December 13
December 13
It is important to understand the work of God’s grace not just in the past or the future, but also right here, right now.
Sadly, many believers have a big hole in the middle of their understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have a pretty clear understanding of the forgiveness they have received through the substitutionary work of Jesus. They have a fairly clear understanding of their future hope as the children of God. But they are not as clear about the right-here, right-now work of the gospel. Can you identify what God is doing now, in the period between the “already” of Christ’s resurrection and ascension and the “not yet” of your final welcome into his final kingdom? Do you see the work of Jesus in the here and now? Why did God plan a long period of time between when he first rescued us by his grace and when he will call us to our eternal home? Wouldn’t it be better for us to believe and immediately be taken into glory? Why must we endure a long, hard journey in this fallen world?
The apostle Paul addresses these questions in Titus 2. He wants Titus to know he has a gospel that is rich and full in the present—not just in the past or the future. I call what Paul is addressing with Titus the “nowism” of the gospel. God’s grace is working right here and right now as we journey our way through the hardships of life in this fallen, broken, and dysfunctional world. Consider Paul’s description of what God is doing right now:
The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 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 2:11–14)
Essentially, Paul reminds Titus that God has blessed us with rescuing, forgiving, and justifying grace, as well as with sanctifying grace. So what is God’s agenda for right now? It is radical, personal heart and life transformation. The word that Paul uses for this work of transformation is training. That’s why God ordained this period we now live in. After coming to Christ, we all desperately need training. We need to be trained to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. We need to be trained to live godly lives. We need to be trained to wait with hope. We need to be trained to be zealous to do what God says is good. We can be thankful that we have been blessed with powerful transforming grace right here, right now.