Articles
Were People in the Old Testament Really Forgiven?
In recent years, an inaccurate doctrine has become popular among God’s people. It has become common to hear of Christians believing that God-fearers under the Old Testament were not forgiven of their sins. The teachers of said doctrine do not tend to have ill intentions, but in all honesty, this flies in the face of clear Bible doctrine!
There is a marked misunderstanding of two passages to support this false doctrine. The first is Romans 3:25: “whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed…” The second proof text is Hebrews 10:11: “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins…” Let’s analyze these passages in light of some clear concepts from the OT.
1. God’s nature was characterized by forgiveness long before the birth of Jesus into this world (see Ex. 34:6f; Num. 14:18; Neh. 9:17; Ps. 86:5; 99:8; 103:3; 130:3f; Dan. 9:9).
2. God unequivocally tells people that comply with His word that they are forgiven (see Lev. 4:20, 26, 31, 35; 5:10, 13, 16, 18; 6:7; 1Kings 8:30, 34, 36, 39, 50; 2Chron. 6:21, 25, 27, 30, 39)
3. There are several cases where people are identified as forgiven (2Sam. 12:18; Ps. 32:1f; 78:38; 5:2; 99:8; Is. 38:17).
4. The memory of sin was in the mind of the worshiper (Heb. 10:3f).
From these clear principles and statements from the Old Testament, the only proper way of understanding Rom. 3:25 and Heb. 10:11 is that obedient men and women under the OT were legitimately forgiven in light of Christ (Heb. 9:15-17). For all who would teach otherwise, the following questions are asked:
1. If there was no forgiveness before the cross, how could John’s baptism be for forgiveness (Luke 3:3f)?
2. What of people Jesus pronounced forgiven (Mk. 2:1-12; Luke 7:48)?
3. People were expected to forgive (Matt. 18:21-35). Did God ask more than He Himself was willing to give?
Some of the greatest promises of forgiveness come from the OT (e.g. Is. 1:18; Ps. 103:12; Micah 7:18f). If they were not forgiven, are we?
