Full of Grace and Truth

This false understanding of grace has the effect of doing away with the truth, so that we only receive “half” a Jesus, which is what Paul calls “another Jesus” and a “different gospel.” 2 Cor. 11:4. “You may well put up with it.” Grace without truth pleases people quite well. They gladly put up with this sort of preaching. There is a veritable flood of preachers in our land who travel around and minister this “different gospel” and preach “another Jesus.” And because the people accept it gladly, many of them make a good living at it.

“For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God . . . .” 2 Cor. 2:17. We want the truth as well as grace! It is no comfort for us to hear that grace is so great that even if we are in bondage to sin, we will get to heaven anyway. Our comfort is that God’s grace is so great that we no longer have to be in bondage to sin; now we can overcome sin. This is heaven for us!

Jesus came full of grace and truth. That was His glory. John 1:14. Had He come with grace only and not with truth, it would have been like whitewashing a grave. We would have remained in our sin and ignorance while being covered with God’s grace. Many have this understanding of grace, but no glory comes of it. They are just hypocrites. On the other hand, had Jesus come with the truth only, we would have seen our condition and come into condemnation and despair, because we are not competent of ourselves to live according to the truth. This doesn’t lead to any glory either. But Jesus came with all that we need—grace and truth. Now we can see our true condition and the entire will of God for us, and we can receive all the help we need to live accordingly. Then comes the glory!

Jesus came full of grace and truth—in other words, nothing lacking. “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him . . . .” Heb. 7:25. This is the better hope by which we can draw near to God.

The law was a part of God’s will, but Jesus came with all of God’s will; that is, He came full of truth. He did not do away with the law, as many believe. No, He fulfilled it. We see this in the Sermon on the Mount. “You have heard that it was said . . . ‘You shall not commit adultery.’” That was the law, which dealt with the act itself; the people could keep this law in their own strength. But it was not perfection. Then Jesus came with the truth—perfection: “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matt. 5:27-28. Here He condemns sin in the flesh. Rom. 8:3. This is perfection: Not only is the outside of the cup cleansed, but the inside as well.

It is not possible to overcome this lust in our own strength; we need God’s power. That is why Jesus came with help. This was His theme throughout the entire Sermon on the Mount, and He says that He came to preach the gospel to the poor. The gospel is the glad tidings—the promises. The Sermon on the Mount is really the gospel; it is what God will do with every soul who surrenders himself to Him with all his heart. Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . . Blessed are those who mourn . . . . Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . . .” It is as if someone prepared a large table with the finest of food and said to those who were invited, “Blessed are you if you are hungry. Blessed are you who have mourned for so long because you have had no food. Blessed are you who are poor, for now there is full liberty to help yourselves.”

There were many in Israel who longed for a life of perfection. They knew in their hearts that what the law could lead them to was insufficient. Now Jesus had come with perfection. He prepared a table before them with an abundance of food and said; “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst. The time has come; now you shall be filled with righteousness—satisfied with perfection. Now everyone is free to take as much as he likes.” Now we can behold His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.