Grace in the Pastoral Epistles - Part 2

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, ¹² instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, ¹³ looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, ¹⁴ who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.¹⁵ These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Titus 2:11-15

As I pick up from my last post, I want to emphasize through the pastoral epistles that grace is the substance of sound doctrine, the power for godliness, and the reason for our hope of eternal life.

In the passage above Paul begins by saying that the grace of God has appeared and then he concludes by charging Titus to speak these things. From this passage it is obvious that the sound doctrine that Timothy and Titus were to preach was the gospel itself, and more specifically, it is the gospel of grace. The word “preach” in the Greek is the same as “herald”, which is to publicly proclaim or to announce. The gospel of grace is to be heralded. 1 Timothy 1:15 is a short summary of the message, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. God’s grace demonstrated through Jesus Christ is the substance of our message. Let us publicly proclaim this grace.

Moreover, the gospel of grace is to be obeyed. Titus 2:12 says that the grace that has appeared instructs us to deny ungodliness and to live righteously and godly in the present age. The gospel is not just a message of salvation but also a message of instruction. However, the gospel does not leave us to strive on our own, but it is by the very same grace that we are given the ability to obey and live a godly life. Jesus Christ “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds”. What a glorious verse. For us who are saved, we are no longer slaves to sin but we are His possession, He makes us zealous for good works. What amazing grace! Let us obediently live out this grace.

Lastly, Titus 2:13 speaks of the second coming of Christ. Just as grace was manifested in His first appearing, the culmination of this grace will be at His second appearing. Jesus, is our great God and Savior. It is by His grace that we might become heirs and have eternal life (Titus 3:7). This hope of glory, this hope of inheritance, this hope of eternal life all rests upon the abundantly enduring grace of God and encourages us to persevere until we see Him face to face. Let us patiently hold on to His grace.

Finally, it is clear through the pastoral epistles that grace is thoroughly instrumental to our faith from justification to sanctification to glorification, all are because of His grace. Praise be to Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.

Grace in the Pastoral Epistles - Part 1

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, ¹² instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, ¹³ looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, ¹⁴ who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.¹⁵ These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Titus 2:11-15

Although there is an emphasis on godliness and good works in the pastoral epistles, Paul’s theology of grace is nevertheless established firmly as the foundation of the Christian faith. God’s grace in Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus, shines forth brightly as the source of our salvation, the substance of sound doctrine, the power for godliness, and the reason for our hope of eternal life.

Similar to every Pauline letter, Paul begins and concludes the pastoral epistles with a salutation of grace. Despite the urgency of the problems at the churches grace always goes before and after and permeates through each situation.

All of Christian life begins with grace. Apart from grace there is no salvation. In Titus 2:11, Paul says that the grace of God has appeared, that is in Jesus Christ, to bring salvation to all men. Again in Titus 3:5-7, we are saved not by our works, but by His mercy, and we are justified by His grace. Furthermore, in 2Tim 1:9, we are called not according to our works but according to His grace in Christ Jesus before the ages began (ESV). Our salvation was assured from eternity past, what a glorious truth! Lastly, Paul speaks of his own salvation in 1 Tim 1:12-17, he speaks of his past, how he persecuted the church, he concluded that he is the least of all sinners (v15). Yet he was shown mercy, and God’s grace of more than abundant for Paul, which led him to faith and love in Christ Jesus (v14). The Greek in v14 says the grace of God was exceedingly abundant. The grace of God is many many time more than enough to cover Paul’s transgression, the chief of sinners. What a beautiful doctrine, the doctrine of grace, we are filled to overflowing with God’s grace (ESV), what Paul is saying here is that, no matter how bad a sinner you are, God is exceedingly more gracious, even to the worst of all sinners. No wonder Paul bursts out in doxology in v17. Paul does not speak of salvation only in third person term, it is a personal reality. The gospel of grace must also be a personal reality for us, it cannot just be a regurgitated fact, it must strike us to the core. Christians, we too have received this exceedingly abundant grace in Christ, who had called us from the beginning of time for His good pleasure and glory, not by our works, but by His mercy. Let us rejoice and, like Paul, burst out in doxology to our God who is more than abundant in grace.