“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.” —John 1:17
Paul tells us in Romans that the law was given to make us conscious of our sin:
“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” —Romans 3:19
Sin Separates Us from God
There is no one righteous, not even one—no one who is able to follow the law perfectly. Paul tells us:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” —Romans 3:23
Solomon also tells us:
“For there is not one truly righteous person on the earth who continually does good and never sins.” —Ecclesiastes 7:20
We not only fall short of God’s glory; we continuously fall short. As Paul tells us in Romans:
“So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” —Romans 7:21–24
“Sin is a fundamental relationship—it is not wrong doing, but wrong being—it is deliberate and determined independence from God … The first thing Jesus Christ confronted in people was the heredity of sin, and it is because we have ignored this in our presentation of the gospel that the message of the gospel has lost its sting and its explosive power.” —Oswald Chambers
Jesus Reunites Us with God!
The solution to our sin is Jesus! Paul tells us in Romans:
“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” —Romans 7:25
Further, Paul goes on to proclaim the following very good news:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” —Romans 8:1–4
As a result of our faith in and our identification with Christ Jesus, we are justified, we are declared righteous, we are now able to stand firm in His grace and not under His wrath, and we are possessors of eternal life. In our verse for today, John tells us that through Jesus, grace and truth have come to us. Surpassing the Law of Moses, though it were ever so glorious a revelation, the gospel of Jesus Christ is a much clearer and sweeter revelation filled with love, mercy, grace, and truth.
Become More
“The exhaustless riches of divine grace can never suffer any one to go away empty. It can never tell anyone that he is too poor. It can meet the very deepest human need; and not only so, but it is glorified in meeting it. This holds good in every case. It is true of every individual sinner … Grace is the grand and only resource for us all. It is the basis of our salvation; the basis of a life of practical godliness; and the basis of those imperishable hopes which animate us amid the trials and conflicts of this sin-stricken world.” —C H MacIntosh, 1860, Notes on Leviticus
Take some time to consider the ways you are currently experiencing God’s grace and truth.
Further Reflections
“In the gospel we discover that we are far more wicked than we ever dared believe, yet more loved than we ever dared hope.” —Tim Keller
“I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.” —John Newton