Abounding in Grace

“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…” (Titus 2:11-12).  We know the story.  We are the story.  Every human has proven the truth of the story.  We are all sinners.  There was and is nothing that we could ever do on our own to fix that situation.  And, the situation was dire!

Paul wrote in Romans 3, “There is none who does good, no not one…”  We might say that we humans are really good at being bad!  Everywhere we look that thought is confirmed.  It seems that people are constantly inventing new ways to experience bad behavior. 

Paul wrote to the Corinthians encouraging them to “abound in grace” (II Corinthians 8:7).  So, what did Paul mean?  The context was the famine in Judea.  He was collecting money to help those struggling people.  The specific act of abounding grace was through their participating in providing money for those in need.  He wrote earlier in verses 1-5 that he had tried not to take the money that the churches of Macedonia were offering.  Now, he was encouraging the Corinthians to do their part.  Obviously, he knew they had the means and now the opportunity.

The Christian pathway of excellence includes abounding in grace.  And, Scripture provides the motivation to us to do it.  We are reminded in Romans 5:20, “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.”  If we can understand how the grace of God abounded toward us, we will be able to understand how we can abound in grace toward others.

God’s abundant grace toward us was offered before any of us approached Him about the matter.  He “graced” us with that which we could not provide for ourselves.  And, He did it without the prerequisite of our consent.  That is the key to our abounding in grace.

So, back to the text with which we began—Titus 2:11-12.  God’s grace fills everyone’s spiritual gaps.  It never arrives empty-handed “brings” (verse 11).  It is not underhanded “appeared” (verse 11). It is open-handed to everyone “all men” (verse 11).  It is grace is substantial “teaching” (verse 12).  It warns against subpar living “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts” (verse 12).  It demands a life of substance “live soberly, righteously, godly” (verse 12).

God’s grace fills everyone’s material gaps.  It fills the gap of hopelessness “the blessed hope” (verse 13).  It fills the gap of helplessness “redeem us” (verse 14).  It fills the gap of loneliness “His own special people” (verse 14).

-Mike Johnson