The Amazing Grace of God (Titus 2:11-15)
You watch the video of this sermon here.
Introduction
Last week we
looked at a really tough question: why doesn’t the Bible condemn slavery more? We
saw the uncomfortable truth that the Bible does not outright condemn slavery in
the New Testament or in this Old Testament. It condemns the theft and sale of
human beings, it allows for people to sell themselves into slavery to pay off
debts, it tells slaves to obey their masters and work hard. Despite this we saw
that the Bible recognizes that slavery was never ideal, never desirable and
really tragic. It is a result of the devil’s influence in this world. But still,
the Bible also allows for it. So how did we get to a point where Christians and
most westerners today rightly condemn it?
The answer
is simple. Because we serve a Lord and Master who literally, and I mean
literally in its literal sense, became a slave to redeem his people and all who
would believe in him, from their captivity to the evil one, to save them from
the punishment for their sins, and to defeat death. The Bible shows us
something more powerful than a condemnation of slavery, it shows us how God
undermined it completely by himself becoming a slave. This changed people’s
perspective on slavery forever. Christians came to understand that they had no
right to claim ownership over someone that Christ had bought with the price of
his blood, and therefore, they became redeemers of slaves more and more and
owners of slaves, less and less.
This new
perspective on slavery changed the world forever. Most of us today find the
idea of slavery to be abhorrent, backward, and unfathomable. All because our
Lord and Master undermined the whole thing by becoming a slave for us. This is
amazing grace. It is not an accident that a former slave master wrote that
song, realizing what God had done for him and done for his former slaves, in
saving them all from their sins.
Through his
grace to humanity God changed the world for us, breaking the power of the devil
like no man since Adam was able to do. The Devil is not yet bound, because the
Bible tells us he roams the earth, but his power has been declining ever since
the work of Jesus was made manifest in this world, and especially on the
cross.
This morning
we are going to explore this concept of grace. Without the grace of God we
would remain as slaves to the evil one, and slavery would be an unquestioned
force in the world. Without the grace of God the Devil would remain the king of
this world. Without the grace of God a lot of things would be different. Let’s
see what Jesus has done for us, according to this passage in Titus 2:11-15,
what the grace of God means for us.
The Grace
of God Appeared
(Tit. 2:11) – “11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation
for all people,…” Paul begins here by reminding older men why they
should be noble, older women why they should be reverent, younger women why
they should keep the home, younger men why they should be self-controlled, and
slaves why they should work hard: because the grace of God has appeared. But
what does he mean by saying the “grace of God appeared”?
This is a
strange thing to say, because it implies that God’s grace has not shown up
before. Other passages imply something very similar. For instance, John 1:17
says, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ.”
Many people
draw from verses like this that grace kind of just turned up in the ministry
and work of Jesus. Some people even read the Old Testament badly, thinking that
because the Old Testament saints lived by the law, that is how they were saved,
and we are saved by Grace through faith.
But this
makes no sense, because Paul tells us that Abraham and David were saved by
faith, just like we are (Romans 4).
However, if
you look up the word “Grace” in the Bible you will find it is used far more in
the New Testament than in the Old Testament (ESV 10-118), (KJV 37-122). There
is no doubt that the New Testament places more of an emphasis on grace than the
Old Testament.
But does
this mean it just appeared?
Grace means
undeserved kindness, and the New Testament tells us that God gives grace to all
people, Matthew 5:44-45 - “44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who
is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the just and on the unjust.” This is very much undeserved
kindness.
God’s grace
is found in the warm summer morning on the beach, in the cool breeze of the
afternoon, in the coolness of night that refreshes from the day. In the rain
that nourishes the ground, in the storm that soaks it and helps the seed grow.
God’s grace is everywhere manifest and experienced by all people.
We call this
common grace, everyone experiences this, even the worst people.
But once you
take on board that grace means undeserved kindness, or favour, then you will
see that grace is all through the Old Testament: For example, the giving of the
Ten Commandments, Exodus 34:5-7 – “5 The Lord descended in the cloud and
stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed
before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping
steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but
who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on
the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth
generation.”
God gave the
law because of his grace, his undeserved kindness. There is nothing in this
passage at the heart of the giving of the law, that would contradict anything
we understand about the grace of God.
What about
this? One of the most famous Psalms ever, one that we all love, says this,
Psalm 51:1-2 - “1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast
love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly
from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!”
The Hebrew
word behind “steadfast love” carries this same idea of underserved kindness. David
prayed in the hope that he would receive amazing grace for his terrible crime.
Just as someone who believed in Jesus would today.
