John 1:17 (KJV)

Passage

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Nearby Context

John 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.

John 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

John 1:19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "grace", "given", "moses", "truth", "came", "jesus", and "christ". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "grace" and "given", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "And of his fulness have all we..." into verse 18's "No man hath seen God at any...", so "grace" and "given" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "grace" and "given" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.