Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life: and I cannot escape in the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die. Genesis 19:19 GNV

If we look at the Geneva Bible , one of the older translations of Scripture we find grace mentioned 180 times, 132 of those times in the New Testament. Not once will you find in it, or in other of the Bible Translations the term “age of grace”. How then is it that our time is considered by so many “the age of grace”?

So what is the real meaning of grace?

Therefore the Lord said, I will destroy from the earth the man, whom I have created, from man to beast, to the creeping thing, and to the fowl of the heaven: for I repent that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:7-8 GNV

Grace in Noah’s time was about salvation, salvation from being wiped out with the rest of mankind who found no grace in the sight of God. So just how is that different than in our time? By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. So is it grace or faith that saves? By God’s Grace are you saved, but why did God’s Grace save Noah, when His grace was nowhere to be found for the rest of humankind? What are we missing, or what is implied in this? Was faith present in Noah? If so was faith a gift to him and not to the others? Or was it Grace that was the gift to him and for some reason not to the others, and if so why — what was the reason that Noah found Grace? Is Noah’s faith not the missing ingredient in those who found no Grace? If not what was it that caused Noah to find grace?

So if Grace was present in Noah’s day, and we know that it was; then did Grace disappear under the Law? Of course not. In fact, it was even more needed, because no one could possibly have kept the entire law. But even under the law God required faith that He might show His Grace.

For if they which are of the Law, be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect. For the Law causeth wrath: for where no Law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it is by faith, that it might come by grace, and the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the Law: but also to that which is of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all, Romans 4:14-16 GNV

Men attempt to divide law and grace into ages, but it cannot be divided. Even under the new covenant man’s faith and Gods Grace are the vehicles by which He writes His laws upon our hearts. We stand before Him justified by our faith because we too have found His Grace.

And unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Ephesians 4:7 GNV

Without Grace no man can exercise his faith, because without Grace no substitution would be recognized for our sin which is rebellion against God; but because of His Grace He took our sin upon Himself, and we can stand in faith in Him alone for our redemption. God has always throughout human history provided the way for human redemption. All that He is looking for is a relationship with persons of a contrite heart, who are willingly believing for His help.

If you need an age of Grace, try understanding that man throughout his fallen history has existed only due to Gods grace, and is saved only by God’s Grace. If you insist in naming our dispensation try calling it the Dispensation of the New covenant or of the Gospel, both of which are for all humankind. To the Jew first and also to the Greek, or Gentile.