By Tom Shanklin

Pastors in India crying out to God.

“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. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” Titus 2:11-15, KJV.

To hear some people talk about the grace of God, one would think that it doesn’t matter at all how we live. They say that the only thing that matters is forgiveness, which is given us freely through Jesus Christ in spite of what we do. But what does the Bible really say about grace? Here we see that the grace of God teaches us that “…denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteousness, and godly, in this present world…”

Now I understand that we can get caught up in the idea of trying to produce our own righteousness and of trying to earn our salvation by our good works. This is a very true danger which can lead us into dead, pharisaical religion. We are not saved by our own righteousness or good deeds. We are saved by what Jesus did for us on the cross. But let’s not throw the biblical call to holiness out the window because of someone’s unbalanced teaching on grace. Grace teaches us to live right!

As the Scripture says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8, 9, KJV. But it also says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10, KJV. In other words, we are saved not by works, but by grace through faith. But when we receive that grace, it will produce a work of righteousness in our lives. We will be changed both inwardly and outwardly.

According to Thayers lexicon of the Greek New Testament, grace (charis) means “good will, loving-kindness, favour of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.”

So we can see that the often repeated definition of grace as “unmerited favor” does not give us a complete picture. Grace has an effect on the sinner to turn them to Christ in order to receive mercy and forgiveness, and also upon the Christian believer to cause them to grow in faith, the knowledge of God, and virtuous living. Grace teaches us to live right!

In the church, there have always been winds of doctrine that lead us away from the truth. The pendulum swings from one side to another when biblical truth is revealed. Thank God for the truth about God’s tremendous undeserved and unmerited grace and mercy, but let us be sure that we don’t go to the extreme and get into error. Any teaching that leads us away from holy living is not of God. As our scripture said, Jesus “… gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” If we are not being purified and if we are not zealous of good works, then we are not on the true path of God. In fact, we are making Jesus’ death null and void and despising His precious blood which was shed for us.

The whole point of Jesus dying on the cross was that we could be not only forgiven but also changed and brought back to God and to a godly way of life. Adam led us away from God through rebellion. Jesus came to lead us back into a right relationship with God so that we might manifest His glory in our lives. Remember, Jesus preached a message of repentance (turning from sin and unto God) and proclaimed the Kingdom (or rulership) of God.

But living a holy life is not something that we can do by ourselves. We need God’s grace every day to live a life pleasing to God. The Scripture says, “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12, 13, KJV. If you are a true believer, God is working in you today. You are a new creature. Old things are passed away. All things are become new. Now, let His salvation be manifested in your daily life—from the inside out!

We sometimes hear people mindlessly repeat the statement, “Everyday we sin in thought, word, and deed.” But think about it. That’s not only a cop out, but also a horrible confession. As James says, the tongue is a rudder and your life is the ship. By making that statement, you are opening the door to sin and immoral behavor in your life. You should rather say, “God is working in me both to will and to do His good pleasure.”

Yes, there are times that we miss it, and thank God that through the blood of Jesus we can receive mercy when we repent of our sin. But we need to see that the work of God through the Gospel is bigger than only forgiveness. It’s about grace to live a new life.

Paul says in his letter to the Galations, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21, NKJV. In other words, walking in a sinful lifestyle will not lead you to heaven nor to peace and victory with God in this life.

In our scripture, the Apostle Paul was exhorting Titus, one of his pastors, to teach his people to live righteous and holy lives. With the way the pendulum has been swinging in recent years, Paul’s exhortation might have been considered “legalism” by some. But teaching people to live right is not legalism. It is sound, biblically balanced teaching, and every true minister of the Gospel should be sure to take heed to Paul’s exhortation. As the apostle says, “These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.”

So preachers, don’t worry about man’s opinion or the current wave of teaching. Stick with the Word of God and call for purity, both in the inward life and the outward life. As Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1, KJV.

Living by grace is relying on Jesus to not only forgive our sins, but also to enable us to live truly good lives. As Paul says in the book of Romans, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14, KJV.

Grace teaches us to live right!