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Resource by Matt Slick from Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry at http://www.carm.org (Joshua highly recommends for reference)
The OT saints were saved the same way the New Testament saints were/are saved, by faith.
For what does the Scripture say? "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account" (Rom. 4:3-8).
As you can see, the Bible tells us that Abraham was justified by faith (see Rom. 5:1 and Eph. 2:8-9). That is, his faith is reckoned as righteousness, v. 4 above. They were saved by faith in the Messiah in whom they were trusting. Only, for them it was a trust in the future Messiah. They knew He was coming as had been prophesied.
Also, the Holy Spirit was there in the OT times the same as the NT times. Consider Psalm 51:11, "Do not cast me away from Thy presence, And do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me."
God did not change how He saved people in the New Testament. It has always been by faith. In the case of the OT people, they looked ahead in time to the Messiah. We look back to Him and see the cross.
Resource by Matt Slick from Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry at http://www.carm.org (Joshua highly recommends)
There is no precise biblical answer to this question. But, we can offer some ideas. First of all, when God made Adam and Eve they were sinless and, basically, physically perfect. When sin entered the world there was an obviously harmful effect upon their bodies; they died. Genetically speaking when they were first made, their health was so good that their natural inclination was to live a long time. But since sin is in the world and it has an effect on people (we get sick, grow old, and die) some have said that genetic mutations (which occur with the birth of every new person) are passed down from parent to child. With each passing generation new genetic problems are introduced and an accumulation of them over many generations has contributed to our shortened life spans.
Another theory is that before the flood there was a canopy of water vapor encompassing the whole world. Some theologians think that there was no direct sunlight on Earth and that instead the sun's rays were refracted through this water vapor canopy and a diffused light passed through the clouds and lit the world. This refraction produced plenty of light for our planet but, as the theory goes, it also filtered out some harmful cosmic rays that contributed to us dying sooner than we should. In the flood of Noah's time, the Bible says that the floodgates of the sky were opened (Gen. 7:11). This implies that a great amount of rain fell; hence, the idea of a canopy of water vapor suspended in the sky. After the flood, the canopy disappeared and the full brunt of cosmic rays fell upon the earth and people's life spans were shortened. At least, this is how the theory goes.
Finally, in Genesis 6:3 God says, "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years." It might be possible that God shortened the lifespan of man because of man's great wickedness. After all, the flood came soon after this statement of God. It is also possible that the 120 year was prophetic in that that's how many years were left until the flood was to occur.
So, though we don't know exactly why the people of the Old Testament lived so long, we can offer some good explanations.
Resource from Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry at http://www.carm.org (Joshua highly recommends)
Many people are confused about the relationship between faith and works. This confusion can have serious consequences since an erroneous view of their relationship could lead someone into believing and teaching something that is very unbiblical such as the heresy that we are saved by cooperating with God by doing good works.
First of all, justification is the legal declaration by God upon the sinner, where God declares the sinner to be righteous. This declaration is based completely and totally on the work of Christ on the Cross. A person is justified by faith (Rom. 5:1); that is, he is made right before God by his faith in Christ (excluding the cults that teach a false Jesus). We are not saved by our works or our works added to the sacrifice of Christ. Our works, our good deeds, have absolutely no affect upon our salvation. Our good works do not get us salvation, nor do help us keep our salvation. This is because our good works are filthy rags before God (Is. 64:6). Besides, if we could be saved by works, then righteousness would have been based on the law and Christ would have not needed to die. Gal. 2:21 says, "I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."� But, Christ did need to die which proves our works cannot save us.
However this does not mean that we are not to have good works. Good deeds are the fruits of our salvation – the life of Christ which dwells in us. The Bible clearly tells us that if we claim to be Christian and we do not have good works, then we are not saved (1 John 2:4). Furthermore, the Bible also says that once we are saved, we are not free to be bad (Rom. 6:1-2). On the contrary, we are obligated to be good. In John 14:15 Jesus says, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." Also, 1 John 2:3 says, "And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments."
