How was the gospel known to people like Abraham and Abel?
Orientation
Many imagine the gospel as a strictly New Testament phenomenon, as if God’s plan of salvation began only with the birth of Christ.
- This view severs the continuity of God's redemptive plan.
- It can make the Old Testament seem like a record of human striving rather than divine promise.
- It risks undermining the foundation of justification by faith.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)
— Genesis 3:15
Clarification
The gospel—the good news of justification by faith in God’s redemptive promise—was proclaimed from the very beginning and received by those who believed.
- Salvation has always been by faith in the promise, not by human effort or religious performance.
- Abel's accepted offering and Abraham's credited righteousness were acts of faith in the coming Seed, not works.
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. (Galatians 3:8)
— Galatians 3:8
Structure
The promise of the Seed is the original gospel, the foundational logic linking Old Testament faith to New Testament fulfillment in Christ.
- God's promise of the Seed (Christ) in Genesis 3:15 provided the object of faith for Old Testament believers.
- Faith in this promise was the means of righteousness, as demonstrated in Abel's offering and Abraham's belief.
- This establishes a continuous thread of salvation by faith from Genesis to Revelation.
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)
— Genesis 15:6
Weight-Bearing Prose
The theological assertion is clear: the gospel of justification by faith in God’s redemptive promise was known and operative from the fall onward. The promise of the Seed (Genesis 3:15) was the foundational object of faith. Abel’s offering of the firstling of his flock, accepted by God, was an act of faith in this coming Redeemer, making him righteous (Hebrews 11:4). Abraham explicitly believed God’s promise concerning the Seed (Genesis 12:7; 15:5), and his faith was counted as righteousness (Genesis 15:6)—a principle Paul identifies as the gospel itself (Galatians 3:8). This continuity dismantles the false dichotomy between Old Testament ‘works’ and New Testament ‘grace.’ Righteousness has always been imputed through faith in God’s promise, never earned by law-keeping or ritual. The Pauline category of justification by faith apart from works is not a new invention but the revelation of the eternal principle upon which God has always dealt with humanity. The fulfillment in Christ, the true Seed, does not alter this principle but completes it.
Integration
Your assurance is anchored in the same promise believed by Abel and Abraham. The gospel they knew is the gospel you believe: God justifies the ungodly by faith in His redemptive word, fulfilled in Christ. There is no pressure to advance from a ‘lesser’ Old Testament faith to a ‘greater’ New Testament understanding; it is the same faith in the same Seed. Your righteousness, like theirs, is counted, not earned. Rest in the continuity of God’s plan. Christ is the fulfillment of the promise they trusted, and your faith in Him connects you directly to their story. This is not a challenge to comprehend deeper layers, but a grounding in the simple, ancient, and unchanging truth that salvation is and always has been by faith in God’s promise.