Grace  Sermon Series

Wheelersburg Baptist Church 12/31/2000 Brad Brandt

Titus 2:11-14 "Living By Grace"**

In his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning shares the following story about Fiorello LaGuardia:

"LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers 'the Little Flower' because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids.

One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. 

Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges.

"It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor." the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson."

LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions--ten dollars or ten days in jail."

But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."

So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation."

It’s amazing to behold the power of grace. Grace changes people. Grace changes families and churches. Grace can change a community.

An important phrase appears in Acts 13. There Luke tells us about the ministry of Paul and Barnabas in Pisidian Antioch. According to verse 42, the missionaries preached the gospel in the synagogue, and many Jews followed them. What intrigues me is the counsel Paul and Barnabas gave to these converts. Verse 43 says they "talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God." Continuing in grace is synonymous with what it means to be a Christian.

Think about it. What is our greatest need in life? What is it that is absolutely indispensable for living? It's the grace of God. In truth, we are utterly dependent upon grace. We cannot be saved without grace. Nor can we live without it.

In the Old Testament, you will find the word "grace" 39 times (in the KJV)—the more prevalent term used is loving-kindness (from the Hebrew chesed). The New Testament is full of grace. The word appears 131 times. Paul used the term to introduce and conclude nearly every letter he wrote. For instance, in his introduction to Titus he writes, "Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior (1:4)," and his conclusion echoes the same theme, "Grace be with you all (3:15)." Indeed, the final verse of the Bible says we need grace (Rev. 22:21). Yes, we need grace!

Few would argue the fact. It’s kind of like saying, "We need air to live." We know it’s true, but when was the last time you acknowledged your need for air? Likewise, we’re prone to take grace for granted.

"How much do we need grace?" is the question before us. We could turn many places in God’s Word to answer that question, but I have chosen Titus 2 as our text. In Titus 2:11-14, God gives us one of the most powerful assessments of grace to be found anywhere in the Bible. It's there that He tells us why we need His grace. According to Titus 2:11-14, we are utterly dependent upon grace for three events to occur in the Christian life.

The book of Titus bears its name because a man named Titus received it from his mentor, Paul. It was somewhere between the years A.D. 63 and 65, and Titus was serving on the island of Crete, the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. There was a young church on the island, a very young church. Paul and Titus had introduced Christianity to the Cretans, but soon afterwards Paul moved on and left Titus to do the mop-up work of organizing the church.

It was no easy task for Titus. Crete had a reputation (and it wasn't good). The inhabitants were known for their dishonesty, gluttony, and laziness (1:12). It was Titus's task to put things in order in the church, and Paul told him how in this epistle.

Notice 1:5, "The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished." The young church needed help, and in this letter Paul told Titus exactly what they needed. According to chapter one, they needed godly leaders. According to chapter two, they needed godly members. And according to chapter three, they needed a godly reputation in the community. It was Titus's job to make it happen.

How? To initiate the changes, Titus needed to teach the Word of God. The immediate context of our study is chapter two. There Paul tells Titus to teach the people how to live out their faith. "You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine (1)."

Then in the following verses Paul identified five groups within the church that needed instruction. He was to teach the older men (2), and the older women (3), who in turn would teach the younger women (4-5). He was to teach the young men (6-8) and the slaves (9-10), with this aim in mind: "so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."

That’s key. It was Titus's job to teach the Cretan Christians how to live in such a way as to make the gospel of Christ attractive.

I know of nothing that does greater harm to the gospel than people who profess Christ but don't live for Christ. I talked to a missionary some time ago who shared the following tragic story. A team of American missionaries was working in Africa, but lacked unity. The team was fractured by unresolved conflicts, strife, and bitterness. It had gone on for years, and was so bad that one of the African, national pastors came to my friend and said, "You missionaries are hurting the reputation of our church. We can't be around you."

To profess Christ and not be Christlike stifles the gospel. On the other hand, when a group of people choose to truly live for Christ, they can turn a community upside down!

Titus 2:1-10 shows us how to do it—through practical, Bible teaching. Titus 2:11-14 shows us what makes it possible. It's grace. Verse 11, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men."

Why do we need grace? First, we need grace to begin the Christian life. Notice four insights about grace from verse 11.

A. The source of grace is God. "For the grace of God." Grace begins with God, not with man. He's the God of grace. In fact, 1 Peter 5:10 calls Him the God of all grace.