Confused? Don't be. We are not saved by our works because we cannot be. The only way to be saved is to trust in the finished sacrificial work of Christ on the cross. But, once saved, the person is now changed. He is a new creation and the old things have passed away (2 Cor. 5:17). This means that our old sinful ways are gone (or on their way out as we struggle against them). It also means that we then do good works to honor God. We don't do good works to be saved or stay saved. We do good works because we are saved. I once heard it said that you are not saved by good works, but you aren't saved without them. This means that our good works don't save us in any way, but once we are saved we naturally obey God's law and do good works which is a sign of our being saved.
So the relationship between faith and works is simple. We are saved by faith, not by works. But, once saved, we do good works because we are already saved.
Resource from Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry at http://www.carm.org (Joshua highly recommends for reference)
Understanding the difference between justification and sanctification can be as important as understanding the difference between salvation and damnation. Rightly dividing between the two is of crucial importance. When you understand what they are, you can then draw a line in the sand and say, "This is what saves. This is not what saves."
Justification is the work of God where the righteousness of Jesus is reckoned to the sinner so the sinner is declared by God as being righteous under the Law (Rom. 4:3; 5:1,9; Gal. 2:16; 3:11). This righteousness is not earned or retained by any effort of the saved. Justification is an instantaneous occurrence with the result being eternal life. It is based completely and solely upon Jesus' sacrifice on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24) and is received by faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9). No works are necessary whatsoever to obtain justification. Otherwise, it is not a gift (Rom. 6:23). Therefore, we are justified by faith (Romans 5:1).
Sanctification, on the other hand, involves the work of the person. But it is still God working in the believer to produce more of a godly character and life in the person who has already been justified (Phil. 2:13). Sanctification is not instantaneous because it is not the work of God alone. The justified person is actively involved in submitting to God's will, resisting sin, seeking holiness, and working to be more godly (Gal. 5:22-23). Significantly, sanctification has no bearing on justification. That is, even if we don't live a perfect life, we are still justified.
Where justification is a legal declaration that is instantaneous, sanctification is a process. Where justification comes from outside of us, from God, sanctification comes from God within us by the work of the Holy Spirit in accordance with the Bible. In other words, we contribute to sanctification through our efforts. In contrast, we do not contribute to our justification through our efforts.
Does this mean that those justified by grace can sin as much as they want?
Romans 6:1-2 says, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer in it?"
1 Thess. 4:7 says, "God has called us not for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification."
The Scriptures teach us that we are to live holy lives and avoid sin (Col. 1:5-11). Just because we are saved and eternally justified before God (John 10:28), that is no excuse to continue in the sin from which we were saved. Of course, we all sin (1 John 1:8). But the war between the saved and his sin is continuous (Rom. 7:14-20) and it won't be until the return of Jesus that we will be delivered from this body of death (Rom. 7:24). To continually seek sin and use God's grace to excuse it later is to trample the blood of Christ underfoot (Heb. 10:29) and to reveal the person's true sinful, unsaved nature (1 John 2:4; 2:19). (Other verses worth checking out are: Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:14-16; and 1 Pet. 2:21-22.)
What the cults do with justification and sanctification
The cults consistently blur the meanings of the two terms and misapply the truths taught in God's word. The result is a theology of works righteousness, of earning their salvation which only leads to damnation. This is because by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified (Gal. 2:16). Man cannot contribute to his salvation (Gal. 5:1-8). Because man is sinful even his best deeds are stained and filthy before God (Isaiah 64:6). Therefore, making a person right before God can only be God's work (Gal. 2:20).
Typically, in cult theologies, a person is not justified (declared righteous in God's eyes) until the final day of judgment when his works are weighed and a reward is given or he is found worthy of his place with God. Thus, a person with this errant theology cannot claim 1 John 5:13 as their own which says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God."
Contextually, "These things" refers to loving God, being obedient to Him, belief in Christ, and eternal life in Jesus. Therefore, 1 John 5:13 can be considered a test. If you are believing and doing the right things, then you will know if you have eternal life. Can a cultist know he has eternal life? No. He cannot. But a Christian can.
People in cults don't understand the difference between justification and sanctification. Therefore, they must depend upon a cooperative effort with God to have their sins forgiven which is, essentially, combining the filthy works of man (Isaiah 64:6) with the holy work of God. They don't mix. They can't. Hence, salvation is by grace through faith, alone. To believe anything else is to miss salvation.
