Are the Old Testament Saints A Part

of the Church?
It is a commonly held belief of many Christians today, that the New
Testament (NT) saints are superior to the saints of God in the Old
Testament (OT). Those who hold this belief conclude that the latter
group is not a part of the Church. By OT saints, they refer to everyone
who died before Jesus’ atoning work on the cross. To them, the
Church does not only exclude people like Noah, Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Moses, Elijah etc but also someone like John the Baptist who –
although lived in NT times – died before Jesus’ crucifixion.
This writing seeks to explore why one might hold on to this belief, the
implications of this belief, and to examine whether or not this belief
is true.

Why Some Believe this

This belief in the superiority of the NT saints to the OT saints is not
based on nothing; there are some scriptures and Biblical concepts
which lead people to believe it and to conclude that the OT saints are
not a part of the Church. Some of these reasons are presented as
follows.

The Time of the Establishment of the Church.

Many believe that since “the Church was not in existence until Jesus
came”, it must then follow that those who lived before Jesus’
establishment of the Church cannot be a part. They may refer to
Jesus’ words to Peter as proof that the Church was established by
Jesus, at the time of His earthly ministry
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
[Mat 16:18]
They say that these words mean that the Church was not in existence
before this point. Whether or not this interpretation of Jesus’ words
and their application of it is true will be revealed in a later portion of
this writing.

The Least in the Kingdom of God

I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen
anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he.
[Mat 11:11]
In saying this, Jesus calls John the Baptist the greatest man to have
ever lived. Some wrongly interpret this to mean that Christians –
being the children of the Kingdom of Heaven – are greater than all
the OT saints. They say that Jesus was referring to the NT saints when
He spoke of people of the Kingdom. They say that the least of
Christians is greater than john the Baptist, and by extension, the rest
of the OT saints.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

This exclusion of the OT saints from the Church is further bolstered
by the teaching that the saints before the NT did not have the Holy
Spirit living in them. Some profess that the Spirit of God did not live
in the OT saints but would only come upon them from time to time.
They refer to scriptures that say the Spirit of God came upon a person
[Num 24:2; Judg 3:10; Judg 6:34, Judg 11:29; Judg 14:6; 1Sam 10:10; 1Sam
11:6;1Sam 16:13], to conclude that the Spirit would only visit them
temporarily. This clearly ignores David’s plea to God to not take the
Holy Spirit from him, after he had sinned with Uriah’s wife [Psa 51:11]
and Peter’s words that the prophets of the OT had the Spirit of Christ
living in them [1Pet 1:11]. The fact that the Bible says that the Spirit of
God came upon someone does not mean that the Spirit would be
taken away afterwards. The apostles of Christ (of whom Peter and
John were a part) received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost [Acts 2:1-4], as
did Paul after his conversion [Acts 9:17-18]; yet we still see the Holy
Spirit filling Peter, John, and Paul at other times [Acts 4:8, 31; 13:9].

Implications of this Belief

Those who so interpret the scriptures more often than not, use their
belief to dismiss genuine truths of scripture found in the life and
doctrine of the OT saints. Such people assert that those of us under
the NT are more knowledgeable than the saints of old. Some even -
with no Biblical basis – extend this belief and with it, rope in the NT
Apostles. They go as far as to claim that they not only excel over the
OT saints such as Noah, Abraham, and Moses but that they surpass
the Apostles like Peter, James, John, and Paul in wisdom.

The Old Testament Saints are a Part of the

Church
There are a number of ways which one can use to show (with the use
of the Scriptures) that the OT saints belong to the Church. Some of
these ways are presented as follows.

The Message in Both Testaments is the Same

The Apostles teach us that the Gospel that now saves us is the same
gospel that those under the Old Covenant and before heard.
❖ How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they
preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the
feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings
of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias
saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
[KJV Rom 10:14-16]
Paul in the above passage teaches that when the prophet Isaiah
said “Lord, who hath believed our report?”, the report of which he
 spoke was the gospel. Unless there is more than one correct
gospel (and – as Galatians 1:6-9 teaches us – there isn’t), then
the gospel of which the prophet Isaiah spoke is the same one we
have heard.
❖ But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains
when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only
in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil
covers their hearts.
[2Cor 3:14-15]
The Apostle Paul in the 3rd chapter of his 2nd letter to the
Corinthians teaches that the message of both covenants is the
same. The only difference being that those under the Old
Covenant (with few exceptions – as will be explained later) had
the message veiled from them.
It is to be noted that this veiling of the message is not exclusive
to the time period before Jesus’ death – as Paul says, “to this day
the same veil remains when the old covenant is read”
❖ The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,
and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will
be blessed through you."
[Gal 3:8]
Paul says that the gospel was announced to Abraham. He says
this in the same letter where he writes saying there is no other
gospel than the one he (and the other true apostles of God)
preached [Gal 1:6-9].
❖ Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be
careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we
also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the
message they heard was of no value to them, because those who
heard did not combine it with faith.
[Heb 4:1-2]
The author of the letter to the Hebrews says that the gospel was
precached to those under the Old Testament. It is the same
 message, the only difference being that they had no faith. We
know obviously that not everyone in those days did not have
faith. The Bible commends many under the OT as having faith
(as will be discussed later). Therefore, those under the OT who
had faith in the same gospel that we have now received, are a
part of the Church.

