Full of Grace and Truth

A Short Reflection on How John 1:14 Reshapes the Way We Understand Love

Paul Durbin • Lead Pastor
September 9, 2026

2 Minute Read

I didn't have the words for it back then, but something in my spirit knew that phrase mattered.

Grace and truth. Two things that felt almost like opposites.

Grace sounded like God just letting stuff slide. Truth sounded like God calling out every failure.

How could Jesus be full of both, all the time?

It took me years to see it. Grace and truth aren't opposites—they're the two ingredients of real love.

Grace says, "I love you exactly as you are."

Truth says, "And I love you way too much to leave you there."

Take either one away and what you're left with isn't love anymore. It's either license or legalism.

That's what makes Jesus so stunning. He never dilutes one to make room for the other. He gives us the full weight of grace and truth — every second and every conversation.

Which ingredient is harder for you to receive today—His grace, or His truth?

178 | Are You Loving From the Intersection of Grace and Truth?

In this message, Pastor Paul Durbin returns to the relationship series with the one skill he says he left out—love. Drawing from John 1:14, he unpacks what it means that Jesus came "full of grace and truth," and offers a working definition of love: relating to others from the intersection of grace and truth, neither diluted to make room for the other, each expressed to its fullest extent. Using a simple four-quadrant grid, Paul walks through the three counterfeits—legalism, license, and lawlessness—and invites us into the upper-right quadrant where real love actually lives.

Paul Durbin • 8/30/2026

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Paul Durbin

Lead Pastor

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