'The law was given through Moses; "grace" and truth came through Jesus Christ.' (John 1:16-17)
Not that we don't find the word "grace" in the old testament but it meant something different. When Scripture says: 'Noah found "grace" in the eyes of the Lord' (Genesis 6:8), it meant he found "favour" in the eyes of Lord, because he was righteous and therefore was spared from the deluge. But in the new testament, it means more than just 'favour' because it is also means his 'power' that is at work within us, to effect a change. So Jesus said to Paul, "My 'grace' is sufficient for you, for my 'power' is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) Therefore the word 'power' can then be used as a synonym for 'grace' ! This was a dimension of the Spirit, none of the saints under the old covenant experienced because the Spirit only came upon them and not within them (John 7:38-39), but a saint under the new covenant can say: 'by the grace of God, I am what I am and his grace to me was not without effect.' (1 Corinthians 15:10) If just the favour of God towards us can alter our situation, how much more can the power of God working through us? 'Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his "power" that is at work within us, to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.'( Ephesians 3:20-21)
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