The truth is that this passage is at the very heart of everything that Paul is communicating
to Titus and to these believers in Crete.
It is, in one sense, it is the sound doctrine with which Christian behavior is to accord.
We remember that from the very first verse of this chapter.
Just put your eye on it in chapter 2 and verse 1.
But as for you, Paul says, teach what accords with sound doctrine.
The behaviors, the mindsets, the attitudes, the things that harmonize with sound doctrine.
When we get to verses 11 through 14, this is essentially the sound doctrine with which
our behavior and our lifestyles are to be in harmony with.
And what he gives is a concise explanation of the gospel of Jesus.
And the importance of teaching it as the foundation for practical instruction cannot be overstated.
Consider this from Graham Goldsworthy.
He wrote,
To say what we should be or do and not link it with a clear exposition of what God has done about our failure
is to reject the grace of God.
And it is to lead people to lust after self-help and self-improvement in a way that to call a spade a spade is godless.
Do you see what he's saying there?
For us to give exhortation and practical instruction about what people should be and what people should do,
but not to immediately accompany that exhortation with an exposition of the gospel
is to actually remove grace from the equation, and it is to preach a works salvation.
If we think that, think of Christian conduct or religious practice,
the things that we're doing this morning even in our gathered worship,
if we think of those things apart from the gospel of Jesus,
we will inevitably labor to go through our list of do's and don'ts,
either in hopes of earning God's favor or in fear of losing it.
If it's not about the gospel, if it's really about fulfilling our list and doing our things,
if we're living in fear that we don't have God's favor and we need to get it,
or we're living in fear that we have it but we might lose it,
then we've missed the gospel.
And think about this in relation to our evangelism and our efforts at cultural engagement.
If our confrontations of sin and our calls for people to repent
are not immediately linked with what Christ has accomplished through his death and resurrection,
we are preaching a message of behavior modification, moralism.
We are not preaching a gospel of grace.
And if we go through and we're witnessing to people or maybe what we do in the influences that we have
through social media or social engagement in some other way,
and some of us, we're very faithful to say what everybody's doing wrong,
that you are a bad person.
But how many of us are actually faithful to immediately say,
but Christ is good,
and he has come to redeem you from this
and demonstrate the glories of the gospel,
not just the depravity of the world in which we live.
If we don't immediately pair it with the gospel,
immediately pair it with the glories of Christ,
then we've gone wrong.
And we're not actually preaching a gospel.
We're preaching people into a different form of bondage,
moralism.
So it's no surprise then that when Paul gets to the end of these exhortations,
he immediately grounds the entire letter in the gospel message.
And the spring from which this saving gospel burst forth off of this page in verse 11
is the limitless grace of God.
Biblical grace is God's favor toward undeserving sinners.
In the simplest way, we typically define it as unmerited favor.
But in a biblical sense,
it is God's unmerited favor toward undeserving sinners.
But the grace of God is not some abstract idea
that's kind of floating around out there,
and we just hope that at some point along the way,
we grasp it.
No, that's not what it is.
Paul says in verse 11 that the grace of God has appeared.
It is a tangible thing that has been made visible.
To us.
It's not just some kind of idea.
He brings it in concrete terms.
It has appeared to us.
And this is an interesting word.
It's the word from which we get epiphany.
It means a sudden manifestation or a sudden appearance of something.
And what Paul intends to say here is that the grace of God
has been manifested, made visible in a person.
And a person.
It's not an idea.
The grace of God is a person.
And that person is Jesus Christ.
In other words, if you want to see and understand God's favor
toward undeserving sinners,
look at Jesus.
He is God's grace personified.
He is God's grace manifested to us and manifested for us.
And his gospel, this gospel of grace,
is the proper motivation and focus of Christian belief and behavior.
All of the things that Paul says in chapter 2,
it's not about fashioning a group of people
to live according to his personal preference.
That's not what Paul is commanding these people to do.
He is commanding them to live in the grace of God.
And if we are to live in the grace of God,
it's going to radically affect the way that our lives look
and the decisions that we make.
So let's walk through the verses together
and examine this glorious gospel of grace.
The first thing I'd like to point out to you
is the work of God's grace.
The work of God's grace.
Look with me again at verse 11.
For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation for all people,
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions,
and to live self-controlled, upright,
godly lives in the present age.
We've already established that the grace of God
has been manifested in a person
and in the work of Jesus Christ.
It's not just a theological concept.
It's a person.
But what does the grace of God through Jesus accomplish?
