Expand All

Tue, Jan 24, 23.

Are the Old Testament Saints A Part of the Church?

It is a commonly held belief of many Christians today, that the New Testament (NT) saints are superior to the saints of God in the Old Testament (OT). Those who hold this belief conclude that the latter group is not a part of the Church. By OT saints, they refer to everyone who died before Jesus’ atoning work on the cross. To them, the Church does not only exclude people like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah etc but also someone like John the Baptist who – although lived in NT times – died before Jesus’ crucifixion.

This writing seeks to explore why one might hold on to this belief, the implications of this belief, and to examine whether or not this belief is true.

Why Some Believe this

This belief in the superiority of the NT saints to the OT saints is not based on nothing; there are some scriptures and Biblical concepts which lead people to believe it and to conclude that the OT saints are not a part of the Church. Some of these reasons are presented as follows.

The Time of the Establishment of the Church.

Many believe that since “the Church was not in existence until Jesus came”, it must then follow that those who lived before Jesus’ establishment of the Church cannot be a part. They may refer to Jesus’ words to Peter as proof that the Church was established by Jesus, at the time of His earthly ministry.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. [Mat 16:18]

They say that these words mean that the Church was not in existence before this point. Whether or not this interpretation of Jesus’ words and their application of it is true will be revealed in a later portion of this writing.

The Least in the Kingdom of God

I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. [Mat 11:11]

In saying this, Jesus calls John the Baptist the greatest man to have ever lived. Some wrongly interpret this to mean that Christians – being the children of the Kingdom of Heaven – are greater than all the OT saints. They say that Jesus was referring to the NT saints when He spoke of people of the Kingdom. They say that the least of Christians is greater than john the Baptist, and by extension, the rest of the OT saints.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

This exclusion of the OT saints from the Church is further bolstered by the teaching that the saints before the NT did not have the Holy Spirit living in them. Some profess that the Spirit of God did not live in the OT saints but would only come upon them from time to time. They refer to scriptures that say the Spirit of God came upon a person [Num 24:2; Judg 3:10; Judg 6:34, Judg 11:29; Judg 14:6; 1Sam 10:10; 1Sam 11:6;1Sam 16:13], to conclude that the Spirit would only visit them temporarily. This clearly ignores David’s plea to God to not take the Holy Spirit from him, after he had sinned with Uriah’s wife [Psa 51:11] and Peter’s words that the prophets of the OT had the Spirit of Christ living in them [1Pet 1:11]. The fact that the Bible says that the Spirit of God came upon someone does not mean that the Spirit would be taken away afterwards. The apostles of Christ (of whom Peter and John were a part) received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost [Acts 2:1-4], as did Paul after his conversion [Acts 9:17-18]; yet we still see the Holy Spirit filling Peter, John, and Paul at other times [Acts 4:8, 31; 13:9].

Implications of this Belief

Those who so interpret the scriptures more often than not, use their belief to dismiss genuine truths of scripture found in the life and doctrine of the OT saints. Such people assert that those of us under the NT are more knowledgeable than the saints of old. Some even - with no Biblical basis – extend this belief and with it, rope in the NT Apostles. They go as far as to claim that they not only excel over the OT saints such as Noah, Abraham, and Moses but that they surpass the Apostles like Peter, James, John, and Paul in wisdom.

The Old Testament Saints are a Part of the Church

There are a number of ways which one can use to show (with the use of the Scriptures) that the OT saints belong to the Church. Some of these ways are presented as follows.

The Message in Both Testaments is the Same

The Apostles teach us that the Gospel that now saves us is the same gospel that those under the Old Covenant and before heard.

How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? [KJV Rom 10:14-16]

Paul in the above passage teaches that when the prophet Isaiah said “Lord, who hath believed our report?”, the report of which he spoke was the gospel. Unless there is more than one correct gospel (and – as Galatians 1:6-9 teaches us – there isn’t), then the gospel of which the prophet Isaiah spoke is the same one we have heard.

But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. [2Cor 3:14-15]

The Apostle Paul in the 3rd chapter of his 2nd letter to the Corinthians teaches that the message of both covenants is the same. The only difference being that those under the Old Covenant (with few exceptions – as will be explained later) had the message veiled from them.

