Not By Works

Not By Works
One of the misconceptions I had when I was a new Christian was that I thought that people in the Old Testament were saved by works and that Christians in the New Testament were saved by grace. I’m not sure where this notion came from, but it was not from Scripture.

No one has ever been justified by works. You can scour the pages of Scripture and you will not find any single person justified by works of the law. This includes saints in the Old Testament. Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Hosea, Malachi, etc. were not justified by works, but by grace.

“By works of the law no one will be justified” (Gal. 2:16). It was not by works that Abraham was counted righteous. How then was he counted righteous? “And he believed the LORD, and He counted it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Abraham was not counted as righteous because of obedience to God. He was counted as righteous because of his faith.

The blood of bulls and goats never could take away sin (Heb. 10:4). The sacrifices were always meant to point people to the greater sacrifice to come. They were a constant reminder that man may not approach God in their filth and that they are in need of a better sacrifice. Just as The Lord provided a ram in place of Isaac, so He provided Christ in place of us.

This grace has been the only way man has ever been saved. For it was even offered to Adam after the fall. When the serpent is being cursed, God promises that He will send the Christ. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15). If Adam was saved from his sin, it was only by the grace of God provided through the promise of God. Though it was only a shadow of the thing to come, insofar as he trusted in the promise, he trusted in Christ. Adam’s only hope was the same as you and I; The grace of God richly poured out in Jesus Christ.

Grace be with you,
C. R. Hamilton