What does it actually do for us?
And I think Paul gives two dynamics of God's grace here
that we need to see.
The first thing that he says is this.
God's grace saves sinners.
Verse 11.
For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation for all people.
Jesus has come, and with him he has brought salvation for us.
Let's make sure we understand this in the appropriate way.
This is not a promise that all people will ultimately be saved.
That's not what Paul means to say here.
That's universalism.
That's a damning doctrine.
We don't need to follow that.
That's not what the Bible teaches us.
That's not what Paul is teaching here.
The Bible is actually very clear that while many people receive God's mercy,
many will also face his judgment.
And God's mercy and God's judgment both are eternal.
Consider Matthew chapter 25 and verse 46.
Jesus himself says,
All of these, those who do not follow him,
those who do not live this gospel of grace,
all of these will go into eternal punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life.
There's a distinction, clearly, in the New Testament.
Some people will receive eternal life.
Some people will receive eternal hell.
So Paul can't be saying in Titus chapter 2
that all people will ultimately be saved.
That's not his point.
Consider Revelation chapter 21.
When we get to the very end in this vision that John has of heaven,
the revelation of Christ,
he says,
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable,
murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, all liars,
their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur,
which is the second death.
Paul's not saying that all people will ultimately be saved.
So what then does this verse actually mean?
What does it mean that God has brought salvation for all people?
Well, think about the immediate context here.
What has he just said in verses 9 and 10?
He's addressed slaves in the church.
Slaves who have been converted,
they belong to the church in the process of instructing them here.
He declares that Jesus has brought salvation for all people.
He means that no person is excluded from salvation
on the basis of their race or their gender or their nationality
or their social status.
There is nothing about you that is deserving of God's grace
and there is nothing about you that excludes you from God's grace.
That's his point.
That the grace of God has appeared in Christ
and he has brought salvation for all people.
For all people.
And while Christ's atonement is applied particularly to those who believe,
it is sufficient for the entire human race,
which is what allows for Jesus to give a universal call to believe the gospel.
So in other words, not everyone will be saved,
but the invitation to receive eternal salvation through Jesus extends to everyone.
It extends to the whole world.
So Jesus says, go.
Go and preach the gospel.
He says, come to me all who are burdened and heavy laden
and I will give you rest.
Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 4.
He said, God desires all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
All people.
So if God desires all people to be saved
and Jesus's atonement is sufficient for the whole human race,
then this eternal salvation is offered to you.
And it's offered to me.
On the cross, Jesus bears the wrath of God against sinners.
And by his resurrection, God proclaims,
I have received with satisfaction, complete satisfaction,
the sacrifice of Jesus on behalf of sinners.
So what then does God's grace accomplish?
It brings salvation to all who believe and follow Christ.
Ephesians chapter 2, Paul makes it clear.
For by grace, you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing.
It's the gift of God.
Not a result of works, so that none of us may boast.
The work of God's grace, the first thing it does,
God's grace saves sinners.
But then, notice in verse 12,
God's grace transforms sinners.
Look again at verse 12.
Training us to renounce ungodliness
and worldly passions,
to live self-controlled, upright,
godly lives in the present age.
Training us.
What's the subject of the verse?
The subject of the sentence?
The grace of God.
The grace of God brings salvation.
The grace of God trains us
to do certain things,
to live in righteousness.
In fact, the gospel itself,
this is the point,
the gospel itself teaches us
to renounce ungodliness
and pursue godly lives instead.
Instead, he says,
renounce ungodliness
and worldly passions,
which is an interesting term here.
Because both of these words,
on their own,
are morally neutral.
We could say desires or passions.
Well, passions and desires,
on its own,
are not inherently immoral
or moral things.
They're just passions.
The world,
on its own,
is not a moral thing.
It is a thing.
It is a thing that exists.
But when the Bible
brings these two things together,
worldly passions,
it gives it a significant moral weight,
which refers to the desires
that are entirely centered
on the systemic thinking
of a fallen world,
a world that is in rebellion against God.
When Paul says worldly passions,
he's talking about a mindset
that is focused entirely
in the way
that a rebellious world is focused.
So that the decisions
a person with worldly passions makes,
the decisions that they make,
the life that they live,
is really motivated
by what they see in the world
rather than what they see in God.
We belong to a fallen world,
a world that is apart from God.
Yet, we are responsible
to fulfill God's purposes
and desires for our lives.
But on our own,
we cannot possibly do this.
It's not possible.
But through the salvation
of God's grace,
God transforms our affections.
