Juan 1:16

The glory of God that Jesus manifested was full of grace and truth (John 1:14). From the fullness of that grace all people have received one expression of grace after another.

There are several possible interpretations of the phrase "grace upon grace" (NASB, Gr. charin anti charitos). The problem is the meaning of the preposition anti here. Some interpreters believe that John was saying grace follows grace as ocean wave follows wave, washing believers with successive blessings. [Note: See F. F. Bruce, The Gospel of John: Introduction, Exposition and Notes, p. 43; Robertson, p. 574; Morris, p. 98; Beasley-Murray, p. 15; and Zane C. Hodges, "Grace after Grace-John 1:16," Bibliotheca Sacra 135:537 (January-March 1978):34-45.] The NIV "one blessing after another" effectively expresses this view, and the NASB "grace upon grace" implies it. Another translation that gives the same sense is "grace to meet every need that arises (see 2 Cor. xii. 9)." [Note: Tasker, p. 48.] It is true that God keeps pouring out His inexhaustible grace on the believer through Jesus Christ, but is this what John meant here?

A second view is that the Greek preposition anti means "instead of" here, as it often does elsewhere. [Note: Carson, p. 132-34.] According to this interpretation John meant that God’s grace though Jesus Christ replaces the grace that He bestowed through Moses when He gave the law. John 1:17 seems to continue this thought and so supports this interpretation.

I suspect that John may have intended both ideas. He could have been thinking of God’s grace in Jesus Christ superseding His grace through Moses and continuing to supply the Christian day by day. This interpretation recognizes John’s mention of the fullness of God’s grace as well as the contrast in John 1:17.

Another less acceptable view is that anti means "corresponds to." [Note: J. C. Bernard, The Gospel According to St. John , 1:29.] The grace we receive corresponds in some way to the grace Jesus receives from the Father. However, anti rarely has this meaning by itself, though it does occasionally when it combines with other nouns. Furthermore this interpretation offers no connection with John 1:17.

A fourth view, also inadequate from my viewpoint, is that anti means "in return for." [Note: See Carson, p. 131.] Yet the idea of God giving us grace in return for grace that we give to him is foreign to the New Testament. God initiates grace to human beings.