Before and After the Cross – Why Timing Changes Everything
Part 4
One of the biggest reasons grace feels confusing isn’t rebellion.
It’s misreading the timeline.
Most believers don’t reject grace. They simply read Scripture as if everything in the Bible functions the same way, at the same time, under the same covenant. When that happens, clarity collapses.
Grace doesn’t contradict Scripture.
It fulfills it.
But fulfillment only makes sense when we know when something was spoken and under which covenant it belongs.
The Bible Was Written Over Time—Not All at Once
The Bible is unified, but it is not flat.
It tells one story, unfolding across covenants, promises, and fulfillment. Ignoring that progression leads to confusion—especially when reading the words of Jesus.
Jesus lived, taught, and ministered before the Cross.
Galatians 4:4
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.”
Jesus was not speaking from the New Covenant—because it had not yet been established.
Why Jesus Often Sounds Like Law
Many of Jesus’ hardest statements sound demanding, conditional, and weighty. That’s because they were.
Jesus spoke under the Law to those under the Law, revealing what the Law required and exposing humanity’s inability to fulfill it.
Matthew 5:48
“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
That wasn’t a New Covenant invitation—it was a Law-level diagnosis.
The Law was never meant to save.
It was meant to reveal the need for a Savior.
The Cross Changed the Conversation
Everything pivots at the Cross.
When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He wasn’t ending His life—He was completing the work.
John 19:30
“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”
After the Cross:
Sin was judged
Righteousness was fulfilled
A New Covenant was established
This is why the epistles sound different than the Gospels.
The Epistles Explain the Gospels
The Gospels show us what Jesus accomplished.
The epistles explain what that accomplishment means.
Paul doesn’t contradict Jesus—he clarifies Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
That statement would not make sense before the Cross.
But after the Cross, it becomes the foundation of faith.
Mixing Timelines Creates Mixed Messages
When we take pre-Cross demands and apply them as post-Cross identity, we unintentionally mix covenants.
That’s how grace becomes conditional.
That’s how rest turns into effort.
That’s how assurance becomes fragile.
Hebrews 8:6
“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.”
A better covenant doesn’t mean stricter expectations.
It means a finished work.
Why This Matters for Grace
Grace makes sense only on this side of the Cross.
Before the Cross:
Obedience revealed failure
Law exposed sin
Demands highlighted inability
After the Cross:
Grace declares righteousness
Faith rests in Christ’s work
Identity flows from completion
Romans 10:4
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Grace is not a softer law.
Grace is what happens when the Law is fulfilled.
Conclusion
The Bible doesn’t contradict itself—but it does progress.
Grace isn’t confusing when read in context.
It becomes confusing when timing is ignored.
Once the Cross is placed where it belongs, grace stops feeling radical and starts feeling inevitable.
Everything changes after “It is finished.”
