Question:
How did people in the Old Testament go to heaven before Jesus died on the cross? Examples: Elijah-chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11), Enoch -“God took him” (Genesis 5:24).

Answer:
Animal sacrifices were a temporary payment for sin, and were a picture of Christ who would die for them. Romans 4:1-5 shows that people in Old Testament times BELIEVED in God. Men have always been saved on the principle of faith, and they believed in the God of creation (Romans 1:20).

Romans 3:25 shows that people in the Old Testament were saved, so to speak, on the installment plan—in view of Christ’s work on the cross. “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” So people in the Old Testament times, such as Elijah and Enoch, were able to go to heaven because they believed in a coming Redeemer (see Job 19:25).