Recently a discussion arose on this blog about the status of people who followed after God before Christ died. In this entry I will attempt to show that old testament saints were born again and had the same status before God as we do today. This is not to say that the experience of a believer before Christ and those who believe after Christ are exactly the same, but I believe there is more continuity between the experiences then often assumed. We will begin our discussion with a brief examination of John 3:1-10:
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?
Here Christ is explaining that one must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. He offers no date as to when this type of experience is to begin, it reads as if one must already be born again to enter the kingdom. But I want to draw attention to the last line in particular; Jesus assumes that Nicodemus should know this. Jesus is not laying down a new teaching here, this is what the Old Testament teaches and as a teacher of Israel you should know this. It is taught and shown throughout the Old Testament (as well as the new) that one is saved by being born again, this is the simplest reading of this passage. For the purposes of this entry the question of what “water” refers to in this passage will be left aside and we will examine only the role of God’s Spirit in this action. To prove this several passages will be examined that shows this.
So the LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him (Num 27:18).
With Joshua (see also Caleb Numbers 14:21) we have a clear example of an OT saint who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and Romans 8:7-11 explains that the indwelling of the Spirit is what gives life to the believer (a more detailed explanation of what Jesus was discussing with Nicodemus). The concept of the Spirit being in the believer is therefore not something new to the New Testament, it happened in the Old. A further explanation of what this means is given in the New Testament, but although Christ’s connection to the the Spirit is not explained until the New Testament does not mean it did not exist in the Old. The OT saints understood in part, but they still understood part (or should have) and took part in the Spirit.
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live (Deu 30:6).
The saints in the OT had circumcised hearts, they loved God with their hearts. This can only be true of someone born again, only the Spirit can do this. Romans 2:8-29, explaining further on this as the NT does, making it clear that this is done through the Spirit.
But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you (1Sa 13:14).
Here we see why God choose David to be king; He wanted someone who was after Hid own heart. Could someone be after God’s heart and not be born again? Romans 8:8 says that “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” How does one leave the flesh but by being born again? How can one please God but by being after His heart?
When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day (1Sa 10:9).
Often it is assumed that being given a new heart by God is what makes one born again and that it happens only in the New Testament, yet the one instance where it is explicitly said to have happened in scripture takes place in the Old Testament. King Saul when he was made King by God was given a new heart. We also see in Ezekiel 18:31 God telling people to turn away from their sin and embrace a new heart. The people in the OT had an understanding of what this meant and had the ability to do so.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar (Psa 51:10-19).
Here we have King David in the OT touching on all aspects of what it means to be born again. The Spirit, joy in salvation, true worship of God, and a heart set after God. Of course this passage brings up the question of if someone can have the Spirit taken away from them or not, and is the answer different in the OT from the NT. Although I have recently become convinced that someone can have the Spirit removed both in the OT and the NT, I do not believe a view that holds that the Spirit can be removed in the OT and not the NT proves that OT saints were not born again. Is not being able to give up one’s salvation what it means to be born again? What scriptures that discuss being born again makes that the central point? It may be argued that it is a difference between the OT and NT (and as I admitted at the beginning there are differences) but I don’t believe it’s a difference (assuming it is different which will take a whole other entry to work out) that has anything to do with what it means to be born again
All of this now begs the questions; if the saints in the Old Testament were born again how were they before Christ?
When this topic was discussed in another blog entry a few weeks ago John 1:12-13 was brought up as proof that a direct knowledge of the incarnate Jesus was needed to be born again, but is that what that passage teaches?
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Joh 1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
Joh 1:7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
Joh 1:8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
Joh 1:9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
Joh 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
Joh 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Joh 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Joh 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus does not come and dwell incarnate in this passage until verse 14 when the Word becomes flesh, yet verse 12 and 13 speak of being born of God. How is that possible? Verses 10 and 11 explain; Jesus was in the world He just was not incarnate yet. The saints in the Old Testament received Christ in this form and were born again. They did not fully understand who it was that they were embracing, but they trusted God and had faith that He would send a Messiah who would save them from their sin. This was the experience of Simeon and Anna in Luke 2. They had placed their faith in a coming saviour, they embraced Him even though He had not yet been born. For this they were part of those who became children to God, they were born again.
The Christ was known to those in the Old Testament through the shadows in the temple, through the prophets, and through their history as a nation. Trusting in God and His Messiah was how one received the Spirit of god, how one was given a new heart and how one loved God. Those who believe that the Old Testament saints were not born again must show how the born again experience we have today differs in these regards.
Bryan, I agree with this passage here and the concept. However, I think it should be obvious from this statement that the fundamental nature of salvation in the OT is a looking ahead, when the nature of it in the NT is a looking behind. One is the hope for a future atonement the other is an embracing of atonement that has happened. I don’t disagree that OT saints were saved, but is it not apparent that the nature of their salvation was slightly different?
When we look at how the Holy Spirit operated among people in the Old Testament, there are many differences. The Holy Spirit came upon certain individuals for specific tasks at specific times - the priest, the king, the prophet. However, the common man was not anointed like they were. Aside from the Holy Spirit manifesting in a glory cloud or a pillar of fire, the average person would have never experienced the Holy Spirit. His presence was in the Holy of Holies and only the priest had access to that place and only on occasion. Even those particular individuals who were given access to the Holy Spirit - either by anointing or by way of the Holy of Holies - the Spirit did not reside continually with them, much less in them.
