Ok, ok! I do still believe Philippians 2:13 (“it is God who works in you, both to will and to act”) and John 15:5 (“apart from me you can do nothing”). Any resistence to sin, any glimmer of goodness coming out of me, is not me but purely God’s doing. But that’s not what Titus 2:11-12 is talking about. It does NOT say:
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people, giving us power to say “No” to ungodliness…”
What it actually says is:
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people, teaching us to say “No” to ungodliness…”
It’s not about grace giving power but grace teaching, training, being our mwalimu. This is really important because it is very common to think of grace as a special boost from God to overcome sin and temptation – like a spiritual adrenalin shot. So I’m struggling in sin and I get this boost of grace and now I can fight the good fight and leap walls and all of that. But what does grace mean here in Titus? Let’s look again at verse 11:
“the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people”
- It’s the grace of God – who promised us eternal life before the creation of time itself (Titus 1:2), “he saved us” (Titus 3:5)
- It’s appeared – past tense – grace has been made flesh and poured himself out on the Cross, historic justifying grace (Titus 3:6-7).
- It’s about salvation – not discipleship or transformation, even less ‘realising your full potential’ – rather it is about being redeemed from God’s wrath and united to Christ as a people of “his own possession”, so that we can look forward to His next “appearing” not with dread but as our great, blessed hope (Titus 2:13-14).
That’s what ‘grace’ is here. That’s what ‘grace’ means in almost every case in the New Testament. It is not something that happens inside you (an injection of spiritual energy) – it is the historic (and the future) saving work of Christ outside of you.
It is this gospel of the death of the Lord Jesus and the promise of his return – that teaches me to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and live a self-controlled counter-cultural life. How does this work in practice? A few examples:
- Imagine I’m on the internet late at night and I’m tempted to put something into the search engine that I shouldn’t put or follow some link I shouldn’t follow. What I need to do at that moment is remember the gospel. Why am I tempted? I’m seeking escape, excitement, a rush, I’m attracted by the hope of seeing a particular vision. The medcine: I need to have my heart captivated by a infinitely better hope and a better vision – “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ (v13)
- Or I’m in a town where nobody knows me and I pass a pub and I’m tempted to go in. What I need to do at that moment is apply the gospel. Why am I tempted in this case? Maybe I’m feeling lonely, stressed, maybe I’m feeling like victim, that I’m having a hard time and I deserve a little something. I need to remember, “Jesus Christ gave himself to redeem us”. I’m not a poor victim, I’ve been given Christ and I’m freed from all this.
- Or I’ve got responsibility for some money in an organisation or I’ve received a ministry gift and I’m tempted to ‘borrow’ a bit or not account for it properly. What I need to do at that moment is preach the gospel to myself. Why am I tempted in this case? Maybe it’s greed but more likely I feel insecure, scared, feel that God doesn’t care about me and I’m just going to have to sort myself out – I need to see afresh that becasue of the Cross, I am Jesus’ “very own possession” (v14) – I belong to Christ – my life is not my own and I am completely secure.
At times like this Law (“Just don’t do it or God and other people will hate you”) and physical restraint (computer filters, abstinence programmes, checks and balances) just aren’t powerful enough – often they won’t be able to keep me from temptation. Only the gospel can do it. What I need it to preach the gospel again and again to myself. Rub it in. Apply the glorious truths of the gospel to my festering wounds and itches. And that’s what discipleship is. Not telling people, “These are the Do’s and Don’ts,” but equipping brothers and sisters with the gospel armour with which they can withstand every assault of the world the flesh and the devil; displaying the glories of Jesus such that hearts and minds are won and lives change direction.
- It’s knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness
- It’s grace that teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness
fidelnyikuri
iServe Africa Webmaster
Utumishi Blog 
We don’t need advice, analysis, statistics or self-help programs … not at all; we need Christ’s death and resurrection to remind us of what we’re living for.
The POWER of the WORKS ON THE CROSS…n its knowledge are enough…not dos n donts
@simon “Dos and don’ts”. That sounds like the law. Praying this all helps (and yes, it would be wise to study the Scriptures):
(Lest anyone forget that everything including all of the laws in the Old Testament points to the message of the cross in the New Testament. When Jesus fulfilled all 613 rules of that Mosaic Law (or “Torah”) thing, He rendered it obsolete. That “Mosaic Law” includes the Ten Commandments brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses as well as everything mentioned by the O.T. prophets (Matthew 5:17-20 — He didn’t ABOLISH any of it but rather FULFILLED all of it. See also John 1:17, Ephesians 2:14-18, 2 Corinthians 3:4-11, Hebrews 7:18-19, Hebrews 8:6, Hebrews 8:13 and Hebrews 13:9.).)
It’s only The Holy Spirit Who can guide into all truth (John 14:26, John 16:13, 1 Corinthians 3:5-9).
There are no contradictions in The Word…EVER.
As long as a person is able to identify from the heart with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus…ONLY…that person is justified (Galatians 2:20, Romans 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:17.)
Anything above and beyond that is merely some human attempting to push some “religion”, or “sin management”, or “man-plan”. According to Romans 6:17-18, someone born again (or “born from above” – or “born the new way” – John 3:1-21) becomes obedient from the heart. Once a person knows what salvation is, he or she has the choice whether or not to obey The Lord. That takes place by “taking every thought captive and making it subject to Jesus” as 2 Corinthians 10:5 says. (See also the principles behind 1 Corinthians 6:12 and 1 Corinthians 10:23 for more information.) It’s not possible to be obedient from a wicked heart.
Amen David and Simon. Christ crucified teaches us. But I’ve also been recently challenged that we need to be careful exactly how we talk about this. It is not *necessarily* moralism to give people specific instructions of things to do and not do – after all that is what Paul does in Titus 2:2-10. The important thing is that this is all *in the context of* and *flowing out of* the sound doctrine of our salvation by God (2:1,13). It is the good, pure life for which we were redeemed (2:14). More on the recent post: https://watumishiwaneno.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/hypergrace-2/
This thing’s WAYYYYYY off, sorry to say. If one looks up the phrase “to say no” in a concordance, the implication is “to renounce”, “to reject” and so forth.
According to THIS thing in the “what it actually says” portion implies a works-based righteousness. “Salvation by works” never works (Isaiah 64:6, John 8:7, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:4-8). Titus 2:11-12 parallels the principles behind Romans 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:8-9. There are no contradictions in The Word…EVER.
That’s a bad interpretation. The Spirit of Holiness inside you should give you power to walk past that pub. The interpretation you have rests on your ability to walk in righteousness in your own flesh. The Holy Spirit mortifies our flesh. Walking in the Spirit is the grace you have from God. He’s a Helper. Why do so many people ignore the Holy Spirit? Just as a demon urges you to look at trash online, the Holy Spirit should be convicting you to not go there. It’s about which one you obey.
Romans 8
12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.