MAKING THE MOST OF GRACE
I’m a pretty technically minded guy, and I like gadgets as much as the next person. But I just don’t seem willing or able to embrace the technology that has sprung up around cell phones. They make me feel positively old-fashioned. Maybe it’s just that when I hear the word phone, I assume that the primary purpose of the device is to allow me to make and receive calls. Somewhere along the way, however, cell phones manufacturers have reduced the telephone aspect of their product to one feature among many. My cheap cell phone allows you to use it as a camera, to play several games, to play videos and music and to send instant messages.
I call myself a purist, and insist that I buy a phone to use it as a phone, but in reality I’m just not that motivated to find out how all the bells and whistles work. I’m still too lazy to save people’s numbers in the address book. As for texting? Keith sent me a text message one day, and I struggled for five minutes to send him an answer. I’m sure I could get a lot more out of the phone if I’d apply myself to learning and using all of its features.
A lot of Christians respond the same way when it comes to God’s grace. They perceive grace as what saved them and that’s pretty much it. And just as I could get more out of my phone if I put any effort forth, the average Christian could have a much more rich experience of God’s grace if they understood it better and availed themselves of it.
Please turn with to our text for this morning, Titus 2:11-14.
Our sermon title today is “Making the Most of Grace”. As we consider how God’s grace impacts us every day, we’ll answer the question:
What are 4 responses to God’s grace?
I) The first response to God’s grace is to accept Christ.
Text: Titus 2:11
A) The apostle Paul describes God’s grace as what brings salvation.
• As I mentioned earlier, this is usually what people think about first when they consider grace.
o We sing the song, “Amazing Grace”, which says in the first verse, “I once was lost, but now am found”.
o Or the song, “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”, which speaks about grace’s power to pardon us and cleanse us of our sins.
• These songs are absolutely correct from a theological standpoint. And this is the starting point for anyone who desires to live within God’s grace.
• Look no further than Ephesians 2:8-9. Even our ability to believe in Jesus Christ is a function of God’s grace.
o Most people define God’s grace as His unmerited favor.
o In other words, we’ve done nothing to deserve His love and mercy toward us.
• If you’re here today and have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you’ve partaken of God’s common grace, in that as your Creator, He’s blessed you with life, and all of the things in your life that you hold dear.
• However, you aren’t able to enjoy the grace of God that brings salvation.
o That’s because your sin nature has separated you from God. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That includes you, me and everyone who’s ever walked the earth save one: Jesus Christ.
o The penalty for sin is death, which means physical death and also eternal separation from God. That separation will lead to hell and torment for the rest of eternity. God doesn’t send you there. Your rebellion as God’s enemy sends you there.
B) But God’s great grace provides a way out of this hopeless future, as well as a way to live at peace with Him. Our text for today says that God has provided this for all people, regardless of where they came from.
• That way is through trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, as Jesus Himself describes in John 3:16.
• Grace says that you can’t buy salvation and you can’t work for it. It’s free for those who repent of their sin and proclaim faith in Jesus Christ, as Romans 10:9-10 says.
• There’ll be an opportunity at the end of the service to respond if the Holy Spirit is calling you to repent and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.
The first response to God’s grace is to accept Christ.
II) The second response to God’s grace is a yielded life.
Text: Titus 2:12
A) The first two words in verse 12, “teaching us”, present a profound concept: Grace teaches us. That teaching comes through two major avenues.
• First, the Holy Spirit teaches us, as we see in 1 Corinthians 2:12-16. The Holy Spirit resides in us and gives us the mind of Christ, so that we can discern those things that are of God and those things that aren’t.
• Second, the Word of God is a gracious teaching tool.
o Listen to Psalm 119:105. This tells us that God’s word provides literally step by step direction to our lives.
o Look with me at 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
Scripture provides us the foundation for all godly teaching, for proof of God’s promises, for correcting us when we get off track and for living out our daily lives before God.
The result is that the one who avails themselves of the Scriptures will grow strong in their faith and fully useable for God.
• The combination of the Holy Spirit’s ministry with the Word of God is the most potent force one could find for teaching one about God and His kingdom.
