Titus 2

“For the grace of God has appeared with salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, [Messiah] Jesus Christ.”  Titus 2:11-13 (HCSB)

There is an idea present in the Church-at-large about God’s Grace that it covers all sin and requires no accountability.  I have friends who firmly believe this, to the point where they distort God’s Grace by removing themselves from Godly accountability with other believers.  They live however they want, and when confronted about their lifestyles, they answer, in essence, “God’s grace covers all sin, and it cannot be revoked.”

While that is a true statement about God’s Grace, my friends’ attitude does not reflect the heart of Jesus.

“The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me.  And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father.  I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.” John 14:21 (HCSB)

Paul instructs us to “…deny Godlessness and Worldly lust and to live in a sensible, righteous, and Godly way.”  Nowhere in that verse is a license to live apart from God’s standard.

The observable power of salvation in the believer’s life is not fully displayed because we have been saved from God’s wrath to come.  It is primarily revealed in that we are changed today!  We are called “converts” because we are changed, meaning our desires to sin are also being replaced with the desire to please God.  Salvation is not the ability to sin without consequence; it is more of a fresh start, where we are freed to serve the Lord rightly.

To me, the sweetness of Grace is displayed in today’s passage.  God’s grace brings salvation to “all people.”  That’s not to say that all people will be saved.  Rather, salvation is offered and available to all people by grace through faith in Jesus’ atonement for our sin.  It is still the individual’s choice to respond to it.

Those who recognize their need for God’s Grace and receive it enter into an unexplainable joy.  We, who are receivers of His Grace, should also desire to be givers of it.  In this way, we become “living testimonies” by virtue of our transformed lives, along with the words of the gospel we share.

Lastly, we have hope in the Grace of Messiah because we acknowledge the deity of the Messiah.  (Micah 5:2, Isaiah 9:6) Grace without deity is just a kind gesture.  Deity without Grace is unforgiving judgment.  We have hope because Jesus is both “God and Savior!”