Scripture Query and Answer: Jeremiah 31:22 - May It Be Applied to the Incarnation?

Jeremiah 31:22  •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 7
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Q. John 1:16. Grace for grace?
A. There are two ways of interpreting this passage; both, however, amount to grace answering to grace. The question is, in what sense does grace answer grace?
Either (1) by grace succeeding to grace—one grace, so to speak, following another—grace upon grace; or (2) grace in the effect answering to, i.e., equaling in quality, the grace in the cause—grace in the stream answering to grace in the fountain.
Thus in Christ there is infinite fullness; and what we receive out of that fullness is abundant, precious, lasting, divine, heavenly, according to those qualities which exists in the source.
The Lord will give grace and glory. (Psa. 84) But the gift of glory is one form of grace. To what, then, does an inheritance of glory answer? To His glory. (See Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2.) Again, the value of a promise depends upon the power and faithfulness of the party that promises, just as the value of a bank-note depends upon the credit of the bank that issued it. Why do men prefer a Bank of England note to a provincial bank-note? Because they have more confidence in the Bank of England that in a country bank.