There has been much said by our religious world on the grace of God. Some overemphasize it while others hardly address it at all. The most common place people go when talking about God’s grace is Ephesians 2:8-9 which says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NASB). While this is a good passage to address for the grace of God, I will not deal with it as my main text. We will address it later but not abundantly. I want to use Titus 2:11-14 as my main text. The text reads, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:11-14). This passage says so much about the grace of God. We notice several things from this passage.
First, the grace of God has appeared for all men. The question perhaps should not be “what is the grace of God”, but “who is the grace of God”? The ultimate display of God’s grace was in His Son’s sacrifice on the cross (Romans 5:8). He gave His life so that we may have salvation from our sins. We have salvation if we are obedient to His gospel. Jesus put on flesh (John 1:14) so that He could taste death for every man (Hebrews 2:9). “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). His love and grace were shown in sending the Savior.
Second, the grace of God instructs us. How does God’s grace instruct us? It instructs us “to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age”. There are a lot of things that can draw us away from God. We all have desires. Paul wrote, "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8, NASB). Again, we all desire something. It can be money, an addiction, etc. God’s grace teaches us that we must think spiritual. Our minds need to be set on godliness and spiritual desires. This is not done by accident. It is something that takes effort. We must be willing to be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14) through His Word. When we do this, we are instructed to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in this world. We can only do that by following God’s Word and allowing His Spirit in His message help us in this matter.
Third, the grace of God gives us hope. Jesus Christ did not stay in the grave. He did not stay in the Hadean realm. He rose again on the third day. In this victory, He gives us the hope of being resurrected too. We will not remain in the Hadean realm as well. One day Christ will return to bring us home. If God was not graceful, this hope would not be possible. If Jesus had not risen, our hope is gone. Because Christ did rise on the third day, we have hope of eternal life in Christ! I hope we all will live like we have this hope. Take hold of this hope. Do not ever lose this hope.
In conclusion, I said earlier that we would mention Ephesians 2:8-9. God’s grace produces the opportunity of salvation by obeying the gospel. Salvation is a wonderful gift. It is not by works that we can do but works that God has planned for us to do. It is by His will and His way (John 14:6). In order to receive God’s grace, we must allow it to teach us to live and obey God. Are we willing to do that? Let’s take this day to capitalize on the opportunity to truly appreciate the grace of God!
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