Since the Law of Moses was given exclusively to the Jews, what was to become of the Gentiles – those who were outside that law? Was there no hope for them? Would they be eternally lost?
From our Bibles we know there were three periods in which God made His will known to man. The first period, or dispensation, is known as the Patriarchal, since God spoke directly to the fathers such as Adam and Abraham. This includes all the folks from Adam through Moses, unless you were a Gentile, in which case it is believed the patriarchal law would apply until the cross. The second was the Mosaic which was when God gave the Law to Moses. The third and last period is the Christian dispensation. This is for everyone since the cross.
Both patriarchy and the law of Moses ended at the cross (Col. 2:14). Therefore, if Gentiles during the time of patriarchy were faithful to moral law, they would end up in heaven (Job 1:8, Mat. 8:11, Rom 2:14-15). If Jews during the time of the law of Moses were faithful, their reward would be heaven too (Mat. 17:1-4, Luke 9:30-31; 10:25-28). But their salvation would include not only their compliance with their God-appointed laws, their ultimate salvation was made possible by Christ’s death for their sins (Heb. 2:9-10; 9:15).
There was a great difference between a Gentile committing a momentary act of sin and living a life of sin. There was also a great difference between a Jew committing a momentary act of sin and living a life of sin. Likewise, there is a great difference between a Christian committing a momentary act of sin and living a life of sin (Deaver, 1996).
In Patriarchy there was divine law (Rom. 5:12-14). Also, in Judaism there was divine law (Deut. 4:8). There is divine law in Christianity too (Gal. 6:2). In all three there is a divine demand for obedience (Gen. 6:6, Isa. 24:5, Mal. 4:4, Heb. 5:8-9, Rom. 6:12). However, as Mac Deaver points out, in the Patriarchal and Mosaic Law, grace was in prospect only (Heb. 2:9; 9:15). Yet in Christianity, grace is actuality (John 1:17, Tit. 2:11). It is important to note that in all three systems, grace is conditional.
For the elders, Tony Williams