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DIFFERENT PLANS OF SALVATION? It is very common throughout fundamentalism to hear people say that so-and-so teaches different plans of salvation without taking the time to explain or even discuss the subject. This is typical of the average Bible college graduate who didn’t learn enough Bible in school to properly teach even a youth group, much less a church. But words come cheap and easy, so the silly chatter will not cease this side of the rapture. God’s salvation "plan" is centered around a man, Jesus Christ, who wasn’t born until 4,000 years of human history had transpired. So, no one in the Old Testament knowingly believed on Jesus Christ for salvation, nor did anyone tell them to do so. The hall of faith in Hebrews chapter eleven is very clear in emphasizing what was required of the Old Testament saints throughout three different dispensations: FAITH. They were expected to believe and obey the words that God gave to them, and they received a “good report” in doing so (Heb. 11:2, 39). They did NOT receive a new birth since it was not available until after Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. So, before one asks the question of HOW the Old Testament saints were saved, he should probably ask IF they were saved at all, because they weren’t, at least not as we are today. The Old Testament saints bore witness to, inquired of, searched for and prophesied of Christ’s salvation (Acts 10:43; I Pet. 1:10), but they did not experience it, nor did they understand it. By their faithfulness to God’s revealed words and will, they obtained a “good report,” but not a new birth after God’s image that would make them sons of God. That came AFTER Calvary, not before. That makes Christ’s atoning work on the cross the focal point of ALL salvation, from Genesis to Revelation, regardless of who understood it or who didn’t. Speaking of salvation apart from Calvary is unscriptural and foolish since no one will enjoy the blessings of eternity without being covered by the blood of Christ. Blood redemption is thematic from Genesis 3:21 clear through Revelation 22:3, and Calvary is the doctrinal anchor that secures everyone’s salvation. The fact that the Old Testament saints didn’t “see” or know about the anchor is irrelevant. Anchors are for SECURING, not seeing. Did Abel consciously believe on Christ? Of course not, but according to Jesus, he was still “righteous Abel” (Mat. 23:35) because he offered an acceptable blood sacrifice that foreshadowed Christ’s atoning work on the cross (Gen. 4:4; Heb. 11:4). He was “anchored” to Calvary by virtue of his righteous act. The same is true with ALL Old Testament saints, regardless of the various ways in which they fulfilled the revealed will of God in their separate lives. So, rather than saying that they were “saved in different ways,” it is better to say that they became anchored to Calvary in different ways, yet each way required faith in God’s word. No one is saved apart from Christ’s work on the cross (Gal. 2:16; John 1:29; Rev. 5:9; 7:14, etc.), so it is unscriptural and foolish to speak of “different plans of salvation.” It has always been God’s “plan” for Jesus to be the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and that’s what He did at Calvary. ALL the prophets bear witness to this (Acts 10:43), so there is no salvation plan in the Bible that doesn’t anchor to the cross of Christ.