What Grace Does

Titus 2:11-15 is intimately connected to the previous passage. The word “for” in 2:11 tells us that today’s passage is the ground and foundation of last week’s passage. And last week, Pastor Jonathan showed us that our conduct bears witness to the reign of King Jesus. Whether we are old or young, male or female, the way that we live testifies to what God has said and what God has done. There is a way of living that accords with sound doctrine. There is a conduct that is in line with our convictions. Today’s sermon is going to answer why that’s the case. Why does this conduct accord with that doctrine? That’s the main question I want to answer.

But first, let me drill into how this entire passage hangs together. Paul is exhorting Titus on what his ministry should look like. He’s telling Titus what to tell the church in Crete. He’s teaching Titus what and how to teach the church in Crete. Listen to a few key elements of the passage:

Titus 2:1 “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” So there is a conduct that accords with our conviction. Then Paul gives the instruction for older men, older women, younger women, younger men. And then he returns to Titus himself:

Titus 2:7-8 “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” So it’s not enough to merely teach with words; Titus must model with his life. Titus can’t export what he doesn’t have. His preaching and his practice must line up with each other, and with what God has said and what God has done. Then at the end of chapter 2, he returns to where he started.

Titus 2:15 “Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”

So notice the extent of Titus’s task: Teach, Declare, Exhort, Rebuke with authority. Model with your life. And this is the same task that Titus is to hand off to the elders that he is to appoint in the churches in Crete. So now pastors are called to teach what accords with sound doctrine, and to model good works for their people, and to declare and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Our task as pastors is to stand before you and say, “There is a conduct that accords with the doctrine. Older men, live this way. Older women, do this, and tell the younger women to do that. Younger men, be self-controlled.” And, Paul says, if someone says, “Pastor, when you start telling us how to live, you’ve left off preaching and gone to meddling”—in other words, if people attempt to blow you off for teaching and declaring and exhorting and rebuking, don’t be deterred. Remember that you have authority from God, for him word to teach what accords with sound doctrine.

But it’s important to stress that, in Paul’s mind, it’s not enough to merely declare the conduct that God requires. It’s essential that we connect that conduct to the doctrine of God’s grace that it adorns. As Pastor Jonathan said last week,

Verse 1 tells just that how we live must be in line with what God has said;

Verse 11 tells us that how we live must emerge from what God has done.

But I used two key words there. The first is “adorn.” And I want you to see why that is such an important word. “Adorn” comes from 2:10, in reference to the conduct of the bondservants: “so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.” In 2:1, there is an ethical teaching that accords with sound doctrine; in 2:10, there is an ethical conduct that adorns the doctrine. And this time of year is a great one for thinking about the meaning of that word. This church is adorned for the Advent and Christmas season. Think about the way that we decorate a Christmas tree. We take a good, healthy, evergreen tree, and we cover it with lights and wrap it in ribbon and hang ornaments from its branches. And the adornment makes the tree more beautiful. I think about the final scene in A Charlie Brown Christmas when Charlie Brown has the little pathetic Christmas tree and tries to hang an ornament from it, and the tree bends over. And he walks off in despair. Then the rest of the Peanuts gang shows up and they grab the ornaments from Snoopy’s doghouse and wave their hands all around the little tree and turn it into a beautiful, full, adorned Christmas tree and begin singing “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” Keep the idea of adornment in mind as we look at the rest of the passage.

The second is the word “grace.” We need to see why the conduct in 2:1-10 adorns the doctrine of God’s grace. Notice the flow of thought. “Teach them how to live so as to adorn the doctrine. For the grace of God has appeared.” Grace is the leading word in our passage today. And this passage corrects some of our misconceptions about what grace is and does. So let’s walk through and connect the appearing of grace to the actions that grace accomplishes. And as we do, I’m going to identify a word, and I want you to grab that word and put it in your pocket, and we’ll return to it at the end.

1) The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. Older men, older women, younger women, younger men, bondservants—it doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done. Grace has appeared and brought salvation for you. The word “salvation” is significant in Titus. It shows up repeatedly: Our conduct adorns the doctrine of God our Savior (2:10). The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people (2:11). We are waiting for the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (2:13). Next week, we will read, very simply that he saved us (3:5). This is the fundamental doctrine that Christians believe—Jesus saves sinners. But that simple statement, “he saved us,” needs to be unpacked. It raises a number of questions. He saved us—from what? By what? For what? After we walk through the rest of this passage, we’ll come back to those questions, as well as our fundamental question: Why does the conduct of 2:1-10 accord with the doctrine of 2:11-14? So put the word “salvation” in your pocket. For now, it’s enough to say, “What does grace do? Grace brings salvation for all people. Jesus saves sinners by grace.”

