by Bill Boyd<\/p>\n
After his presidency, Jimmy Carter returned to his home in Plains, Georgia, and taught a Sunday School class at the Maranatha Baptist Church. His book, “Sources of Strength,” is a compilation of his Sunday School lessons. He did not condescend to the Bible’s contents as one might expect from a high worldly leader; rather, he aspired to its teachings as one would expect from a man of the soil. One of his Sunday School lessons is titled, “Full of Grace and Truth,” taken from John 1:17: “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.<\/em>” Carter wrote, “John places in juxtaposition to grace: truth. Grace is gentle, grace is nice, but truth can be difficult to face.”<\/p>\n Some have concluded from John’s words that there was no grace under the law. Read John again with care and note, John did not just say, “…grace came by Jesus Christ,” he said “…grace and truth<\/em>.” Since “truth<\/em>” also came by Jesus Christ, should we conclude that there was no “truth” under the law? Let it not be so! The law Moses gave was truth, but it was not “all truth.” The LORD told Moses in the law that he would raise up a Prophet like Moses, put his words in the Prophet’s mouth, the Prophet would speak all that he was commanded, and to the Prophet ye should hearken (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). Jesus told his apostles that the Spirit would teach them “all truth<\/em>” (John 14:25), and guide them into “all truth<\/em>” (John 16:13). The law from Moses revealed truth in part, but the fulness of truth came with Jesus Christ. So also, the law from Moses taught us about grace in part, but the fullness of grace came with Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n It is written in the law, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD<\/em>” (Genesis 6:8). Noah was saved by grace (Genesis 6:8), by faith (Hebrews 11:7), by obedience (Genesis 6:22), by water (I Peter 3:20), and with the ark (Hebrews 11:7). Noah’s salvation serves as a type of our salvation, for we too are saved by grace (Acts 15:11), by faith (Romans 5:1), by obedience (Hebrews 5:9), by baptism (I Peter 3:21), and with the church (Ephesians 5:23), in that as Noah had to enter and remain in the ark, so we are to enter and remain in the church.<\/p>\n Noah (Genesis 6:8), Abraham (Genesis 18:3), Lot (Genesis 19:19), Moses (Exodus 33:17), Gideon (Judges 6:17), and David (II Samuel 15:25) found grace or favor in the eyes of the LORD. Jacob told Esau that God had graciously given him children (Genesis 33:5), and that God had delt graciously with him (Genesis 33:11). Joseph said to Benjamin, “God be gracious unto thee<\/em>” (Genesis 43:29). The LORD said to Moses, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious<\/em>…” (Exodus 33:19). Moses wrote in Numbers 6:25, “The LORD make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee<\/em>.” In II Kings 13:23, the prophet wrote, “The LORD was gracious unto them… because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob<\/em>.” David sang in Psalm 84:11, “The LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly<\/em>.” Jeremiah preached “Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel<\/em>” (Jeremiah 31:2). Amos proclaimed, “The LORD of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph<\/em>” (Amos 5:15). This and more shows that God’s grace is a running theme through the law, the psalms, and the prophets.<\/p>\n Every good thing that God has given man and every good thing that God has done for man is a gift of God’s grace. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights<\/em>…” (James 1:17). “He left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness<\/em>” (Acts 14:17). From the beginning God has been gracious, but the fullness of his grace was not known until the coming of Christ. Christ came “full of grace and truth… and of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace<\/em>” (John 1:14, 16).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bill Boyd After his presidency, Jimmy Carter returned to his home in Plains, Georgia, and taught a Sunday School class at the Maranatha Baptist Church. His book, “Sources of Strength,” is a compilation of his Sunday School lessons. He did not condescend to the Bible’s contents as one might expect from a high worldly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,441],"class_list":["post-95428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-grace","tag-truth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35755,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-it-mean-that-grace-and-truth-came-by-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":95428,"position":0},"title":"What does it mean that grace and truth came by Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Jeff, I came across these beautiful words from John 1:16-17\u00a0 \"And from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.\" Can you explain, what does it really means that grace and truth came\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38588,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/truth-and-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":95428,"position":1},"title":"Truth and Law","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton Today there is lawlessness going on at elevated proportions. Even churches that have claimed to be \"of Christ\" have been divided by a spirit of lawlessness. Some misuse \"we are not under law but under grace\" (Romans 6:15) to give the undiscerning a scripture on which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62632,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/grace-and-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":95428,"position":2},"title":"Grace and Law","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 11, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 1:14-17 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0False ideas don\u2019t always die. They end up getting recycled at a later time when the present generation has forgotten the teachings of the past which showed the ideas to be false. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I remember from childhood a big debate over the role\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66014,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-divine-temple\/","url_meta":{"origin":95428,"position":3},"title":"Jesus the Divine Temple","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer John's gospel begins by affirming that Jesus is the divine logos, the Word through whom all things were made. In Him is life and light. Life comes from Him, and He, the light of the world, came to this earth to overpower the darkness so that all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48211,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-we-under-law-or-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":95428,"position":4},"title":"Are We Under “Law” or “Grace”?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wayne Jackson \"Why do some insist that Christians are 'under law' today? We are not under law, but grace. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus\u00a0(John 1:17).\" We must respectfully point out that the question recorded above reflects a serious misunderstanding of the nature\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56607,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-grace-of-god-that-brings-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":95428,"position":5},"title":"The Grace of God that Brings Salvation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Irvin Himmel via\u00a0Truth Magazine, December 1973 Nothing is more clearly revealed in the Scriptures than our dependence on God's grace for redemption. Paul said to the saints in Ephesus, \"by grace are ye saved\" (Ephesians 2:5). Everyone who is permitted to enter heaven will be there by grace. Today\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}