Father of Lies

It would appear grace and truth did not exist before Jesus. Is this correct?

The more accurate reading of this passage is from the Greek: “The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Jesus did not finish His work on the Cross until He went to the Cross. (Is that the grace to which you are referring?)
It is true that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord much earlier. Depends on what grace we are referring to.

A few things to note about John 1:17

A. The Critical and Received texts are identical
CRITICAL TEXT
ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωυσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.
RECEIVED TEXT
ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.

B. The literal interlinear translation is as follows:
For the Law through Moses was given. Grace and truth through Jesus Christ came.

C. There is no question that the Holy Spirit -- through John -- wants to contrast Moses and Christ in this verse. And particularly the abundance of grace after the coming of Christ. Therefore we have these two verses together: And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. [Note: the word "but" is in italics to indicate that it is not in the original Greek text]

D. Were the KJB translators justified in inserting "but"? It would seem so.
The Law of Moses did not exclude the grace of God, but at the same time it did not stress the grace of God. God demanded strict obedience to the Law, but God did not tell Israel that anyone could be justified by Torah observance. On the other hand the Gospel of Christ stresses again and again that we are justified BY GRACE through faith. So the Gospel is all about the grace of God, and excludes the works of the Law.

What should always be kept in mind is the fact of the finished work of Christ. The Law of Moses simply pre-figured the finished work of Christ. However under the Law sins were only "covered". But Christ -- the Lamb of God -- took away the sin of the world. And that is what opened the way for the grace of God to be offered to all mankind through the Gospel (Titus 2:11).

So the Father of Lies is definitely not involved in "twisting" this verse. In any event with a title like that, the focus should be on Satan and what he does.

My comments were directed to the interpretations presented in various Bible versions and how those are often twisted.

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Re: Father of Lies

So; every time a natural-born liar comes into the world, it helps perpetuate
the Serpent's posterity?

● Ps 58:3 . .The wicked are estranged from the womb; these who speak lies
go astray from birth.
_

This goes right back to the fact that all modern bible versions are corrupt and misleading. People should stick to the King James Bible. Some of those translations are actually lies (and of course the Father of Lies is behind them). The grace of God is manifested from Genesis to Revelation.

I agree with your post but do not fully understand everything you say. You say "...under the law sins were only covered". I'm not sure I understand what that means.

I'm also not sure what you mean with the statement that grace, "...excludes the works of the law".

Jesus did not finish His work on the Cross until He went to the Cross. (Is that the grace to which you are referring?)
It is true that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord much earlier. Depends on what grace we are referring to.

We all know about the, “Father of Lies” and how good he is at his craft. We underestimate him at our peril. His most effective strategy is to use God’s own words to deceive. One of the passages he twists to separate us from God is John 1:17:
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (KJV)

The more accurate reading of this passage is from the Greek:
“The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

The conjunction “but” used in the KJV and many other versions; acts as an exception to the first statement. It would appear grace and truth did not exist before Jesus. Is this correct?

Some other examples:

The Common English Bible says it directly, grace and truth did not exist before Jesus. God must therefore be untruth.
“…as the Law was given through Moses, so grace and truth came into being through Jesus Christ.” (CEB)

The Gods Word translation tells us further that Kindness did not exist before Yeshua; that they were not characteristics of God.
“Laws were given through Moses, but kindness and truth came into existence through Jesus Christ.” (GW)

The Living Bible tells us that God is rigid, demanding and merciless. (Can these people even read?)
"For Moses gave us only the Law with its rigid demands and merciless justice, while Jesus Christ brought us loving forgiveness as well." (TLB)

The Voice translation tells us God gave us rules “but” Jesus gave us gifts.
“You see, Moses gave us rules to live by, but Jesus the Anointed offered us gifts of grace and truth.” (VOICE)

Finally, the World English Bible would indicate loving kindness and truth did not exist before Jesus. Really?
“Moses gave the law, but Jesus Christ gave this loving kindness and truth.” (WE)

Do any of these passages give us a realistic view of God the Father? Jesus said he and the father are one; but how can this be? Jesus said he can do nothing except what he has seen the Father do. What? He said he came to do his fathers will, but it doesn’t sound like it to me.

It appears that the Father of Lies has been very successful in twisting this passage to create a disconnect, an amputation, a division between Jesus and his father, between the first truths God has given his people and his later truths. Only when we ground ourselves in the full truth can we see past this deception.

The greatest act of grace ever, the one from which all other acts of grace can flow, is stated plainly in the first five words of the Bible.

That's why it's good to read several translations of a verse and to be prayerful about it. I like Bible Gateway and Bible Hub for that.

That's why it's good to read several translations of a verse and to be prayerful about it. I like Bible Gateway and Bible Hub for that.

We all know about the, “Father of Lies” and how good he is at his craft. We underestimate him at our peril. His most effective strategy is to use God’s own words to deceive. One of the passages he twists to separate us from God is John 1:17:

John 1:17:
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (KJV)

The more accurate reading of this passage is from the Greek:
“The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

I say -----I think this shows our ignorance of us not doing our research on these words in the Greek

Sorry to tell you that these 2 words by and through are used interchangeably in Scripture and using these 2 words for the same scripture is not twisting the meaning or message of the scripture ----- as through also means by in the Greek -----

Greek word for Through ------also means by

Strong's Concordance
dia: through, on account of, because of , through, throughout, by the instrumentality of, (b) acc: through, on account of, by reason of, for the sake of, because of.

I say
here is another example ----this are not twisted by the Father of Lies ---this is God's word and God Inspired -----

Matthew 1:22 Prep
GRK: ὑπὸ Κυρίου διὰ τοῦ προφήτου
NAS: by the Lord through the prophet:
KJV: of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
INT: by the Lord through the prophet