John 1:14, Jesus...

“full of grace”
(By: Lesriv Spencer, 07/28/2010. Updated May, 2014)

Table of Contents:

1. The meaning of “grace”.

2. Should the Greek word for “grace” be rendered exclusively with one English equivalent?
3. The grace of God within the concept of man’s salvation.
4. Grace is closely linked to other godly qualities.
5. The implication of grace in a Christian’s life.
6. Grace should not be abused nor taken for granted.

John 1:14 says according to the New King James Version: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
[Greek, χάριτος (cha'ritos)] and truth.” This well-known scripture brings up this question: What is
“grace”?

1. The meaning of grace:

At first glance, defining “grace” would seem to be a simple matter. However, if we are asked to
explain it to someone else, we may find then that it is not so simple to define. Some may
attempt to define it using complicated language, even with mysterious connotations. But
mainly, the word has been defined in so many different ways. In part, this may be due to the
expressiveness of the Greek word χα'ρις (cha'ris) in its various forms, and its related synonym
cha'risma. (Forms related to the noun “cha'ris”: cha'ritos; cha'riti; cha'rin; cha'ritas; cha'rita. Cognate:
charito'ō)

Says one source: “In secular Greek of all periods it [“grace”] is also a very common word, and in
both Biblical and secular Greek it is used with far more meanings than can be represented by
any one term in English….” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia – Online. ISBE)

Secular dictionaries may offer more than a dozen different meanings for the word, and Bible
reference works are not that far behind with its various definitions. John MacArthur, a popular
author and preacher, tells us: “Grace is a terribly misunderstood word. Defining it succinctly is
notoriously difficult. Some of the most detailed theology textbooks do not offer any concise
definition of the term.” (Adapted from The Gospel According to the Apostles. © 2000 by John MacArthur)

Let's see how some Bible scholars understand the word “grace.” I have chosen (hopefully) simple
explanations for the term:

Dr. Wayne Detzler writes: “The Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint, contains 56 references to
grace. The vast majority of these, 41 in all, relate grace to Jehovah's actions and His attitudes
toward Israel … The New Testament is essentially a ‘grace’ book. It contains more than 150
references to grace, and most of these tell of God's gracious actions toward His people.” (New
Testament Words in Today's Language, p. 188. ©1986, SP Publications, Inc.)
The Translator's New Testament defines “grace” as: “The free and undeserved love of God,
manifested in Jesus Christ. God shows this love when he sets men free from sin and puts them
in an new relationship with himself.” (“Glossary,” p. 564. ©1973, British & Foreign Bible Society)

And A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament declares: “Moreover, the word χάρις [cha'ris]
contains the idea of kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved:… the N. T. writers
use χάρις pre-eminently of that kindness by which God bestows: favors even upon the ill-
deserving, and grants to sinners the pardon of their offences, and bids them accept of eternal
salvation through Christ….” (By Joseph H. Thayer, p. 666. ©1977, Baker Book House. Italics his.)

Dr. Stephen D. Renn explains: “This noun [Hebrew: ‫ חֵן‬ḥēn] occurs approximately seventy times
with the predominant meanings ‘grace,’ ‘favor,’ and when predicated of Yahweh it indicates the
free and unconditional granting of his blessing. […] [The Hebrew ‫ ]חָנ ַן‬ḥānan is a verb found nearly
eighty times meaning ‘to be gracious,’ ‘show mercy, favor.’ […] charis [χάρις] is the dynamic Greek
equivalent for the Hebrew term ḥēn above, found about 150 times. charis denotes ‘favor,’
‘grace,’ as well as a variety of related nuances, throughout the usage. The large majority of
occurrences indicate ‘grace’ originating from God. This ‘grace’ denotes the limitless kindness and
mercy of God that is freely given to human beings undeserved.” (Expository Dictionary of Bible
Words, pp. 447-48. ©2005, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. Bold letters his.)

ISBE (1982): “We have, then, three uses of cháris in classical Greek: (1) a charming quality that
wins favor, (2) a quality of benevolence that gives favor to inferiors, and (3) a response of
thankfulness for the favor given. As we shall see, it is the second sense that commends cháris
for adoption into the NT vocabulary to indicate the benevolence of God toward sinners. The
other senses are also taken over in biblical use, but are always peripheral to the central NT
meaning.” (Page 548)

“The word ‘grace’ in its special Christian sense refers to the freedom of salvation in Jesus Christ.
As used by Paul in particular, the word underscores the fact that salvation is freely given by God
to undeserving sinners.” (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. II, page 547. ©1982,
Eerdmans Publishing Company)

