What If Grace Is Meant to Change How You Live?

Titus 2 says grace does more than forgive us-it trains us

By Pastor John Erickson

I think most Christians love the idea of grace.

We have done things we regret. We've said things we wish we could take back. We've had moments when our actions didn't match our beliefs. And then we discover this amazing truth: God's mercy isn't something we can earn.

That's good news.

But sometimes we stop there, as though grace is simply a way for God to look the other direction when we mess up.

What if grace is actually meant to change the way we live?

A Clash of Cultures

Paul writes to Titus, who is helping churches on the island of Crete. The believers are learning how to follow Jesus while surrounded by values that often point in another direction.

That sounds familiar, doesn't it?

How should followers of Jesus speak when everybody around them is arguing? What should we do when being humble makes us look weak? Do we have to match the harshness of the people around us just to be taken seriously?

Titus 2 doesn't offer an easy escape from those questions.

Paul tells older and younger believers, men and women, to live with self-control, integrity, goodness, and sound speech. These are not glamorous qualities. Nobody is going to make an action movie about a person who resisted the urge to post an angry comment online.

But Paul explains why they matter: our lives communicate something about the God we claim to follow.

People are watching. Not because we're celebrities, but because we say that Jesus changes lives.

Jesus Didn't Cling to His Rights

This is where the teaching gets difficult.

We love talking about our rights. And there are times when protecting the vulnerable, seeking justice, or standing up to abuse is exactly the right thing to do.

But there is a difference between standing for what is right and insisting that I must always get my own way.

Paul points us toward the pattern of Jesus. In Philippians 2:5-8, Jesus does not use his position for his own advantage. He takes the nature of a servant and humbles himself.

Think about that. The person we worship is the person who chose to serve.

And then we turn around and act as though serving someone who inconveniences us is an unbearable injustice.

I'm not sure we've thought that all the way through.

Titus describes a community whose kindness, integrity, and self-control make the teaching about God attractive. Not a community that wins every argument.

Grace Is a Teacher

The turning point comes in Titus 2:11-12. Paul says the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation, and that grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness and to live upright, godly lives.

Did you catch that? Grace teaches.

We sometimes imagine two choices. Either God is gracious and it doesn't really matter how we live, or God wants us to live differently and we'd better work harder to earn his approval.

Paul says neither.

We are saved by grace, and that very same grace begins training us.

Imagine a parent in a desperate rush to get the kids ready for school pictures. Nobody can find clean clothes. Breakfast is a disaster. Everybody is late. In the panic, the parent makes a series of terrible driving decisions and finally gets pulled over.

Now imagine the officer shows extraordinary mercy and lets the parent off with a warning.

That's grace. Way more than was deserved.

But what would you think if the parent smiled, said thank you, and then immediately sped away through another red light?

The problem isn't that the mercy wasn't real. The problem is that the person never learned anything from it.

The illustration has limits: God's grace is much more than an officer overlooking a violation. Jesus gave himself to redeem us and make us his own people, eager to do good (Titus 2:14). Grace gives us both a new belonging and a new direction.

The World Needs to See Something Different

There is a reason Paul keeps coming back to humility and self-control. The church is supposed to be a different kind of community.

Not perfect. Not superior to everybody else. And not pretending we don't struggle.

Different in how we treat people.

When someone insults you, what comes out of your mouth? When a person disagrees with you, do they encounter the patience of Jesus or the worst version of you? When someone gets in the way of your plans, does your response reflect love or irritation?

I have to ask myself those questions too. I have strong opinions, and I can be loud when I argue. Being able to make my point is not the same thing as sounding like Jesus.

I teach our kids' class regularly. It would be a little ridiculous to tell children about self-control and kindness, then act as though those lessons stop applying once I leave the classroom. Apparently the grown-ups need the lesson too.

But we don't have to manufacture this new life entirely through willpower. We keep returning to the grace of God, allowing it to teach us.

Let Grace Do More Than Forgive

Grace is not a transaction where God excuses us and then leaves us alone.

It is the generous love of God reaching us where we are and forming us into people who look more like Jesus.

So here's a question worth sitting with: Where have you been grateful for God's forgiveness but resistant to his transformation?

Maybe it's your speech. Maybe it's pride. Maybe it's the way you treat someone who has very little power to do anything for you.

You don't have to earn God's love before you begin.

You begin because he already loves you.