The Message Can Only be Understood by Disciples of

Christ (i.e., the Children of the Kingdom)
Jesus often spoke to the public in parables [Mat 13:34]. The purpose of
His use of parables when speaking to them was to conceal the
message from them [Mat 13:10-15]. However, among His disciples,
Jesus spoke plainly [Mat 13:10-11].
The Apostle Paul stated that the veil that prevented people of Israel
from understanding the message Moses brought them, the same veil
that keeps people from understanding the same message today, is
ONLY TAKEN AWAY IN CHRIST [2Cor 3]. This clearly means that
anyone who understands the message – regardless of what time
period the person lived – must have had the veil taken away by being
in Christ.
Therefore, anyone who understands the message of the scriptures
(both the Old and New Testaments) must by implication, be under
Christ. Whomsoever was spoken to clearly and not in parables must
be a disciple of Christ.
There are numerous examples of people under the Old Covenant (and
before) understanding the gospel and of people to whom God spoke
plainly and not in parables.
❖ Yahweh spoke plainly to Noah about the coming flood and gave
him plain instructions on how to build the ark that would save
his life and that of his sons and the animals.
❖ Yahweh spoke plainly to Abraham about the birth of Isaac and
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah [Gen 18].
 ❖ Yahweh said He speaks to Moses plainly and not in parables as
He does other prophets [Num 12:6-8].
There are other examples of OT prophets being spoken to by God
plainly. Here now are scriptures that show that the OT prophets
understood the message (which means they did so because Christ
took away the veil).

Moses Understood the Message

Paul teaches that ONLY IN CHRIST IS THE VEIL TAKEN AWAY. This
means that only those under Christ can understand the message. Paul
says that it was Israel that failed to understand the message. Moses,
the messenger who reflected the glory of God obviously understood
the message.

Isaiah and His Disciples Understood the Message

God spoke words of prophecy to Isaiah and asked him to bind up the
testimony and seal the Law (the prophecy he had received) among his
disciples [Isa 8:16]. Isaiah wrote down what God told him in great
detail but many who read the prophecy find it to be sealed. The words
have little – if any – meaning to them, as God Himself testifies [Isa
28:11; 29:11]. Just as in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, God spoke
in parables to seal the massage from people. However, Isaiah and his
disciples obviously understood the message. Seeing as the veil that
causes men to fail to understand the message can only be removed in
Christ and that Christ speaks only to His disciples in plain words, then
it must follow that Isaiah and his disciples who had understanding
were disciples of Christ and had the veil taken away by Him.

Many Other Prophets Understood the Message

Peter teaches that the message of salvation was prophesied by the
[OT] prophets. He further teaches that these same prophets studied
carefully to understand their prophecy and that they had the meaning
of the prophecy revealed to them [1Pet 1:10-12]. The point is, though
they learned that the fulfilment of the prophecy would not be in their
time but after the time of Christ, THEY LEARNED THE MEANING OF
THE PROPHECY. As has already been established, one can only
understand the message under Christ, therefore, all the OT prophets
who prophesied the coming salvation – from Adam and Eve who
received the prophecy of the Seed of the woman who would crush the
serpent’s head, to John the Baptist who prophesied of the Lamb of
God who would take away the sins of the world – understood the
message. They were all under Christ and as such were a part of the
Church of God.

Guarding against Error

There are very many Christians today who are truly under Christ, who
still lack understanding of most of the holy Scriptures. To them, most
of Scripture is still a parable. This does not in any way mean that they
are any less disciples of Jesus or any less a part of God’s Church. Once
we are in Christ, the veil is taken away, however, it requires hard work
and diligent study to unlock the parables of scriptures. As was the
case for the prophets of whom Peter spoke [1Pet 1:10-12], the 12
Apostles who spent 3 ½ years in relentless study under Jesus (and
God knows how long under John the Baptist), and Paul who spent 3
years in Arabia to study [Gal 1:11-20], we too, despite our being under
Christ must study to show ourselves approved by God. We must work
at understanding the parables now that the veil has been taken away.
No one reading this should feel condemned or feel like he is not in
Christ because he lacks understanding of the scriptures. You are
under Christ if you believe in the true Gospel of Christ taught by the
apostles named in the scriptures, but one must grow to maturity by
studying to understand God’s word.

