Grace vs Grace

"I want to encourage you today to let God’s unadulterated grace into the areas of your life where you seem to be coming up short, pour it on liberally, there is no lack."

I have heard different interpretations of John 1:16 which reads.

“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.”

-John 1:16 NKJV

There were some encouraging words shared whenever this verse would be read in church. The explanation would be briefly touched upon but none of the explanations truly settled my soul at rest. Some people used the NLT or NASB versions, 

“From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.”

John 1:16 NLT

“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.”

John 1:16 NASB 95

They would convey that through Jesus we receive one gracious blessing after another or one level of grace after the next. The idea was if you think you have seen the fulness of God’s grace already, just wait, you have not seen anything yet! Your best days are not behind you, you should prepare for a new level of God’s grace!  I agree that our experiencing of God’s grace should increase and increase until we walk in it’s fullness. I believe as we walk with Jesus intimately that our best days are always out in front and everyday holds new joy. 

Still, the unspoken idea that came across to me was that Jesus doles out His grace in waves. This also denotes the idea that until He has given the final wave of grace He is holding some of His grace back from you! I know no one meant to convey this idea. I am certain that if I would have asked them if they meant to put across that idea they would have corrected that line of thinking right away. I am not against anyone here, in fact I am thankful they shared with me their insight on their journey and for a season it helped me on my journey toward understanding. For that I am genuinely grateful.

However, when we are faced with life and the scriptures, and the interpretation of it, that we have hidden in our hearts is accessed, this interpretation may not be able to handle the weight of our circumstance and the questions that surface in the midst of those challenges. The God honest truth is that God holds back nothing from those He has made right with Him through trusting Jesus to be their righteousness and walking in that truth. 

The scriptures clearly say, 

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

The Lord will give grace and glory;

No good thing will He withhold

From those who walk uprightly.”

-Psalm 84:11 NKJV

Remember, on this side of Jesus’ earthly ministry, as well as His death and resurrection, we are not waiting for the Lord to give us grace. This was written by the psalmist in the Old Covenant, before Jesus came. From his perspective on the timeline the truth was the Lord would give grace and glory. The truth for us, where we are on the timeline, is that in Christ we have been given grace and glory. How much have we been given? All of it apparently since He holds no good thing back. How did He give it? All at once apparently because, again, He holds no good thing back. He does not give His grace wave by wave or in installment after installment or level after level. We have been given the complete and overwhelming fulness of God’s grace in Christ. If God did not hold back His only begotten Son for us why would He hold back what His Son is filled with? How could He? I do agree it may take sometime for us to explore, try on and get comfortable with and search out all the grace of God we have been given and have full access to but we are not waiting on God, we are waiting on our understanding and receptivity concerning what we have been given. 

What is wild is that the scriptures show us that God’s grace is the place believers in Christ now stand! 

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:1-2 NKJV

We would not be able to stand if we were not in Christ who encompasses the fullness of the grace and the truth of God. This is the highest, purest and most powerful form of truth. This is the environment we have been placed in and that we live in and causes us to stand in Christ!

Other versions like the NKJV and KJV as well as the NIV gave out a slightly different flavor to John 1:16 that I personally felt was honestly more confusing. 

“And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”

John 1:16 KJV

“Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.”

John 1:16 NIV

Why would God send Jesus to live on the earth, go through persecution, hardships, misunderstandings and ultimately die on a cross to give something that was the same thing that people already had. In fact why would anyone be interested in what Jesus had to give if it was the same as what they had. He would be white noise. Instead they said of Him, 

“And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

-Matthew 7:28-29 NKJV 

He was different, He did stick out, He happened to make waves but more importantly He revealed the truth of the Father’s grace and salvation. He made a difference for good!

I even heard someone at one time in church explain what the word in the Greek actually means “grace against grace.” I checked it out and it is true. It is the greek word “anti” which is the same word that is a prefix in “antichrist.” Unfortunately, I never received a clear conclusion on this explanation as to how the idea ,Ade sense in it’s context and thus what the scriptures were intended to communicate in light of this. Because of this the passage became even more mysterious and hidden than ever.

So how are we to take this obscure scripture? I think so much of verses that are misunderstood have to do with the fact that they are removed from their context. After all, if you take a text out of context, whether of it’s the surrounding verses or the whole of scripture, you are left with a con. 

When looking at proper translation you also have to be sure of the translation of words, that may have three or more possible meanings. You have to be sure that they align with the track of thought and context they are in. For example, if the writer is building a case and moving to state a a reasonable conclusion what is being translated must align with that objective if you are translating the work of a reasonable and logical writer. The statement can not be translated to a word that would interrupt that flow of thought or reasoning. It can not be a random and inharmonious thought.  

In John chapter one, John is stating who Jesus is, that He has always existed, that He has always been with God, that all things were made through Him, that He is the Light of day one of creation, God’s very light that was never able to be understood or overcome by the darkness. That when this light came into the world He was also the light of men who were made in God’s image. He was also the word or that which conveyed God’s ideas and thoughts whether in speech or in existence. Whenever you placed a situation before Jesus you would find out God’s idea, belief and thought on that situation. Wisdom would come out of confusion, sickness would be healed, the exploited would be defended and cared for, those who erred would be corrected and lead to truth, the lame walked, sins were forgiven, people set free, the dead came back to life!

