I am reading much of the religious literature of the present day, and one would get the idea that there was no possibility of conversion and salvation before the first advent of Christ. What about Abraham and Enoch? When was the Spirit given?
The Bible and Religious Literature
I would strongly advise you, then, to read less of such religious literature, and more of the Bible, which speaks to you as directly as to anybody else. Any religious literature that casts doubt upon the full conversion of men before the crucifixion of Christ, really discredits conversion and salvation since that time.
You ask me why the Present Truth is published, since I discount religious literature so much, in favor of the Bible. I can tell you very quickly. It is published for the purpose of calling the attention of people to the Bible, awakening their interest to study it, and showing them how plain and simple it is. It has no other mission than to open the Word of God before the people, and induce them to read it for themselves, with prayerful and unbiased minds.
If everybody in the world would do this now, there would be no need for the Present Truth, and it would cease to be published. Let us now see something of what the Bible has to say about salvation before the revelation of Christ nineteen hundred years ago. Whatever it has to say about salvation then, is necessary for our salvation now.
Where shall we begin? Well, since you have named Abraham, we might as well begin with him, but we have not time for nearly all that is said about him.
What Did Abraham Find?
First, the Gospel was preached to Abraham. "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In you shall all nations be blessed." (Galatians 3:8)
This Gospel was identical with that which Paul preached; for there is but one real Gospel, (Galatians 1:6-8) and God himself preached it to Abraham. The ancient prophets had the very same Gospel that the apostles afterwards preached: "Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which has called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be holy; for I am holy. And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons judges according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (1 Peter 1:10-19)
Still more emphatic is the statement in Hebrews, where we read that: "Unto us was the Gospel preached, as well as unto them." (Hebrews 4:2)
The question would be fully answered, if the text said that the Gospel was preached to them as well as to us; but the fact is that we come in second. The Gospel was first preached to them, and the same promise remains for us. We are merely sharers in that which was first given to the ancients.
The Gospel which was before proclaimed by the prophets in the Holy Scriptures was: "the gospel of God, ... Concerning His Son Jesus Christ." (Romans 1:1,3)
Christ was therefore preached to Abraham, and Jesus said to the Jews: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." (John 8:56)
Abraham, then was a happy Christian, and his happiness is thus described: "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." (Romans 4:7-8)
This blessedness (happiness) came to Abraham while he was still an uncircumcised Gentile: "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised; that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also." (Romans 4:11)
The Promise to Abraham, Our Hope
Thus we see that, instead of conversion and salvation being impossible to the men who lived before the advent of Christ, they become possible to us only through them. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; as it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree; That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Galatians 3:13-14)
This is made still more emphatic in the record of the promise and the oath to Abraham. I will not now stop to read the whole of Hebrews 6:13-20, but you can read the verses at your leisure. The substance is that God confirmed His promise to Abraham by swearing by himself, "That by two immutable things, wherein it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." (Hebrews 6:18)
That is to say, all our hope of salvation rests upon the promise and the oath of God to Abraham. He believed God: "And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." (Romans 4:22-25)
The Testimony of the Prophets
The Apostle Paul declared that he believed all things that are written in the law and the prophets, (Acts 24:14) and that he never preached anything except what the prophets and Moses had said. (Acts 26:22) Peter, preaching to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, concerning Christ, ordained of God to be the Judge of living and dead, said: "To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believes in Him shall receive remission of sins." (Acts 10:43)
This testimony of the prophets, to salvation through Christ, was not merely a promise of something to come, but a statement of what was in their day a thing present for all. Listen to what some of them say, and note that their language is that of true witnesses who speak from personal knowledge and experience. "Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone tohis own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:4-6)
This was no visionary fancy on the part of Isaiah, for a heavenly messenger direct from God's glorious throne had long before touched his lips with a coal from the altar, saying: "Lo, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged." (Isaiah 6:7)
Speaking from his burning lips, the Lord said, "Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth." (Isaiah 14:22)
That was the call to all the world, to accept salvation then present, just as the boundless offer was again proclaimed in the gracious invitation: "Ho, everyone that thirsts, come you to the waters, and he that has no money, come you, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. ... Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live." (Isaiah 55:1,3)
Who does not know this blessed exhortation and promise: "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near; Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:6-7)
