SERMON: “God’s Amazing Grace” (Titus 2:11–14)
“God’s Amazing
Grace” (Titus 2:11–14)
Series: “Titus: Godly People, Godly Church,”
#12 Text: Titus
2:11–14
By: Shaun Marksbury Date: July 28, 2024
Venue: Living Water Baptist Church Occasion:
PM Service
I.
Introduction
The second error can be more subtle — they may get God’s
gospel wrong. They may say that God saves
us because of our good works, for instance.
Or, they may insist that we keep ourselves in God’s good graces by our
efforts. Yet, that completely changes
the meaning of grace.
The word grace stands at the center of the Christian life. It not only saves us, but it also sanctifies
us. God’s grace helps navigate life’s
issues and provides us with the grace we need to extend to others. If we replace it with a form of godliness
that lacks its power, legalistic, grace-less Christianity is the result.
According to this passage, the grace of God has appeared,
bringing three new realities for those who trust the gospel. As members of a godly church, we must believe
that God’s grace saves us (v. 11), schools us (v. 12), and secures us (vv.
13–14).
II.
First, God’s Grace Saves Us (v. 11)
For the grace of
God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
The New Testament is
better, stripping grace of any idea of being earned through
friendship. The gospel gives grace its distinctive shine;
consider what Paul wrote in Romans 5:6–7, “For while we were still helpless, at
the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good
man someone would dare even to die. But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.” In other words, the
grace of God comes toward the helpless, ungodly, and sinners — He
gives it to the undeserving.
This verse says this grace epiphanies. Paul
carries this thought forward into the next chapter, where, in v. 4, he says the
related concept of kindness of appeared or epiphanied. Both of these instances seem to look backward,
and they look back to the birth of Christ.
God’s grace gilded the sky the Messiah. In Luke 1:79, Zechariah prophesied over the infant Lord that the sunrise has visited us to “shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” God’s grace appeared through the entrance of the Son into the world through His first advent, when He came “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
God’s grace appeared for a reason, and I hope you know
it! As such, here in Titus 2:11, God’s
grace appearing means “salvation to all men.”
How does grace bring salvation, and who is it for?
A.
How does grace save?
Scripture also speaks of spiritual salvation. Jesus warns in John 8:34, “Therefore I said
to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” In fact, the Bible describes us as already
being “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). Scripture tells us that we’re unable to
please or even seek God on our own (Rom. 3:10–18). This is means that we need an act of God’s
grace to save us.
Death doesn’t just mean closing your eyes for the last time
— there is a coming judgment. Jesus
said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but
rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt.
10:28). Hell is a real place, an
“unquenchable fire” according to Jesus (Mark 9:43). In the last verse of Isaiah, God warns, “Then
they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed
against Me. For their worm will not die
and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an abhorrence to all
mankind” (Isa. 66:24). The bad news of
Scripture is that we, as sinners, deserve an eternal punishment in hell.
But, praise God, we’re talking about what grace does. We see it in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, where we
read that Jesus “rescues us from the wrath to come.” Here in Titus 2:11 and in 3:4, we read about
God’s grace appearing, and according to 3:7, it justifies or makes it as
though, legally, we had not sinned. This
is all “according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). This is why we must believe in Christ. God’s grace delivers from the coming bondage
in hell, and so much more, as we’ll see.
For the moment, though, let’s move onto the next question:
B.
Who does grace save?
What Paul means here is that all kinds of people are saved,
making it universally available. This is
something that the Jews didn’t always understand, but we can pray that God’s
way and salvation may be known among all nations (Psa. 67:1–2). So, regardless of whether Titus is
instructing the Jews or the Gentiles on the island of Crete, the elders
or the younger individuals, slaves or freemen, men or women, he can tell all
them about when God’s saving grace appeared.
The gospel of this grace is available to all and saves those who trust
in it.
