Day 24: I trust You, Lord. I will allow grace to teach me. Titus 2:11-12
Would you be shocked to hear that the law (notice law and not ‘Law’) could not keep people from sinning because of their sin nature? Imagine, no matter how many laws the scribes and priests made up (you do know they just kept right on adding more and more on the people of God – see Matthew 23, specifically verse 4; Mark 7:8,13), people kept right on sinning. Even Paul, in Romans 8:3, declared this:
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: Romans 8:3
Grace has been offered to all who call on the name of Jesus. When Jesus died for your sins (yes, you), grace was extended to you. Think of it as a pardon; your record has been wiped clean. In your natural born sin nature, you would be condemned if it wasn’t for grace. You’d be walking around thinking you weren’t worth anything because you kept getting it wrong. You wouldn’t have a reason to do right anyway way because the law was a ‘heavy, cumbersome load put upon your shoulders.’ So without grace, what’s the point of doing right?
Holy Spirit is not only our comforter, but also our teacher (John 14:26, Luke 12:12, 1 John 2:27). But grace can teach us as well.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Titus 2:11-12
If you recall, Titus was in Crete. These people were known to be ungodly and lustful.
…One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, the Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. Titus 1:12
The Christians there were slowly learning a new way to be. They were learning to live holy and righteous because of the grace that was extended to them. By dying on the cross and through the blood He shed, Jesus extended a pardon to these people that they’d never had before. For once, they wanted to do right. They learned to say no to sin all because the grace that was extended to them. The burden of sin could now be lifted.
And that’s what grace does. It gives you another chance. It makes you thankful for the chance. It reminds you of the blood shed for your sins. It tells you that the mistakes you’ve made in the past are forgivable and that you don’t have to do them again. It has the power to pull you up out of the mud called condemnation. It grants you access to a cleaning like no other. Grace can dry your tears. It does all of this, and teaches you that can indeed live righteous.
Holy Spirit is our grand teacher. He can guide us and help keep us from sin. Grace can be considered a sibling of Holy Spirit. It teaches us that we can be forgiven and knowing this can be enough to turn us completely. It’s like a bright light; that ‘ah ha’ moment we all need to move from condemnation to conviction and repentance.
If you haven’t already, ask that grace be extended to you. Trust that you don’t have to keep turning back to the old things. You can say no to sin. Grace will teach you that.
Enlightened,
Keiyia JOYet George
Trust Walk: Walking in His Steps coming soon!