B) The second part of verse 12 continues the process begun at salvation. Look with me at Colossians 3:8-11. This passage describes putting off our allegiance to ungodliness, which begins with repentance of sin at salvation and putting on God’s righteousness, which starts with faith in Jesus Christ.
• The “putting off”, as described in verse 12, involves denying ungodliness and worldly lusts.
o The word translated “denying” means to disown. When the black sheep of the family is disowned by the other members of his family, they treat him as if he never existed. All contact is halted. He is no longer welcome around them.
o We are to have this attitude toward all ungodliness, wickedness, worldly lusts and desires in our lives. They are in the past, forgotten, written off as dead, never to be seen again, which is what Paul says in Galatians 5:24. The things of the flesh are crucified, put to death.
• The “putting on” is exemplified by a life that is lived soberly, righteously and godly. These represent our actions in three spheres.
o To live soberly describes an inward action, in that to be sober means to be self-controlled, not just as regards strong drink, but in every aspect of life.
o Righteous living denotes how we interact with others. Righteousness is tied to the spiritual fruit of goodness, or what used to be called upright living. The righteous person is in right relationship not only with God, but those around him.
o Godliness speaks to one’s relationship with God Himself. In earlier generations, godly individuals were called devout or pious. Ananias, the man who received Saul into his home following Saul’s encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, is described as a devout man. He obeyed God without reservation in taking in a known persecutor of Christians. Godliness puts God’s desires above our own.
C) The verse ends with the phrase “this present age”. We should have lives that whether we look inward, outward or God-ward, are in contrast to focus in this present age, which 1 John 2:16 describes as the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. These are in direct opposition to what God desires for our lives.
The first response to God’s grace is to accept Christ. The second response is a yielded life.
III) The third response to God’s grace is a hopeful outlook.
Text: Titus 2:13
While we must live for Christ in the present age, verse 13 tells us that God’s grace allows us to also be expectant about the time to come.
• This word “looking” means to have an eagerness and a certain expectation.
• For the believer, this centers on two events: “the blessed hope” and “the glorious appearing”, both of which involve Jesus Christ.
• Some have seen these as referring to the Rapture of the church and the Second Coming of Christ. There is ample Scriptural evidence to back this up:
o Jesus Himself in John 14:1-3, tells us that there is hope for a life with Him after this life.
o Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. This, among other passages in the New Testament, describes the time when Christ will return for His church, which is known as the Rapture.
o Christ’s Second Coming, in glory and power is described most vividly in Revelation 19 and 20, and referred to several times in the Scriptures.
• There is also the aspect of our own glorification, as Paul writes of in Philippians 3:20-21.
• The hope, or confident certainty we have of this and all of God’s promises concerning our future life with Him is based on His grace. But we are to have an attitude of expectancy. Jesus describes this in Luke 12:35-40.
• This sure expectation of the Lord’s eminent return should drive us to honor him with our best every day. Kenneth Henes tells the story of an old villa on the shore of beautiful Lake Como, nestled in the Italian Alps, that is perhaps two or three hundred years old. For years the grounds have been immaculately kept by a trusted old gardener. One day some tourists were complimenting him on his work. “The owner must come here frequently to supervise your work,” one of them said.
“No, sir,” answered the gardener. “He has been here only once in fifteen years and then I did not see him.”
“Well, then, how do you get your orders?” came the next question.
“They come from the owner’s agent, who live in Milan,” the old man replied.
“Then he must come here often.”
“No, not often, perhaps once a year or so.”
“This is quite amazing,” said the tourist. “You have no one to supervise your work, and yet the grounds are as neat as if you expected the owner to come back tomorrow.”
“Today, sir!” came the old gardener’s firm reply. “Not tomorrow, today!”
The first response to God’s grace is to accept Christ. The second response is a yielded life. The third response is a hopeful outlook.
IV) The fourth response to God’s grace is passion for His program.
Text: Titus 2:14
A) Paul returns us to the theme of verse 11, which is that our salvation is through Jesus Christ. Paul describes this as Christ giving Himself for us.
• Our Lord went to the cross of Calvary willingly. He wasn’t coerced and He wasn’t a martyr. In perfect obedience He died for your sins and mine.
• He took the penalty of our sin upon Himself, as the perfect, sinless, unblemished substitute for sinful mankind.
