Posts Tagged: John 1:16

“E.G.R.”

On July 28, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (John 1:16, King James Veresion)

“We all live off his generous abundance,
    gift after gift after gift.” (John 1:16, The Message)

The other day, a friend of mine spoke of “E.G.R.” people. Before I could ask, my friend explained: Extra Grace Required. My friend very quickly added that she is sometimes an E.G.R. person.

Frankly, we are all E.G.R. people. Think of the kindest, most consistent person you know. Yes, even that person sometimes needs extra grace. Put two people together who both need extra grace at that moment, and you’ve got trouble. You might even have World War III.

The Gospel writer John says that, in Jesus Christ, we have grace after grace. What is grace? Someone has said it this way, comparing and contrasting mercy and grace: Mercy is not getting the punishment we deserve, and grace is getting the good things we don’t deserve. Grace is something we all need. John seems to be saying here that there is a boundless supply of grace in Jesus.

The Bible is very plain about what we are to do with this grace. We are to receive it, rejoice in it, and pass it along. Sometimes we all want to throw a dam across this river of grace. Most of us see our need for grace, but we don’t want to let the river flow. That won’t do. Jesus said to his original disciples, “Freely you have received. Freely give.” He says the same to you and me.

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“ONE GRACE AFTER ANOTHER”

On May 11, 2017 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another” (John 1:16, New Living Translation).

“For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another” (John 1:16, New English Translation).

Commentators and translators disagree about what the last phrase of John 1:16 means.  An older commentator named Matthew Henry lists six different possible understandings of the Greek phrase.  He seems to favor all of them at once.

The truth is that I don’t know precisely what it means.  I’m not sure that John did either.  Sometimes we all (including those who wrote the Bible) speak of mysteries that they didn’t understand, and that we don’t fully understand either.

However, whatever the phrase means, this much I believe with all my heart: It sounds awfully good!  Linked with the first phrase about receiving from the fullness of Christ, the phrase seems to be saying that there is an endless supply of grace.

Grace means many things, and I have not even begun to understand it.  Leon Morris, in his commentary on John, has some good thoughts.

“Clearly John intends to put some emphasis on the thought of grace.  Probably also he means that as one piece of divine grace (so to speak) recedes it is replaced by another.  God’s grace to His people is continuous and is never exhausted.  Grace knows no interruption and no limit.  . . .  But grace is always an adventure.  No man can say where grace will lead him.  Grace means an ever deepening experience of the presence and the blessing of God.”

But, of course, if I am receiving an endless supply of grace, I need to also show grace to others.  This is part of the adventure which is grace.  However, there is a catch: I don’t always want to show grace to others.  Sometimes (often?), I want others to get what they deserve.

Perhaps I need to keep reading.  A few verses after John 1:16, in verse 29, John the Baptizer says concerning Jesus, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  If that is true, then passing along grace to others is not an option.  If Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, who am I to try to dam up the flow of grace?

But while showing grace to others is not optional, it is a choice.  I can choose to withhold grace from others.  However, if I do that, those others may be harmed.  And I will most certainly be harmed.

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