Full of Grace and Truth

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14 ESV)

We read in the Gospel of John that our Lord Jesus Christ is "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). He is equally, in perfect balance, full of both grace and truth.

In the churches of today, we see a trend to be either grace or truth. Many churches today tend to lean toward being either all grace or all truth; or to lean more toward one than the other.

We cannot be all about grace while neglecting truth. We cannot be all about truth and neglect grace. There must be a perfect balance between each. Grace cannot take away from truth, nor can truth take away from grace. One cannot diminish the other. 

While we see God as being full of mercy, we must also see Him as being completely just. We cannot create a false environment in our churches with a "god" who completely ignores sin because of grace and mercy. Neither can we create an environment of fire and brimstone while recreating a false "god" who shows no grace or mercy.

We must confront our sin head-on while we embrace grace and mercy at the same time. God calls us to seek righteousness and is equally merciful in our repentance. 

In His grace and mercy, the Lord forgivingly calls us to come to Him as we are - as sinners. At the same time, He calls us in His truth to turn from our sin and make our paths straight (see Hebrews 12:13-14 ESV). 

"...grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17b ESV)

Lord Jesus, we thank You for being equally merciful and just. May we always seek to follow Your example of grace and truth in our churches and in our daily lives. In Your Holy Name we pray, Amen. †