"Grace for Grace"

It’s funny how you can read something a thousand times and never pause beside its beauty. Such is the case in the Gospel of John, where there is a three-word phrase that I had never noticed before. What is that phrase? “Grace for grace.”

This phrase has, no doubt, been overshadowed by a more well-known thought in the passage that comes two verses before it: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), but it has incredible beauty and insight in its own right. The truth that it betrays must not be lost on us. “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace,” John writes (John 1:16).

Don’t miss it, friends: we have all received from Christ’s fullness. Every single one of us have benefited from all of God’s fullness that dwells in Christ (see Colossians 1:19; 2:9). It doesn’t matter if we are a believer or a non-believer; all of us have received of Christ. And what is included in this fullness that John speaks of? Grace for grace.

In other words, when we have exhausted grace there is more grace. Each day is testament to this fact. None of us are alive but for the grace of God. None of us draw a breath except for His grace. When we “use” up all of God’s grace at any given moment, He comes in with more grace. It’s just grace upon grace upon grace upon grace; love upon love upon love upon . . . you get the idea.

I like what Ellen White says about this concept. Notice what she says, “The gifts of Jesus are ever fresh and new. The feast that He provides for the soul never fails to give satisfaction and joy. Each new gift increases the capacity of the receiver to appreciate and enjoy the blessings of the Lord. He gives grace for grace. There can be no failure of supply” (A Call to Stand Apart, p. 11).

What a beautiful reality! There “can be no failure of supply” with Christ. He longs to give us more and more grace—full, unadulterated grace. And what is our “job” in all this? We are called to “appreciate” and “enjoy the blessings of the Lord.”

So why not do just that? Our lives are sustained by God’s grace every day, yes, but let us not take it for granted. Let us thank the Lord, down on our knees, every day for His grace and mercy and sustaining power.