It is to be noted that this veiling of the message is not exclusive to the time period before Jesus’ death – as Paul says, “to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read”

Paul says that the gospel was announced to Abraham. He says this in the same letter where he writes saying there is no other gospel than the one he (and the other true apostles of God) preached [Gal 1:6-9].

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. [Heb 4:1-2]

The author of the letter to the Hebrews says that the gospel was precached to those under the Old Testament. It is the same message, the only difference being that they had no faith. We know obviously that not everyone in those days did not have faith. The Bible commends many under the OT as having faith (as will be discussed later). Therefore, those under the OT who had faith in the same gospel that we have now received, are a part of the Church.

The Message Can Only be Understood by Disciples of Christ (i.e., the Children of the Kingdom)

Jesus often spoke to the public in parables [Mat 13:34]. The purpose of His use of parables when speaking to them was to conceal the message from them [Mat 13:10-15]. However, among His disciples, Jesus spoke plainly [Mat 13:10-11].

The Apostle Paul stated that the veil that prevented people of Israel from understanding the message Moses brought them, the same veil that keeps people from understanding the same message today, is ONLY TAKEN AWAY IN CHRIST [2Cor 3]. This clearly means that anyone who understands the message – regardless of what time period the person lived – must have had the veil taken away by being in Christ.

Therefore, anyone who understands the message of the scriptures (both the Old and New Testaments) must by implication, be under Christ. Whomsoever was spoken to clearly and not in parables must be a disciple of Christ.

There are numerous examples of people under the Old Covenant (and before) understanding the gospel and of people to whom God spoke plainly and not in parables.

There are other examples of OT prophets being spoken to by God plainly. Here now are scriptures that show that the OT prophets understood the message (which means they did so because Christ took away the veil).

Moses Understood the Message

Paul teaches that ONLY IN CHRIST IS THE VEIL TAKEN AWAY. This means that only those under Christ can understand the message. Paul says that it was Israel that failed to understand the message. Moses, the messenger who reflected the glory of God obviously understood the message.

Isaiah and God’s other Disciples Understood the Message

God spoke words of prophecy to Isaiah and asked him to bind up the testimony and seal the Law (the prophecy he had received) among his disciples [Isa 8:16]. Isaiah wrote down what God told him in great detail but many who read the prophecy find it to be sealed. The words have little – if any – meaning to them, as God Himself testifies [Isa 28:11; 29:11]. Just as in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, God spoke in parables to seal the message from people. However, Isaiah and his disciples obviously understood the message. Seeing as the veil that causes men to fail to understand the message can only be removed in Christ and that Christ speaks only to His disciples in plain words, then it must follow that Isaiah and the other disciples who had understanding were disciples of Christ and had the veil taken away by Him.

Many Other Prophets Understood the Message

Peter teaches that the message of salvation was prophesied by the [OT] prophets. He further teaches that these same prophets studied carefully to understand their prophecy and that they had the meaning of the prophecy revealed to them [1Pet 1:10-12]. The point is, though they learned that the fulfilment of the prophecy would not be in their time but after the time of Christ, THEY LEARNED THE MEANING OF THE PROPHECY. As has already been established, one can only understand the message under Christ, therefore, all the OT prophets who prophesied the coming salvation – from Adam and Eve who received the prophecy of the Seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head, to John the Baptist who prophesied of the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world – understood the message. They were all under Christ and as such were a part of the Church of God.

Guarding against Error

There are very many Christians today who are truly under Christ, who still lack understanding of most of the holy Scriptures. To them, most of Scripture is still a parable. This does not in any way mean that they are any less disciples of Jesus or any less a part of God’s Church. Once we are in Christ, the veil is taken away, however, it requires hard work and diligent study to unlock the parables of scriptures. As was the case for the prophets of whom Peter spoke [1Pet 1:10-12], the 12 Apostles who spent 3 ½ years in relentless study under Jesus (and God knows how long under John the Baptist), and Paul who spent 3 years in Arabia to study [Gal 1:11-20], we too, despite our being under Christ must study to show ourselves approved by God. We must work at understanding the parables now that the veil has been taken away.

