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WERE OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS SAVED BY WORKS? For anyone needing it simplified, I believe Old Testament salvation was not complete until Calvary, so speaking of Old Testament saints being "saved" AT ALL is not wise. By obeying God in their respective dispensations, the Old Testament saints proved their faith and obtained a "good report" (Heb. 11:3, 39), but they did not obtain a new birth or eternal security as we know it today. Their faithful obedience, IN TYPE, pointed to Calvary (Noah's Ark, the Passover Lamb, water from the Rock, etc.), but, as far as we know, they didn't know this, so they "looked forward to the cross" IN TYPE without consciously knowing it (II Cor. 3:15-16; I Pet. 1:11-12), just as Abraham looked for a city without knowing it (Heb. 11:8-10) and saw Christ's day without knowing it (John 8:56). Although they weren't saved by being born again as we are, they were at least SAFE with a "good report," which is why they went to Paradise in the underworld when they died (Luke 23:42-43; 16:22-23), awaiting the final price of redemption to be paid by Christ on Calvary. That price was paid and their sins were cleared (Rom. 10:3-4), sins which could not be cleared by the law of Moses (Gal. 2:16). Old Testament saints were saved on credit, so to speak, and the credit card was paid off at Calvary. The earning of this "good report" did require works, since faith without works is dead (James 2:26), but it cannot be rightly said that these works "saved" anyone in the sense of a new birth. All salvation from Genesis through Revelation is anchored in the work of Christ on the cross, and no one will enjoy the blessings of eternity without being covered by His blood. No Old Testament saint was saved by works (Gal. 2:16), since it is the work of Christ alone which completes salvation. Their work earned them a good report card, if you will, one that would eventually be signed in the blood of Christ.