He gives us a new heart.
This is what God does for us.
This is his work.
He takes our greatest desires,
which are fixed on self
and on pleasure
and on happiness
and on worldly passions,
and he transforms them.
So now, in Christ,
our greatest passion,
our greatest desire
is to please God.
God.
So that the grace of God
then trains us.
It actively disciplines.
It teaches us
to renounce those worldly passions,
to say no to those things
in order to live self-controlled
and upright and godly.
Brian Chappell said,
by adding the word godly
to the ways grace teaches us to live,
the apostle reminds us
that the Christian life
is one of dependence on God.
Godliness is not a consequence
of human resolution
or willpower.
It is a relationship with God
that results in a life
that is honoring to God.
You see, it's not about
what you just want to do
and willing yourself into this.
It begins with knowing God.
And as we know God,
the gospel itself transforms us
and it trains us
to pursue him
and to pursue his desires
for our lives.
You see how incredible this is?
God doesn't save us
and then leave us on our own
to figure the rest of it out.
He saves us
by the power of his grace
and he actively transforms us
by the power of his grace.
Philippians chapter one
or, excuse me,
Philippians chapter two,
we are his workmanship.
He is working in us.
Created in Christ Jesus
for good works.
What are good works?
It is the things that honor him.
It is the things that glorify him.
And those who truly know Christ
will willfully pursue
this transforming work
out of love
for what God has done for them
in Jesus.
So what does the grace of God
actually do?
Well, it saves sinners
and then it transforms them.
And the sequence here
is crucial.
God doesn't train us
in godliness
so that we might earn
his favor in salvation.
No, the order here
is absolutely critical.
He saves us by his grace.
Then he transforms us
from the inside out.
In other words,
our motivation
for godliness
is not to earn God's favor,
but it is in recognition
that in Christ
we have already received
God's gracious favor.
That's the work
of God's grace.
Secondly,
I want you to see
the hope of God's grace.
The hope of God's grace.
Verse 13,
waiting for our blessed hope,
the appearing of the glory
of our great God
and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
Well, set your eyes
at the very end
of verse 12 again.
At the end of verse 12,
Paul says,
believers are to live godly
in the present age.
He's not simply referring
to a particular
historical moment.
That's not what he means
by that.
That's not excluded,
but it's not really
what he intends to say.
He's speaking
of a unique time frame
in God's plan
of redemption.
When we get
to verse 13 here,
we get more clarity
as to what he's
actually saying.
And he uses this word
appearing again.
Do you see that?
Look at verse 13.
Waiting for our blessed hope,
the appearing
of the glory
of our great God
and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
Just as God's grace
was manifested
in Jesus' first coming,
so will it again
be manifested
in the Lord's
second coming.
The present age then
is this time frame
between the two things.
The present age
is the time frame
between Jesus'
first appearance
and Jesus'
second appearance.
In his first appearance
in verse 11,
Jesus came
and the glory
that he had
as being God,
the Son of God,
was veiled.
That's why people
were so confused
by him.
That's why the disciples
were so blown away
on the Mount
of Transfiguration.
They've seen this man,
powerful man,
but this man,
but then all of a sudden
on the Mount
of Transfiguration,
they get a glimpse
of his glory,
his glorified state.
So when he first comes,
the glory is veiled,
but when he comes
the next time,
Paul says right here,
it will be in full display
of the glory
of our great God
and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
Jesus is coming again
and it's going
to be magnificent.
It's going to be
a magnificent appearance
of God's grace.
And Paul's point
is that our lives now
in the present age
should reflect
a hopeful expectation
of this return.
And we immediately
see the past,
present,
and future realities
of salvation here.
The past reality
of salvation,
we have been saved.
That's verse 11.
The grace of God
has appeared
bringing salvation.
At some point,
if you know Christ,
at some point,
the regenerative work
of the Holy Spirit
has transformed your life
and you are saved.
Past tense.
You have been saved.
That's verse 11.
But then we see
the present tense.
That's verse 12.
We are being saved.
He is actively training us,
disciplining us,
fashioning us
to live a life
that is worthy
of the gospel.
We are being saved.
But then there's
this future salvation,
the future dynamic.
We will be saved.
That's verse 13.
That right now,
as we are being trained
by God's grace,
we longingly await
our future salvation,
that glorified state.
We taught the kids
about this on Thursday night
and it was in conjunction
with the dynamic
of our security in Christ
and in salvation.