No one reading this should feel condemned or feel like he is not in Christ because he lacks understanding of the scriptures. You are under Christ if you believe in the true Gospel of Christ taught by the apostles named in the scriptures, but one must grow to maturity by studying to understand God’s word.

The Church Inherited Abraham’s Blessing

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he wrote to them to remind them that they neither needed to be circumcised nor keep the Law of Moses to be saved. The bulk of his argument against his detractors was that our salvation is by faith and not by the Law. In making this case, he used Abraham as our example. He taught that we are saved by faith just as Abraham, that we are blessed (saved) ALONG WITH ABRAHAM [Gal3:6-9]. If the blessing that brought us into God’s Church and will grant us access into God’s Kingdom is Abraham’s blessing, how then can we say that Abraham (and his sons who also inherited the same blessing) are not a part of the Church?

The Gentiles were Added to an Already Existing Church

According to Paul, Israel was a branch of God’s tree that was broken off. The Church was a wild branch that was grafted off into the same tree [Rom 11:17]. It should be noted that Israel was not the tree but was a [natural] branch of the tree. The tree was already in existence and Israel sprouted from the tree. Even After Israel [the natural branch] was broken off, the tree remained, and it was that tree to which the Gentiles were added. The Gentiles were not added to Israel, but were added to a system that existed even before Israel sprouted forth as a branch. We know that Israel is a branch that sprouted from Abraham and that the Gentiles inherited Abraham’s blessing to become a part of the Church; therefore, the Church – being the tree into which the Gentiles were grafted – must have [at the latest] started with Abraham.                                                                                            

The Prophets of the Old Testament are the Foundation of the Church

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. [Eph 2:19-22]

Paul told the Ephesians that they had become members of God’s house, God’s temple, God’s building. He listed two important components of the house:

  1. The foundation made up of the Apostles and Prophets
  2. The cornerstone (still a part of the foundation) which is Christ Himself.

Just as there is no building without a foundation, there can be no Church without Christ, the Apostles, and the Prophets. Most Christians have no doubt that Jesus the chief cornerstone or that the Apostles are a part of the Church foundation. Some, however, fail to consider the prophets of the OT as part of the foundation. This is a logical inconsistency. You cannot accept Christ and the Apostles and leave out the Prophets.

The Testimony of Hebrews

The 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews makes it abundantly clear that the goal of our faith is perfection [Heb 11:40]. It begins in the 1st verse by defining faith and then tells us that the elders were commended. It lists – directly and indirectly – the following OT saints:

  1. Abel
  2. Enoch
  3. Noah
  4. Abraham
  5. Sarah
  6. Isaac
  7. Jacob
  8. Joseph
  9. Moses
  10. Joshua and the Israelites at Jericho
  11. Rahab
  12. Gideon
  13. Barak
  14. Samson
  15. Jephthah
  16. David
  17. Samuel
  18. The Prophets
  19. Daniel
  20. Elijah
  21. Elisha
  22. The Shunamite woman
  23. Micaiah
  24. Jeremiah

The book of Hebrews says that the OT saints had the same goals as we in the Church do; he sums up the pursuit of the OT saints with one word: ‘PERFECTION’. then concludes by saying that none of them received what was promised but that God wanted them to INHERIT PERFECTION TOGETHER WITH US THE NEW TESTAMENT SAINTS. Our goal and reward is the same as that of the OT saints. How then are they not a part of the Church?

The Testimony of Jesus

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. [Mat 8:11]
There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. [Luk 13:28]

Jesus Himself testifies that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets will have a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. A place we know to be the destination of the Church.

Summary

Some Christians believe that the saints of God in the Old Testament are not a part of the Church and that believers under the New Testament are superior to them.

This belief spawns from a misunderstanding of some scriptural statements and concepts.

This same belief emboldens its adherents to say that the saints today have more knowledge and understanding than the saints in the OT and some even go as far as to extend this belief to include a superiority over the NT Apostles.

However, the Bible itself – as has been shown using multiple biblical sources – is replete with refutation of the belief. In the Bible we see that

Important Takeaways and Implications

« Previous article

You Must Obey the Apostles

Next article »

Shaping Reality