Gospels Part 060
John continues his explanation of how Jesus Christ both brought and personified God’s grace.
We continue our deep dive into John’s introduction to his Gospel in John 1:16:
“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.”
The literal Greek wording here expresses that we have received “grace for grace,” which is probably best understood as meaning “grace on top of grace” or, as encapsulated here in the New English Translation, “one gracious gift after another.”
“Grace” is referring to the goodness of God, something that He grants to someone which is not earned. It is anything and everything that God does that is good, kind and merciful toward us that we don’t deserve. God loves us, but that is not something we earned or deserved. God blesses us, cares for all our wants and needs, and wants to give us eternal life in His family, but we have not done anything to earn or deserve it. Jesus Christ came to live as a perfect example for us and to give His life as a sacrifice for our sins so we can be reconciled to God, but again, that is not something we can earn or deserve.
These are just a few of the ways God bestows on us “grace on top of grace” or “one gracious gift after another.” We could go on to list dozens more examples of God’s goodness toward us. All of these demonstrate His grace, blessings and goodness toward us. (To learn more, be sure to read our study aid, What Does the Bible Teach About Grace?)
Continuing in John 1:17,
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
We should first note here that the word “but” does not appear in the original Greek but was added by translators who mistakenly try to draw a contrast between the law revealed through Moses and “grace and truth” that came through Jesus Christ. Most Bible versions do not include “but” and generally render this along the lines of “the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
If we follow John’s clear train of thought, that immediately before this he has told us that God has given us “one gracious gift after another,” it logically flows that he is telling us that God’s law was one of God’s gracious gifts. Any of John’s first-century Jewish readers would have fully agreed with this fact that grace and truth are another of God’s gracious gifts. John states that they are now manifest through Jesus Christ. This is not saying that grace and truth didn’t exist earlier, as we showed in the last lesson that they clearly did.
Since John is setting the stage for the story of Jesus Christ entering the world and beginning His earthly ministry, he may also have in mind the contrast of how the Jews had the law that was given through Moses, but they had corrupted and twisted it and lost sight of its true meaning and made it a burden. Jesus, however, came to restore the truth about God’s law—its true spiritual purpose and intent and the great blessing that it was intended to be. We see this conflict throughout all four Gospels, and particularly in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus contrasts the common understanding of the letter of the law with the true spiritual intent of the law that He revealed.
And as we will soon see, Jesus was the divine Being who was the original lawgiver to Moses, so it doesn’t make sense to argue that Jesus came to change or do away with the very same law that He Himself had given to Moses and the Israelites. Many people don’t understand who Jesus Christ really was, so they come up with biblically unsupported ideas that blaspheme Jesus and what He taught.
© 2026 Scott Ashley. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
UYA Team | uya@ucg.org
United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.
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Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
