All of Grace-Part 2- Grace That Transforms

Introduction- Titus 2:11-14

Last Sunday we began a series of messages around the theme of God’s grace and its operation in our lives.

Last week we learned that salvation is all of grace. You and I contributed nothing to our salvation and did nothing to earn it. We merely received by faith the free gift which God graciously offered to us in Jesus Christ.

Not one individual has ever been worthy of forgiveness and eternal life but God in His grace has offered salvation to all.

Yet grace not only saves us but it also changes us. In the passage before us this morning we will see how the grace of God operates in our lives to produce a powerful transformation.

There are many today who use grace as an excuse to live carnal and worldly lives and yet the scriptures plainly teach that the opposite is true, grace will cause us to live in a way that honors God and is distinct from the world.

This passage begins with a reference again to the grace of God that brings salvation and the fact that it has appeared to all men.

In the verses that follow we can clearly see that salvation is only the beginning of the work that God desires to do in us by His grace.

The word teaching is important here and has the idea of training and disciplining. This is what God’s grace actively does in our lives.

Grace teaches/trains/disciplines us to...

Deny Ungodliness (Vs. 12a)

There are a great many people in Christian circles today who insist that grace gives them license to emulate the world in their appearance and their actions and yet this could not be further from the truth.

God’s grace does exactly the opposite, enabling us to wholly deny undgodliness and worldliness.

The word “deny” here means to disown, disregard, give no attention to, refuse to follow.

This simply means that the grace of God trains us to reject ungodliness and to no longer be under the influence of worldly lusts.

Ungodliness here is anything that is done without consideration of God. Ungodliness is a broad term used in reference to any action done in disobedience to God or without concern for God’s authority.

Grace will cause us to reject anything that is contradictory to God’s commands or that refuses to yield to His authority.

Ungodly media for example is any media (music, movies, television programs) whose content violates the clear commands of God.

Grace gives us the disciple to refuse to be associated with those things which violate the commands of God.

Grace also enables us to deny “worldly lusts” which are the sinful desires that flow from the unbelieving world around us.

Grace teaches us to separate from the world and causes us to reject any desire to be like the world.

Grace will never cause us to embrace the ways of the world but will enable us to refuse to be influenced by the world.

This is the negative side of the transformation which the grace of God produces in the believer’s life.

Live Godly in This Present World (Vs. 12b)

Now we consider the positive side of the equation. Grace not only teaches us to deny undgodliness and worldly lust but also trains us how to live in this present world in a manner that pleases God.

There are some today who feel that it is impossible to live godly in a world filled with so much wickedness and immorality and yet the grace of God will enable us to do exaclty that.

The grace of God teaches us to live “soberly” which means that we exhibit self-control excercising restraint in the face of temptation.

We do not have to give in to the temptation to sin! We can have the self-discipline to resist temptation through the operation of the grace of God in our lives.

The grace of God teaches us to live righteously, to do right in the sight of God.

Even in the midst of a culture that is bent towards evil, we can do right!

Grace teaches us to live godly, that everything we do would be in accordance with the character, the nature, and the mind of God.

Godliness is exhibited when we live constantly in subjection to His authority in our lives.

Notice that we are to live this way “in this present world.” Every believer in every age has had to contend with the unbelieving world and its sinful influence.

The pressures that the early disciples faces may not be the same as the pressures that you and I face today, but every believer in every age must choose to live a counter cultural lifestyle as he lives for God and refuses the influence of the culture around him.

Looking for Jesus Return (Vs. 13)

The grace of God also teaches us to live with the return of Jesus Christ ever in view.

The scriptures teach us that Jesus could return at any moment and it is by the grace of God that we will be ready for Him at His coming.

Those who are under grace anxiously await this glorious moment for it is our “blessed hope” to see Jesus and to be rescued from this sinful world to spend the rest of eternity with Him.

There are some believers who feel anxiety and dread at the prospect of the Lord’s return for they are far too attached to the things of this world.

The grace of God will enable us to hold loosely to the things of this world, longing instead to be with Christ.

Consider Why Jesus Gave Himself for Us (Vs. 14)

Jesus came to this world to give Himself for us as He lay down His life as the ransom for our redemption.

This verse gives to us an explanation of why Jesus died for us. It was not only to save us from hell but it was also to give us new life in Him.

He came to redeem us from all iniquity, to deliver us not only from the penalty but from the power of sin.

Romans 6:6-14

He came to purify unto Himself a peculiar people, His intent is to produce such a miraculous transformation in us that we become a peculiar (unique/distinctive) people.

He came not merely to save us but also to change us that we would become a people zealous of good works, passionately serving Him through serving others in this world.

Ephesians 2:10 KJV 1900

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Acts 10:38 KJV 1900

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

What Jesus did in the world during His time upon earth is what He desires that we should do now. That just as he went about doing good, so also should we do the same.

Conclusion

This passage of scripture makes it abundantly clear that we are not only saved by grace, but we are also changed by grace.

When the grace of God is active in our lives we will be transformed, able to deny ungodliness and worldly lust and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.

We will also be ever mindful of the fact that Jesus is one day returning and we will determine to be ready for Him when He comes.

We must recognize that Jesus came not only to save us but to change us, to deliver us from the power of sin, to purify us so that we may become a distinctive people who are marked by a consuming passion to do good!