Would the Lord issue such positive promises by the mouth of His servants, only to disappoint the seeking soul who came in sincerity, by telling him that the words were not intended for him, but for those who should live several hundred years later, and they were uttered merely as a piece of rhetoric? Such trifling would be unworthy of God, and cannot be imputed to Him by anybody who knows Him. Hear how He anticipated any such charge, and showed that righteousness and salvation were already accomplished facts: "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins; return unto me; for I have redeemed you. Sing, O, you heavens; for the Lord has done it; shout you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree therein; for the Lord has redeemed Judah, and glorified himself in Israel." (Isaiah 44:22-23)
By the prophet Jeremiah God said to the people: "Of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bands." (Jeremiah 2:20)
And this was said, not to the Jews only, but to all people; for Jeremiah was ordained, even before his birth, a prophet to the nations, or, to the Gentiles. (Jeremiah 1:5) Through Hosea He said, "Though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me." (Hosea 7:13)
And again: "O Israel, return unto the Lord your God; for you have fallen by your iniquity. Take with you words, and return to the Lord; say unto Him. Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously." (Hosea 14:1-2)
This was not a vain call, for God said: "I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek me in vain; I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right." (Isaiah 45:19)
Micah spoke of what he knew by experience, when he said, "Who is a God like unto You, that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not His anger for ever, because He delights in mercy." (Micah 7:18)
But we cannot quote from all the prophets, much less read at one time all that they have said about salvation as a work completed in their day. We must, however, have a few words from David: "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." (Psalm 103:1-4)
This is testimony concerning what was already done, and it is made more emphatic in the verses that follow: "He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is higher than the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:10-12)
Who is there in these days, that can say anything more than that?
Enoch and Elijah
In order that we may have the most positive proof of the reality of salvation before the first advent, the Lord has left on record the account of the translation of two men to heaven without seeing death. More than six hundred years before the flood: "Enoch was translated, that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him." (Hebrews 11:5-6)
Enoch therefore had the righteousness of God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, and his salvation was so complete that he was taken to heaven to dwell with God.
Several hundred years later, but more than eight hundred years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the servant of Elijah the prophet was asked by the curious students of the school of the prophets: "Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from your head today?" (2 Kings 2:3)
He knew it, and did not lose sight of him till: "There appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." (2 Kings 2:11)
Yet this same Elijah was "a man subject to like passions as we are," (James 5:17) a sinner saved by faith, and taken to heaven hundreds of years before the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. This effectually disposes of the Roman Catholic idea of "limbo," a place where the souls of men are said to have been kept till the resurrection of Christ.
Not all righteous people went to heaven, it is true, any more than they do now; for the coming of Christ is the time when the saints receive immortality; (1 Corinthians 15:51-54) but two at least were taken to heaven without dying, and at least one--Moses--was raised from the dead before the first advent, as proof of the presence and power of the cross from the beginning.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and He is the Beginning: therefore life and immortality were brought to light through the Gospel from the very beginning of man's history on earth. We have no intimation that anybody has been taken to heaven since the ascension of Christ.
God's Unchangeableness
"Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations; Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting You are God." (Psalm 90:1-2) "[Jesus Christ] is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever." (Hebrews 13:8)
And the Father says to the Son: "You are the same, and your years shall not fail." (Hebrews 1:12) "[His] goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity." (Micah 5:2,margin) "Him has God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour." (Acts 5:31)
But this was true hundreds of years before His manifestation in the flesh; for the Lord said by David: "Yet have I anointed my King upon Zion, the hill of my holiness. I will declare the decree: The Lord has said unto me: you are my Son, this day have I begotten you." (Psalm 2:6-7)
And therefore Isaiah sang: "Unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given." (Isaiah 9:6)
Only One Power
"The Gospel ... is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes." (Romans 1:16)
God's power has always been the same; He is no more powerful now than He was in the beginning; therefore no new force needed to be developed in order to save men after the fall. The power that saves is the everlasting power that ever since the creation or the world has been clearly seen in the things that are made, even in ungodly men; for: "That which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it unto them." (Romans 1:19)
The power that created is the power that saves, for redemption is the work of creating people anew in Christ Jesus. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
We have redemption, even the forgiveness of sins, through the blood of Christ, because: "In Him were all things created, ... And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." (Colossians 1:16-17)
Therefore it is that: "God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth." (Psalm 74:12)
When man fell, God did not have to cast about for some means by which to save him, for it was all ready and waiting, in the power that had created. It is true that we can get a clearer view of God's power in redemption from sin than in the first creation, because it comes closer to our personal consciousness; but it is no greater.
