A Grace That Teaches

Titus 2:11-12

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age” I was reading over these verses on an airplane recently and began to write down the truths that it shows. I hope that it is an encouragement and a challenge to you, and I hope you dive into the truth of these verses for yourself to glean what you can from it with the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Verse eleven is very clear. God’s grace, and Paul is specific, the grace that brings salvation, has appeared to everyone. We see the same truth in Romans 1:18-23. God’s glory has appeared to all men so that none are without excuse. No one can bow before the throne of God after being declared guilty and claim they would have believed had they known the truth. No one has an excuse. His grace has appeared to all men. We are all guilty unless we receive the gift of grace that brings salvation.

In verse twelve we see a list of what the grace teaches us believers. The first thing Paul lists is “denying ungodliness.” We still have a our sinful flesh that we need to deal with even after we become a new creation. Ungodliness will remain an everyday battle, but it is now one we can win.

Notice that Paul says that we have to deny it. This shows us that it is an action we must take. We need to work at it if we want to obey what grace teaches us. Why does grace teach us to deny ungodliness? Because a truly saved man or woman will be grateful for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. They will see the grace of God as a huge blessing, one that they can never repay. This grace changes us. We no longer want to obey our flesh, we want to obey God. This grace makes us want to deny ungodliness.

Next, Paul says that we have to deny worldly lusts. There are a lot of things that can be described as worldly lusts. We know about the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes (1 John 2:16). Looking at someone or something and desiring it, wanting it for your own selfish desires, is a worldly lust. Looking at something and longing after it is the definition of lust according to Strong’s Greek Concordance. The Greek word for it is ἐπιθυμία (epithumia).

Longing for something or someone in this world is natural to us and our flesh, but it is something that we begin to fight against once we get saved. Our longing should change from worldly to godly. We begin to long to deny all ungodliness, to grow in other areas (such as the fear of God), and we long to be with Him in eternity (instead of just enjoying His gifts). Even His gifts can be longed for sinfully when we desire what He gives rather than Who He is.

We will look next week at living soberly, righteously, and godly. These are not easy commands, but they are biblical and therefore commands we must follow. God's grace is what gives us this ability as we will see.

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