Old
Testament believers surely considered God to be gracious to them, Genesis
33:10-11 - “10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your
sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is
like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11 Please accept my
blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and
because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.” Jacob
certainly felt that way.
God’s grace
to humanity is all through the Old Testament. His clothing of Adam and Eve, his
redemption of fallen humanity from the flood, his calling his people out of
Egypt, his patience with the wickedness of Israel and Judah. God was always a
God of grace, and they knew it.
In fact, in
one of my favourite science fiction shows, Stargate SG-1 there are these bad
aliens called Goa’uld who pretend to be gods and place humans all over the
galaxy to serve them. In season 3, episode 8 they go to a planet with medieval
Christians, and one of the characters says, “Are they claiming to be God, God.”
And one of the former slaves of the Goa’uld who is working with the humans
says, “I know of no Goa’uld capable of showing the necessary compassion or
benevolence that I have read of in your Bible.” Even he gets it.
So, if God
was always a God of Grace, then how can grace have now appeared? The Old
Testament presents the same kind of God as the new, so what has changed?
What has
changed is that God has given us grace upon grace, John 1:16-17 “16 For
from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was
given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” This
is what has changed.
What
changed? The law was from God, but Jesus is God, and he brought his grace with
him in power. In other words, the Grace of God appeared in the presence of God
himself in a way the world had not seen before.
It’s not
that God was not gracious before, it’s that he has increased the power of his
grace in the world by the power of his son, so much that it now makes the
ancient ways seem lacking in comparison.
God’s law
was gracious and good for his people. The law of Christ is even better than
that, because it changes things.
John tells
us this about the coming of Jesus, “9 The true light, which gives light
to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world
was made through him, yet the world did not know him” (John 1:9-10).
The entry of Jesus Christ in
the world changes it forever, because his light brings grace at a level beyond
anything seen before.
You could
say, Jesus is Grace, capital “G”. Through his presence the beauty of the grace
he brought with him effected evil, shook up the spiritual and the natural
world, and gave everybody a light to see that they did not have before. Just
his presence does that.
God’s
intention was always to move away from national Israel as the centre of
blessing, to international Israel, the Church, taking that blessing into the
world. To do that grace has been multiplied and taken to all peoples, in larger
measure.
And because
of the nature of the presence of king changes things, his grace also changes
things. It is not just undeserved kindness, it is a transforming power. The
increase of God’s grace has transformed people and transformed nations like it
never did in the times of David and Josiah.
Let’s see
how.
Transforming
Grace (v.12) – The
grace of God makes us new “…training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly
passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present
age…” This grace of God changes people, it transforms them. The Greek
word for “grace” is “charis” from which we get our English word Charisma. It
originally referred to the “three Charities”, or “three Graces” three goddesses
which seemed the mostly pleasing to men. Indeed, there was at one point in
legend a competition between the three graces and Aphrodite about who was the
most beautiful. A prominent Greek man awarded one of the ”Charities” or
“graces” the award and in jealousy Aphrodite punished him by turning him into
an old woman. But the significance of this is that in Greek this word “charis”
or “grace” carried the idea of ultimate divine beauty, kindness, and all that
is good.
We don’t
believe in silly false gods, but we know our God is the source of good gifts.
God’s grace towards us is the source of all that is divinely beautiful, kind
and good. Therefore, Paul is saying something like this: “When the divine and beautiful
gift of God came in its fullness, bringing salvation to all people.”
That is what
God has bestowed on humanity through the appearance of Jesus Christ in the
world. The pinnacle of all that is good, beautiful, and true. God has been
incredibly beautiful and kind to us in a way that we do not deserve.
The one who
encounters such divine beauty, how can you not want to become like it? How can
you not want to seek after it, pursue it, allow yourself to be transformed by
it.
There is a
kind of evil that hates beauty, shuns it and seeks to destroy. This is true of
the Devil, his angels, demons and most radical followers. But to those open to
the truth and what is good, nothing is more beautiful than ultimate beauty.
So how can
we take something so good and seek to abuse it as a permission to sin? We
cannot. Not if we truly want to pursue the divine beauty of the way of Jesus.
This is part of why his grace has such an effect on us – true beauty captivates
us and changes us.
To truly
encounter the glory of Jesus is to be transformed. In him is no wickedness, no
worldly desires and complete self-mastery. Therefore, those of us who have
truly trusted in him will be made into this image.
-
to renounce ungodliness – We will be motivated to flee from wickedness. To shun that
which is anti-Christ.
-
to renounce worldly passions – We will be motivated to deny ungodly desires that would draw
us away from Jesus.