Sin did not make the slightest jar in God's plans; Satan thought to throw the whole machinery of heaven and earth out of gear; but God knew the end from the beginning, and the power that had made man was all sufficient to redeem him. Redemption was in the first creation.
Christ's Dying is Our Life
"Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. ... [even] in our mortal flesh." (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)
All who know anything of the Gospel know that the life that Jesus poured out on the cross was given to us. He expired--breathed out--that we might breathe in. His was the wonderful life of God, which survives and conquers death.
God can give forth His life to all mankind, yea, to all the universe, and still retain it; because: "In Him we live, and move, and have our being." (Acts 17:28)
In the pouring out of Christ's soul unto death on Calvary, there was not the slightest diminution in the life of God, who: "was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." (2 Corinthians 5:19)
When God made man of the dust of the ground: "[He] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7)
The very same thing was done then that is done for the sinner whose peace with God is made: "Through the blood of His cross." (Colossians 1:20)
God simply imparts His own life in Christ, and the conscious acceptance of it by the sinner is his salvation. We are: "Saved by His life." (Romans 5:10)
So the creation of the very first living creature was by the power of the cross, and was exactly the same process as that by which the sinner is created anew.
Christ Made a Curse for Us
"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree." (Galatians 3:13)
What is the curse? It is death. When did it come upon the world? In the beginning, when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. But they did not die that day. No, because Christ bore the curse for them, and has been bearing it ever since. If He had not, there never would have been another man. The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of all who went astray, (Isaiah 53:6) and that from the very beginning, else all the race had been hopelessly lost.
Christ bears our sins in us, not apart from us. When Adam was created, the son of God, (Luke 3:38) the Word was made flesh; and when he sinned, the everlasting, infinite love of God was shown in continuing the life to him, so that the life was manifest in sinful flesh; but not until Jesus of Nazareth was born was there one found who would allow the life to reveal its fullness.
When the Spirit was Given
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved [brooded] upon the face of the waters." (Genesis 1:1-2)
From that moment the Holy Spirit of God has occupied the depths of the earth, as well as the heights of heaven: "Where shall I go from your spirit? or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there." (Psalm 139:7-8)
There is no power in man, no power in creation, but that of the Spirit of God. "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life." (Job 33:4)
So He has formed our reins, knitting us together in our mother's womb. (Psalm 139:13,RV,margin) Our first birth, as well as our second, is by the agency of the Holy Spirit; and the fact that we live is proof of the presence of the life that redeems; yea, the various vital operations carried on in the body are to teach us the reality of the new birth.
If you wish texts plainly stating that the Spirit was given to men of old, you will find plenty of them. Here are a few:
"You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and withheld not your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst." (Nehemiah 9:20)
Compare the first part of this verse with: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26) "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come." (John 16:13)
The Spirit of Christ was in the prophets, making them faithful witnesses. (1 Peter 1:11) There were "holy men of God, ... [who] spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter 1:21)
And: "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." (Romans 8:9)
So every man of God mentioned in the Old Testament, was one who was possessed by the Spirit of God. David, "the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel," (2 Samuel 23:1) said, "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was in my tongue." (2 Samuel 23:2)
And when he sinned grievously he prayed: "Cast me not away from your presence; and take not your Holy Spirit from me." (Psalm 51:11)
The Eternal Spirit
But time would fail us if we attempted to exhaust the wonderful story of eternal salvation. Let one more quotation suffice to show us its breadth, and the firm foundation on which our faith rests- the foundation of the prophets, as well as of the apostles. It is this: "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:14)
It was through the eternal Spirit that the changeless Son of God "became the Author of eternal salvation." (Hebrews 5:9)
Thus we see that salvation is eternal, not merely with respect to the future, but to the past, as well. Our salvation is assured to us by the fact that the cross in which we rest for it, is that by which the worlds were made. Is it not enough? Yet, boundless as it is, who would be satisfied with less?--Present Truth, February 7, 1901.