But a big part of it
was the benefits
of the glorified state,
a new body,
whose back
doesn't get thrown out,
who can lay down
and breathe just fine,
who doesn't have to spend
a week in the hospital
because of congestive
heart failure.
There's no more sickness there.
There's no more sin.
There's no more heartache.
There's no more sadness.
We long for that.
Paul tells us
in the book of Romans
that the whole creation
groans for it.
We will be saved.
That's what Paul's
getting at here.
And in the meantime,
in this present age,
our lives should reflect
what we know
will be true
in that moment.
And he calls it
our blessed hope.
Of course,
biblical hope
is not a wish.
It is a certain expectation
that God will do
what God has promised
he will do.
And Christians
can rejoice
in hope
of Christ's return
because the scriptures
guarantee
our future glorification.
All those things
that I just mentioned.
He guarantees it
in Romans chapter 8,
verse 30.
Those whom he predestined,
he also called.
And those whom he called,
he also justified.
And those whom he justifies,
he will glorify.
It's a guarantee
of God's word.
It's a guarantee
of God's grace.
This is what we will be.
Philippians 1, 6.
I'm sure of this,
Paul says,
that he who began
a good work in you
will bring it
to completion
at the day
of Jesus Christ.
Now it is this certain
expectation
of Christ's return
and the benefits
of what awaits us
in the glorified state
that motivates
and informs
our pursuit
of godliness now.
And I want to show you
a passage
that makes this clear.
In 1 John chapter 3,
it's on the screen
if you want to follow along
or you can turn to it
in your Bible.
In 1 John chapter 3,
John says,
beloved,
we are God's children now.
And what we will be,
that is in the glorified state,
what we will be,
has not yet appeared.
But we know that
when he appears,
we shall be like him
because we shall see him
as he is.
So John is setting us up
for this future expectation.
This is what we will be
in heaven.
We are going to be like Christ.
We are going to be fashioned
after him.
Now look what he says
in verse 3.
And everyone
who thus hopes,
everyone who is certain
of this reality,
purifies himself.
Why?
Because he sees
the purity
of Christ.
The hope of God's grace
is such
that it informs
and motivates
our godliness
because as we keep
our eyes set on heaven
and we keep our focus
set on Christ,
we see his purity
and we see his loveliness
and we see his glory
and it makes us
want to purify ourselves
and pursue
that glory
which will be ours
in eternity.
Understanding the fullness
of the gospel
means recognizing
that God
will finally
transform us.
and the word
that John uses
for this
is pure.
Those who have been
saved by God's grace
and are being
transformed
by God's grace
should desire
to exemplify
this purity
in the present
age.
And once again,
the truth
of the gospel
of grace
drives us
to godliness.
thirdly,
I want you to see
the agent
of grace.
We've seen
the work of grace,
what grace does.
We've seen
the hope of grace.
We set our eyes
on heaven
and we live
as if we are
there already.
Okay?
Number three,
the agent of grace.
Verse 14.
Perhaps the most
important verse
of all of it.
Who gave himself
for us
to redeem us
from all lawlessness
and to purify
for himself
a people
for his own
possession
who are zealous
for good works.
This is the heart
of the whole discussion.
At the center
of the gospel
is the self-sacrifice
of God's son
for undeserving
sinners.
That's the grace
of God.
That's the grace
of God
that has appeared.
the self-sacrifice
of Jesus
for sinners.
He's provided
eternal salvation
according to this verse
by giving himself
for us.
But how is it
that Jesus
gave himself?
Philippians chapter 2
helps us with this.
The men studied this
on Wednesday morning
at Chick-fil-A.
It says,
though he was
in the form of God,
he did not account
equality with God
a thing to be grasped,
but he emptied himself,
taking on the form
of a servant,
being born
in the likeness
of men,
and being found
in human form,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient
to the point of death,
even death
on a cross.
So first,
Jesus gives himself
by leaving the throne
of heaven
to become a man.
he condescends
to us.
Then the sinless
son of God
gave himself
by submitting
to death
on a cross,
a criminal's execution
for a sinlessly
perfect man.
The one who knew
no sin
bore God's wrath
against sinners
so that they could
then know
his righteousness.
righteousness.
That's 2 Corinthians 5.
For our sake
he made him
to be sin
who knew no sin
so that in him
we might become
the righteousness
of God.
And why did he
give himself?
That's how he gave himself.
Why did he give himself?
What was Jesus'
substitutionary death
meant to accomplish?
Well, Paul tells us
right here in the verse.
He gives us
three reasons.
