Just Say No To Drugs – Part 4
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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].
Paul dispatched Titus to Crete to organized the leadership in the churches on that island. Later he wrote Titus the letter we know as the New Testament Epistle to Titus. This letter contains Paul’s instructions to Titus about what he should do to set the churches on their feet spiritually. We are studying a part of it today.
At the time Paul penned the words of Titus 2:11-14, Jesus Christ had already ascended into heaven, likely more than 3½ decades prior. Paul noted that the grace of God appeared bringing salvation, a reference to Jesus. That was past tense at the time Paul wrote.
Then Paul continued in the present tense with verbs like,
instructing
live
looking
Jesus had been in heaven for decades. He wasn’t on earth “instructing us”. This brings us to the fourth member of the cast of this movie. This Person is the One on earth “instructing us” during this Church Age. Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to introduce to you the Holy Spirit.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. God as identified by those words has a Son, so the reference is to God the Father. He is the first Person noted. “All men” received the second mention. God the Son then made His appearance.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ, ascended into heaven. Ten days later on Pentecost He sent the Holy Spirit to give birth to His Body on earth during this age, the Church.
It is through the instrumentality of the Church during this Church Age that the Gospel of Jesus Christ goes out to “all men”. We know the specifics of the Gospel because it appears in the Bible. We can understand the Bible because God the Holy Spirit lives inside the born again person. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the new life, eternal life, which Jesus grants us by means of the Gospel.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit entails many avenues of work. He teaches us the Word of God, leads us as we share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others, and comforts us in our distress. He it is Who, to employ the words of Titus 2, “instruct(s) us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age”.
The Holy Spirit also keeps us focused on eternity and our heavenly home, so that we are always “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus”. This additional aspect of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is crucial to the previous aspect.
We will learn all about it in our next study. For now let’s allow Jesus to assimilate what we’ve eaten today into our hearts and minds.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