How does MacArthur himself defines “grace”? “One of the best-known definitions of grace is
only three words: God's unmerited favor. A. W. Tozer expanded on that: ‘Grace is the good
pleasure of God that inclines him to bestow benefits on the undeserving.’ [...] Grace is not merely
unmerited favor; it is favor bestowed on sinners who deserve wrath. Showing kindness to a
stranger is ‘unmerited favor’; doing good to one's enemies is more the spirit of grace (Luke 6:27-
36). […] Thus we could properly define grace as the free and benevolent influence of a holy God
operating sovereignly in the lives of undeserving sinners.” (Adapted from The Gospel According to the
Apostles © 2000 by John MacArthur. Italics his.)

And William Barclay adds: “Cha'risma [related to cha'ris] basically means ‘a gift’. […] The whole basic
idea of the word is that of a free and undeserved gift, of something given to a man unearned
and unmerited, something which comes from God's grace and which could never have been
achieved or attained or possessed by a man's own effort.” (New Testament Words, 1974, pp. 62-63)

Consider how Bible versions render the Greek word, cha'ris, so we can better grasp what cha'ris
is all about. It should be noted that although John uses cha'ris only a few times, John Polhill
points out that, “In the Johannine writings the idea of God's unmerited gift in Christ is very
present, but conveyed by a different word—agape (love).” (Holman Bible Dictionary, published by
Broadman & Holman, 1991) This is reflected in various readings below:

Latin Vulgate: “plenum gratiae et veritatis” [“full of grace and truth”]

King James Version / NIV, and many others: “full of grace”
Word Study Greek-English New Testament: “full of favor” (Paul R. McReynolds)
Also: The Emphatic Diaglott; Apostolic Bible Polyglot English Text; James Tomanek NT; Rotherham, & Living Oracles.
21st. Century New Testament: “full of graciousness” (& “gracious favour”)
Simple English Bible: “full of gracious love”
GOD'S WORD Translation: “full of kindness”
The Living Bible: “full of loving forgiveness”
New World Translation (1984): “full of undeserved kindness”
New World Translation (2013): “full of divine favor”
New Living Translation: “full of unfailing love”
Contemporary English Translation: “all the kindness”
The Message: “Generous inside and out”
The Amplified Bible: “full of grace (favor, loving kindness)”
The Original New Testament (Schonfield): “Full of loving-kindness”
NEW TESTAMENT, by Julian G. Anderson: “He was filled with truth and love for those that don't deserve it.”
AN AMERICAN TRANSLATION (Goodspeed): “abounding in blessing”
Williams' New Testament: “full of spiritual blessing”
New Life Version: “full of loving favor”
Bible in Worldwide English (Also: Christian Community Bible): “loving kindness.”)
exeGeses companion Bible: “full of charism”
Twentieth Century: “full of love”
AN UNDERSTANDABLE VERSION: “full of God's favor”

The 21st Century New Testament contains a translation note explaining (under “Gracious favor”):
“This term is used to translate the Greek word charis variously rendered as ‘favour’ ‘blessing’ ‘gift’
‘undeserved kindness’ and ‘grace’. Charis includes all of these but embraces more in most of its
uses in the NT. It is a favour undeserved by the recipient, a benign kindness expressed by a
superior to an inferior. None of these renderings give this fullest meaning. The most common
‘grace’, is less than satisfactory as it often merely denotes charm, attractiveness, goodwill, or
favour. The words ‘gracious’ and ‘gracious favour’, do convey the complete meaning including
that of an expression to an inferior, being often used in connection with royalty.” (Vivian Capel,
Insight Press, 1998; Bristol, England)

‘Undeserved’ or ‘unmerited’ kindness seems to be an intrinsic meaning of cha'ris, and in many

contexts it would be suitable to translate it that way. William Barclay explains that cha'ris “has
always two basic ideas in it: (a) It always has the idea of something completely undeserved. It
always has the idea of something that we could never have earned or achieved for ourselves....
(b) It always has the idea of beauty in it. In modern Greek the word means charm. In Jesus we
see the winsomeness of God.” (The Gospel of John, p. 66. ©1975, The Westminster Press)

2. Should the Greek word for “grace” be rendered exclusively with one English equivalent?

The expressions “gracious favor,” “undeserved kindness,” and “unmerited favor” are good
equivalents for the Greek word cha'ris. This does not mean, however, that these expressions are
always the best translation choices. The risk of trying to force one meaning to one word on all
the Biblical passages was brought out by the biblical encyclopedia, ISBE: “Most of the
discussions of the Biblical doctrine of grace have been faulty in narrowing the meaning of ‘grace’
to some special sense, and then endeavoring to force this special sense on all the Biblical
passages.” (ISBE Online, under “Summary”)

