The previous article considered the past appearing of the grace of God when the blessed Saviour came into this world, bringing salvation within the scope of all humanity (Titus 2:11). For believers in the Lord Jesus who have been blessed with this salvation, the rich grace of God should continue to shine forth in a practical way in our lives, showing that we “receive not the grace of God in vain” (2Co 6:1).1
The conjunction “For” at the start of 2:11 links the truth of the verse with the earlier practical exhortations for godly living by “aged men” (v2), “aged women” (v3), and their teaching ministry towards “young women” (vv4-5), “young men” (vv6-8) and believing “servants” (vv9-10). The unmerited favour of God in the giving of His own well-beloved Son to provide for man’s salvation is the basis for practical godly living by believers of all demographics.
The Moral Power of the Grace of God (Titus 2:12)
For all recipients and beneficiaries of God’s grace, who have by faith come into the possession of the salvation that the incarnate Son of God made available for all, there is to be a practical expression of that divine grace in our lives. The grace of God is to be “teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world [age].” The word “teaching” is the idea of the training or disciplining of a child. The rich grace of God that saves the soul is also the effectual grace that trains our lives as believers, even, if necessary, through rebuke and chastisement, to produce in all of us greater godly character.
It is evident from 2:11 that if the grace of God provides salvation, then any thought of man’s working for salvation must be excluded. Grace and works are mutually exclusive: “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt” (Rom 4:4). Those who seek to mix together grace and works for salvation might reason that if salvation is by grace alone, then a professed believer can go on living in sinful ways: “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid” (Rom 6:1-2). That kind of reasoning profoundly misunderstands the Bible doctrine of grace. Titus 2:12-14 emphasizes the moral power of God’s grace to discipline the life of believers. The grace that saves does not give any licence whatsoever to live sinfully and please self. Rather, grace motivates and teaches believers to live for God’s pleasure, and to produce a saved people who are “zealous of good works” (2:14).
First, divine grace teaches us to be “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts.” We must be markedly different from the world of unbelieving men around us, those whose lives have not been touched by the grace of God through salvation. This is something we must do decisively in our lives, actively denying ourselves the ungodly things of this world and the “worldly lusts” with which unregenerate ones seek to fill their lives. The verb “denying” is the Greek aorist or point tense, indicating a determined once-and-for-all act, “having denied …”; we then need to be in the good of that decisive denial daily in our lives.
Then in a positive way, God’s grace is teaching us to “live soberly, and righteously, and godly, in this present age.” “Soberly” would be primarily selfward, to be characterised by sobriety, soundness of mind, living discreetly, not behaving frivolously, consistent with those who are to represent God and Christ in this world. “Righteously” would include that which is manward, living justly and honourably before all men. “Godly” would be our highest relationship Godward, to be characterised by a godly manner, always reverencing Him, regarding God in our lives in every way, obeying His Word, always considering what will be pleasing to our God.
The grace of God is to empower us to live differently from the masses of ungodly people in this world, consistent with our deliverance from “this present evil world [age]” (Gal 1:4) by the death of Christ. The believers amongst which Titus worked lived on the Greek island of Crete, renowned at that time for its ease of living and morally unlawful behaviour. Paul quotes one of their own prophets, “The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies” (1:12); there must have been great pressure upon the believers in Crete to conform and become like all the people around them. Previous writers have noted the direct contrast of that three-fold description of the ungodly Cretians with the three-fold exhortation to believers in 2:12. If we are living “soberly,” then we will not be like those stereotypical “slow bellies” (lazy gluttons) from Crete. If we are living “righteously,” then we won’t be like those lawless “evil beasts.” If we are living “godly,” we will not be habitual “liars,” because God “cannot lie” (1:2).
As we live “in this present age,” we are expected to live differently to unregenerate humanity who live as they like, governed only by the sinful flesh within. All believers have the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, which is a fundamental reason and power to be different than the unregenerate. The teaching ministry and transforming moral power of the grace of God, as it is brought to bear upon us by the indwelling Spirit of God, every day implores believers to be distinct and to be godly in this present ungodly world. By God’s grace there is a liberty, not to do as we please, but to live godly lives that will please God and bring glory to Christ.
“Teaching us” is a present continuous participle, which indicates that this is to be a continuous process of education and training day by day in believers’ lives. It has been said that Christians “never graduate from the school of God’s grace in this life.”2 For whatever time we have down here, and as we await our Saviour coming again for us, we must determine to display more of the grace of God in our lives, respond to the teaching ministry of God’s grace, and know much of its transforming moral power. By God’s grace, we were assuredly saved for heaven the very moment we first believed. But if I am still today the same character of person that I was that moment I believed, something is not right. The grace of God that gave me entrance to salvation at the strait gate should also empower me to walk the narrow way of godliness each day. This is what it means to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2Pe 3:18).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
2 David West, What the Bible Teaches: 1 Thessalonians – Titus (Kilmarnock, Scotland: John Ritchie Ltd., 1983), 436.
