Purity
This example is what I see when I read Titus 2:11-14.
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
Jumping to the end of that little passage, verse 14 tells us the "why" of all that has just been talked about in Titus 2.
"that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."
This goes hand-in-hand with verse 9 where we are told that living a godly life adorns the beauty of the gospel. All of this comes back to the redemption story! Everything we are called to do is out of obedience, gratitude, and love for our Saviour.
We have a list of mostly self-explanitory things for godly men and women to do and not do in the first 10 verses of Titus 2. Each of these things is a great study in and of itself, but are not difficult to understand. We are called to be sober, reverent, not slanderers, not controlled by wine, teachers of good things, family-focused, honest, submissive to authority, doers of good, righteous, godly.... so many things! All of these things are the nitty-gritty building blocks for living out the beauty of the gospel of Jesus.
Jesus, through His grace redeems us. That means He paid the price for our ungodliness. All of it. We receive that precious gift and instantly we have a new life in Him. We do not do anything for it; we do not earn or deserve it. It is all Jesus.
Now He provides us with practical tools to live out that redemption in front of a world that needs it. He calls us to live godly lives to "purify" us. This is not an instantaneous thing. It is a process. We are being changed. He is working in us. He is creating a special group of people who are redeemed from lawless deeds, purified -- cleansed for sacred use! That's what purify means: to be ceremonially cleaned. We are being prepared, cleaned, for a sacred purpose. That purpose is to live out the beauty of the Gospel in a dark world. The Church of Jesus must look and act differently from the world, or there would be no reason for the world to desire what we have been given. We represent Jesus! We are to be a "peculiar people" as Peter says -- or another way to say that is, "God's special people." There is no question that we are called to look different than the world. It should be obvious that we are His!
The first part of verse 11 tells us that the grace of God brought salvation to all men (I am so very thankful for that!!). The practical "to do" and "not-to do" lists given in Titus 2 is our response to the grace that has been shown us, not because God has a heavy paddle waiting to whip us into shape if we do not choose to obey. That is legalism and does not show the beauty of the gospel. We willingly choose to obey out of a desire to share the grace that has been shown to us to everyone around us. Paul gives us this list of things, but he shares with us the "why." I am so glad for that.
Understanding the why helps me to do things for the right reason and with the right motives. When I understand that God is accomplishing a work in me as I obey, my heart becomes more in line with His. My soul is being cleansed and more useful for Him to use. He becomes reflected in me as He shines the darkest corners of my sin-filled soul. I am not merely checking off boxes because they are in front of me. I will be a purified, gospel-adorning Christ-follower.
Soli Deo Gloria!
💓 Heather Sparks💓
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