2) and 3) The grace of God has appeared, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. This is the place where grace surprises us. This is not the normal way that we think about grace. Grace bringing salvation? You bet. We’re saved by grace through faith, not by works. God forgives our sins and our debts. We don’t pay. Grace lets us off the hook. And of course, that’s true. Next week we’ll see the glories of being “justified by his grace” (3:7). But here, grace isn’t merely bringing salvation and forgiveness. Grace is training us. Grace is a drill sergeant who is going to whip us into shape. And that image is not far from the biblical one. The word for “training” is the word paideuo; it’s related to the word paideia, as in “Fathers, bring your children up in the paideia and instruction of the Lord, the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). We’ve seen this word in Paul’s pastoral letters before. In 1 Timothy 1:20, Hymenaeus and Philetus are handed over to Satan to be taught (paideuo) not to blaspheme. God is going to teach some false teachers not to blaspheme, and Satan will be his tool, his rod, in order to do it. In 2 Timothy 2:25, the Lord’s servant, in his teaching, must correct (paideuo) his opponents with gentleness. It may be gentle, but it’s correction. It’s not indulgent. This word makes a major appearance in Hebrews 12 (every use of “discipline” is this word, either as a verb or a noun).

Hebrews 12:5–11
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
[6] For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

[7] It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? [8] If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. [9] Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? [10] For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. [11] For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (ESV)

 Discipline is hard, but good. It’s something to endure; it’s painful, not pleasant. But it is an expression of love and God’s discipline trains us so we can share his holiness and bear fruit in righteousness. It’s what a father does for his children, in reproving and correcting their sinful behavior. It’s what a coach does for an athlete in training, in pushing him to get that extra rep. It’s what the drill sergeant does at boot camp, when he demands that the recruit drop and give him 20. It’s what a teacher does in pushing a student to learn more and work harder than he thinks he can. And the point is that this is what grace does. Grace trains us in this intense, fatherly, coach-like, drill-sergeant like way. If you hear the word “grace,” and you think “indulgent, soft, easy,” then you don’t know biblical grace. Grace is firm, and kind; unbending, but gentle; relentless, but loving; not safe, but good.

So what does grace train us to do? A negative and a positive. Renounce ungodliness and worldliness; live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. Renounce and live. Turn from the one; turn to the other. Now I would love to talk in more detail about what worldly passions are. They are desires that are at home here in the present age. They fit here if here is all there is. I’m teaching through The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis with my students at Bethlehem College & Seminary and came across this line: “Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is “finding his place in it,” while really it is finding its place in him.” That’s a word.

 In fact, Lewis has been very helpful to me on worldliness because he connects worldliness to the lust for the Inner Ring, the desire and ache to be “in,” to find your emotional and psychological home among a certain group of people, and the terror at being left out. And whether it is junior high cliques, or the cool kids in college, or keeping up with the Joneses in family life, it is a perennial temptation. But doing it justice is beyond the scope of this sermon, so, as a pastor who is also a professor, I’m going to give you homework and an opportunity. The homework is to go read two essays by C.S. Lewis—The Inner Ring, and Membership. And you could simply read and reflect on those in light of this sermon and the call to renounce worldly passions. If you do that, I think you will receive grace, the kind that is hard but good. The opportunity is that, in a month on January 12 at 7pm, I’ll be leading an online webinar on those two essays. The webinar is primarily for prospective students who want to get a taste of our Education in Serious Joy, but I’m extending the invitation to all of you, if you’d like to come think more deeply about worldliness and its antidote. I’ll include a link to register for that webinar in the sermon notes.

So grace trains us to renounce worldliness and to live a certain kind of life. And the godly life Paul has in mind just is the life described in Titus 2:1-10. Self-controlled, upright, and godly is a good summary of Paul’s instructions for older men and women, younger men and women. 2:1-10 fleshes out what this life looks like for different groups of people in the present age. So if you want to know what Paul means, go listen to Pastor Jonathan’s sermon from last week, listen for your circumstances, and think, “Grace is training me to live this kind of life.”

4) So grace brings salvation. Grace trains us to renounce ungodliness. Grace trains us to live godly lives. But what makes it Christian grace is that it does this training in a certain way. We live in the present age, waiting. Grace doesn’t just train us in what we should do, but it trains us in how we should do it. Don’t just be self-controlled. Be self-controlled, while waiting. Don’t just live a godly life. Live a godly life, waiting. Waiting for what? For our blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. The Christian life is an expectant life, a hopeful life. The Christian life leans forward in eager anticipation of the blessed hope. And now we’re getting close to how the conduct fits the doctrine. But there’s one more piece.

In mentioning the appearing of the glory of Jesus in the future, Paul returns to what Jesus has done in the past. He gave himself for us, and he did so for purposes: 1) To redeem us from all lawlessness, and 2) to purify for himself a people for his own possessions who are zealous for good works.

Already/Not Yet

Now we’re ready to pull out the word and questions from earlier. Pull the word “salvation” out of your pocket. In thinking about the doctrine of salvation, we can distinguish between the cosmic work of God in redemptive history, and the personal work of God in your life. Macro and micro. External works in history vs. Internal works in the heart. Both of those are included in our doctrine of salvation.