A case in point is found in how the New World Translation editions prior to the 2013 revision
deals with cha'ris (“grace”). In the majority of cases the NWT Committee rendered it as
“undeserved kindness,” in harmony with their stated goal of using one English meaning for
‘each major Hebrew or Greek word’ “as far as the context permitted.” (“Foreword,” 1950, page 9) A
noble goal indeed, but in practice nearly impossible to carry out in all places, as other Bible
translators will confirm. Even in the initial release of the NWT, the translators chose to place
aside their stated goal of uniformity in a few places where they did not rendered cha'ris as
“undeserved kindness.” For example, in reference to Jesus, the NW translators rendered cha'ris
at Luke 2:40 as “God’s favor,” and its related form, cha'riti, in Luke 2:52, as “in favor with God.”

Within the context of the opening chapter of the Gospel of John, where Christ is being described
in the most sublime language, the idea of Christ being full of “undeserved kindness” as it appears
in early editions of the New World Translation in John 1:14 sounds very odd, perhaps misleading.
At first glance it could lead a Bible reader to believe that Christ was undeserving of God's grace
or kindness. In their favor, I doubt very much that the translators meant to convey that very
thought. They probably had the same idea in mind that Bible translator Julian G. Anderson
expressed in his version of John 1:14: “He was filled with truth and love for those that don't
deserve it.”

Nonetheless, any concerns the original reading of early NWT editions may have caused are
dispelled by their latest translation effort. The Revised NWT 2013 Edition now reads more
appropriately: “So the Word became flesh and resided among us, and we had a view of his glory,
a glory such as belongs to an only-begotten son from a father; and he was full of divine favor
and truth.” The previous reading, though, is retained in a footnote as a secondary choice.

Since the noun cha'ris conveys various connotations, the context then, is of greater relevance in
translation than full consistency of renderings. In the case of John 1:14, it seems better to bring
out the positive beauty of the word cha'ris, with its sense of “charm,” “joy and delight,” combined
with the “loving kindness (or, favor)” that Christ was “full of,” a gracious kindness he would extend
to those undeserving. After all, it is said at John 1:14 as well, that Christ was “full of truth”, a most
propitious description.

3. The grace of God within the concept of man’s salvation:

A scripture which sheds some light on the subject of grace and salvation is this one at Titus 2:11,
where the NWT says: “For the undeserved kindness [cha'ris = grace] of God has been manifested,
bringing salvation to all sorts of people.” Obviously, this grace of God must refer to the gracious
“loving kindness” that is conferred on mankind unmerited.

One scholar starts by defining grace as: “Undeserved acceptance and love received from
another, especially the characteristic attitude of God in providing salvation for sinners. For
Christians, the word ‘grace’ is virtually synonymous with the gospel of God's gift of unmerited
salvation in Jesus Christ. To express this, the New Testament writers used the Greek word charis,
which had a long previous history in secular Greek.” (Holman 1991)

And Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary adds: “The grace of God was supremely revealed and
given in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus was not only the beneficiary of God's grace
(Luke 2:40), but He was also its very embodiment (John 1:14), bringing it to mankind for
salvation (Titus 2:11). By His death and resurrection, Jesus restored the broken fellowship
between God and His people, both Jew and Gentile. The only way of salvation for any person is
‘through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ’ (Acts 15:11).” (Page 444, ©1986 by Thomas Nelson
Publisers)

There is no doubt then, that grace (divine favor, graciousness, undeserved kindness) is a dominant
New Testament theme. Christ is the embodiment of God’s grace. Of the 155 times the word
cha'ris appears in the New Testament, Paul alone, used the term more than 90 times in his
letters. ‘Salvation is by grace, not by works.’ The subject of “salvation by faith” is often
communicated by New Testament Bible writers. The theme of God's or Christ's grace (unmerited
kindness) was even made prominent in the opening salutation and closing remarks of Paul's
writings. One scripture that stands out in this discussion is this one of Ephesians 2:8: “For it is by
God's loving-kindness [Greek: cha'riti'; “unmerited favor,” Charles B. Williams] that you have been
saved, through your faith. It is not due to yourselves: the gift is God's.” (Twentieth Century New
Testament)