There are scriptures in the Old Testament like Numbers 27:18 that speak of the Holy Spirit being “in” someone, but when you look at the collective body of other scriptures and interpret the less clear passages with the more clear passages, it is obvious that the Holy Spirit did not abide in individuals during this time. The Holy Spirit’s only earthly abode was the Holy of Holies. Look at the account of what happened when Jesus died as recorded in Matthew 27:
50And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
51And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.
What is the significance of the veil of the temple being ripped? That’s where the presence of God had resided under the Old Covenant. This signified an altogether new dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.
Notice what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:
1For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,
3inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.
4For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.
5Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
Notice the language here. Paul is using the term “tent”, an OT reference to the tabernacle where God’s presence lived, to describe the human body. It is clear that the tabernacle was a type of that which was to come, namely God living in men. Second Corinthians 6 also calls the Christian’s body the temple of God.
16Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,
“I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM;
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
17″Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord.
“AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN;
And I will welcome you.
18″And I will be a father to you,
And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”
Says the Lord Almighty.
Even though Paul quoted Jeremiah, he alluded to the fact that the new birth in this present covenant was the fulfillment of the OT prophecy. Could you imagine someone in the OT claiming that they were the temple of God? They would have considered that blasphemy! In fact, that’s what they accused Jesus of. They knew only of a temple made with hands.
The concept of being a child of God is not even a very prominent theme in the Old Covenant. The Hebrews considered themselves sons of Israel, but not literal sons of God. They were the children of God in one sense, but not in the sense of being in Christ.
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29)
Jesus was the firstborn of this godly line that, before his incarnation, did not exist. In order to be born again into this line, on must be “in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Under the present covenant God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, enabling us to call God our Father (Galatians 4:6).
It is clear that Chris and I have had the same instruction on this issue somewhere.
Colin, I’m not sure what you mean by “nature of their salvation”. Yes, one was looking forward to an event and we are looking back to that event but I don’t see how that changes the nature of salvation since it’s the same salvation that is being looked it. Knowledge of it varies, but I think the actual act is the same.
Chris, can you prove “The Holy Spirit came upon certain individuals for specific tasks at specific times - the priest, the king, the prophet. However, the common man was not anointed like they were” without an argument from silence? The OT tells the story of priests, kings, prophets and such so of course the focus will be around their interaction with the Spirit. Why should I assume their interaction with it would be significantly different from the common man?
I understand the story in Matthew 27 very differently then you do it seems. I understand the veil being ripped because sin which separates us from God was dealt with, not because we now have access to the Spirit. We can approach God because there is now no barrier between us and Him. Yet, those who looked forward to this event had the benefit of it just as those of us who look back to it have the benefit. Perhaps it’s what Calvinism I still have but I don’t see Christ’s death as temporally bound I guess.
Regarding 2 Corinthians 6, did the OT saints then not have a guarantee of their salvation?
“Chris, can you prove “The Holy Spirit came upon certain individuals for specific tasks at specific times - the priest, the king, the prophet. However, the common man was not anointed like they were” without an argument from silence? The OT tells the story of priests, kings, prophets and such so of course the focus will be around their interaction with the Spirit. Why should I assume their interaction with it would be significantly different from the common man?”
Can I prove that the Holy Spirit only came upon these individuals? No, I wouldn’t use the word “prove” but I think it is implied in the Old Testament narrative and in the type of the tabernacle. I think even the fact that the day of Pentecost fulfilled Joel’s prophecy, according to Peter in Acts 2, demonstrates quite clearly that the power of the Holy Spirit was something foreign to the common man. Even if we view Matthew 27:18 strictly in the way you do, there is an implication of separation from God that does not exist in New Covenant redemption.
“Regarding 2 Corinthians 6, did the OT saints then not have a guarantee of their salvation?”
Who said they didn’t? My point in referencing that scripture was to point out the evident fulfillment of, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM.” Paul points to this scripture as being synonymous with being the temple of God. I don’t know how we can escape the fact that the Old Testament type foreshadowed the New Testament anti-type. It is plainly pointed out here.
born again ?
While most of your study is correct about OT & NT salvation. OT people
were looking ahesd to something big. IT is a difference in relationship to GOD,that a person under GRACE has attained. Before CHRIST was sacrificed man could not enter the HOLY of HOLYS,where only an anointed PRIEST could enter & only ONCE a year. THE PRIEST became in a sense; GODS representative to work earthly affairs. This was symbolisum at it’s highest.
When, GOD ,in the flesh, “CHRIST” paid the final sacrifice there was no longer a need for the Jewish Temple, or the VEIL. FOR, (NOW/TODAY),in the new tesament we as children born of GOD become that TEMPLE and our NEW relationship is established that lets US enter the HOLY of HOLYS,into the very presence of GOD the FATHER who was, in the old testiment, contained in the “ARC of THE COVENNANT”, that used to be positioned behind the VEIL. NOW/TODAY we as (BELIEVERS) have access to GOD the FATHER and contain within us the FULLNESS of the GOD HEAD, & we cry abba FATHER. OUR faith is not our own doing, it is the GIFT of GOD SENT by the conviction of the HOLY SPIRIT ,WHO works amoung men. therefore it was the fore thought of GOD that brought you & me to the knowledge of truth. THAT WE are ALL sinners in HIS sight but HE has reasoned from before the foundation of EARTH to save some , as many as would accept. WE now become HIS representatives on EARTH to do HIS will (that being: for US to show the WORLD CHRIST ,who showed the WORLD, GOD the FATHER).WE are now HIs representative in EARTHLY matters. TILL HE COMES AGAIN to establish HIS reign on EARTH.
I hope i’ve been of help
TLF