“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and 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 our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:11-14
The human mind cannot comprehend the power of God’s grace. What God has done for us, in contrast with what we deserve, is as vast as the cosmos. The grace that brought salvation is truly an amazing grace.
This grace that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men. The Holy Spirit will bring conviction, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit is the revealing of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Illuminating the reality that you are a sinner that needs a Savior. Jesus is that Savior and he died for you. When a penitent soul pours out their transgressions in earnest at an altar of prayer, you can rest assured that it is the Spirit of God that brought that about. That soul who repents and truly forsakes their sin; dying out to all that he/she is, was, and ever will be. That soul is truly converted; and when that soul approaches God once more and seeks the blessing of Sanctification he/she will obtain the Spirit of Jesus dwelling inside. This Holy Spirit will eliminate carnality with the same consuming fire that scorched the sacrifice on Mt. Carmel and licked up the water around (1 Kings 18); this Spirit can very much keep you from all sin and lead you in paths of righteousness. This is the grace that bringeth salvation, it is not a grace that keeps you in sin but brings you out of sin. Grace calls us, converts us, sanctifies us, keeps us, and corrects us. It is forgiveness, it is absolution, but forgiveness and absolution are but a part of the whole. Grace is in absolution, but grace is not only absolution. Like a lawyer representing you in a courtroom. Pleading the blood of Christ, and your identity to his sacrifice (i.e. dying to your wills, ways, and wishes) will result in a not guilty verdict and absolve you of your crimes against Almighty God. However, absolution was not the end goal of Jesus’s sacrifice. It is salvation through sanctification. Using God’s grace as a rug that you lay down over the stain of sin in your life, or a filter to distort the wickedness in you is something that God forbids. The grace of God that brings salvation is the kind of grace that convicts, calls, and commands you to sacrifice yourself. This grace brings full deliverance from all sin, which is salvation. Salvation from sins committed and the desire to sin. Every Sunday, masses walk into a church to hear a sermon. If we preach sermons that promote absolution over deliverance, then we undermine the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The message is grace, but the grace of God that can bring salvation; and I believe that there are many people in this world who no longer wish to live in righteousness and true holiness.
The grace that bringeth salvation hath appeared. It appears in the human conscience, whenever the power of God pulls on a heart, it has appeared and appears unto all men. This grace will bring salvation; do not let it become callous over by the continuing call of the world, the business of life, or the desire to remain in habitual absolution. Break with the half-truth that Jesus came only to absolve our sins and embrace the grace that brings complete salvation from all sin.
