I was checking some old post and noticed I never answered your post, I will make it short just incase it is wasted time.
You said that before Christ came every one had a one way ticket to hell, correct me if I am wrong but I seem to remember reading something about a Enoch and a Elijah, who never saw death but taken to Heaven. But then again Moses did die, and yet who was on the Mount of transfiguration? Long story short, John 1:1 tells me that Jesus is God, and since God is the same yesterday, today and forever, HOW CAN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS BE DIFFERENT BOOKS?
A changed or fulfilled covenant is one thing, a different more lenient God is quite another.
God Bless
Berlin Bear