Then John is transitioning that this divine being, God’s Son Jesus, was coming into the world He made and not just any place in the world but to those who were God’s people, those who at the time Jesus came were under law, the Jews. This was no casual meet up or introduction. This was grace and truth in all it’s fullness meeting the administration of the law in all it’s fullness and sparks flew when the administration of death towards the people God loved and the Son full of grace and truth met! Flames raged, ashes ensued, smoke bellowed but at the end of this face off, to see what God really backing, Grace and truth came out on top. Grace was greater and more superior, it made the law obsolete and ushered those who believed into a new and superior covenant built on better promises. Grace did not show up gradually. It did not overcame because it came subtly in waves,  holding back, looking to avoid detection. It also did not overcome because it was an exchange of the same thing that those under law already had. Grace and Truth is not a synonym for law or defined in the confines of it’s understanding. It can’t be held by it and in fact it overcomes  it. Because Grace and Truth came in all of it’s fullness it super abounded over the old covenant that allowed sin to reign and death to rule over all those that were under it.

So let’s take a look at this passage. Young’s Literal Translation is an extremely literal translation of the Greek and it says this: 

“16 and out of his fulness did we all receive, and grace over-against grace;

17 for the law through Moses was given, the grace and the truth through Jesus Christ did come;”

-John 1:16-17 YLT

Here we get a little more clarity. We see that is does have grace over-against grace. That brings a bit more clarity but I would even dare to say there is more to see here. 

I would like to go to the NASB Interlinear and look at the word for word translation first before I give my reasons for a few of the changes I would suggest. 

16 “For from the fullness of Him we all have received then grace for grace 

17 For the law through Moses was given - grace and - truth through Jesus Christ came”

-John 1:16-17 NASB Interlinear

there are some of the Greek words here where I would choose a different translation than what was listed here. I will show those in the italics bellow. I would encourage you to check out the greek words for yourself and judge it in light of it’s context. 

16 “For from the fullness of Him we all have received (even) grace (against) grace (,)”

17 “(because) the law through Moses was given (,) (the) grace and (the) truth through Jesus Christ came”

-John 1:16-17 YLT

The first word I in italics is “then.” This makes no grammatical sense. The Greek word here is “kai” Strongs G#2532 and means, “and, even, also.” Try out the three and in the context see which one makes the most sense. I believe “(even)” fits best, showing the extent that the fulness of Christ includes-even grace; and not just any grace but grace for that which is anti, or against that grace form God which is given. What was agains the grace of God that was being given through Christ? The next line shows us, the Law through Moses! 

This brings us to our next word I would like to look at in the NASB interlinear, “For.” This is not a great departure but I feel it is a worthy one. “For” is the Greek word, “hoti” and is Strongs G#3754 and means “that, because” but not “For.” It is a conjunction in the Greek and for this reason and the context I feel it ties verses 16 and 17 together as a run on idea that John is conveying by the Spirit of God for us. They are not supposed to be separated. 

The other (the)s that are included are the litteral Greek written here and are shown in the NASB Interlinear as denoting the definite article. The Greek word where we get the definite article is “he” or “Ho” and is the Greek word used in both of these instances. This Greek word is Strongs number G#3588 and the only definition given is “the.” John uses this to describe not some abstract idea of grace or a grace that mankind has a right to define in their limited understanding but of a specific. Other worldly and holy grace that is from God and that God alone defines. It is the different kind of grace and truth that only comes from the fulness of Christ! 

 

With the mechanics and the why of that interpretation out of the way I want to say that the law itself is not bad, it is holy, righteous and good! It, however, can not make us good. It was an instructor whose care the jewish people, those who were under law,  were under until Christ should come. The law as our instructor showed us our desperate need for a savior, who that savior would be, and promised and like an assistant goes ahead to make arrangements for a guest of honor to come and meet with his guests, prepared the way for Jesus who was full of grace and truth. 

Jesus then came not to dismiss the law. He recognized it was a binding agreement. He knew the only way to free those under the law was to fulfill the law’s demands. So after dotting every i and crossing every t in meticulous detail he cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” and with that death he closed the covenant of the law and opened up a new covenant! 

John 1:16-17, in this new light, shows us that the law was the landing strip Jesus needed like an airplane that needed to land and unload His cargo and complete His mission. The law prophesied of Jesus in striking detail. Jesus did come and was found to be full of the Grace of God of God even born under the covenant of law that by it’s very nature was against grace and He not only fulfilled and satisfied the law’s demands and dismissed it as completed and ushered in the new covenant. He came to pour out all He was to those who were under a different administration and fulfill the law they were under in order to explain the law correctly, fulfill it’s demands taking the load off of them and in order to set them free through faith in Him.

I want to encourage you today to let God’s unadulterated grace into the areas of your life where you seem to be coming up short, pour it on liberally, there is no lack. This is God’s desire for us and how we are told we are to rule and reign in life. To rule over every sickness, over every bondage, every lack, every addiction and every wrong belief about God, ourselves and others. Allow God’s Grace to supplant the law and take His rightful place as Lord in your life in all of those areas. Let God’s grace speak favor, strength, salvation, justification and blessing because of Jesus’ work wherever you believe your actions qualify or disqualify you from God’s salving power. This is what it means to be under grace. 

I also want to encourage you to not fear. Grace will not cause sin to reign, as some have slanderously accused, In fact just the opposite is true. God’s grace and truth will be the power to overcome sin and death in your life. It is the means by which God has ordained you to rule in life, with and through the one man Jesus Christ. It will bring in life and the favor of God to you wherever you receive it’s abundance and allow it to move the demands and condemnation brought by the law out of the doors of your heart. 

What amazing news this verse brings us! God’s Light, Jesus, has never and will never be overcome by the darkness. He longs to stand in the midst of any area in our lives where darkness may still go unchallenged and eternally shine there! Jesus is the man full of the Grace and the Truth of God. He will never be extinguished in the midst of deepest darkness, the gravest sins, or deepest condemnation. What a great grace we now have in Christ where we now stand trusting Him!

Grace and Peace,

CHRIS WAGONER