4. Grace is closely linked to other godly qualities:

Besides love (or, “loving kindness”), “grace” is often associated with other godly qualities as well,
such as: mercy, compassion, forgiveness, loyalty, and joy. For instance, in the Old Testament,
“grace” is often paired with “mercy (ḥeseḏ).” (Exodus 33:19; 34:6; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 86:15; 103:8;
Jonah 4:2. In the NT see: Hebrews 4:16) The Complete Biblical Library explains: “The noun charis is
formed from the root char- whose derivatives all focus on that which gives pleasure, benefit,
and happiness. Thus there is a certain relationship between charis, ‘grace, kindness,’ and chara,
‘joy.’ Charis evokes joy and delight, often in a totally undeserved and unexpected way. […]
Therefore, the fundamental definition of charis includes the ideas of ‘grace, favor, kindness,
goodness, beauty, gratitude, pleasure,’ and so on….” (Vol. 16, p. 489. ©1991 by R. R. Donnelley &
Sons Co., Chicago)

There is a sense of gratitude implied in cha'ris as well. “Related to the word for joy or pleasure,
charis originally referred to something delightful or attractive in a person, something which
brought pleasure to others. From this it came to have the idea of a favor or kindness done to
another or of a gift which brought pleasure to another. Viewed from the standpoint of the
recipient, it was used to refer to the thankfulness felt for a gift or favor. These meanings also
appear in the biblical use of charis, but only in the New Testament does it come to have the
familiar sense which ‘grace’ bears for Christians.” (Holman 1991)

The Theological Lexicon of the New Testament by Ceslas Spicq (O.P.), observes: “A benefit arising
purely from the goodness of the benefactor necessarily inspires gratitude on the part of the one
who receives it. Hence the final meaning of charis, apparently predominant in the documents of
the Hellenistic period: thanksgiving, gratitude felt, or expressed. A person does not stop at
merely feeling gratitude toward a benefactor but makes an effort to pay him back, as if paying
off a debt by returning benefit for benefit. [...] Since God is the universal and constant
benefactor, and all that humans have depends on his grace, thanksgiving to God is the homage
due from all his creatures….” (Vol. 3, pp. 503-505. ©1994 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

5. The implication of grace in a Christian’s life:

“The only way of salvation for any person is ‘through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,’ so states
Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary.” (Acts 15:11. op. cit.) In fact, the author of the Bible book of
Galatians wrote: “I don’t turn my back on God’s undeserved kindness. If we can be acceptable to
God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die”. (2:21, Contemporary English Version) This
being the case, a person does not earn salvation by his works, no matter how noble these may
be. Since Christians are saved by “grace [unmerited favor],” there is no reason whatsoever for
anyone to justify harboring extreme feelings of “arrogance” or “superiority” toward others, and
at the other end, a sense of “worthlessness” or “low self-esteem” of never being able to please
God and men. These opposite radical feelings should never be allowed to take root and
dominate our lives.

“Grace” puts everyone on an equal footing before God. As the Word says: “God treats everyone
alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. All of us have sinned and
fallen short of God’s glory.” “Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each
other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.” (Romans
3:22,23; Galatians 3:28, Contemporary English Version)

“From his abundance we have all received [grace upon grace, that is,] one gracious blessing after
another.” (John 1:16, New Living Translation) Yes, the concept of divine grace transforms lives!

6. Grace should not be abused nor taken for granted:

And finally, but no less important, is the recognition that, although God's grace is always free
and undeserved, it must never be taken for granted. We are thus warned:

“See to it that no one falls short of divine grace [“undeserved love,” Julian G. Anderson N.T.]; that no
one cultivates a root of bitterness to cause a disturbance by which many will be defiled.”
(Hebrews 12:15, New Berkeley Version)

“Now what is our response to be? Shall we sin to our heart’s content and see how far we can
exploit the grace [“undeserved kindness,” NWT] of God? What a terrible thought! We, who have
died to sin—how could we live in sin a moment longer?” (Romans 6:1,2, J. B. Phillips New Testament,
1972)

“Godless people have slipped in among you. They turn the grace [“the mercy,” E. J. Goodspeed N.T.]
of our God into unrestrained immorality and deny our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Judgment was passed against them a long time ago.” (Jude 4, Common English Bible)

“So what do we do now? Throw ourselves into lives of sin because we are cloaked in grace
[“unearned favor,” An Understandable Version] and don’t have to answer to the law? Absolutely not!”
(Romans 6:15, VOICE) – End –

________________________________________________

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found:
Was blind, but now I see. (John Newton, 1725-1807)
________________________________________________

Various international renderings of John 1:14:

Spanish:

Versión Reina-Valera: “lleno de gracia” [full of grace]

