I believe and am very convinced that God deals with each one of us exactly the same way in our depravity and salvation throughout history. The scriptures never says that Noah sought God, only that Noah found favor with God. Abel was the same way, that God regarded Abel sacrifice but not Cain. God called to Abraham, to Moses, to Samuel, to Samson, to David, to Paul, ...on and on. Jacob He loved, but Esau He hated.
An excellent example is the death of Jeroboam's son. Please consider the following passage of Jeroboam's infant son Abijah:
1Ki 14:11 Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat, for the LORD has spoken it."'
1Ki 14:12 Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die.
1Ki 14:13 And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the LORD, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.
One can only conclude that Abijah was saved by the Lord, even unto death. (Yes, death is not the end.) There was no confession. No walk down the aisle. No reciting the Four Spiritual Laws and praying a prayer for the infant son Abijah. The Lord just "found something pleasing" about him. Why this is I have no idea except to say that everyone who is saved, God found something pleasing to His pleasure in us. But we must be careful to note that there isn't anything in us that would please Him. A subtle but very important difference.
Abijah wasn't saved because the Lord thought that He was "good". Abijah was saved because the Lord thought that Abijah should be saved for some unknown reason. Salvation is a gift from God, less any man may boast.
Amen, and Amen. Thanking Him daily for His grace and mercy.
I don't think so. From our perspective is the essential factor Faith Alone in God? Yes! However, I think God interacts with us differently at different times.
Gen. 6:3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man,...
Gen. 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Heb. 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear prepared an ark...and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
During the time of Noah the Holy Spirit did not indwell man. It did convict man of it's sin, but it was not acting as a counselor to guide God's elect. However we do see after the Cross the Holy Spirit indwells the elect and guides us. So I look at the time of Noah and see how our total depravity affects us and what we do when given absolute free will. However after the Cross God intervenes for us and guides us. So we have to different periods where Faith Alone is critical, but God deals with us differently.
I would submit that part of the reason my Reformed Brothers and Sisters struggle with eschatology is because they are trying to take how God interacts with us in one period and impose it in another.