-
to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age – We will be motivated to master our
desires and crucify them.
Why? So we
can aim towards the beauty of Christ that is found in the grace of God. His way
is the best way.
You all know
how to do this. You know how to save, to put away money, so that you can have
that thing you desire. You suppress your desires for lesser things, so that you
can buy that greater gift. You know how to pursue the one you love, by working
on the parts of you that are unattractive and accentuating your attractiveness.
You know how to attain that academic goal, that sporting goal, that career
goal, by cutting the things from your life that get in the way of it.
We all know
how to do this, and we all know what it means to not do this, as well, what you
lose.
Paul is
saying the beauty of the grace of God will do that to the believer. It will
make you want to cut things out of your life to attain the “upward call of
Christ”.
It’s not an
excuse for sin, it is a motivation to get rid of sin as much as you can. So you
can pursue the beauty that you see in Christ. As Keith Green said:
“Oh, Lord, You're
beautiful
Your face is all I seek
For when Your eyes are on
this child
Your grace abounds to me
Oh, Lord, You're
beautiful
Your face is all I seek
For when Your eyes are on
this child
Your grace abounds to me.”[i]
The grace of
God will transform you to want to bring the beauty of God around you more and
more in this “present age” this dark age. Keith Green got it. He really
understood it.
Waiting
For Him (v.13) – We
do this knowing he is coming back for us, “13 waiting for our blessed
hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for
himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works”
(Titus 2:13-14). We, human beings, are not the hope of this world. As
Christians, believe it or not, we can’t really defeat evil in this present age,
it will be ever present with us. But who cares, because we serve the one who is
the hope and the one who will defeat evil and wipe the floor with it.
So, we live
like those who can bring the world hope, we bring change anyway, in our lives
and in the lives around us, knowing that we cannot fully defeat evil. But never
feeling defeated in this process because we know for sure that he is coming
again to finish the job for us.
We oppose
evil not because it’s our job to finish the fight. But because it is our job to
be like the one who will finish the fight. We fight evil because it’s what he
wants us to do, it is what he does, and he does it through us.
We also
fight evil because it is ugly, ungodly and unsightly, the opposite of all that
is good, beautiful and true.
The mark of
someone who has really encountered the grace of God is pretty simple, are they “zealous
for good works.” Jesus did not die just to make himself the Church. He
died to make the church for a purpose, to be an agent of his good in the
world.
We are saved
by grace through faith so that we might be the opposite of what is evil in the
world. A little window into heaven, an example of his good, an element of his
light, a radiance of his image.
Teach
This (v.15) – If we
go back to verse one it says, “But as for you, teach what accords with
sound doctrine.” And now he finishes with, “15 Declare these things;
exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” For
Paul, teaching about the structure of the family and home, and teaching about
submitting to those in authority over you and teaching about the grace of God
that empowers us to do all of these things well, is the heart of the good
teaching he wants Titus to teach the Cretans.
When a
pastor teaches these things he is teaching the basic doctrines of what makes
Christianity what it is. So, what is the hearers job? To obey them. Not because
it is the pastor speaking, but because it is the true word of God being taught.
A pastor’s
authority is only as strong as their words are close to the teachings of the
Bible.
When the
teacher holds to these clear words of the Bible, then those words are to be
regarded, highly, because the preacher exists to help the congregation be “zealous
for good works”. The preacher exists to lift up the beauty of Christ
and inspire people to aspire to it. The preacher exists point you to that
blessed hope and that coming day of the Lord, when evil will be finally
defeated.
There is
blessing in applying them to your lives and danger if you don’t.
Application
– So my application
is very simple: have you encountered the grace of God? John tells us that he is
the light which enlightens all people, I truly believe that the gospel
invitation is open to all and that all have a chance at some point in their
life to believe. I think some people harden their hearts to it. I think some
people are too proud to accept it. I think God can break through both, because
such is the beauty found in him.
So my
application is simple, trust in him and let him transform you through the power
of his grace in your life. Repent from your sins and trust in him, he offers
this grace to all people so that they could be saved.
f you are
resisting the work of his grace in your life, my warning to you is also very
simple, repent and turn to him, because salvation is only found in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
– For those of us
who know the grace of God well. We know it is not by works, not by our will,
not by our efforts, but by the grace of God that we can praise him and rejoice
in his good gift to us. So, as we sing this final song, reflect on these words
from the old hymn:
“What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought
Since Jesus came into my heart;
I have light in my soul for which long I have sought,
Since Jesus came into my heart.”
Thanks God for his grace which changes us, let’s ask him to change us
even more.
Let’s pray.
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