Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world and that anyone who believes in Jesus is forgiven of sins and has the promise of eternal life. But what about the people who lived before Jesus died on the cross? If Jesus is the only way to be forgiven and saved, what happened to all those people? Those people were saved in the same way people are saved today: by faith. People who trusted in God to forgive their sins were saved by faith. Think of salvation like a credit card. The people who lived before Jesus ran up a huge debt, and Jesus paid the bill later.