Were the saints under the old covenant born again?

Were the saints under the old covenant born again? I think your understanding is correct. And a very good question.  I will study this out today. So, thanks Joe now I have my topic of study for the day.

But from what I've have heard in Church they were saved by faith in God by believing what He said about Jesus the Messiah the Anointed One. The way I've had it explained to me is they looked forward to The Cross and we look back to The Cross.

As far as them being Born Again Isaiah 53:11 tells us

"Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, 'Make Many To Be Accounted Righteous', and he shall bear their iniquities.

So, they were "Accounted Righteous" at The Cross.

I'm thinking when Jesus told Nicodemus he MUST Be (future tense...a tense expressing an action that has not yet happened or a state that does not yet exist) Born Again...that Nicodemus had to wait till The Cross.

“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night…”

Jesus gave a fuller explanation of what it means to be reborn to Nicodemus.

“‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again’” John 3:5-7.

Jesus explains this process is a work of God, so we won’t fully understand it. Then Nicodemus is plain mind-blown and confused, Jesus tells him about how the religious leaders weren’t grasping spiritual matters:

Nicodemus said to him, “How can this be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? John 3:9-12.

Then, the Lord allowed Nicodemus a glimpse of the sacrifice He would make for mankind’s salvation.

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”. John 3:14-18

Jesus finished the teaching by reminding Nicodemus that those who choose to be reborn and follow God will “come into the light,” able to live righteously while looking forward to their eternal reward.

19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. John 3:19-21

Makes me think of my favorite Christain Rock song "In The Light"

DC Talk covered this on their 1995 Jesus Freak album. Band member Michael Tait said "It's probably one of our top three songs of all time.

I'm not dogmatic one way or the other on the issue but this one passage has me leaning in the direction Christ was in them. What are your thoughts on this passage. Thanks 

1 Peter 1:11
trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.

@josheb  civic

“Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look." (1Pe 1:10-12)

Upon reading this statement of Peter we can gather some points.

It concerns the salvation he stated in verses 3-5 where he states "...According to his (God's) great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1Pe 1:3-5)

The prophets of the OT were the ones who had the Spirit of Christ within them.

The prophets predicted the sufferings of our Lord and subsequent glories.

The prophets were not serving themselves but those after the event of our Lord's sufferings.

This salvation has now been announced "through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven"

From the points in Peter's statment about salvation we can reasonable deduct being "born again" is an event that only happened after the appearing of our Lord and His sufferings.

The Apostle Paul stated to Titus, "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior" (Titus 3:4-6)

We can reasonable deduct "the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit" is an event that only took place after the sufferings of our Lord, and as stated by Paul "whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior"


Numbers 11:16-30 records the event where the Lord told Moses to gather seventy elders of Israel together so that He could give them all a portion of the Holy Spirit to help Moses.

"Then the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone." (Num 11:16-17)

As the event unfolds the Lord took some of the Spirit upon Moses and put it on the seventy elders and they began to prophesy.

"Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it. Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them...and so they prophesied in the camp" (Num 11:25-26)

Joshua said to Moses, “My lord Moses, stop them.” (Num 11:28)

Moses replied back, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" (Num 11:29)

The event with Moses depicts the OT people without the Spirit of the Lord unless they were appointed for service.

And then in Acts we have the event when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was given to all believing people.

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
(Act 2:17-18)

The language and data from the bible shows this event to be only in the days when the Messiah has come. Not everyone in the OT era was filled with the Spirit, although the Holy Spirit was with the people they were not regenerated-given a new life. The glorious act of a new life from our loving kind God came after the sufferings of our Lord.

The prophecies of the New Covenant confirm the Old Covenant was not desirable to God, for about the New one God says, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jer 31:33)

The born anew-regeneration experience is only realized in the New Covenant era after our Lord suffered, resurrected, and ascended.

God Bless

I appreciate that, Joe, but I believe some discernment and caution are appropriate so as not to generalize beyond what is stated. I say this because, as I mentioned in my prior post, the pre-Calvary disciples had the Spirit of God in them, but they were not yet saved. If Judas, the prophesied son of perdition, was among those disciples sent out to preach, heal, exorcise, and command the elements and he was not saved then we cannot say any and all indwelling of the HS is proof of regeneration. 

Was Elizabeth saved when the following occurred?

Luke 1:41

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.


If salvation is predicated upon regeneration and/or a confession of faith in Jesus then she was not saved at Luke 1:41. She knew something of Jesus and his destiny according to earlier verses but who we say is Jesus is very much a part of salvific believing. Remember also that many of the disciples who had both witnessed the Spirit and had the Spirit at work in them were likely among those who walked away from Jesus when he spoke of his having to suffer and die or their having to eat of his body. Where those who had perhaps previously cast out demands via an indwelling Holy Spirit also even though the propitiatory blood had not yet been shed, and did that salvation remain when they walked away from the So by whom they had been bestowed that Holy Spirit? 

Also, what do we do with this next verse? 

John 7:39

But this he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.


Is this a reference to regeneration or Pentecost? If the giving of the Spirit cited in that verse pertains to regeneration, we might well have to rethink our entire soteriology because that giving is dependent upon Christ's glorification and there are many Christians who tie his glorification to their eschatology, to Jesus' return and earthly rule! If that is when the Spirit of salvation is given then none of us are yet saved (and I doubt few here subscribe to that point of view). For most of us Christ's glorification occurred with his resurrection so we can therefore lay claim to salvation by way of the Spirit being given at that time and given at that time predicated upon his rising from the dead in victory over the sin from which we are saved. Remember something the author of Hebrews wrote. In speaking about the men and women of faith who preceded the New Testament era he said,

Hebrews 11:39-40

And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. 

They did not receive the promise. They believed it and were approved, but they would not be made perfect apart from us (or Christ). 

I urge caution when reading any mention of God sending His Spirt upon humans. God has many Spirits and they serve many purposes. It is possible that they do not all regenerate and whatever regeneration might occur is contingent upon Calvary.

Yep. And I would add to that by suggesting this is why we do not find the language of "Father," and "Son," and "Holy Spirit" in the OT. It is soteriologically relevant language!!! Apart from Calvary their power, roles, and influence in creation is much more unified, overlapping, and/or identical. It was the Son, not the Father or the Spirit, who was foreknown before creation as the perfect sacrifice. It was the Son, not the Father or the Spirit who considered his claim of equality not something to be grasped and chose to become a bondservant. 

One fact that might be a clue was that before Christ died, believers had to wait in Abraham's bosom until Christ resurrected. What makes sense is that despite having faith, they were not yet indwelt by the Spirit, and therfore could not be face to face with God and survive. Once Christ's sacrifice was accepted and He rose, He brought the OT believers with Him, and presumably, they were now able to be in God's presence, which suggests they were at time first indwelt by the Spirit.