If that was all we could say about God’s grace, it would
seem to be enough! Even so, we see that
there is more to God’s grace, for we need more.
It isn’t just for when we die, it’s grace for today. We see this in the next verse:
III.
Second, God’s Grace Schools Us (v. 12)
instructing us to
deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and
godly in the present age,
God’s grace instructs us.
It instructs us like children would be trained; this is the same word
used of Moses to say that he was “educated” in all Egyptian wisdom (Acts
7:22). We could say that grace operates
according to the pedagogy of God. It teaches
us what not to do and what to do.
A.
First, God’s Grace Teaches Us What Not to Do
There’s what’s known as a purpose clause here: God’s grace
is instructing in order to “deny [or renounce] ungodliness and worldly
desires.” This is instruction by
negation, a positive manifestation of a lack of sinfulness. Remember the contrast with the false teachers
of Titus 1:16, who “profess to know God” but “deny him by their works.” Those with the grace of God learn to deny
iniquity as they work out their salvation.
Let’s break this down a little bit.
First, grace teaches us to deny
ungodliness. Consider the
example the Lord gives us of how He moved Moses (Heb. 11:24–26): “By faith
Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s
daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than
to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.” He turned his back on all the pleasures of
Egypt for a greater reward.
Similarly, God graciously instructs us through Scripture
to steer clear of all ungodliness, including that sin we might find
pleasing. We turn our backs on Satan and
the world. In fact, one of the old
formulas for baptism includes a declaration of rejecting the devil and his
ways. Grace helps us to do just that, as
well as:
Second, grace teaches us to deny
worldly lusts. Lust is,
in its simple definition, a sinful desire.
We tend to think about it only in terms of sexual desire, which is one
type of lust. As Dr. Nicolas Ellen
defined, “Lust is something that one wants so badly that he is willing to sin
to get it, or sin if he doesn’t get it.”[2] We see this in children, sometimes: one child
has a toy that the other wants so badly a fight breaks out. If the parent admonishes the second child for
attempting to steal the toy from the first, then a temper tantrum breaks
out.
Certainly, Moses experienced worldly lust for position,
power, and wealth, but he rejected it all.
We need that example because James 4:1–2 describes a more childish
reality in some churches: “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among
you? Is not the source your pleasures
that wage war in your members? You lust
and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so
you fight and quarrel.” If this
describes a church, it doesn’t matter how doctrinally-sound the pulpit ministry
might be! It’s a church in need of grace
because God’s grace teaches believers to avoid ungodliness and worldly lusts, and
more.
B.
Second, God’s Grace Teaches Us What to Do
Through His Means
We need more than sensibility — we need to be able to live righteously. I’ve asked inmates in jail, “Wouldn’t it be
nice to see a police car in your rearview mirror and not have your heart beat
faster?” We should have the conviction to
live God’s commands in this world, living life with a clear conscience before
God and man. Imagine the anxieties of
heart lifted because grace is training you to walk better than you did
before? Isn’t grace wonderful?
The final point is vital — God’s grace is instructing us “to
live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age” or world system. Culture beckons you back to ungodliness and
worldly passions, but God’s grace trains you in and for this present
culture. We need His grace because 1
John 2:17 says, “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but
whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
His grace produces a life able to withstand the evils of this present
age and survive into the age to come.
There is a world coming, a coming age. It’s available to those who believe in Christ
for His saving grace. This brings us to
the next verse.
IV.
Third, God’s grace secures us (vv. 13–14).
looking for the
blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ
Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to
purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
Sometimes, Christians can worry about the final time they
close their eyes. However, God’s grace
helps us here, too. In fact, we see a
link here even in the English that the instructing grace of God has us looking for
something. We’ll see that God’s grace secures
our hope, our purchase, and Christ’s possession.
A.
Grace secures our hope (v. 13).
