“1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. 6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. 9 Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; 10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. 11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee” (Titus 2:1-15).

     We hear all kinds of teaching about grace today. Much of the grace teaching we hear on the radio or read about in books is like looking at a plastic statue. It looks realistic and exact, but it is nonetheless cheap looking. This kind of grace teaching is Cheap Grace.

     Much of the grace teaching being proposed today almost argues against God’s clearly defined commands against sin. This kind of grace teaching is almost always prefaced by the words, “Christianity is not about a bunch of rules and regulations.” That may not be all that Christianity is about, that is true, because Christianity is about much more than that. However, Christianity does have its rules and regulations. The uniqueness of New Covenant Christianity is the teaching that God joins in a partnership (“fellowship”) with His children to help them become all that He wants them to be and do.

     Grace teaching is about that partnership with God. Grace teaching is about the believer yielding his will to God’s will and forming a co-operative partnership with God in living holy before Him (the KJV word for this is “fellowship). It is also expressed in the Bible by being “filled with the Holy Spirit.”

“1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: 7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. 8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:1-8).

     The word “dispensation” in Ephesians 3:2 does not mean to dispense grace like a soap dispenser dispenses soap. The word “dispensation” is from the Greek word oikonomia (oy-kon-om-ee'-ah). It refers to the stewardship, management or administration of a household. This household refers to the individual believer’s body and the collective of believers called the Church as the Temple of God and the life of the believer as a testimony to God’s indwelling presence.

     As we bring that truth back to Titus 2:11-15, the utilization, stewardship, management or administration of God’s indwelling enabling grace in the life of a believer works in three directions; inward, outward and upward.

1. Inward, “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts”
2. Outward, “we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world”
3. Upward, “looking for that blessed hope (the Rapture), and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”

     God’s enabling, empowering grace is intended to give the yielded believer victory in all three of these directions. When God’s grace is utilized and administrated by a believer in all three of those directions, the “light” of God’s glory begins to shine through that believer’s life as the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-24) begin to manifest themselves (as a cluster, in other words they will all be present at the same time).

“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:22-24).

     The word “law” in the phrase “against such there is no law” in Galatians 5:23 is from the Greek word nomos (nom'-os). Its primary root word is the Greek word nemo meaning to parcel out, especially food or grazing to animals. Therefore, what God is telling us is that there is no limitation on the “fruit of the Spirit.” God’s grace is abundantly available to every believer to meet any or every need if that believer is willing to confess sin, turn from it and yield his will to God’s will.

“15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

     race is from the Greek word charis (khar'-ece) and refers to the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.

     Being holy is not just about not doing what God says not to do. It is also doing what God says we are supposed to do. The purpose of God’s teaching regarding His enabling grace is so that both of these two aspects of holiness can be realized in a believer’s life inwardly, outwardly and upwardly.

     The negative aspect of grace teaching (inwardly, directed towards the sin nature and its carnal, worldly desires) is that all believers are commanded to deny anything that is ungodly and anything that is worldly (v 12a). In other words, we are to learn to say No to the carnal desires of our flesh to anything that is contrary to the nature and character of God and to any desire that is worldly.

     We can never get to the positive side of grace teaching in our lives until we practically realize this negative side of grace teaching. Because most Christians are not willing to deal with the desires of their flesh honestly and radically, they spend the majority of their time struggling and arguing with God about things they clearly know are wrong, but refuse to accept. Here is why the majority of Christians have just enough Christianity to make them miserable. They are fringe livers and edge walkers. They are never fully committed to the inward, outward and upward perspective of the Christian life. They continue to think along the lines of personal freedoms (rights) instead of divine obligations (responsibilities).

     The positive aspect of grace teaching is to discipline one’s self in habitually saying yes to doing what God says to do. Because the believer has died to Self (the inward and carnal desires of his sin nature), Christ can be outwardly exhibited through the way that believer lives. In other words, the “light” (the indwelling Shekinah glory of God in the Person of the Holy Spirit) begins to shine in the darkness of this world. This positive grace teaching teaches the believer to focus on three areas of his life in the outward exhibition of inward realities.

     First, grace teaching teaches the believer that he is to live “soberly” (Titus 2:12). This is from the Greek word sophronos (so-fron'-oce). It means having one’s self under control. Self-control would be the words we would normally use to express this. However, understanding this theologically, this control happens due to the partnership (”fellowship”) created when the believer says No to the lusts of his flesh and says Yes to the Spirit of God in obedience to God’s Word. Unless this pattern is followed, a person’s Christianity will never be anything more than dead externalism. However when the Word of God is obeyed from the heart, doxology happens. The “light” of God’s Shekinah glory shines as God’s divine power is released through the life of the yielded believer.

     Secondly, grace teaching teaches the believer that he is to live “righteously” (Titus 2:12). This is from the Greek word dikaios (dik-ah'-yoce). It simply means to live right or right living. There is a right way to live your life and a wrong way to live your life. The wrong way to live your life is to live preoccupied with the things that bring you pleasure or bring a blessing to you. The right way to live your life is to live preoccupied with the things that bring God pleasure and are a blessing to Him.

     The reason for this is that whatever amount of time we have left of this life in this world we are expected to give that time to serve the Lord in ministry. The life we now live is not supposed to be consumed on ourselves once we get saved. Our lives (time) belong to God.

“And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” (II Corinthians 5:15).

“Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14).

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

     This is not just God’s expectation for a select few of the noble elitist of Christianity. This is what God expects from every single one of His children. Every child of God is a continuation of the incarnation. Every child of God is to be a living, breathing, walking, talking embodiment of the Logos of God as manifested by the outworking of the inworking and indwelling Christ.

     Thirdly, grace teaching teaches the believer that he is to live “godly” (Titus 2:12). Galatians 2:20 is certainly an excellent verse to teach us exactly what God means by the word “godly.” It means to live reverently. To live reverently is to live in such a way as to inspire fear or awe. When a person truly lives “godly,” his life will be used of God to bring those who do not live “godly” under conviction of sin and fear of judgment.

     True godliness that produces conviction and generates fear of judgment cannot be manufactured through the external application truth. True godliness that produces conviction and generates fear of God’s judgment happens when the Shekinah glory of God begins to shine through a person’s life. That only happens when the indwelling power of God transforms a life inwardly and it begins to become apparent outwardly.