In both of those, theologians often refer to the “already/not yet” structure of salvation. Salvation has already happened, and in another sense, it has not yet happened. We are already truly saved, and we are not yet finally saved. In other words, God does not save us all at once. And so we can think of salvation, both the macro and the micro, in three stages. There is a past stage of salvation, a present stage of salvation, and a future stage of salvation. Or again, in saving us, God does something decisive (in the past), he is doing something progressive (in the present), and he will do something final (in the future). And this passage is one of the clearest in showing all three dimensions in the macro (redemptive history), and next week’s passage is one of the clearest in showing all three dimensions in the micro (the personal and individual).

 Notice that in this passage there are two appearings. The grace of God has appeared (in the past; 2:11), and we are waiting for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory (future, 2:13). Grace has appeared. Glory will appear. And in between, we live in the present age (2:12). Grace has appeared refers to the first coming of Jesus, in which he gave himself for us. Paul says “grace” and means “Jesus” (just like in 2 Timothy 2). Next week, in Titus 3:4, Paul will say something similar: “when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared.” Grace has appeared refers to the first coming—to the incarnation and the cross of Jesus and his resurrection and ascension. There is a decisive and past dimension to the macro-salvation. Grace brings salvation, and it’s been brought. And now we can answer two of those questions. We are saved from what and by what? Christ has redeemed us from all lawlessness by giving himself. What are we saved from? Lawlessness. Ungodliness. Worldly Passions. What are we saved by? What is the objective, external work that Jesus has done to accomplish this salvation? He gave himself for us. He died for us. That’s how he saved us, and it is finished. Already.

“The appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” refers to the second coming. We wait in expectation for Christ’s return in which he will finally and completely transform this world. He will come as judge, and he will separate the wheat from the chaff. But note that Paul describes this coming as “our blessed hope.” This is a happy hope. Not an inconvenient hope. Not a “Jesus could you wait a bit because I’ve got stuff I want to do hope.” It’s a blessed, happy, glorious, satisfying, cosmos-transforming hope. No more death. No more tears. No more injustice. No more pandemic. No more depression and anxiety and loneliness and loss and pain. Everlasting joy with our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, face to face, forever. But not yet.

So on the one hand, he gave himself; it’s already done. On the other hand, we’re still waiting for our blessed hope, not yet. Grace has appeared; glory will appear. What about the meantime? What is God doing in the present age? Answer: he is purifying for himself a people for his own possession. This is what Jesus is doing in the here and now. He is gathering a people so that they can be his own, so that he can make his home among them. He is saving them, training them to renounce ungodliness and worldliness and to live godly lives today. He is cleansing them from their impurities, sanctifying them in the truth. He is calling them together as congregations who bear witness to the reign of Jesus. He has saved them from lawlessness. He has saved them by giving himself for them. And, final question (saved for what?) he has saved them for good works. They are to be his own possession, a people zealous, eager, passionate for good works.

And now we can answer our big question. There is a conduct that accords with and adorns the doctrine of God our Savior. Our question is “why does this conduct accord with that doctrine?” Jesus has redeemed you from all lawlessness. Therefore, grace is training you to renounce ungodliness. If you’ve been redeemed from lawlessness, then ungodliness no longer fits. Given what you’ve been saved from—God-rejecting, worldly-minded, lawlessness—what kind of conduct is fitting? Self-controlled conduct, because you’re no longer enslaved by worldly passions that carry you to and fro. Upright conduct, because you’ve been delivered from lawlessness and unrighteousness. Godly conduct, because Christ is purifying you from your ungodliness. Your conduct—older men, older women, younger women, younger men—is based on what God has done, in history in the past. Jesus gave himself for you. And it is anticipating what God will do in the future when the glory of Jesus appears. So that now, in the present age, you stand on God’s past work with confidence and you lean into God’s future work with expectation, and therefore in the present you renounce ungodliness, you live a sober-minded, self-controlled, upright life, zealous for good works. And all of this fits. This joyful, self-controlled, upright, godly life adorns and fits and accords with the doctrine of this great salvation.

The Table

And this brings us to the Table. And not just any Table, but the Advent Table.

1)      What season are we celebrating?
a.       Advent.

2)      What is Advent?
a.       Advent is the season before Christmas.

3)      What kind of season is Advent?
a.       Advent is a season of waiting (for the blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ).

4)      Where are we waiting?
a.       In a land of deep darkness (in the present ungodly, lawless, worldly age).

5)      What are we waiting for?
a.       The Light to shine on us (and train us to renounce worldliness and live godly lives)

6)      What do we do during Advent?
a.       Prepare our hearts to welcome Jesus (because he gave himself for us to make us a people for his own possession).

7)      What do we confess during Advent?
a.       Christ has come; Christ will come again.

So come, and welcome to Jesus Christ.

Pastor Joe’s Homework Assignment:

Taste and See, Sampling an Education in Serious Joy

At Bethlehem College & Seminary we study the Great Books in light of the Greatest Book for the sake of the Great Commission. In this winter series, join Bethlehem professors as they offer a taste of a Bethlehem education. Whether you’re a prospective, incoming, or returning student, you won’t regret spending a few weeks reflecting on possessions with Boethius, exploring morality with Mark Twain, and worldliness with C.S. Lewis. Come and see!