Joseph Prince: Growing in GraceExemplo

Grace And Truth Are One

Did you know that God sees grace (unmerited favor) and truth as one and the same thing? Notice in John 1:17 that truth is on the same side as God’s grace and both grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. When I did a study of this verse in its original Greek, I found out that “grace and truth” are actually referred to as a singular unit, since they are followed by the singular verb translated as “came.” In other words, in God’s eyes, grace and truth are synonymous—unmerited favor is truth and truth is unmerited favor.

Sometimes, people tell me things like, “Well, it’s good that you preach grace, but we also have to tell people about truth.” This makes it seem as though grace and truth are two different things when, in fact, they are one and the same. You cannot separate truth from grace and grace from truth as they are both embodied in the person of Jesus Christ. In fact, just a few verses before this, John 1:14, referring to the person of Jesus, says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace [unmerited favor] and truth.” Grace and truth came together through the person and ministry of Jesus. Grace is not a doctrine or teaching. Grace is a Person.

I want you to notice that grace came by Jesus whereas the law was given through Moses. Jesus didn’t come to give us more laws. He came to give us His unmerited favor, which is His truth! It would be of immense profit to you to keep in mind that every time you read the word “grace” in the Bible, you translate it mentally as “unmerited favor,” because that is what it is.

My friend, “grace came.” It is one thing to give, but it is another thing to come. Grace came by Jesus Christ. God came down to where we were to lift us up to where He is!