Versión Popular: “lleno de amor” [full of love]
La Biblia al Día: “amor que perdona” [loving forgiveness]
LA BIBLIA (Ricciardi y Hurault): “En El todo era Amor.” [In Him everything was love]
LA BIBLIA (Schökel y Mateos): “plenitud de amor” [fullness of love]
LA PALABRA DE DIOS PARA TODOS: “lleno de generoso amor” [full of generous love]

Portuguese:

“cheio de amor e perdão” [full of love and forgiveness] (O Livro)

French:
“plein de faveur imméritée” [full of unmerited favor] (LES SAINTES ÉCRITURES–TRADUCTION DU MONDE NOUVEAU)

German:
“Gottes vergebende Liebe und Treue” [God's forgiving love and loyalty] (Hoffnung für Alle)
____________________________________________

Other subjects by the same author (For Spanish, see below):

Exodus 2:25: http://www.scribd.com/doc/38676458/Exodus-2-25-And-God-took-notice-Does-God-care-about-us
Matthew 5:3, ‘the poor in spirit’: https://www.scribd.com/document/35085619/Matthew-5-3-Blessed-are-the-poor-in-spirit
John 1:1, http://www.scribd.com/doc/34916458/The-correct-translation-of-John-1-1
John 1:1, Briefer text, with additional samples: http://www.scribd.com/doc/50330864/John-1-1-List-of-Alternate-Readings
John 1:14 (“grace”): http://www.scribd.com/doc/35002730/John-1-14-Jesus-full-of-grace
John 8:58: http://www.scribd.com/doc/35318309/The-correct-translation-of-John-8-58-List-of-alternate-readings-to-I-am
John 17:3: http://www.scribd.com/doc/57772552/John-17-3-%E2%80%98Taking-in-knowledge-of-%E2%80%99-God-and-Jesus
Acts 20:28, https://www.scribd.com/doc/231244155/Acts-20-28-Whose-blood-God-s-Or-Christ-s
Colossians 1:16, “all other things”: http://www.scribd.com/doc/209607822/Colossians-1-16-Is-the-translation-all-other-things-appropriate
1 Timothy 3:16, http://www.scribd.com/doc/76927834/Was-God-manifested-in-the-flesh-1-Timothy-3-16
Hebrews 1:6,8, https://www.scribd.com/doc/252268649/Does-Hebrews-1-6-8-prove-Jesus-is-God
Do the NW translators know Greek? http://www.scribd.com/doc/48234022/Did-the-New-World-Translation-Committee-Know-Greek
Translation Differences in selected verses: http://www.scribd.com/doc/59484457/Translation-Differences-Questions-and-Answers
Was Jesus Created First? https://www.scribd.com/document/378080373/Was-Jesus-Created-First

Otros temas – en español – por el mismo autor:

Juan 1:1, ¿“un dios”?: http://www.scribd.com/doc/35899788/Traduccion-correcta-de-Juan-1-1-Lista-de-lecturas-alternativas
Juan 1:1, Listado de lecturas suplentes: https://www.scribd.com/document/358556923/Lista-de-lecturas-suplentes-a-la-tradicional-de-Juan-1-1
Juan 1:14, https://www.scribd.com/document/427084394/Juan-1-14-Jesus-lleno-de-gracia
Juan 8:58, “yo soy”: http://www.scribd.com/doc/36126649/La-traduccion-correcta-de-Juan-8-58-Lista-de-lecturas-alternas-a-yo-soy
Juan 17:3, ‘adquirir conocimiento’: http://www.scribd.com/doc/74629981/Juan-17-3-%E2%80%98Adquiriendo-conocimiento%E2%80%99-de-Dios-y-Jesucristo
Colosenses 1:16, “todas las otras cosas”: http://www.scribd.com/doc/209601066/Colosenses-1-16-%C2%BFEs-la-traduccion-
%E2%80%9Ctodas-las-otras-cosas%E2%80%9D-apropiada
1 Timoteo 3:16: http://www.scribd.com/doc/77336247/%C2%BFFue-Dios-manifestado-en-carne-1-Timoteo-3-16
¿Enseña Hebreos 1:6,8 que Jesús es Dios?: https://www.scribd.com/doc/255738165/Ensena-Hebreos-1-6-8-que-Jesucristo-es-Dios
¿Acaso tiene sentido la Trinidad? http://www.scribd.com/doc/173779117/%C2%BFAcaso-tiene-sentido-la-Trinidad
¿Conocen los traductores de la TNM griego? http://www.scribd.com/doc/51623596/%C2%BFSabia-griego-el-Comite-de-la-Traduccion-del-Nuevo-Mundo

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