“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory 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 “. (Titus 2:11-14).
Titus was a Gentile convert who joined Paul some time before Paul’s second missionary journey. Like Timothy, Titus was frequently sent on special missions to deal with difficulties in various churches. When Paul wrote this letter, Titus was working in another challenging field: Crete, an island in the Mediterranean, southeast of Greece. Paul writes to Titus to teach the Cretans the importance of godly living. He challenges them to make the gospel attractive through the practice of righteousness.
Paul begins his letter by listing the ingredients of godly living (Titus 1:1-4). Faith is that act of trusting in Christ that initiates the Christian life (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2Timothy 1:12). Knowledge of the truth is nothing less than knowledge of Christ Himself (cf. John 14:6). The hope of eternal life is the basis on which the superstructure of Christian faith and service is built. The sequence of these terms suggests a pattern of true Christian growth.
But, how is spiritual growth possible? How can the believer practice righteousness? The means and motivation for godliness is grace (Titus 2:11-14). Grace is often defined as unmerited favor. However, this favor is not limited to justification but is extended in our sanctification. Grace teaches us how to live in Christ. Grace gives us victory over sin (Romans 6:14). When Paul writes about the appearance of grace, he is referring to the embodiment of grace in the person of Jesus Christ, who was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
While our faith both lends itself to and requires doctrinal formulation, we must never lose sight of the fact that Christianity is Jesus Himself. It is a person, not a set of ideas. God did not drop a scroll of theology out of heaven; He came Himself! His coming is His grace that brings us salvation. We live between two appearances; the first appearance of Jesus with grace and the second in glory. The manifestation of grace is preparing us for the manifestation of glory.
Out of this profound mystery of the incarnation has come the teaching of what we need to know about the meaning of life. We are to both deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts” and live “soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” This instruction could not be more timely for the modern church. Vance Havner captures the sad condition of today’s Christianity: “We are challenged these days, but not changed; convicted, but not converted. We hear, but do not; we are moved but not melted; we are motivated not committed. And thereby we deceive ourselves.”
