The Word To Live By:1-25-26
Phil Waggoner
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. Titus 2:11-14
The Word To Live By: Wow! That is a lot to unpack! To begin with, grace has appeared. God’s unmerited favor is there for us. We don’t have to do anything good or bad; in fact, it’s not possible to earn it or it wouldn’t be grace; in order to receive it, believe it’s there for you. I was driving into town the other day on a single digit temperature day with a north wind. As I was driving in my clean, shiny, warm on the inside truck, I saw a man, a stranger to me, walking uphill with a bag of groceries in each ungloved hand. I stopped and asked him if he would like a ride. He looked at me nervously and said no. I said, “Well, at least take these gloves.” (I had a pair of cotton gloves sitting on the seat next to me.) Again, with a nervous voice, he said no. I said, “Can I ask you why?” He said, “Because I don’t know why you want me to get in that truck or to take those gloves.” I said, “I promise you I have no other motive than to get you where you are going in this below zero wind chill.” He said, “I don’t believe you!” I threw the gloves out the window at his feet and drove off. (I tried watching him in the mirror to see if he picked them up or not, but was out of sight before I could tell.) My point is I appeared to this man with the answer to his problem, but he didn’t believe I had no ulterior motive other than to help him. God’s salvation has appeared to all men to help them where they need it because He loves them and has the ability to help. The only thing we have to do is believe it. “By grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8). What is the gift of God? It’s both grace and faith. Romans 12:3, “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” When do that grace and faith appear? “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God,” (Romans 10:17). When you get yourself into position to hear the Word of God, the instruction to live a zealous life for good deeds becomes apparent. Get into the Word and let the Word get into you.
Read through the Bible in a year: Luke 19:1-27; Genesis 32-33; Psalms 25;
Read through the New Testament and Proverbs: Proverbs 25, Matthew 13:1-29, Acts 25:
The sum of Thy Word is Truth Psalm 119:160