B. The result of grace is salvation. "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." Paul can't think of salvation apart from the grace of God. No one is a Christian because he deserves it. No one. There are no "good catches" in God's sight, only sinners. All are saved the same way--by grace. It's the grace of God that brings salvation.

Just what is grace? Guthrie says, "Grace is God's free favor in dealing with man's sin." Wiersbe suggests, "Grace is God's lavish favor on undeserving sinners."

C. The revelation of grace is mandatory. "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." Notice something special about grace. Grace is unknown apart from God's revelation.

According to Romans 1, an unregenerate person can look at the stars and know that God exists. From creation, he can perceive the power of God. But he knows nothing of the grace of God. The natural man is blinded by sin and is oblivious to the grace and love of God. You need special revelation to grasp grace. Which is exactly what God gave.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared." Sinners don't discover salvation. Rather, God's salvation has "appeared." The Greek term is epiphany. Paul’s using a light metaphor. He’s saying that just like a sudden ray of light breaks the blackness of night when the sun appears in the morning dawn, so the grace of God in its brilliance has penetrated the blackness of a sin-infested world.

When did this revelation of grace appear? John 1:14 tells us, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Grace appeared when the Son appeared!

To whom has grace appeared? Insight #4…

D. The beneficiaries of grace are diverse. "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." What does Paul mean by "all men"? Remember the context. In chapter two, Paul has just dealt with five categories of people (older men, older women, younger women, younger men, and slaves). Who needs God's grace? The answer is, all types of people do. Male or female, old or young, rich or poor—all are guilty before God. And from all types of backgrounds God gathers His people.

I hope you realize (and appreciate) that there is great diversity in the Church of Jesus Christ. One day when we gather around the throne of God to worship the Lamb there will be people from every tribe and language and people and nation (Rev 5:9). God doesn’t call people on the basis of skin color or gender or economic status. No, the basis of His call is grace.

Oh beloved, ponder the grace of God! You wouldn't be a Christian today were it not for the grace of God. We need grace to begin the Christian life. God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. The Bible says we are called by God's grace (Gal. 1:6). We are regenerated by God's grace (Tit. 3:4-5). We are forgiven by God's grace (Eph. 1:7). We are justified by God's grace (Tit. 3:7; Rom 3:24).

We are indebted to grace. Listen to Paul's admission in 2 Timothy 1:9-10, "[God] has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus."

You will never appreciate your salvation fully until you see yourself as dependent upon grace. As Haldor Lillenas did, who wrote: "Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin; How shall my tongue describe it, where shall its praise begin? Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free, for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me."

We need grace to begin the Christian life. But the need doesn’t stop there. We're dependent upon grace if a second event is to occur, according to verse 12.

The KJV ends verse 11 with a comma, and shows the close connection between verses 11 and 12. In fact, in verse 12 Paul bridges grace from the past to the present, and uses a Greek participle to show us what grace does. Grace teaches us. Yes, grace transforms us (that's verse 11), but grace also teaches us (verse 12).

Here we see the tie between theology and ethics, between what a person believes and how a person behaves. Why did Paul want Titus to teach the older men and women, the younger men and women, and the slaves how to live godly lives? Because grace demands it! And grace enables it! Grace is a teacher.

Don’t miss this. The basis of ethics is doctrine. If you want to be a strong Christian, you don’t need a church that will make you "feel good" on Sunday. You need a church where you can learn sound doctrine.

The Greek word for "teach" in verse 12 is a term that means "to train" (paideuo). It was used of training children, and in Hebrews 12:6-7 carries the idea of family discipline.

Parents, how do you teach your children? Probably, a little at a time. Step by step. I remember when our girls were learning to walk. They learned to take one step at a time.

Grace is a great teacher. It’s a much better teacher than the Law. The Law says, "Do this! Don’t do that!" No, grace is not anti-Law, and it certainly doesn’t give a person a license to live however they want.

In fact, herein lies a primary difference between grace and law. Grace changes a person’s want to. When we’ve been taught by grace, we want to live differently. When grace teaches, it gives incentive.

When I was a ten year old boy, my mother had a great method to get me to comb my hair and wash my face. She told me to! And I knew there would be consequences if I disobeyed her.

But a few years later she didn’t have to tell me any more. The desire to please a special young lady in my life was all the incentive I needed to get cleaned up!

