Grace And Truth Incarnate
Reprinted from The Carolina Messenger
David R. Pharr

The marvelous Prologue of the fourth gospel (John 1:1-18) introduces Christ as the eternal Word, the one Who in His person is the perfect revelation of Deity. Words express ideas. We use words to say what we want to have known or to be understood. Jesus Christ is the only Word that says what needs to be known about God. This is why Jesus would declare to Philip, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). The emphasis in the Prologue is that Jesus Christ came into the world as God Incarnate. He is the Word that "was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).

One of John's several declarations regarding the incarnation is the statement, "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). What is beautifully affirmed in this verse is that He is grace and truth personified. In His very nature He embodies grace and truth.

Failure to consider this passage within its context has led to frequent misapplications. It is often cited as evidence of the contrasting natures of the Mosaic and gospel systems. The assumption is that the Mosaic system was one of law, a legalistic approach, and that the New Testament does not involve law, only grace and truth. The practical application of this interpretation is to assume that under Christ we need not be concerned about obedience to law, and that any emphasis on obedience to law is not compatible with grace. Certainly the law was inferior to the gospel, but this text does not teach that there was no grace in the law, nor does it teach that there is no law under the gospel of grace.

In the first place, it should be obvious that the law given through Moses excluded neither grace nor truth. Though the New Testament provides a clearer view of grace, the law itself was not antagonistic to it. It needs to be realized that if the purpose of John 1:17 is to show a dichotomy between the law and grace, it must with equal force mean that truth also was excluded. Further, even the use of the word "given" reminds us that the law was a product of grace. What God gives, He gives out of grace. Numerous passages from the Old Testament could be cited to demonstrate the law's inclusion of grace and truth (i.e., Gen. 6:8; Exo. 34:6; Psa. 25:10; etc.) What is perhaps even more instructive, however, is to remember that God Himself is the Author of the Mosaic law. To say that the law was a legalistic system, exclusive of grace and truth, is to charge its Author with legalism. Divine covenants change, but the Divine nature never changes (Mal. 3:6; James 1:17). Heaven's laws, whether through Moses or through Christ, have always been instruments of grace and truth.

Further, it is not so much a comparison of the covenants as it is a comparison of persons.

Paul's forceful discussions regarding grace as opposed to law were not against law per se. He showed that we are not bound to the requirements of the Old Covenant (Col. 2:14; et.al). He also corrected the error of thinking that one might be justified by perfectly keeping a law, that is, by meritorious works (Galatians 5:4). However, he does not mean to exclude man's participation in his own salvation, because that which avails is "faith which worketh by love" (Gal. 5:6). He never suggests that obedience to God's commands, and emphasis on the necessity of such obedience, is in any way an affront to grace.

Further, law is an integral part of the New Testament system. We are under the law of Christ (I Cor. 9:21; Gal. 6:2). Jeremiah's great prophecy of the new covenant, quoted in Hebrews 8, used the term "law" in describing the gospel system. "I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts" (Heb. 8:10). If there were but one gospel requirement, there would be that much law. Even the requirement to believe constitutes a law that must be obeyed (cf. John 6:29).

What we find in John 1:17 is not an antithesis, but a comparison. Further, it is not so much a comparison of the covenants as it is a comparison of persons. Certainly the new covenant is superior to the old, but this is not the point of the text. The emphasis is on Christ's supremacy. John had already shown Christ to be superior to the Baptist (John 1:7-9). Here He declares Him to be superior to Moses. Moses was a great man, a man chosen by God as the instrument through whom He gave the law, but he was only a man. He was used by God to declare Heaven's laws (laws which originated in Heaven's grace and truth), but he was not the author of the law. Neither were grace and truth personified in him. Moses could bring commandments down from the mountain; the Word was grace and truth coming down from heaven. These are qualities of Deity. Consider, for example, how Exodus 34:6 describes Deity as: "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." Such could not be fully manifested by a system; they had to be exemplified in a Person. If Moses had never been, there still would have been a law; but if there had never been a Christ, the fullness of grace and truth could never be known.

John's choice of verbs is precise. When he says that the law was "given [edotha] by [through] Moses," he was showing that Moses was an instrument, a mediator, a mere man, who was used by God to make known His requirements. But the text does not say that grace and truth were given by Christ. Instead there is a very careful distinction. Grace and truth "came [egeneto] by Jesus Christ." He was not a mere messenger that brought the knowledge of Divine goodness. He revealed grace and truth, not only in His teaching, but more especially in who He was. As surely as He is Himself "light" (John 1:9), as surely as He is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), so He is Himself "grace and truth."

That this is the emphasis of the passage can also be seen in verse 14 where it had already been said that He is "full of grace and truth." Every quality of Deity is fully in Him. "In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9). The qualities of grace and truth are named because they are of particular significance in His mission of redemption. When the Word was made flesh, grace and truth, which had been only foreshadowed in the law, became reality in a Person.

The Son of God came into the world that those who put their trust in Him might be saved (John 3:16). Trusting Him involves recognizing that He is indeed the Son of God and the only Savior. But trusting Him also means obedience to His instructions. His offer of salvation is on the basis of our faith and obedience (Hebrews 5:9). He said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:16). These requirements were applied in the apostle Peter's instructions on the day of Pentecost: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38). It is by believing, repenting, and being baptized that one begins the life of trust, the life that enjoys the full benefits of Heaven's Grace and Truth.

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