The Sound of Grace [page 1]

The Sound Of Grace

Titus 2:11-14
Titus was a young pastor, shepherding God’s flock on the isle of Crete. The church that was entrusted to his care was a church that the Apostle Paul probably planted after his Roman imprisonment narrated in Acts. Because Titus is young and inexperienced, Paul is writing him a letter, which we know as the Epistle to Titus. In this letter Paul is instructing Titus that he needs to “straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town” (1:5). Paul also tells Titus that he needs to teach “what is in accord with sound doctrine” (2:1). And then, in 2:11-14, in one long sentence, Paul gives Titus the gospel message. The message is relevant to us today because our churches have problems, like the church in Crete had problems. Elders had not yet been appointed. It seems that one of the candidates for eldership had unconverted children. One scholar writes that “the letter is clear evidence that the Christian church is not intended to function only in cozy, respectable, middle-class environments. The gospel is for the most unpromising of people.”
The Rescue of Grace (verse 11)
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.” We are saved by the grace of God alone. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And that is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” In his book Spirit, Word, and Story Calvin Miller writes, “Grace we define as ‘unmerited favor,’ or as our time-worn acrostic declares: ‘God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.’” We are alive today because of God’s grace. We are here today because of God’s grace. We are saved from sin and eternal damnation in hell because of God’s grace. But how did God give this grace to us? Verse 14 says that it is through “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
John Bunyan writes, “O Son of God, grace was in all thy tears; grace came bubbling out of thy side with thy blood; grace came forth with every word of thy sweet mouth; grace came out where the whip smote thee, where the thorns pricked thee, where the nails and spear pierced thee. O blessed Son of God, here is grace indeed! Unsearchable riches of grace! Unthought-of of riches of grace! Grace to make the angels wonder, grace to make the sinners happy.”

With his wonderful sanctified imagination, C. S. Lewis writes about a bus that was leaving hell to take a tour of heaven. And while riding through the streets of gold, one of the guys in the bus sees an old friend walking through the streets of gold, and all of a sudden he jumps up and starts yelling, “It’s not fair, it’s not fair, he was a sinner all his life, it’s not fair. I want justice, I want justice.” And one of the people walking through the streets of gold turned to his neighbor and said, “Poor guy. He doesn’t know that we’re not here because justice has been imparted to us. We are here because we have been given grace.”