¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age…

Titus 2:11-12

The grace of God is the foundation of all that it means to be a Christian. The apostle Paul certainly understood this and so whenever we come across passages in his letters that are filled with imperatives, we must be aware that at some point he will seek to establish that the ability to carry them out is found only in the God who graciously empowers His children for obedience. Having giving clear and direct instructions to the believers in Crete about what it would look like for them to live faithfully as Jesus’ witnesses in 2:2-10, the apostle transitions now to ground those exhortations in the theology of God’s grace (2:11-14).

That this passage is the grounds or basis for the prior instructions is made clear by the presence of the word “for.” The believers of Crete can live faithfully in their season of life and engage successfully in cross-generational discipleship because the grace of God has appeared. The term that we translate “appeared” doesn’t mean to simply come out of nowhere (ex nihilo), but instead carries the idea of something that is already present being shown or made known clearly. Certainly God’s grace has been present in all ages, but, in light of the person and work of Christ, God’s grace towards sinners has become the primary ruling factor of the present age. Specifically, the person and work of Christ have made salvation (Justification) possible for all mankind. Christ died in the place of ruined sinners in order that they might be declared righteous in God’s sight.

Having come to Christ by faith, we become His disciples. God’s grace is not only the basis for salvation (a completed work) from the penalty of sin, but it is also the basis for salvation (an ongoing work) from the power of sin. It is by God’s grace that the Lord Jesus trains or instructs us as His followers in what it means to live the Christian life. In Paul’s thinking in 2:12, this instruction comes in two forms. First, it instructs us to deny ungodliness and worldly passions. Because believers are “in Christ,” we died with Him and have now begun to experience resurrection life in Him through the indwelling of His Spirit. It is therefore possible for us as Jesus’ disciples to carry out His exhortation that those who would come after Him must deny themselves, take up their crosses daily, and follow Him. Second, God’s grace instructs us in order that we might live godly lives in the present age. Although we live in a fallen world and we ourselves still possess a fallen nature, we have new life in Christ that is accessed by faith. We can therefore live lives that are indicative of the fact that we have experienced the gracious salvation of God in terms of how we conduct ourselves (we exhibit self-control), how we relate to others (in an upright way), and we how walk with the Lord (in a godly way).

It is vital for the NT believer to understand the imperatives and exhortations of the NT in order that we know how we are to live as the Church in the world. Those commands, however, are always rooted in the truth of who we are in Christ. It is He alone who can produce in us the things that are exhorted of us. Thanks be to God that He has given us His Holy Spirit in order that Christ’s very life might be produced in us as we live faithfully as His people!

Join us this Sunday as we come together to study God’s Word and to remember His person and work at His table!

Soli Deo Gloria.

-Thomas