That’s the difference between Law and grace. Law tells me to get cleaned up. Grace gives me the desire to do so.

Yes, grace is a great teacher. It trains us how to live in the present. What curriculum does grace use in the teaching process? Or simply put, what do we learn from grace? Grace informs us of two responsibilities, one negative, and the other positive.

A. Grace teaches us to deny. "It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions." Grace calls us to deny. William Hendriksen put it this way (371), "No one sleeps his way into heaven." Grace calls us to get rid of two things. What are they?

1. Ungodliness must go. Ungodliness is whatever is unlike God. Whatever is unattractive to God should have no place in our lives. Grace tells us to say no to it.

2. Worldly desires must go. Worldly passions, worldly lusts--these must go. But what are they? Chrysostom said that worldly things are things which do not pass over with us into heaven but are dissolved together with this present world. A man is a fool if he pours his life into that which is doomed to destruction. I like Barclay's definition of "worldly things"--they are things we could not show to God.

Is there anything in your life you would be embarrassed to show God? Grace says get rid of it now. It may be an attitude—like bitterness. It may be a habit—like stretching the truth or consuming alcohol. It may be music with ungodly lyrics. It may be a vile TV show.

You say, "That's legalism." No, it's what grace teaches us. Grace tells us to deny. Grace teaches us to say no.

Answer this. When was the last time you consciously said no to ungodliness and worldly passions? When was the last time you turned off a television program or changed the radio dial or refused to run with the crowd in order to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions? If we’re listening to grace, we ought to be saying no continually. Why? Because we’re in a battle.

The apostle John gave counsel similar to Paul’s in 1 John 2:15-16. "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world."

Every day we must say no to ungodliness and worldly desires. Because Christ saved us, we couldn’t say no—we were enslaved to sin. But now we must. Grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly passions.

But there are two sides to godly living. God's admonition in Isaiah 1:16-17 is, "Cease to do evil; learn to do good." Grace tells us to deny, that's side one. Here's side two...

B. Grace teaches us to develop. "It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age." In Ephesians 4, Paul puts it a different way when he tells us to "put off the old man" and "put on the new man."

Grace involves a negative assignment--deny. And grace involves a positive task--develop. The Christian life is an ongoing process of growth (the biblical term is "sanctification"). We haven't arrived.

"What are we to develop?" you ask. According to verse 12, we are to be growing in Christlikeness in three areas. The text says we should live self-controlled [soberly in the KJV; that deals with the believer's relationship with himself], righteous [that deals with the believer's relationships with other people], and godly lives [that deals with the Christian's relationship to the Lord].

These three virtues should be priorty to us, and they will be if we’re listening to grace. We’ll want to live self-controlled, righteous, and godly lives.

How can we tell if we are developing? Let’s make it personal. Ask yourself three questions.

1. Am I exhibiting self-control? Before we came to know Christ, we demonstrated self-indulgence, not self-control. And even if we were highly self-disciplined (which some non-Christians are), it was to me us look good, not Christ.

Do you control your passions, or do your passions control you? Young people, do you have healthy relationships with the opposite sex? Don't buy the notion of "safe sex" our society promotes. Our culture assumes young people will have sex before marriage. Even so-called "professionals" are convinced that you can't expect a warm-blooded teen with active hormones to remain pure, so they offer the alternative of "safe sex." What an insult to the Spirit of God!

The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Yes, you can live a pure life, and so can I, by God's grace.

2. Am I exhibiting righteousness? Verse 12 says, "And to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives." Would the people who know you well describe you as righteous (not self-righteous)? Are you a person who strives to do what is right? Are you a man or woman of integrity at work or at school?

3. Am I exhibiting godliness? Can people tell that God is living in you by looking at your life? Again, we don't arrive this side of glory. But are you growing?

Grace teaches us that we need to grow. Grace tells us where we need to go. And grace takes us there. Peter writes, "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18)."

Know this, Christian. You can grow. The Christian life will work for you. But you need grace. We need grace to begin the Christian life, and to live it. Thirdly...

I've mentioned before that I was a runner in High School. My favorite part of the race was the finish line! In Cross Country, the finish line was a funnel-shaped shoot that allowed runners to pass through only one at a time.

The Christian life is a unique race. There is not just one winner. Everyone contestant may win. All may win, however, not all will win. To be a winner in the Christian life, you must finish well. There's no prize for starting well.