First,
he gives himself
to rescue us
from sin.
To rescue us.
He says he gave himself
to redeem us
from all lawlessness.
Lawlessness,
according to John,
says lawlessness
is sin.
Redemption here,
redeem,
it means to release
on receipt
of ransom.
He redeems us
in his death
from sin,
from the bondage
of sin
and from
our deadness
in sin.
The penalty of sin.
But he doesn't just
stop at the rescue.
That's the thing.
See, this is where
a lot of people
get confused.
They come to Christ
expecting the rescue,
but they stop there.
Look at what he also says.
He gave himself
to rescue us from sin,
but he gave himself
to cleanse us
of sin.
Redeem us
from all lawlessness
and to
purify
us.
You see,
Jesus is not content
to leave us
in sin.
It's not as if
he saves us
and he says,
all right,
you're good.
Go on.
No.
He saves us,
he keeps us,
he rescues us,
and then he cleans us.
I remember when
Julie gave birth
to both the girls.
It's bizarre.
Those of you
who have been there
know,
most people say
it's a beautiful thing.
It's not a beautiful thing.
It's a bizarre thing.
And I remember
both girls
when they emerge,
all of these people
gather around
and they pick up
the girls.
And what's the first
thing that they do?
They put them
on Julie's chest.
They say,
hey to mom,
and then they rip her
right back out of her hands.
And they go over
to the sink
or whatever the thing is
and they weigh her
and then they get that thing
and they start
to scrub her down,
right?
They're not content
to leave them
in the mess.
They say,
this is what Jesus does.
You see,
at the point
that he saves us,
it's like being born.
In fact,
that's exactly
what Jesus says.
We receive
a new birth,
regeneration.
And Jesus doesn't
come to that moment
of birth
and then just kind of
throw us out there
and say,
hope things work out
for you.
No.
No,
he takes us
and he takes us
and he loves on us
and he gives us attention
and he cleans us.
He washes us.
He purifies us.
He cleanses us.
And then he says,
not only does he rescue us
from sin,
he gave himself
to cleanse us
but then to make us
his own.
To make us his own.
A people
for his own
possession
who are zealous
for good works.
Here's the transformation
again.
Paul says to another church,
we are not our own.
We have been bought
with a price
which pushes against
the common mindset
not only in our culture
but honestly I think
in a lot of cultural
Christian circles.
That says,
yeah,
I follow Jesus
but this is my life.
This is my body
and this is my money
and this is my stuff
and I'm going to do it
the way that I want to do it.
Paul says,
no,
that's not actually true.
You are not your own.
If you know Christ,
you belong to him.
He's bought you.
There's a lot of misconceptions
about the purpose
of God's grace
and salvation.
There's a lot of
cultural Christians
who identify
as with Christianity
in some sense
out of,
to gain what
MacArthur says
is fire insurance.
they're not really
interested in being
rescued from sin
or knowing Christ.
They just come to a point
where if there is a hell,
maybe this is the way
that I can possibly escape it.
So they do whatever
the church says
that they're supposed to do.
They get baptized
or they attend
or they volunteer.
They do the stuff
but there's really,
there's nothing about Christ
that's at work
in their life.
And they think grace
is just there
so that I don't have
to go to hell.
And they've misunderstood grace.
There's others
who maybe don't take
quite that position
but in their minds
they think,
well,
grace just makes me free now.
It makes me free
so that I can kind of
live the way
that I want to live
without consequence.
And there's a lot
of Christians
that probably
you even know yourself,
maybe you're one of them,
that lives in that kind
of state of mind
or at least practically.
There's even some
genuine Christians
that can be
carelessly indifferent
to behaviors
that dishonor God.
But the Bible
directly confronts
these attitudes.
Romans chapter 6.
You know the passage.
Paul says,
how can we
who died to sin
still live in it?
Do you not know
that all of us
who have been baptized
into Christ
were baptized
into his death?
We were buried,
therefore,
with him by baptism
into death
in order that
as Christ was raised
from the dead,
we too might walk
in newness of life.
That means there's
a transformation
that has now happened.
It's not God
has given me his grace.
I don't have to go to hell.
I can just keep doing
my thing here
and just feel comfortable
about it.
You've misunderstood grace.
Paul goes on to say,
let not sin,
therefore,
reign in your mortal body
to make you
obey its passions.
Do not present
your members to sin
as instruments
for unrighteousness,
but present yourselves
to God
as those who have been
brought from death
to life
and your members
to God
as instruments
for righteousness.
