Titus 2:11-13 (ESV)
[11] For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all
people, [12] training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to
live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, [13] waiting
for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior
Jesus Christ,
There is a past, present, and future aspect to these verses. The grace of
God appeared in the past. Jesus came to earth over 2000 years ago to reveal and
to offer God’s grace. The gospel is a gospel of grace grounded in the past death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God. When one becomes a Christian
by grace through faith, the present aspect of the passage takes over. The grace
that saved us, forgave us, and washed us clean is now training us to renounce
ungodliness and worldly passions. Our salvation is a done deal, but the process
of transformation is just that, a process. The word translated “training” is
the word for training and disciplining a child. God is training and
disciplining us in this process. The process is not only motivated by the past appearing
of God’s grace, but also by the future appearing of the glory of God. As believers
in Jesus Christ, we live with this expectation that “our great God and Savior
Jesus Christ” will one day return, appearing in all of his glory. When we take
any one of those pieces out, we no longer have biblical truth. When we acknowledge
that we are being trained while we wait for his appearing in glory but neglect
the importance of trusting him because he first appeared to reveal his grace,
we have lost the gospel. We have also forgotten that the gospel is not just for
us, but for everyone. Part of our reason for continuing on this earth is to
make the truth of the gospel known. When we trust and anticipate but neglect the
process of growing and being trained in holiness, we have lost sight of the
truth that in Christ we were cleansed and made holy (see 2 Pet 1:9). When we
trust him but assume faith in Christ is only about living as a nice person
here, without any expectation of his return, we have no reason to continue in
the process. We have forgotten why we are being trained. Let us keep all three
together. Grace appeared, and we are being trained, as we live in anticipation
of Jesus’s return in greatness and glory. Which of the three do you need to be
reminded of today?
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