“And of His fulness have all we received , and grace for grace.”
(Jn. 1:16)
The dear old black preacher had it right when he said, “De Bible sure do shed a lot of light on dem commentaries.” I have six sets and rarely consult them. The reason is that I have found they have the same problem with problem texts that I do. Therefore, I’ve learned to “give it my best shot,” as they say.
Believing, as I do, the old K.J.V. translation has its own built-in dictionary and that it is its own best commentary, I will attempt to answer what I believe “grace for grace” means. I have never been satisfied with the comments I’ve read, nor the sermons I have heard, on the subject. The following satisfies my spiritual palate.
“Life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,” Deut. 19:21. That is “tit for tat”: an equivalent given in return. The principle is: what you take, you get back in kind. Applying our scripture, you take God’s grace, then you’ll get the same in return. You take heaps, then you’ll receive heaps upon heaps!
One need not have any fear of God’s ever running out of His marvelous grace. He has an eternal artesian well of grace. We are told it is: Great; Rich; Exceeding; Manifold; All-sufficient; and Abundant.
“What is grace? I know until you ask me; when you ask me, I do not know.
(St. Augustine)
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