To the one
who has been gripped
by the truth
of the gospel,
they will routinely say,
I don't want
to live in sin.
Christ has saved me
from that.
I don't want
to go back to it.
And think about it
in terms of the instructions
Paul has given.
Hang with me,
we're almost there,
okay?
Think about it
in terms of the instructions
Paul gave
in the first ten verses.
Someone gripped
by the gospel says,
I do not want
to live a slanderous life.
Christ saved me
from that.
I don't want
to do that.
I don't want
to live in drunkenness.
Christ saved me
from that.
I don't want
to do that.
I don't want
to live
in constant conflict
with my husband
or with my wife.
Christ saved me
from that.
I don't want
to go back
to that.
You see,
we need to evaluate
all of our conduct
on the basis
of the fact
that Christ died
to rescue
and cleanse us
from sin.
I want to ask you
maybe this hypothetical
question,
maybe you were asked
this as a young person
growing up.
So maybe even
the kids would need
to hear me.
Give me your ear here.
If Jesus was
with you today,
physically with you,
he was spending
the day with you,
would you be
at peace
with the typical
decisions that you
make?
Or,
would a part
of the conversation
with your Lord
be,
Jared,
I was crucified
to rescue
you from that.
Why would you
do that?
Jared,
I was crucified
to redeem you
from those
words
and the sin
of your mouth.
Why would you
continue in that?
Jared,
I was crucified
to rescue you
from those things
that you're
entertaining yourself
with on the TV
and on your phone.
Why would you
do that?
And we could go
down the list.
Jesus gave
himself to
redeem us
and this
gospel of grace
literally,
it teaches us.
If you understand
the gospel,
then you understand
it's never okay
for me to sin.
I shouldn't
want to.
I shouldn't
desire it
because Christ
has died for it
and he wants
to cleanse me
from it
and one day
he will finally
cleanse me
from it
and I'm going
to live for him
now because of
what he's done
for me.
Do you remember
the question
that I asked
you at the
beginning?
What's the
why behind
the way
that you live
your life
and make
your decisions?
Why do you
do what you
do?
Why do you
say what you
say?
Why do you
enjoy what
you enjoy?
If the
dominant
motivation
of your
life
is self
fulfillment,
that is
it's my
life,
I'll do it
how I
want.
If that's
the dominant
reason in
your mind,
I don't
know that
you're a
Christian.
The call
to salvation
is a
call to
self-denial.
That's
what Jesus
says.
He says,
whoever will
come to me
will have
to deny
himself,
not pursue
himself.
The grace
of God
in salvation
transforms our
affections.
The Bible
makes that
clear and
if your
dominant
affection in
your life,
your dominant
desire is not
to please the
Lord, I
don't think
you're a
Christian,
at least
according to
the Bible.
people.
But as we
discovered in
verse 11,
God extends
this offer of
grace to
you.
Receive his
grace.
Receive the
grace in
Christ.
Let him
rescue you
from sin
and cleanse
you from it
forever.
Now that's
one way you
could answer
the question.
The other way
that some
of you may
have answered
the question
is if you
do what you
do out of
fear that
God will be
angry and
remove his
favor, I
don't think
you understand
the gospel.
Our motivation
for godliness
is not to
gain God's
favor.
It's actually
a loving,
worshipful
response to
the favor that
he's already
given us.
That's the
motivation.
Jesus said,
we read it
in Matthew
11, Jesus
said that his
salvation would
give you rest,
not anxiety.
Rest.
And if you're
constantly living
in fear,
you're probably
not trusting
Christ.
You're probably
trusting your
ability to do
your best and
try your hardest
and do the
list of things.
And somebody's
told you, if you
fall short of
that, you're
not doing it
right.
We need to
care about
godliness.
But our
godliness is
not what
saves us.
We cling
trustingly to
the Lord
Jesus, even
when we fail,
even when we
fall.
We're grieved
by our sin.
But it should
never bring us
to a point, if
we know Christ,
and if we
understand the
gospel, it
should never
bring us to a
point that in
our sin, we're
now overwhelmed
with fear that
God's going to
take it away, that
he doesn't love
us anymore, that
he's going to
cast us out.
Remember what
Jesus said, all
that the Father
gives me will
come to me, and
whoever comes to
me, I will
never cast out.
And if you're
living in constant
fear, I think you
just don't understand
the gospel, and you
need to study the
gospel.
You need to
study these
verses.
You need to
learn the gospel
of grace, so
that you might
look to Jesus, and
then live.