Titus Chapter 2:

Titus Chapter 2:

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

This is a very powerful passage of scripture, and also vastly overlooked. It's no wonder that it's so seldom heard in the modern 'grace' Gospel that has basically turned God's magnificent grace into an actual license for sin. But this prolific statement by the apostle Paul says otherwise. The grace that Paul spoke of enables believers to literally "live soberly, righteously, and godly" lives. Period. There's no way to turn that statement into something else. It means exactly what it says. The eloquent apostle also clearly defines in this passage specifically why Christ "gave himself for us." He plainly said that Jesus died for us so that he could "redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself" a people who love to do what is good. To be redeemed from all iniquity means that we WERE in sin, but he has brought us out of that condition, and given us "newness of life" in him (Rom. 6:4).

Being 'purified' means that we have been cleansed from something that was polluting our spirit. That something is sin, and for those who are baptized with the holy Ghost into Christ, sin is no longer the prevalent force in their lives (I Cor. 12:13). Christ is. Paul's powerful statement here on the grace of God can be summed up in another of his revelatory statements of truth: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (II Cor. 5:17). The "old things [that are] passed away," are the sinful ways that we previously lived in. The thing that has "become new" is our new capacity to "live soberly, righteously, and godly" lives. And all thanks to God's amazing grace. Now that my friends is what the true grace of God is really about. "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid" (Rom. 6:15). Amen.