Salvation has always been by faith alone
I’ve always wondered why it was that during old testament times it seemed like God told mankind that the only way you could have a relationship with him was through following a set of rules and giving offerings and sacrifices. Considering that the new testament God has made with man through Jesus is all about faith and nothing to do with works, the 1,300 years during which God’s people lived under Levitical Law seem pretty inconsistent with the fact that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” - Hebrews 13:8. I just figured that there must be some explanation, but kind of avoided the topic because I was unable to see any way it could be understood.
I thank God for Daniel Susenbach and his exhaustive explanations. I ask him “What about people who believe in God but not in Jesus?” and he spends more than an hour giving me my answer. The following is a condensed version of what I learned - I have a bunch of other points he made and scripture references for various assertions made here, so if you’d like to hear more just let me know.
“Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” - Genesis 15:6. It wasn’t until 400 years after that that God made the rules and regulations by which one was supposed to live, and it wasn’t until 1,300 years after that Jesus came to earth to remove that which has separated man from God since Adam and Eve first took things into their own hands. Yet Abraham was made righteous in God’s eyes simply because he believed in him. If salvation has always been about through faith, why did Jesus have to sacrifice himself through his suffering and death?
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood - to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” - Romans 3:25-26
That verse is pretty remarkable - I can’t believe I never realized what it meant before. “He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished” - so, Jesus’ sin-erasing sacrifice was credited to people both before and after his death simply because they believed. God exists both within and outside of time, so that adds up.
That makes sense, but then why did the believers ever have to live under Levitical Law in the first place? If we are justified* through belief alone…
Daniel explained it this way: the law served several purposes - it identified sin, intensified conviction, (“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” - Romans 3:20) and pointed to the hope of Jesus (“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” - Hebrews 10:1-4).
So, I’ve come to learn that God isn’t inconsistent. Man has always had the ability to have a relationship with God simply by believing in Him.
*Justified - to render righteous or as one aught to be, to render innocent; to be acquitted.
I thank God for Daniel Susenbach and his exhaustive explanations. I ask him “What about people who believe in God but not in Jesus?” and he spends more than an hour giving me my answer. The following is a condensed version of what I learned - I have a bunch of other points he made and scripture references for various assertions made here, so if you’d like to hear more just let me know.
“Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” - Genesis 15:6. It wasn’t until 400 years after that that God made the rules and regulations by which one was supposed to live, and it wasn’t until 1,300 years after that Jesus came to earth to remove that which has separated man from God since Adam and Eve first took things into their own hands. Yet Abraham was made righteous in God’s eyes simply because he believed in him. If salvation has always been about through faith, why did Jesus have to sacrifice himself through his suffering and death?
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood - to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” - Romans 3:25-26
That verse is pretty remarkable - I can’t believe I never realized what it meant before. “He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished” - so, Jesus’ sin-erasing sacrifice was credited to people both before and after his death simply because they believed. God exists both within and outside of time, so that adds up.
That makes sense, but then why did the believers ever have to live under Levitical Law in the first place? If we are justified* through belief alone…
Daniel explained it this way: the law served several purposes - it identified sin, intensified conviction, (“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” - Romans 3:20) and pointed to the hope of Jesus (“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” - Hebrews 10:1-4).
So, I’ve come to learn that God isn’t inconsistent. Man has always had the ability to have a relationship with God simply by believing in Him.
*Justified - to render righteous or as one aught to be, to render innocent; to be acquitted.
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