Grace for change
This week is on Titus 2:11-14:
I like the way this one stars. "The grace of God has appeared." It seems magical. It is supernatural. The grace of God has appeared, like spacecrafts hovering over all the world's capitals, offering salvation to all people. If it was an actual physical thing, how amazing would we consider it to be? How undeniable would God's grace be if we could see it so plainly? Yet for all we did to produce it, God's grace might as well have appeared out of nowhere.
But what does this grace do? We've all heard about it allowing us to forgive horrible people for doing awful things they don't deserve to be forgiven for. And we've heard about it covering all of the things we've done wrong. But this grace described here goes one step further and purifies us in the present. It teaches us to say "no" to wrong things and "yes" to right things. It appears as a divine messenger saying "You don't have to live like this anymore. Let me help you."
Grace isn't just for the cancellation of old debts. It's also to help us not incur new ones. For any of us who have had a bad habit we just couldn't seem to shake on our own, this is refreshing news. Jesus gave himself to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify us. We don't just get to not have to suffer eternally for our wickedness. We get the ability to stop being wicked, if we so choose. We don't just start over. We start over with help.
Are we eager to do good? Do we shrug off ungodliness and worldly passions, and live self-controlled upright and godly lives? If not, maybe we need to ask for some help. Those things are available to us in this present age, not just the future in heaven, but the "now" part of eternity. If our love for God is genuine, why would we not want his help and advice? This is a supernatural gift, miraculously appeared, and offered to us by a God of pure love. To not accept it, and not even seek it out, is to choose to be wicked.
The good news is not just that our debts are paid. That alone would be cause for celebration. The good news is also that our lives can be forever changed for the better, to everyone's benefit. If we're stuck, we don't have to be stuck anymore. If we're wicked, that wickedness can end. We don't have to continue in the way we were before grace appeared.
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
I like the way this one stars. "The grace of God has appeared." It seems magical. It is supernatural. The grace of God has appeared, like spacecrafts hovering over all the world's capitals, offering salvation to all people. If it was an actual physical thing, how amazing would we consider it to be? How undeniable would God's grace be if we could see it so plainly? Yet for all we did to produce it, God's grace might as well have appeared out of nowhere.
But what does this grace do? We've all heard about it allowing us to forgive horrible people for doing awful things they don't deserve to be forgiven for. And we've heard about it covering all of the things we've done wrong. But this grace described here goes one step further and purifies us in the present. It teaches us to say "no" to wrong things and "yes" to right things. It appears as a divine messenger saying "You don't have to live like this anymore. Let me help you."
Grace isn't just for the cancellation of old debts. It's also to help us not incur new ones. For any of us who have had a bad habit we just couldn't seem to shake on our own, this is refreshing news. Jesus gave himself to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify us. We don't just get to not have to suffer eternally for our wickedness. We get the ability to stop being wicked, if we so choose. We don't just start over. We start over with help.
Are we eager to do good? Do we shrug off ungodliness and worldly passions, and live self-controlled upright and godly lives? If not, maybe we need to ask for some help. Those things are available to us in this present age, not just the future in heaven, but the "now" part of eternity. If our love for God is genuine, why would we not want his help and advice? This is a supernatural gift, miraculously appeared, and offered to us by a God of pure love. To not accept it, and not even seek it out, is to choose to be wicked.
The good news is not just that our debts are paid. That alone would be cause for celebration. The good news is also that our lives can be forever changed for the better, to everyone's benefit. If we're stuck, we don't have to be stuck anymore. If we're wicked, that wickedness can end. We don't have to continue in the way we were before grace appeared.
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