What about before Christ's time?

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In Romans 3:24-26
They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed,
through the forbearance of God–to prove his righteousness in the present time, that he might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.

This says that Jesus came to this earth to die for us that we might be saved, inspite of our sins.
What happened to all those who lived BEFORE Jesus (like Moses and Abraham, etc.)? Did they have to wait before they could go to Heaven until Jesus died on the Cross?
 
mrs_abbott said:
Did they have to wait before they could go to Heaven until Jesus died on the Cross?
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Basically, yes. Remember that part of the Apostle’s Creed where we say Jesus descended into hell? He went to those who were stuck waiting for him and preached to them. He opened the gates to heaven, and then all the OT people who were righteous got to go to heaven.

However, Elijah is perhaps an exception. I’m not sure, but maybe that “whirlwind” took him straight to heaven?
 
Pug said:
However, Elijah is perhaps an exception. I’m not sure, but maybe that “whirlwind” took him straight to heaven?
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:o I think to read more about Elijah to understand that. 😉
 
Good question and I am waiting for others to explain.

In the meantime, don’t forget Moses 🙂

He was up in the mountain when Jesus was in transfiguration.
 
mrs_abbott said:
:o I think to read more about Elijah to understand that. 😉
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It’s in 2 Kings. Here’s the RSV text. "2Kgs.2
[1]
Now when the LORD was about to take Eli’jah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Eli’jah and Eli’sha were on their way from Gilgal.

[2] And Eli’jah said to Eli’sha, “Tarry here, I pray you; for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Eli’sha said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
[3] And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Eli’sha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; hold your peace.”
[4]
Eli’jah said to him, “Eli’sha, tarry here, I pray you; for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

[5] The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Eli’sha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; hold your peace.”
[6]
Then Eli’jah said to him, “Tarry here, I pray you; for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

[7] Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.
[8] Then Eli’jah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
[9]
When they had crossed, Eli’jah said to Eli’sha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Eli’sha said, “I pray you, let me inherit a double share of your spirit.”

[10] And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.”
[11] And as they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Eli’jah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
[12] And Eli’sha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.
Then he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. "
 
lak611 said:
It’s in 2 Kings. Here’s the RSV text. "2Kgs.2
[1]
Now when the LORD was about to take Eli’jah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Eli’jah and Eli’sha were on their way from Gilgal.

[2] And Eli’jah said to Eli’sha, “Tarry here, I pray you; for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Eli’sha said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
[3] And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Eli’sha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; hold your peace.”
[4]
Eli’jah said to him, “Eli’sha, tarry here, I pray you; for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

[5] The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Eli’sha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; hold your peace.”
[6]
Then Eli’jah said to him, “Tarry here, I pray you; for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

[7] Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan.
[8] Then Eli’jah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
[9]
When they had crossed, Eli’jah said to Eli’sha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Eli’sha said, “I pray you, let me inherit a double share of your spirit.”

[10] And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.”
[11] And as they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Eli’jah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
[12] And Eli’sha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.
Then he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. "
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Wow!!! :eek: I’d almost say Elijah would be the exception of folks in the OT. :o
 
mrs_abbott said:
Wow!!! :eek: I’d almost say Elijah would be the exception of folks in the OT. :o
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Also, you might want to consider Enoch. From Genesis 5:21-24 in the RSV, "[21]
When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methu’selah.

[22] Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methu’selah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.
[23] Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.
[24] Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him."
 
Josephus also wrote that Moses was assummed to heaven too.

Ephesians 4:8-12 (English Standard Version)

8Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”

9(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,[a] 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
 
water said:
Good question and I am waiting for others to explain.
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Perhaps it would help if I gave a CCC reference:):
**633 **Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, “hell” - *Sheol *in Hebrew or *Hades *in Greek - because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God. Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into “Abraham’s bosom”: “It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham’s bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell.” Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.
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One place in the bible that *might *be considered relevant to this is in 1Peter:
4:6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead that, though condemned in the flesh in human estimation, they might live in the spirit in the estimation of God.
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So people bound for Heaven before Jesus came into the world and died for our sins just waited somewhere for Him? I assume it wasn’t hell, since they were good and worthy of Heaven. Why would the Nicene Creed say hell or do we really believe that they had to wait in hell?
 
There were in a place called the “limbo of the fathers” or “Abraham’s bosom” 👍
 
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