John 1:17 says, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”  This verse describes the difference between Judaism and Christianity.  The Lord used Moses to deliver the Law to His earthly people, the Jews.  The Law was exclusively for the Jewish people as we read in Exodus 20:22, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.”  Exodus 20 gives us the Ten Commandments while we read many of the particulars of the Law in the book of Leviticus.  Throughout the Old Testament, we find types of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  For example we read of the Lord speaking to Moses in Numbers 20:8, “Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and SPEAK YE UNTO THE ROCK before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.”  In 1 Corinthians 10:4 we read, “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST.”

Even before the giving of the Law, we read of the first Passover in Exodus 12:1-14.  Then, we read in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even CHRIST OUR PASSOVER is sacrificed for us.”  So, even in the Old Testament and in the particulars of the Law, the Lord Jesus was being portrayed.  Christ Himself said in John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”  While there are many ‘types’ of Christ in the Old Testament, it is Christ Himself who came with ‘grace and truth’ as we read in John 1:17.

Under the Law, there was grace as we read in Exodus 34:6-7, “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”  However, the proper purpose of the Law itself was not grace, but rather restraint and conviction of sin as we read in  Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”  The law itself was also an exhibition of truth, but when Jesus Christ came, He declared Himself to be the Truth…the very personification of truth.  He said of Himself in John 14:6 (KJV), “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.  His life and death were the supreme manifestation of grace.  The Apostle John had previously said of the Lord Jesus, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).

So, while Moses delivered the Law to God’s people (read Acts 7:38), in contrast, the Lord Jesus was the very embodiment of grace and truth.  Indeed, He was ‘full of grace and truth.”  All the grace that belonged to the dispensation of the Law came through Christ, while the gospel of Jesus Christ, in which He is revealed, is itself grace and truth in FULL MEASURE.  Our standing today before the Lord is clearly given to us in Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”  Another word for ‘grace’ is ‘kindness’.  With that in mind, we will close this devotional by reading Titus 3:4-5, “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”  (358.2)