Howard Hendricks shares these results from his personal study. There are 2,900 people mentioned in the Bible. Of these, the Bible gives us enough data concerning 100 to see if they finished well. Hendricks concludes, "Of these 100 Bible characters, only one-third finished well." I would propose the percentages aren't much different in the church today.

The Southern Baptists did a survey awhile back and came up with an alarming statistic. 116 pastoral couples are leaving the ministry in the SBC every week--for a variety of reasons (such as stress and moral failure). They started well, but for one reason or another, they didn't finish well.

But pastors aren't the only ones who throw in the towel. When it comes to marriage these days, many are not finishing well. You know the statistics. And in the area of church commitment, many are not finishing well. Their feelings get hurt, and they slip out the back door in search of greener pastures.

What does it take to finish well? In simple terms, the answer is grace. We need grace to finish the Christian life. And here’s the great part. What we need, God freely offers to us!

Notice verses 13-14, "While we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

Grace teaches us to live with anticipation, with expectation. We are expecting something according to verse 13, a two-fold package.

A. We are expecting an event. What event? Paul calls it the "blessed hope." What is the blessed hope? It's not the blessed hope-so. It's not an event we hope will happen, but may not. It's an event we know will happen, on the authority of God's Word. You see, not only are we expecting an event, but also...

B. We are expecting a Person. We are awaiting "the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." People who finish well are people who live in constant expectation of Jesus' return.

Do you see the connection between verses 12 and 13? Why is it important how we live in the present? Why should we be motivated to live self-controlled, righteous, and godly lives in this present age? It’s because we’re expecting an event—the blessed hope—and a person. Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, is coming again!

Having mentioned the person of Christ, Paul can’t miss an opportunity to reflect on the atonement which he does in verse 14. We need to remember two things about the Person we’re going to see.

1. He gave His life for us. The first five words of verse 14 sum up the gospel, "Who gave Himself for us." Christ died as a substitute in our place.

But why? Why would the spotless Lamb of God give His life for wretched sinners like us? There's only one answer. It’s grace. But know this. Though grace is wonderful, it’s not whimsical. When our Savior gave His life for us, He had a purpose in mind.

2. He wants us to live our lives for Him. Notice verse 14 again, "[Jesus] gave himself for us [here's the purpose] to redeem us from all wickedness and [here's the second purpose clause] to purify for himself a people that are his very own."

Christ didn’t give Himself for us merely so we could have personal fulfillment today and "fire insurance" from hell tomorrow. Those are by-products of His intent. He gave Himself to redeem and purify a people for Himself, a people that are His very own.

Those are key words. Do you need incentive for holy living? Here it is. We are His, beloved. We exist for Him, not Him for us. He redeemed us so we would be eager to do what is good.

Notice the order. Good works follow grace like a caboose follows an engine. Good works don’t merit grace, but are the consequence of it.

It's mind-boggling to think that Christ would give His life for us. It's just as mind-boggling to realize that He—the One who needs nothing—wants us to live our lives for Him. He's on our side. He wants us to finish well, and He gave us His own resources so we could. Do you know what that is? That's grace.

Have you been gripped by grace? If you want to finish well, you need grace.

1. It changes the way you view yourself. A few years ago, I listened to a tape in which Leroy Eims (of the Navigators) observed that when it comes to grace, many of us hold to false theology and don't realize it. We know the Christian life began by grace--we were saved by grace (Eph. 2:8). And we know the Christian life ends by grace--we will be glorified by grace. But we think the Christian life is a "bunch of works." Work, work, work. We think the present Christian life is up to us, and depends on our own merit. But that's not true.

Jesus said, "Abide in Me, for without Me you can do nothing." Grace is the basis of the entire Christian life--past, present, and future. God chose us and saved us by His grace in the past. He will glorify us by His grace in the future when Christ returns. And He expects us to live by His grace now in the present. It's all of grace.

There's no room for pride in the Christian life. If you have the attitude, "I'm a pretty good Christian. I've got my life in order. Look what I've done…," then you don't understand grace. When you see yourself as dependent upon grace, it changes you. When grace grips you, pride flees.

2. It changes the way you view others. Others need grace, too, just like you. What are you doing to share the grace of God with others? Listen to what Paul said in Acts 20:24, "I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."

3. It changes the way you view God. In the words of the hymnwriter, Robert Robinson: "O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be! Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; Here's my heart, O take and seal it; Seal it for Thy courts above."

Grace  Sermon Series