Quote:
Originally Posted by Baron1710
I think this thread has progressed enough that we can safely say that all who were saved under the Old Covenant were saved by faith and that their salvation was perfected in the death of Christ. The thief on the cross regardless of the covenant was saved by faith. The reason it doesn't matter is because people are saved on both sides of the death of Christ on the basis of their faith and His work. The Scripture is clear that the path to salvation has always been the same. Faith.
It is clear in Scripture that circumcision was about obedience. Circumcision alone however accomplished nothing. It was faith that was the issue, and people of faith under the Old Covenant were circumcised. People of faith under the New Covenant are baptized. Faith is the issue. Baptism does nothing on its own, it saves no one. Abraham was saved by faith apart from circumcision, but through obedience was circumcised. Believers today are saved through faith and are baptized out of obedience. The Thief is a perfect example, he was neither baptized nor circumcised after belief. Salvation is at faith under both Covenants.
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In my opinion, that is a good, sound answer.
Hebrews 9:16-17 speaks of a testament being in force after the death of the testator.
Hebrews 4:1-2 says that the Gospel was preached to us (NT) as well as unto them (OT).
Arguing over the sequence of the promise of Paradise to the repentant thief, the death of Jesus, then the death of the thief reminds me of a couple of deep, deep theological questions such as, "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" and, "If God can do anything, can He create a rock which is too heavy for Him to lift?"
We need to avoid extremes. We all agree that salvation is by faith. We also agree that faith results in works. If we are not careful we can fall into an extreme position in which we over emphasize the faith aspect so strongly that we could view the Book of James as "an epistle of straw and destitute of evangelical character" as Martin Luther is alleged to have said and we could become loose and careless in our Christian walk. On the other hand, we can fall into another extreme position where unless certain works are accomplished in certain prescribed ways (and we are the ones who define which works and in which ways), the faith is not considered real or sufficient for salvation.