The Grace Of God
THE GRACE OF GOD
TITUS 2:11-15
Jesus doesn’t just tell us to be good; he also gives us the grace and strength to resist temptation and to live for him.
Having dealt with the kind of behavior he looks for in believers, Paul goes back to the basis of it all. The “For” which introduces 3:11 should not be overlooked. People should live in the way outlined because God has acted for salvation. “The grace of God” is viewed dynamically: it “appeared.” In Christ the grace of God was seen. Grace is one of Paul’s great words (he uses it 100 times out of 155 times in the New Testament) and it emphasizes the freeness of God’s gift of salvation. This is universal in its scope: for “all people.”
It is in keeping with the characteristic emphasis of these letters that this grace “trains us” in right living (2:12) both negatively and positively. It is reinforced by an appeal to the “blessed hope,” Jesus’ second coming. This is distinguished from the first coming by the explicit reference to his “glory.” Notice that Jesus is expressly called “God.” The deity of our Savior meant a good deal to the people of the New Testament and those who today have rejected the doctrine have cut themselves off from a considerable part of the riches of Christianity. It matters immensely that the salvation we proclaim is not one that proceeds from any created being but from none less than God himself.
Christ’s saving work is described in terms of redemption (2:14). This means the setting free from slavery or a death sentence by the payment of a price (the “ransom,” see also 1 Timothy 2:6). Here redemption is “from all iniquity.” Left to ourselves, we could not break free from our sins, but Christ’s redemption frees us from both their consequences and their power. The result is “a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds” (2:14). Nothing less is adequate as the fruits of our redemption.
This is a grand message; no grander has never been committed to humanity. So Paul confidently calls on Titus to proclaim it “with all authority” (2:15), so speaking directly to the needs of our day.