every time they sacrificed a turtle dove or a pigeon, every time they sacrificed any animal, it was the picture of Christ, the picture of Christ, the picture of Christ. So, they had to know that there was coming one who would pay the penalty for their sins, one ultimate sacrifice. Christ, alone, can save.
Now, the means for salvation has always been the same: Faith. And, at any given point in the unfolding revelation of the Word of God, salvation came through faith, believing God. Abraham believed God. It was counted him for righteousness. What did he believe? He believed as much as God had revealed. And, God had revealed even by that time that he was sinner and that the only savior was God, and that God would pay the penalty for his sin. Now, he didn’t understand all there was to know about Jesus Christ, but he understood enough to know that he was a sinner and needed a savior and God would provide a savior. That is why it says in Hebrews 12, that Moses could foresee Christ, even Moses.
So, I believe, the OT people were saved by faith in God. They believed God’s word as much as was revealed to them, and knew their own sinfulness. In fact, the reason they would carry out the sacrifices, and the reason they would do all the things God told them to do was an outworking of an inward faith. It was not to earn salvation. It was to demonstrate the reality of it. They were saved by faith in Christ. They didn’t know who Christ was. And, they didn’t know specifically when and how and all of that, but they believed God. They were sinful, and God would have to provide a sacrifice for them.