It is a fatal error to imagine that Old Testament saints were justified by works, while we today are justified by faith. This misconception not only distorts the gospel but undermines the very foundation of our assurance, inheritance, and sonship. The testimony of Scripture is unequivocal: righteousness and justification have always been by faith apart from works—from Abel to Abraham, from Moses to David. The law, the sacrifices, and every act of obedience were never the means of obtaining righteousness. They were outward signs—testimonies—of an inward reality already received through faith.
Righteousness by Faith: The Unchanging Way
Let us be clear: God has never justified anyone on the basis of their performance. The patriarchs were not exceptions. Abel, for example, “offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts” (Hebrews 11:4). Why was Abel’s sacrifice accepted? Not because of the act itself, but because of the faith that preceded it. The sacrifice was a sign, not the substance. The same is true of Abraham: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3). Before he lifted a finger, before circumcision, before any act of obedience, he was justified—by faith alone.
The law, with all its demands, never produced righteousness. Works—whether sacrifices, rituals, or acts of obedience—were never the cause of justification. They were the evidence, the outward testimony, of a righteousness already imputed by faith. To reverse this order is to overthrow the gospel itself.
Faith: The True Turning Point
Faith is not a mere mental assent or a religious feeling. It is a vision that seizes a person and alters the entire course of their life. The saints of old “lived by a vision in faith” (Hebrews 11:1). Their works were not bargaining chips with God, but the natural outflow of a heart already made righteous. “For by it the elders obtained a good report” (Hebrews 11:2)—not by their works, but by faith.
This is why Abel’s sacrifice, Abraham’s journey, and every act of obedience recorded in Hebrews 11 are commended: not as meritorious deeds, but as outward signs of an inward justification. The root is always faith; the fruit is always works. To confuse the two is to lose both.
What Is Lost If We Accept the Error
If you insist that righteousness in the Old Testament was by works, you have not merely misunderstood a historical detail—you have denied the continuity of God’s saving way. You have made God a respecter of persons, offering one way of justification to the patriarchs and another to us. Worse, you have collapsed the very logic of justification by faith: if works could ever justify, then Christ died in vain, and the inheritance is no longer of promise but of debt. This is not a secondary issue. It is salvific. To surrender here is to forfeit assurance, to undermine sonship, and to make the conscience forever restless.
The Consistent Testimony of Scripture
Scripture does not leave room for ambiguity:
- “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.” (Hebrews 11:4)
- “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’” (Romans 4:3)
- “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.” (Hebrews 11:1-2)
- “And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’—and he was called a friend of God.” (James 2:23)
The Finished Work and Our Inheritance
God’s way has never changed. Justification is always apart from works. Works are the outward testimony of an inward righteousness already received by faith. This is the ground of our assurance, the basis of our inheritance, and the only foundation for a cleansed conscience. To rest here is to stand where Abel, Abraham, and every justified saint has stood: accepted, not because of what we have done, but because of whom we have believed.
Let no one move you from this ground. Any doctrine that shifts the basis of justification to works—past, present, or future—robs you of your inheritance and denies the finished work of Christ. God justifies the ungodly by faith, and this has always been His way.
