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| May 1, 2001 |
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| "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness ad worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:11-13 Paul says to the Cretans, "I want to put under you the doctrine of the grace of God because you need a solid foundation." Today, we also need a solid foundation under us! The grace of God is the way God saves us! The Gospel is God's good news ~ it is the power of God unto salvation! Here, Paul is enjoining Titus to demand of the Cretans that they live lives that adorn the gospel, for it is the POWER of God. And there is absolutely no excuse for any Christian today, to live a life of defeat and failure ~ "for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." "Hath appeared" means it shines forth ~ it is the epiphany. What the Lord Jesus did for us when He came to this earth in form of man is the gospel ~ the GOOD NEWS! God doesn't save us by His love, and He doesn't sve us by His mercy. Ephesians tells us: "For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). Mercy is the compassion of God that prompted Him to send a Savior to mankind. If oe man could be saved by the mercy of God, all mankind would be saved. It wouldn't have been necessary for Christ to die; the cross would have been circumvented! God loves us, but He didn't save us by His love. Love is the divine motive, but God is not only love ~ He is righteous and holy and just! The Holy demands of God, His just claims, and His righteous standard had to be met. The love of God may long to save us, but the immutable law of justice makes love powerless to do so. Therefore, Christ, by dying for our sins, met the holy demands of God's justice, and He can now save us by grace. How wonderful it is to be saved by the grace of God! God is not trying to reform this world; He is redeeming those who accept Christ. The gospel does not appeal to Christ-rejecting people to do better. So when you hear a person say, "I am going to "try" to do better," think of them as a liar. Because if they continue to reject Christ, hey may as well get all they can out of this life, because this life on earth is all they are going to get! You might as well eat, drink, and be merry, for tpmorrow you'll die. God doesn't want to reform you ~ He wants to redeem you! "Looking for thay blessed hope" ~ Christ is coming to take His church out of this world! "The glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." This reveals that Paul taught the deity of Christ; he speaks of the great God who is our Savior, and who is He? He is Jesus Christ! And what did He do? He gave Himself for us that He might redeem us "from all iniquity." God bless you as you believe Him, trust Him and accept Him today. God's way is the best way ~ and it's the ONLY way! <J><E><S><U><S>< <S><A><V><E><S>< |