Skip to main content

Grace

             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, (Titus 2:11-12)

            I don’t know how many times I’ve read this verse, but clearly not enough. The idea that the grace of God offers salvation to all people is good Sunday School stuff. We know we’ve been saved by grace. I may be the only one (I doubt it), but if you’d asked me about grace before this morning, I think I would have considered grace being passive. We are saved by grace rather than grace saving us. It’s a tiny, seemingly insignificant difference that, right now, makes a lot of difference to me.

            The first thing Paul tells us is that grace of God appeared. I wish this were one of those showstopper sorts of events. Unfortunately, our lives are set to a soundtrack, so we don’t have the orchestra's swelling to signal its arrival. For some of us, grace is direct, but I suspect that’s more the exception than the rule. We may not even notice it at the time it arrives. At the same time, grace does appear in every aspect of our lives. After all, we have nothing, including our lives, because we have earned or deserve them.

            He adds that the grace that appears offers salvation. Like everything else we have, nothing about us results in our deserving salvation. We tend to think of salvation is being rescued from sin and Hell. While that’s true, what may be more important is that we are saved to Christ, by Christ, in Christ. Salvation is what brings God and us together, which means grace reunites us with God. Salvation is God giving us Himself.

            Finally, he says that grace teaches us two basic things: to say “No” to three things: ungodliness, worldly passions, and this present age. It also teaches us to say “Yes” to self-control, uprightness, and godliness.

            I wish I could tell you what this means and show you want it looks like. Perhaps you understand it while I don’t. I just can’t help but think that I’m missing something that, if I understood it, would make a huge difference in my life. But because I don’t understand it, I can do only one thing. I can depend on God’s grace to teach me.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more