Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                Chapter One

                                                                                                                                         Verses 15-17

God sent John the Baptist to introduce God to the world as a human being.

John the Baptist witnessed that "of His fulness have all we received." John witnessed about a gift that God has given to every human. The word "fulness" can only mean the image of God that He has put into every human He has ever created, and the phrase "all we" can only refer to every human who has ever lived. In his statement, John the Baptist taught the same doctrine that the Apostle John taught in John 1:9. Jesus Himself taught this same doctrine when He told the Jews that their own scriptures had taught them that they were "gods." Psalm 82:6. Jesus could only have meant the image of Himself that He puts into every human He has ever created. John 10:34-35. Jesus taught this same doctrine to a group of unbelieving Pharisees when He told them "the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:20-21.

John the Baptist continued in his teachings that Jesus gives "grace for grace." Since God gives His image to every living human that He creates, then that same gift would be a kind of initial grace, but the salvation by grace that Christ supplies, He gives as an additional grace to that initial grace. Christ can never lose anything He has ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14.

God gave Moses the Law for him to give to the world. Israelites who faithfully practice Judaism in that they try to obey the Law, and who believe that the priests made the animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of their sins will repent, along with the rest of humanity, in a great worship service as recorded in Revelation 5:11-14. God will resurrect and recreate these faithful Jews to live forever in the land that He promised them. This future nation of Israel will rule the world, and Jerusalem will be the capitol of the world. These faithful Jews will enjoy special blessings and privileges given by God. Unfaithful Jews will also repent and be resurrected and recreated, but God will demote them to life with the recreated Gentile nations. Deuteronomy 4:40; Numbers 18:8; Isaiah 66:18-24; Ezekiel 20:33-44.

Moses also gave the Law to the world so that the world could learn that they all are hopeless sinners incapable of obeying the Law. Romans 5:6. Some humans who hear the gospel and learn by the conviction of the Holy Spirit that they are hopeless sinners will repent and believe while still in the flesh that Christ sacrificed Himself on the cross to take away their sins and that He rose from the dead to give them His life and righteousness by which God can accept them to live with Him forever in Heaven. Romans 3:19-28; John 17:24. The souls and spirits of believers saved by grace go directly to Heaven following their physical deaths. II Corinthians 5:8. God must consign all humans not saved by grace to one of the regions of death following their physical deaths. Hebrews 9:27. This gospel happens to be the "grace and truth" that "came by Jesus Christ." Jesus is the living Truth of the Word of God. John 14:6.