“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)
Have we considered what John meant when he wrote this? There was a total of 613 laws which included the ceremonial, ritual, and moral laws. However, what John has in view, is likely the 10 commandments (moral law).
We know Paul states, “The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good” (Rom. 7:12). Although the Law is holy, we are not. And we know the only way one can have life, eternal life with God, is by doing the commandments, as Jesus tells the rich young ruler,
“And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments” (Matt. 19:17).
So this creates a dilemma, the Law is holy, we are not and we cannot keep the Law perfectly. However, the Son of Man, that is, Jesus Christ, DID keep the Law perfectly on our behalf (Heb. 7:11-22; 2 Cor. 5:21). By virtue of His sinless life, we enter into eternal life (life with God) by placing our faith/trust in Him. He represents us before God as being our high priest (Heb. 4:14). Hence, this is why we are either in Adam or Christ. Adam represents sin and death while Christ represents life and righteousness.
With that being said, grace is represented through Jesus fulfilling the law on our behalf. God’s grace is demonstrated through Jesus fulfilling the Law and taking our punishment on our behalf. Although we are under grace, Paul reminds us that “grace reigns through righteousness (Rom. 5:21). This, indeed, is Christ’s righteousness.
When it comes to “truth”, Jesus is the very One who fulfilled the prophetic word of the Old Testament. There are countless prophecies that Jesus fulfilled which means that God’s Word is “true”. Indeed, Jesus is the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6).
This is what it means when John writes, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)
How great is our God!?!?
