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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