It’s more than that — we should even be looking forward to
it. This is a “blessed hope.” The term “blessed” the same used in
beatitudes, here used adjectivally. Christ’s
appearing isn’t blessed for everyone; 2 Timothy 4:1 says Christ Jesus will “judge
the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom.” The lost look toward the second coming of
Christ with dread, but true Christians long for His return in all His glory. When He comes, it is clear that we will be
snatched away to be with Him forever.
This is certain because of who Jesus is. He’s described here as having glory, and He’s
called “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” There’s a rule of Greek syntax known as Granville-Sharp,
and that rule indicates here that Paul is speaking of the same person when he
says, “God and Savior;” these are not two separate persons.
Of course, there cannot be two separate persons. In Isaiah 43:11 says, “I, even I, am the Lord,
and there is no savior besides Me.” In 45:21,
the Lord says something similar: “And there is no other God besides Me, a
righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me.” If Jesus is a Savior who isn’t God, then that
would contradict Scripture. Paul is
being clear here that Jesus is God.
Consider this. The
term “god and savior” was known in the Roman world, reserved for Caesar
alone. Paul, however, confronts the
present age with the true God and Savior.
Jesus is the one who will return, and today, He gives grace that saves
and trains us to live sober, godly, and upright lives.
There is no god or savior beside the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can give out this
amazing grace! He’s the only one who can
give us hope, and because of who He is, we can know it’s a safe hope! We can also know that it is secure, bringing
us to the next point:
B.
Grace secures our purchase as Christ’s
possession (v. 14).
One thing we might overlook here is the substitutionary
language of our Lord. We read here that He
“gave Himself for us.” The “us” here are
the recipients of God’s grace. Jesus
died specifically for us.
We read that there are two reasons why He did this. First, He died for us to redeem us. This means to liberate or deliver us, giving
us an image of a slave in the marketplace.
In 1 Corinthians 6:20 , we read that we were bought with a price, the
blood of Jesus (cf. Rev. 5:9). This
brings new meaning to the previous verses about slaves: we are all purchased by
Christ’s death.
Note that there are practical implications of this purchase. Some live lawless lives, disregarding the Law
of God and embracing sin. Because of
Christ’s redeeming grace, though, we can now live according to God’s standards. Before, we wanted autonomy — self-law — but now
we turn to God’s rule. We stop being our
own lord and can bow a knee to a new Lord.
We’ve been delivered from all lawless living.
As a result of His cleansing and grace, we are now zealous for good works. Grace works itself out in our lives. In fact, this is how you know you are secure:
your zeal for good works. Martin Luther said, “Faith alone saves, but
the faith that saves is never alone.” James said that a faith that does not produce
works is a dead faith. If God’s grace is
active in your life, then you will want to engage in good works—not to save
you, or to make God happy with you, but to pour out the overflow of God’s
goodness on others.
Christ’s possession of us is, as the KJV has here, a “peculiar”
work of grace. We’re a special people for
His purposes. And we demonstrate that with our obedience. It’s because of the gracious work of Christ,
though, that we’re even here, so it’s ultimately His grace which keeps us
secure.
V.
Conclusion
It’s vital to understand the importance of God’s grace in
our lives. It turns us around, showing
us our need for a Savior and then His grace appears. He also graciously teaches us to deny
ungodliness and embrace godliness.
Another way to think about this is that the grace of God helps us
repent, and Christian piety and devotion results from His grace being at work.
This is grace that is greater than all our sins — an amazing
grace! Do you know it? I hope you are trusting in His grace and
proclaim it as available to all people in Christ. If you are a pastor, don’t tire of preaching
it. May we each have solid and healthy
churches upholding, modeling, and operating according to His grace.
[1] Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the
Greek New Testament: For the English Reader (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997),
19:16.
[2] This was at Dr. Nicolas Ellen’s presentation,
“Uprooting Anger,” at the Men Discipling Men 2012 Conference at The Master’s
College (now, The Master’s University) in Santa Clarita, CA.
