The Word of God is divided into two major sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The major difference between them is the way God approaches His people.
In the Old Testament, God singles out a family and builds it into a nation that is to be devoted to Him. In the New Testament, God offers a relationship with Him to everyone.
In the Old Testament, God’s favor was earned through obedience to The Law: a complex system of 613 rules. In the New Testament God’s favor is granted through accepting one condition.
In the Old Testament, keeping God’s favor was done by earning it: obeying the rules and making sacrifices as prescribed. In the New Testament, God’s favor cannot be earned, it is a free gift given to those who will believe.
In the Old Testament, the reward of God’s favor was an abundant life on Earth, in the New Testament the reward of God’s favor is eternal life with God.
In the Old Testament God’s people were (primarily) born into this standing. In the New Testament God’s people become such by seeking God regardless of their birthplace.
The Old Testament is all about The Law, the New Testament is all about grace.
What is Grace?
The most basic definition of biblical grace is: an unmerited gift. Folks of the Old Testament did not live under God’s grace because they needed to adhere to all those laws to receive the promised earthly abundance. Our promise: life eternal with God, is given freely to all those who will accept it. We do not earn it – cannot earn it – it is a gift. There are no requirements or tests for us to endure: Jesus bore those for us. All that is required of us is to believe in Jesus. If we truly believe, we want to follow His example and do the work of God here on earth, to proclaim Jesus to others.
John 1:12-13 says:
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
What Do We Believe?
If we go to a restaurant and have a fabulous meal and enjoy excellent service without having to go deeply into debt to pay for it all, we are naturally going to want to tell our friends about it so they too can enjoy the experience. If we will do that for something as trivial as a meal, how much more should we want to share our experience with Jesus? If we have experienced Him, if we are thankful for His gift, if we do believe…how can we not share our experience with others? Romans 10:8-10 says,
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” [a] (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
All that is required of us is to believe in Jesus and receive Him. When we do, we will begin seeking a closer relationship with God through Jesus. Grace opens our eyes and our hearts to things that unbelievers cannot see or understand, makes us capable of things we could not do before.
The Promise of Grace
Our promise is different from that of God’s people in the Old Testament. They were promised earthly abundance for their obedience to a set of laws that no man could keep perfectly. When we accept God’s gift we are promised a home in Heaven when this world passes away. God can and does bless us in this life as well but these blessings may not always be in the form of material wealth. That depends on how we handle material wealth. Our primary reward is to escape the result of disbelief.
When this age is over, the earth as we know it will pass away as it is combined with the abode of God. The saved will live with God. Those who chose to reject His gift will live in eternal separation from God: separation from all goodness and light. All souls are eternal. The difference between saved and unsaved is where those souls will spend eternity.
Revelations 21 tells us:
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me,[b] “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
6 And He said to me, “It is done![c] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things,[d] and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving,[e] abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
One of the words we translate as “hell” (Gehenna) means simply, “eternal separation from God”. It will be a place devoid of all goodness all light, a place of great suffering and anguish. Those who will reside there forever are Satan, his fallen angels, and all of mankind who chose to reject God’s gift.
It is important to remember that God does not force us one way or the other. God does not condemn us; mankind condemns himself by rejecting the grace of God and proceeding in his own arrogance.
