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PrintThe Grace of God - Its Teaching Power
Titus 2:11-15
The teaching power of the grace of God is emphasized in these verses. It is operative in the heart and experience of every child of God. Our own personal response to this teaching varies very considerably; some Christians make rapid and steady progress in the school of grace, whilst with others the lessons of grace are but slowly learned.
When writing to the Corinthian believers, the apostle Paul reminds them, 'For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich' (2 Cor. 8:9). This precious knowledge is our treasured possession too, and how often when we have been gathered around our Lord Jesus Christ, remembering Him, our hearts have been moved in deep gratitude and worship for such amazing, immeasurable grace.
Precious as this knowledge is, however, it is only the beginning of God's grace in us. The hymn writer expresses the thought, 'Grace begun shall end in glory'. The glory of God is the triumphal conclusion of grace's matchless story, but now, in this present time, the grace of God exercises its teaching power. This teaching quality and power is invaluable to us. It is God's purpose, not only that we should know that we are saved by grace and that ultimately, by the operation of that same grace, we shall be conformed to the image of His Son; but that here and now we should learn the lessons that His grace would teach us, and respond from our hearts to all His will.
For our schools and colleges, teachers are chosen because of their ability to teach. The real teacher is a person who is able so to impart knowledge that those taught assimilate it in their minds and then reproduce it in their lives. This is the test of the true teacher. A schoolmaster may maintain order and ensure discipline, but it is the teacher who, by winning the co-operation and response of the pupil, will secure the coveted results.
As a teacher, the grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ is unsurpassed; for in the hearts and lives of those who are taught by His grace, results are accomplished which could never have been secured under the discipline of the law. 'The law was our schoolmaster ... unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus' (Gal. 3:24-26).
The rule of the schoolmaster met with no response from men's wayward hearts. Man's stubborn will rebels against the rigid requirements of the law. But now, through faith in Christ, we are the children of God; and God does not put His children under a schoolmaster, but teaches them Himself by His own incomparable grace. What an immense privilege is ours!
The deeper our own personal experience of the grace of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, the more readily will we learn the lessons that grace teaches, and the more quickly will the fruits of grace appear in our walk and conduct.
A beautiful instance of this response to grace is found in Luke 7:36-50. The woman who was a sinner, who sought the Lord in Simon the Pharisee's house, had no word to say throughout the whole interview; but her actions were more eloquent than any words could have been. She wept her tears of contrition and repentance upon the Saviour's feet, and then laid the glory of her womanhood low before Him as she wiped His feet with her hair. His feet were refreshed with the fragrant ointment which her love had brought and, in the midst of the cold formality of the Pharisee's house, His heart was refreshed by this warm expression of her love to him. 'She loved much', the Lord said. But where did she learn such conduct? Could the enactments of the law have produced so fruitful a result? No: she had been taught by grace. It was the Lord's own matchless grace, which did not despise her 'broken and contrite heart', that won such a full response from her heart.
When we, in our turn, have our souls saturated with a deep sense of the exceeding riches of the grace of our blessed Lord and Saviour, and bring ourselves to bow low at His feet, there to be taught by His grace and to yield our wills wholly to Him, then will we respond to the desire of His heart for us, 'that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world' (verse 12). The negative exhortation comes first, teaching us to say 'No' to everything that is not of God, and to every worldly lust. These worldly lusts are threefold as described in 1 John 2:16: 'The lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life'. Grace teaches us to meet each and every suggestion that springs from these corrupt, deceitful lusts with an uncompromising refusal; for they are not of the Father, but of the world.
The positive teaching follows, covering firstly the personal life-soberly: the exercise of self-restraint; guarding against excess of every kind. Secondly, the social and business life; the life in its relationship to others; acting righteously in the midst of an unrighteous world. Then thirdly, the life in relation to God-godly: giving Him the supreme place in our lives and doing all that we do for His glory.
In addition, grace teaches us to turn our eyes away from this present evil world and to lift them heavenward. 'Looking for that blessed hope', that is, the fulfilment of the Lord's own promise to come again and to receive us unto Himself, 'that where I am, there ye may be also' (John 14:3). 'And the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ', that is, the manifestation and public display of His glory before the whole world. These are the thoughts that are to fill our minds and hearts as we wait for our Lord to come.
Then in verse 14, in one swift, sudden moment, the Spirit of God brings our thoughts back from the glory to the cross: 'Who gave Himself for us'. The teachings of grace centre in our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, and in the stupendous fact that He, the eternal Son of God, the Lord of glory, gave His all, and laid down His life for us.
All that He had He gave;
Yes, e'en Himself, my soul to save.
It is the contemplation of such amazing grace which, operating in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit, wins from us a response which could be gained in no other way; the response of whole-hearted devotion to the Person of our adorable Lord and Saviour, and the response of glad subjection and obedience to all His will.
It is brought before us here, in verse 14, as the all-powerful constraining motive to mould our conduct, to purify our walk and ways, to separate us unto Himself as His peculiar people, and to work in us that zeal for good works, which is His gracious will. May the grace of God not fail of its full purpose in any one of us.
A.E. Jordan from 'WORDS OF HELP' magazine 1959
