August 1, 2021 LIVING THE GOSPEL
Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our of great God and Savior, Christ Jesus; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
If we say we love God and we love His word, then let us live it out. The grace of God has appeared and He desires that all would come to know Jesus as there life. Jesus death and resurrection from the dead ushered in a new day; and it is a new day for those who are indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God as a result of trusting Jesus as their Savior. When the gospel of God is believed and received, it changes everything; it changes our motives, our desires, our thinking-in fact we get a new heart when we are born again. God reveals Himself in His word, and His word is also a book of instructions for life; His word describes life in His kingdom. Living in His kingdom here on earth is drastically different from living according to the ways of this world. Living in His kingdom involves denying certain things and pursuing and taking hold of certain things. We are instructed to deny ungodliness and worldly desire-pure and simple. When we are tempted to do are think something that is ungodly-deny it-DON’T DO IT! It is really that simple. Because the Spirit lives in us, we have the power “to live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” Jesus gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed-and purify us for His own possession. (It is a lie that says that because we are human, we are bound to sin; Jesus came to set us free from the power of sin. If we sin, it is because we chose to do so.) Knowing that Jesus is about purifying you and I for His own possession certainly should motivate us to cooperate with Him in the process by denying what is ungodly and by taking hold of what is godly. As His possessions, we are to be zealous for good deeds; God is good and Jesus was the example of living a life of good deeds. We do not do good deeds to earn His love and acceptance; we do good deeds because that is the nature of God and He has given us His nature. What a blessing for us to be able to “live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age.” We can live the life that God has made available to us where we are free from guilt, exhaustion, worry, confusion, fear and doubt; and we can live in peace, rest, confidence, purpose, and hope; we can live with a blessed hope, anticipating His return when we will see His glory and we will receive our full inheritance that He has reserved for us. So, if need be, let us adjust our life to where we are living expressions of the amazing and wonderful gospel that He has given to us.
Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Colossians 3:4 “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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