B) Through Christ’s selfless sacrifice on the cross, He accomplished through grace what we could never do for ourselves: he provided redemption and cleansing. Note how Ezekiel 36:26 describes this process. This is Christ’s empowerment to be able to execute the putting off and putting on we discussed in verse 12.
• The word “redeem” is the word used to describe the buying of someone out of slavery. Through Christ, we are no longer slaves to the lawless deeds that dominated our lives before salvation. Romans 6:6 confirms this. We are no longer enslaved to our ungodliness and our lusts and our lawlessness. God’s grace through Christ has freed us.
• Not only have we been bought out of slavery to sin, but we have been purified by Jesus Christ.
o This word “purify” can also be translated as “purged” or “cleansed”. The same Greek word is translated as “cleanse” in 1 John 1:9.
o Christ’s blood has cleansed the believer from unrighteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:17 describes the results of that cleansing. When you come to Christ, you’re new. There’s no reason to hold on to all the junk from your past. He doesn’t.
o This reminds me of when Khristine buys new clothes. The first thing she does is to wash them. They still carry some of the smell and dirt from the manufacturing process, as well as transport and being pawed over in the store. When we first got married, I didn’t get that, being a guy. I asked her why she washed them, and she said that they weren’t any good to her until they were clean.
C) In the same way, Jesus cleanses us so that we are ready for His use, what Paul describes as “His own special people, zealous for good works.”
• Look at 1 Corinthians 6:18-20. We belong to Jesus because he bought us with His blood on Calvary.
• He has a purpose for each of us, which is more fully described in 1 Peter 2:9.
• All of this: our redemption, our cleansing, Christ’s buying us with His blood, His desire to have us as His people, all of these wonderful expressions of God’s grace should create in us a zeal for good works.
o At its core, the word “zealous” means to have a fervent, burning passion for the things of God. His Word, His Spirit, His people, His plans and His heart.
o All of this that we’ve discussed today is merely talk as far as you are concerned if it doesn’t translate into making you a zealot for Christ.
o As one writer put it, this type of eagerness to serve God is far superior to the “ought to” or “better not” of works salvation.
o Yet there is such a strong vein of “whatever Christianity” running through our churches today. You talk to Christians about how they should love the Lord and serve Him, and their basic response is “whatever”.
o I so want to burn with passion for the things of God, and it’s my prayer that you would want that too.
Four responses to God’s grace: The first response is to accept Christ. Everything starts there. If you’ve not accepted Christ as your Savior and Lord, you and God are still at war. You cannot and will not please Him. Ever. You must repent of your sin and surrender your life to Jesus Christ.
The second response is a yielded life. Many folks think the only time they need to yield to Christ is at salvation. Wrong. Every day is a new chance to yield to Him. Allow the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to teach you. Put off your old sinful ways and put on the righteousness of Christ. Be right within yourself, as well as to God and your fellow man.
The third response is a hopeful outlook. I’m not suggesting that you go sit on a mountaintop to wait for Christ’s return. God doesn’t want that. But live your life knowing that it’s later than it’s ever been and that Christ could return at any moment. You don’t have forever to get your act together. You don’t have forever to talk to the people you know about the eternal destiny.
The fourth response is passion for His program. I’ve heard it said that most people die at 25, but it takes forty more years for their bodies to catch up. There are enough passionless people in the world. The fact that Christ died for you and that God has a plan for your life should be more than enough reason for you to be excited about being one of His own special people.
If you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, I invite you to do that this morning. It’s not just talk. Christ could come back at any time. Don’t be left wondering where everyone went. And none of us is guaranteed that we’ll even see the end of this day. Life is fragile. Don’t gamble with your eternal future. Agree with God that your life is one of sinful disobedience. Believe in Jesus Christ with your whole heart. Trust Him as your savior and Lord. Surrender to His will in your life, today and forever. Don’t wait. This may be your last opportunity.
Believer, if you can’t say that you’ve been responding to God’s grace the way Paul describes, get it right with God today. Ask Him to teach you. Yield to His instruction. Change your outlook to one of hopefulness and expectancy. Pray to God that He would ignite a passion in your heart for His plans in your life and His program here on earth. Don’t let mediocrity reign in your life even one more day. I invite you to start fresh today.
Let’s pray.
