“For from [Christ’s] fullness
we have all received,
grace upon grace”
(John 1:16, ESV).
The NASB translates the verse the same way. The NIV translates the verse “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.”
Christ (the Word) has been the focus of John chapter 1. In verse 14 we read, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The fact that Jesus was “full of grace and truth” is the key concept addressed in verses 16–17. Verse 15 is a parenthetical aside. To get a better understanding of the force of John’s argument, we can read verses 14 and 16–17 together, without verse 15:
“And the Word became flesh
and
dwelt among us, and we have
seen his glory, glory
as of the
only Son
from the Father,
full of grace and truth. . . .
For from
his fullness
we have all received,
grace upon grace
For the law was given through
Moses;
grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ.”
Jesus is full of grace, and John says that, from that fullness, we (John, his original readers, and the rest of us who have trusted in Christ) have received grace and more grace. One hallmark of any interaction with Jesus is grace. Christians receive grace and then more grace—grace served on top of grace—grace and then, in place of that, more grace. The point is that Christ is full of grace, and those who know Him get showered with grace.
The Amplified Bible translates John 1:16 this way:
"Out of His fullness
[the superabundance of
His grace and truth]
we have all received
grace upon grace
[spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing,
favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].”
What’s abundantly clear is that,
when we come to Christ,
He dishes out grace in heaping, huge servings.
In John 1:17 Christ is contrasted with Moses and the law. Of course, the law and God’s dealings with Israel did involve grace and truth, but the emphasis was more on obedience and punishment. In the New Testament, law is often contrasted with grace.
The law
emphasized God’s divine standards and
the inability of fallen mankind to meet them,
while grace rescues
fallen
humanity from deserved punishment.
The law pinpoints the problem, and
Grace fixes the problem
Romans 5:20–21
says the same thing in a slightly different way:
“The law was
brought in so that the trespass might increase.
But where sin increased,
grace increased all the more, so that,
just as sin reigned in death,
so also grace
might reign through righteousness to bring
eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.”
In 2 Corinthians 4:7,
Paul makes a beautiful statement that
“we have this
treasure in earthen vessels,
so that the
surpassing greatness of the
power will be of God
and not from ourselves.”
The context helps us understand what is the treasure in earthen vessels
(other translations say “jars of clay”).
Paul is exhorting his readers that, even though there is great difficulty in their ministry, he is encouraged (2 Corinthians 4:1). He acknowledges that in his ministry he had received mercy and that he and the others who shared that ministry are not losing heart (in this case he is also referring to Timothy, see 2 Corinthians 1:1).
They could have confidence because
they were walking in the
truth of God’s Word
and not in their own cleverness or craftiness
(2 Corinthians 4:2).
Because their
confidence was in His truth and not
their own ability,
they could fulfill their ministry with good conscience
even as God could observe their actions
(2 Corinthians 4:2).
Even though
Paul and Timothy’s
gospel-proclaiming ministry
was at times
met with rejection,
it was not because of any flaw in the good news itself.
Unbelievers suffer from a blindness of
the mind
and are unable to see
the
“light of the gospel of the glory of Christ
who is the image of God”
(2 Corinthians 4:3–4).
Because of this great need, the message of the gospel is so important. They weren’t proclaiming or promoting themselves; rather, they were serving others by proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:5). The light that Paul and Timothy were proclaiming had come from God—that same God who had originally created light (Genesis 1:3) and who had determined that Christ would come to provide light to humanity (John 1:4–9). God had accomplished the creation of light and the coming of Jesus. What He determines shall happen; it will indeed take place, and God had shone light in Paul’s and Timothy’s hearts that they would be equipped to present the wonderful truth of Jesus Christ and the eternal life He provides (2 Corinthians 4:6). It is for this reason that Paul explains that they have the treasure in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7) and why that is significant.
Paul says elsewhere that,
if he will boast,
he will boast in the Lord
(2 Corinthians 10:17)
He is doing exactly
that here when he says that they have
the treasure in earthen vessels
(2 Corinthians 4:7).
The marvel that Paul is communicating is that, even as Paul and Timothy (and presumably the other disciples) were proclaiming Christ, they were not fulfilling this responsibility in their own power. Instead, God had provided the life, the power, and the message. Paul understood that those who were doing the actual proclaiming were simply earthen vessels—with no glory or merit of their own. As he said to the Corinthians in his previous letter, “Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7).
Such lowly and humble people were given an
incredible treasure--
the
personal and lifegiving
knowledge of Jesus Christ
in their own lives
and the
good news to proclaim
to others.
This shows how
surpassing is the strength and power of God,
and those who hear the message
can be encouraged that the power is from
God and His truth.
The power does not originate in the cleverness or strength of people.