Grace and Favor
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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 the present age. -- Titus 2:11-12
In Titus 2, Paul wrote about the grace of God which brings salvation to all peace. This grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust. Grace helps us to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age.
We are waiting expectantly for the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He gave His life for us to redeem us from our sin nature and to purify us as His own people who are zealous after good works. We are to speak these things to everyone, exhort and correct with authority.
In chapter 3, Paul continued to speak about the heirs of grace, that we should be reminded to be subject to rulers and authorities. He said that we should obey and be ready for every good work and to speak evil of no one. We are to be peaceful, gentle and humble towards others. When we were sinners, we were once foolish, disobedient, deceived and serving our own lusts. We were living for pleasure, in malice and envy and we were hateful. When the love and kindness of God towards men appeared, this love wasn’t in self-righteousness, but according to mercy.
Jesus saved us through the washing and renewing of the Holy Spirit, who was poured on us abundantly through Christ. We became justified by his grace and became eternal heirs of the hope of eternal life. Paul encouraged the church to keep the message of grace constantly in our hearts. As believers we should maintain good works towards others. Paul also expounded on salvation by grace through faith in Ephesians 2. He said that we were made alive in Christ Jesus, who were once dead in sin. We once lived according to the laws of this world and were controlled by the prince of darkness. He also spoke about our lives which was characterized by living according to sinful desires. God loved us in our sinfulness and made us alive in Christ Jesus. “And raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6) This is so that in time to come we can show His exceeding riches and kindness towards us. We have been saved by grace through faith and not of our own doing, it is the gift of God and not because of good works which anyone can boast of.
Jesus brought us near to God by His blood, those of us who were once considered Gentiles and uncircumcised. We were once without Christ and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant promises. We were without hope without God and in the world, but now Jesus has been brought near to us through His blood. He is our peace, and He has torn away the dividing walls between us and has made us all one. He abolished by his flesh the hostility created by the law and its requirements which He fulfilled. He brought about unity among people from both Jews and Gentile heritage and created peace. He did this to reconcile us to God as one people through the Cross and brought an end to division. His message was peace to those far and near and through him, we all have access by one spirit to God. We are no longer strangers but fellow citizens and members of the body of Christ. We’ve been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus as the chief cornerstone. In Him the body of Christ together grows into a holy temple of God and are built together as a dwelling place of God in the spirit.
The Bible was written in seven different dispensations, two of which are grace and the law. For the majority of the Old Testament, we experienced the dispensation of law, where the children of God had to follow the strict Judaic law in order to meet the requirements of salvation. During Jesus’s birth, death and resurrection, we entered into the dispensation of grace which paved the way for unmerited favor. Under this new dispensation we acknowledge that no number of sacrifices and keeping of the law can make us righteous before God.
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh. (Romans 8:3)
This was so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who live according to the Spirit. The grace of God extends beyond what we are able to do and makes up for our shortcomings. Grace helps us in our weaknesses and covers us when we would otherwise fail. Grace granted us access to the presence of God with boldness to find help mercy and help when we need it most.
Questions for Reflection:
1. Are you able to identify areas where the grace of God is at work in your life?
2. How might the Church of today look different if we were still under the dispensation of the law?
3. What is one key difference that grace brought about that you are grateful for?
