John 1:16 (LSB)

Passage

For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

Nearby Context

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:15 John bore witness about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.’”

John 1:16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

John 1:17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "grace", "fullness", "received", and "upon". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "grace" and "fullness", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "John bore witness about Him and cried..." into verse 17's "For the Law was given through Moses...", so "grace" and "fullness" 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 "fullness" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.