Introduction God does not have different ways of bringing His people into a saving knowledge with Him. God saves people in the Old Testament the same way as He saves people in the New Testament and beyond �" He saves us all by faith in His redemptive work in and through the Messiah centered on the cross and the resurrection. People in the Old Testament looked forward to the Messiah, and people on this side of the cross and resurrection look back to the Messiah. But both groups look in faith to the Messiah! In discussing this issue in the context of Israel, Paul makes a very important point in Romans 9:6-8, God saves people because of His promise to do so. In this passage we are told the following important things: (1) Being a biological Jew does not save a person, never did; (2) Only those Jews who had faith in the redemptive promise of God were true Israelites, because this is what is meant as being “Abraham�"s descendents”; (3) All of God�"s people are such because they are children of His promise; (4) This has nothing to do with the flesh, but it has everything to do with the spirit, and; (5) The people of promise are those individuals whom God will save (not a national salvation).