“For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people.” (Titus 2:11 NLT)
From the outset, let’s be clear, Paul is not advocating the salvation of all people in the verse above, he’s saying the salvation Jesus earned for us on the Cross is available to all people. Then in the verses following Paul outlines some very practical advice for how to live like we really believe and understand we’re forgiven.
Listen to the Spirit as Paul writes: “And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures.” What’s the implication? Forgiven people repent! They turn from their old ways and, by God’s grace, learn new ways to live that honor and magnify Jesus in and through their behavior. What do “godless living and sinful pleasures” look like?
Usually, it entails thinking and acting in ways that elevate your good feelings but don’t advance the Kingdom of God. What does that mean? It means the first battle we face as a child of God is to learn to think differently. We don’t automatically default to “what we loved to do” like we did when we were lost. It means making the Bible a part of our new daily habits. It means learning to ask God for direction and beginning to take to heart what salvation and new life in Jesus means.
It essentially means we have a new Owner and CEO of our life. We no longer give orders, we take them, and, over time, learn to follow them. Why is that important? Because the underlying issue with which we wrestle as a human being is “who do I trust?” As horrible as we once were at running our own life, we still are hesitant to turn over the reins of control even to God. We have to learn to trust Him!
Learning to live forgiven involves letting go of guilt, shame, and constantly living in a frenzy trying to figure out how to be good enough to please God. Lay it to rest! How can you do that? By understanding you have no goodness apart from Jesus. By realizing your sin debt has been paid and you’ve been set free to live a wholesome, pure, godly life to His honor and fame.
Someone said it’s like deciding between paying our own sin debt by trying to be good enough or accepting the payment Jesus has already made on the Cross. The essence of what they said was: “Trying to earn our own salvation is like trying to drain the ocean one teaspoon at a time or accepting that the work has already been done by Jesus.”
The hymn writer said it well when she wrote: “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain – He washed it white as snow.” Because of who Jesus is and the forgiveness He has purchased on our behalf, we should be the most joy-filled, grateful, and God-focused people on the planet. As God’s children we should be enthusiastically applying every ounce of energy the Lord gives us to exalt and honor our Savior.
Living forgiven isn’t dependent upon who we are – how smart, talented, where we live, what we do for a living, how we grew up – none of that matters except to the extent we allow the Lord to use it to forge us into the person of God Jesus died to enable us to become. He’s done everything necessary to provide everything we need to be everything He desires us to be.
The biggest decision we have to make is who will we trust to rule our lives – Jesus or Satan. “Whoa,” you might say, “I’m not letting Satan rule me!” Here’s the truth – to not allow Jesus to rule, by default, leaves your heart open for Satan to move in. To say “No” to Jesus is to say “Yes” to the devil.
If you’re not certain you’ve opened your heart and life to Jesus, please click Ron Hutchcraft’s link and make certain today that Jesus is Lord of your life. Then you can begin to learn how to live forgiven.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 