THE GRACE OF GOD THAT APPEARED
Ref: Titus 2:11-12, Rom. 12:2a;
James 1:21; I Peter 2:11.
Introduction
The bible says 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 - Titus 2:11-12
We have been saved by His grace unto good works and not to continue in our old ways. We are to identify what ungodliness and worldly lust mean and avoid them. That is the same thing as denying them. God is trying to show us the right attitude towards sin, which is to resist and avoid them.
If we cannot avoid sin and walk in newness of life of Christ, then our salvation is still in the 'wood'. We are saved from the world to live as children of God and the grace of God is calling out to people to embrace holiness, and run the race set before them with fear and trembling, to:
1. Avoid ungodliness
2. Worldly Lusts
3. Live soberly
4. Live righteously and
5. Live godly.
God is telling us that to survive the onslaught of the devil, we should live like Christ. We should be dead to sin and the motions of sin, from which Christ delivered us from.
End-time Christians
A Christian crucifies his flesh and he is no longer of this world, but his life is hidden in Christ. We are asked to flee ungodliness and worldly lusts and embrace sober, righteous and godly living. If you are sober, you will not expect too much from people, you will make provision to accommodate those who are learning the ropes and you will let love dominate your relationship with people.
The times we are living is perilous. Men shall be lovers of themselves, rebellious, lovers of pleasure, wicked, implacable, disobedient to parents and God., without natural affection etc. Christians will have to led by the spirit and discipline their body if they will succeed.
If people will betray us, deceive us and tempt us to do evil, so what should we be thinking and doing as Believers? We should be prepared to show people the opposite of what the world is showing them. We should speak the truth always, care and support people freely and walk blamelessly. We must greed and discontent. We must present matters as they are, work hard and be known for excellence. These are the make-up of the holiness we are talking about.
Christians should be prepared for the betrayal, persecution and temptation to come by renewing our minds with the word of God and ensure the word dwells richly in us. We should never seek to retaliate evil for evil, though we are hurt. Let us take everything to God in prayer and wait and by so doing have the life of Jesus Christ inside of us.
There is no righteous and holy living without Christ, so no man can make himself holy and walk righteously without Christ. In fact children of God should understand that their Christianity begins when Jesus enters into their life as Lord and Saviour, and the person receives the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Beloved, I don't know the friends you have that are drawing you back into the world, from where you were delivered, this is the time to cut them off. It may be your business that is making it difficult for you to live a holy and righteous life, its time to change your job or business, and put eternity in heaven first.
Christians are to live according to the will of God, so learn how to discipline yourself and keep your body under check, as a soldier of Christ. We must mortify the old nature of man inside of us, if heaven is our priority. The bible is saying that ungodliness will be strong in the end-time, as we are experiencing today. The devil will fill people with an attitude of self-independence, that believes there is no God and nothing like heaven and hell.
From all this, we should run! Instead, we should discipline our body and make it pure. Our hearts should also be pure, for with our body we relate with the world and so we should crucify our members - the mouth, tongue, eyes, ears, hands and legs. We should cleanse our heart of every impurity and foolishness lurking there.
What is ungodliness?
Christian relate with the world through their bodies, which is also the temple of the Holy Ghost. Our body should be kept pure and holy. Paul pleaded with Believers to ensure their body was free from marks, never used to serve the devil. The body is the Lord's for every good works and no part of it should be modified, distorted or used in any business that promotes the devil.
Paul continued, that we should not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. It is when our mind is renewed that we can discern what is pleasing to God and what is ungodly.
The bible talks of “the ungodly” as those who are separated from God, sinners whose heart is far away from God, who live their life without any conscious meditation of the word of God and know what God expects from them. Ungodly people do ungodly things. Ungodliness is every act that is contrary to the Word of God. Examples include keeping idols, witchcraft, false teaching, cheating, deceiving and misleading people etc.
Wordly Lusts
The grace to live right is granted us by God and it is people who accept it and yields themselves to it that will testify of His power to change people from who they used to be to who God expects them to be.
Worldly lusts is anything the world accepts and celebrate that the word of God is against. The world desire and craves for whatever the bible forbids. The world is carnal and so people prefer enjoyment to holiness. Ungodly entertainment, films, music with dirty language, seduction and all immorality are fun to the world, but evil before God.
The world lives by sight and the moment, but Believers life for eternity. People will tell you they have bills to pay, so they have to do anything including telling lies, cheating and defrauding others to get the money they want. But the Believer is careful to ensure all his money flows from legitimate activities, without corruption. That is why Christians that will not cut-corners will have to aim at excellence and be diligent and prayerful.
Every lust for power, wealth and fame should be resisted, not because they are evil on itself, but the Christian cannot pursue them the way unbelievers do. Believers do not follow the multitude to do evil, so we cannot put Tattoo on our body as gospel Musicians, sportsmen and popular people. There are many young and rich Christians you cannot see with skimpy dress and shorts.
Soberly:
This has to do with self-discipline and control. God expects us to discipline ourselves and learn how to persevere and win. To live soberly means to have self-restraint; which means you are able to control your behaviour, appetites, passion, affection and the words that proceed out of your mouth.
Christians without self-control will find holiness very difficult in this present times. We must be able to control our thoughts and actions. What we see and hear. Where we can go and where we cannot go etc.
Righteously
Righteousness is whatever conforms to God's will, whatever has been appointed by God to be obeyed. In 1 cor 6:9, the bible says the unrighteousness shall not inherit the kingdom of God. To follow after righteousness is to avoid all unrighteousness, which includes sexual offenders, idolaters, adulterers, homosexual, prostitutes, nor the greedy, courteous, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers, slanderers etc. It says "Do not be deceived, none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.
Godly:
To live in a way that will be pleasing to God, according to God, or after a godly sort. The Hebrew writer tells us that to be pleasing to God we must have faith (11:6). Paul tells us, in Romans 10:17, that faith comes by hearing the word of God. Godly way of life is to live in obedience to the word, participate and support everything done in the Church. It is to share the gospel and winning souls, being a good brethren in the church and to neighbours at home.
It is serving God everywhere, in your marriage, office, business place and among your peers and sphere of influence. Godly living is the expected Christian ways of life.
Conclusion
It is clear that we must deny evil before the good can occupy us. We have to be delivered from sin before we can serve God faithfully. If we are born again, without receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, we cannot live a stable christian life.
Apostles Peter shared the mind of God concerning how Christians should live in I Peter 2:11, which says: Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.
If we do not reject these things and regulate our behaviour in this world, ungodliness and worldly lust will eventually push some people away from faith, and deny them eternity in heaven.
FIRE...
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