Most Christians can quote this verse, but when did it begin to be true? Has this always been the case, or did it become true at some point in history?
...no man cometh to the Father, but by Me.
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If it hasn’t always been true, it’s never been true.
Has faith always come by hearing, and hearing by the word of God?
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord...has this always been true?
OT saints believed in the same Lord NT saints believe in and they believed with the same faith NT saints believe (Eph 4:5 ... one Lord, one faith).
In Hebrews 11 we read:
Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
Abraham offering up Isaac was a foreshadowing of what we now understand to be the crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ...
Abraham believed God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.
When we read the record in Genesis 22, we read:
Genesis 22:3-4 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
For three days Abraham accounted that God was able to raise up Isaac from the dead.
The faith Abraham had as he went unto the place of which God had told him and as Abraham travelled accounting that God was able to raise up Isaac again from the dead is the same faith we, in our day and time, believe that God raised up His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.
There is and always has been only one Lord.
There is and always has been only one faith.
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Romans 8:9 says that anyone who doesn't have the Spirit of Christ is none of His. Is this true of OT saints?
yes.
Back in days of the patriarchs ... before the Word of God was written, I believe the word was passed down from generation to generation ... from parents to children.
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
In order for Abel to have offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, Abel had to have heard the Word of God. Who would have taught Abel and Cain? ... their parents, Adam and Eve.
Cain is the first example of man's "religion" ... Cain tried to approach God in a manner other than what God had instructed He was to be approached.
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I believe that they were, and for more than one reason.
For one thing, when Jesus spoke to Nicodemus by night, he basically rebuked him for not knowing what it meant to be "born again" as a master of Israel.
John 3:1-10
"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?"
The new birth was spoken of in the Old Testament in portions of scripture such as this one:
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Being a master of Israel, Nicodemus should have been well aware of the same.
Anyhow, God would not have been offering a new heart and a new spirit during old testament times if they were not available to the people of that day.
Do you believe there was a difference in degree that the Spirit was ministering in OT saints?
For the most part, no.
I mean, God offered to put his Spirit in them, so there is no difference there.
They definitely had some of the gifts of Spirit operating through them, like healings, miracles, etc. I doubt that they spoke in tongues at that time, but that was prophesied by Isaiah to occur in the future, and, apparently, by Joel as well.
They certainly had the fruits of the Spirit available to them.
I do not believe OT saints were born again as we see after Day of Pentecost.
However, I do believe OT saints had Holy Spirit upon them and NT saints are indwelt by Holy Spirit.
We see the prayer of David where he begs God to not remove HS from him:
Psalm 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Since Day of Pentecost, at the time a believer is born again, he or she is sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise:
Ephesians 1:13-14 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
We are "sealed" – Greek sphragízō – to seal (affix) with a signet ring or other instrument to stamp (a roller or seal), i.e. to attest ownership, authorizing (validating) what is sealed.
The "earnest" – Greek arrhabṓn – a deposit ("down-payment") which guarantees the balance (the full purchase-price). arrhabṓn ("down-payment pledge") is the regular term in NT times for "earnest-money," i.e. advance-payment that guarantees the rest will be given. (arrhabṓn) then represents full security backed by the purchaser who supplies sufficient proof they will fulfill the entire pledge (promise).
When the believer is born again, the Holy Spirit within is the arrhabṓn which represents the full security backed by the Purchaser Who supplies sufficient proof that the entire pledge will be fulfilled.
The Purchaser will absolutely fulfill His promise ...
and I believe no born again believer in our day and time (or since Day of Pentecost for that matter) should ever pray as David did ... and God tells us David was a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22), yet he begged God to not remove Holy Spirit from him ... probably because of what we read in 1 Sam 16:
1 Samuel 16:13-14 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul ...
David did not want to end up like Saul.
I do not have to understand the difference between OT saints and NT saints ... I just believe what God's Word tells me. And I find it very interesting the conversation God had with Cain ... who very definitely rejected God
Genesis 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Gen 4:16 make clear that it was Cain who left God ... it was not God Who left Cain ... just sayin' ...
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I have to turn in for the night, but I will leave you with a question of my own:
When did "the church age" begin?
You are doing so well here, so do not cave in to peer pressure.
Hint: I am definitely not a dispensationalist.
Since the church is the people of God, I have no problem with OT saints being the church as well. But God's presence was in many things in the OT.
The KJV doesn't have the word church in the OT, so some will object on that basis.
That is good because OT saints are definitely a part of the ekklēsia or a part of God's called out congregation of believers.
Stephen referred to "the church", or to the ekklēsia, "in the wilderness".
Acts 7:38
"This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:"
Also, the word ekklēsia appears many times in the Septuagint or in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, so "the church" is not merely a New Testament concept.
This has been true since before the foundation of the world or since before man was ever created.
1 Peter 1:17-21
"And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God."
And long before the nation of Israel ever came into existence.
Oh, my.
Now I've done it...
The first part yes, the second is a different question. Did not God say a few cryptic words to Adam and Eve after the fall in the garden? I believe it is Isaiah 9:6-7 that speaks explicitly about a Savior. The OT believers believed that He would send a Savior, The NT Believers simply believe that He did. WE are all saved in the same way, by trusting in faith that His words are true, and acting accordingly.
We are told in many places in scripture that old testament saints had the Holy Spirit in them.
1 Peter 1:10-11
"Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."
Isaiah 63:11
"Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?"
Numbers 27:18
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; "
Exodus 31:1-3
"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,"
Daniel 4:8
"But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and before him I told the dream, saying,"
And so on, and so on, and so on...
Furthermore, as I said earlier, the new birth was available to old testament saints, and that involved God putting his Spirit within them.
Ezekiel 36:26-27
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."
Much of the so-called "church" has been propagating a lie for centuries, if not millennia. We would be wise to believe the word of God over the lies of men.