Some tliink that they describe our Lord Jesus Christ's cha- r«icter, during the time that He was upon the earth, in general terms. Full of grace were His lips, and full of grace was His life. He was full of the grace of G-od, the Spirit dwelling in Him without measure, full of kindness, love, and favour to man ; — full of truth in His deeds and words, for in His hps was no guile, full of truth in His preaching concerning God the Father's love to sinners, and the way of salvation, for He was ever unfolding in rich abundance all truths that man can need to know for his soul's good.
Some think that the words describe especially the spiritual riches that Christ brought into the world, when He became incarnate, and set up His kingdom. He came full of the gospel of grace, in contradistinction to the burdensome requirements of the ceremonial law. He came full of truth, of real, true, solid comfort, in contradistinction to the types, and figures, and shadows of the law of Moses. In short the full grace of God, and the full truth about the way of acceptance, were never clearly seen until the Word became flesh, dwelt among us on earth, opened the treasure-house, and revealed grace and truth in His own person.
I decidedly prefer the second of these two views. The first is truth, but not the truth of the passage. The second appears to me to harmonize with the 17th verse, which follows almost immediately, where the law and the gospel are contrasted, und we are told that " grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."