I read this question and the edifying answers (which apparently deserve more upvotes), but I find myself with yet another question on the verse. What does χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος mean at the end of the verse? I know that literally it means "grace in place of grace", and that the Douay Rheims translates it as "grace for grace". But apart from a word-for-word translation, what does it actually mean?
Is the logic of this Greek phrase analogous to something like this in English—"We have received heaps upon heaps of grain"? The English analogy that I just gave is a way of intensifying the quantity of something. "Heaps upon heaps of grain" is obviously a lot more grain than just "heaps of grain". Is that what is meant here in the Greek phrase?
For ease of research and answering, I'll reproduce both the Greek and a translation.
ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἐλάβομεν καὶ χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος· (NA28)
And of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace. (Douay Rheims)
