Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.
Yesterday, we learnt that grace is the undeserved, unearned, unmerrited favour of God. It is by this grace, as we saw, that we are saved through faith. Today, we look at another aspect of grace – divine empowerment. It is this same grace that enables the believers to live out the Christian life. In other words, in the same way that we can’t be saved apart from grace, we also can’t be sanctified apart from grace. The same grace that saves is the same grace that sanctifies.
This is what the apostle Paul tells Titus in our passage today. That the grace of God brings salvation. At the same time, it teaches us to say, ‘No!’ to every form of ungodliness. Further, it teaches us to live upright, self-controlled, and godly lives in this present age. This is the amazing nature of grace. That in a world corrupted by sin and plagued by evil, the believer can walk uprightly because grace enables him/her. This confirms why, although we are not saved by good works, yet good works authenticate whether we have received grace. It is also why we cannot fight sin in our lives using our own efforts. No amount of self-exertion apart from grace will give us victory in this fight. In one of the stanzas of the hymn, amazing grace, this truth is well put:
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come:
’tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
How then are we supposed to appropriate God’s grace in our lives:
– The Word – Psalm 119:9-11; John 17:17
– Prayer – Matthew 26:41
– Confession – 1 John 1:9; James 5:16
– Fellowship – Hebrews 3:13; 10:24-25
Reflections
1. Do you struggle to live for God in your specific environment? Lean in on His grace for your sanctification.
