Question
What happened to people before Jesus died on the cross for our sins? Could they go to Heaven?
Answer
Here are some passages that come to mind which answer your question:
Heb 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (KJV)
See here, that God “is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Those before the cross who diligently sought God could go to heaven.
Luke 16:19-31 19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (KJV)
The account of the Rich man and Lazarus. Note that Abraham was in heaven. He diligently sought the Lord, and was rewarded. Lazarus was before the cross, and went to heaven. The rich man, before the cross, asked Abraham if he could send Lazardus back to the earth to preach to his brothers — why? — so that they would not come to that terrible place. Then where would they go? To the only other choice, heaven!
Acts 17:30 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (KJV)
Paul, preaching to the Greeks on Mars Hill in Athens, mentioned the situation of gentiles before the cross. God overlooked their ignorance. (This does not contradict Romans one, where Paul discussed that those gentiles should have known better.) So we see, the gentiles before the cross, those who dilligently sought after God, were rewarded, i.e. went to heaven.
Heb 11:8-16 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. (KJV)
We see here that Abraham, and others like him before the cross, who diligently sought after God, were looking for a better city, an eternal city. They were rewarded by God; they went to heaven.
So I think it is clear from these and other passages that those before the cross, who diligently sought after God, were rewarded, and went to heaven when they died.
Remember Enoch?
Gen 5:21-24 21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (KJV)
Enoch diligently sought after God — so much so that God took Enoch home with him — to heaven!
By David Baize