The Church Inherited Abraham’s Blessing

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he wrote to them to remind them that
they neither needed to be circumcised nor keep the Law of Moses to
be saved. The bulk of his argument against his detractors was that our
salvation is by faith and not by the Law. In making this case, he used
Abraham as our example. He taught that we are saved by faith just as
Abraham, that we are blessed (saved) ALONG WITH ABRAHAM
[Gal3:6-9]. If the blessing that brought us into God’s Church and will
grant us access into God’s Kingdom is Abraham’s blessing, how then
can we say that Abraham (and his sons who also inherited the same
blessing) are not a part of the Church?

The Gentiles were Added to an Already Existing

Church
According to Paul, Israel was a branch of God’s tree that was broken
off. The Church was a wild branch that was grafted off into the same
tree [Rom 11:17]. It should be noted that Israel was not the tree but was
a [natural] branch of the tree. The tree was already in existence and
Israel sprouted from the tree. Even After Israel [the natural branch]
was broken off, the tree remained and it was that tree to which the
Gentiles were added. The Gentiles were not added to Israel, but were
added to a system that existed even before Israel sprouted forth as a
branch. We know that Israel is a branch that sprouted from Abraham
and that the Gentiles inherited Abraham’s blessing to become a part
of the Church; therefore, the Church – being the tree into which the
Gentiles were grafted – must have [at the latest] started with
Abraham.

The Prophets of the Old Testament are the

Foundation of the Church
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens
with God's people and members of God's household, built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the
chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises
to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built
together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
[Eph 2:19-22]
Paul told the Ephesians that they had become members of God’s
house, God’s temple, God’s building. He listed two important
components of the house:
1. The foundation made up of the Apostles and Prophets
2. The cornerstone (still a part of the foundation) which is Christ
Himself.
Just as there is no building without a foundation, there can be no
Church without Christ, the Apostles, and the Prophets. Most
Christians have no doubt that Jesus the chief cornerstone or that the
Apostles are a part of the Church foundation. Some, however, fail to
consider the prophets of the OT as part of the foundation. This is a
logical inconsistency. You cannot accept Christ and the Apostles and
leave out the Prophets.

The Testimony of Hebrews

The 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews makes it abundantly clear that
the goal of our faith is perfection [Heb 11:40]. It begins in the 1st verse
by defining faith and then tells us that the elders were commended.
It lists – directly and indirectly – the following OT saints:
1. Abel
2. Enoch
3. Noah
4. Abraham
5. Sarah
6. Isaac
7. Jacob
8. Joseph
9. Moses
10. Joshua and the Israelites at Jericho
11. Rahab
12.Gideon
13. Barak
14. Samson
 15.Jephthah
16. David
17.Samuel
18. The Prophets
19. Daniel
20. Elijah
21.Elisha
22. The Shunamite woman
23. Micaiah
24. Jeremiah
• It says that Abraham and his sons were looking forward to the
City built by God, New Jerusalem [Heb 11:8-10, 13-16]. This City
of God is the holy City we know as the resting place of the
servants of the Lamb.
• The author claims that Moses chose to suffer FOR CHRIST [Heb
11:26]
• The author says that people suffered in the hope of receiving a
BETTER RESURRECTION [Heb 11:35]
The book of Hebrews says that the OT saints had the same goals as we
in the Church do; he sums up the pursuit of the OT saints with one
word: ‘PERFECTION’. then concludes by saying that none of them
received what was promised but that God wanted them to INHERIT
PERFECTION TOGETHER WITH US THE NEW TESTAMENT SAINTS.
Our goal and reward is the same as that of the OT saints. How then are
they not a part of the Church?

The Testimony of Jesus

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take
their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of
heaven.
[Mat 8:11]
"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but
you yourselves thrown out.
[Luk 13:28]
Jesus Himself testifies that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets
will have a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. A place we know to be the
destination of the Church.

Summary
Some Christians believe that the saints of God in the Old Testament
are not a part of the Church and that believers under the New
Testament are superior to them.
This belief spawns from a misunderstanding of some scriptural
statements and concepts.
This same heresy emboldens its adherents to say that the saints today
have more knowledge and understanding than the saints in the OT
and some even go as far as to extend this belief to include a
superiority over the NT Apostles.
However, the Bible itself – as has been shown using multiple biblical
sources – is replete with refutation of the belief. In the Bible we see
that
• The message in both Testaments is the same
• The message can only be understood by those under Christ and
men under both covenants understood the message.
• The Blessing of the Church is actually Abraham’s
• The Gentiles were added to the Church which already existed
• The OT prophets are part of the foundation of the Church
• The author of the letter to the Hebrews bear witness to the OT
saints being part of the Church
• Jesus also bears witness to the OT saints being part of the Church
Important Takeaways and Implications
• Christ speaks plainly to His true disciples and not in parables.
• The veil of blindness is taken away in Christ alone.
• No matter how hard one studies, the message can never be
understood outside of Christ.
• A Christian can still be spoken to in parables /have the message
hidden from them if they do not study to understand.
• The OT saints must have been under Christ to have understood
the message
• Christ must have pre-existed His incarnation
• We are in no way superior to those who came before us, the best
we can hope for is to be equal to them.