FBC Morning Light – August 25, 2022

Well, a good Thursday morning to you.

Hope your week has gone well thus far.

Well, today, let me ask you this.

What do people live for today in general?

What do people live for?

What are they hoping for?

On what basis are they living their lives?

In other words, what determines the way that they live?

You know, we are increasingly becoming a society that leaves God completely out of the picture.

And what I want us to realize, and I know this is a little bit philosophical perhaps and maybe a little

heavy for a first thing in the morning, but what I want us to realize is that when we take God out of the

picture, we find that we have no

objective basis for a way of living.

By that I mean, there's nothing we can look to as a society and say,

this needs to be the very basic way that life functions and that we should live

as people in this world if you take God out of the picture.

If you take God out of the picture, then what hope is there in

this life?

What hope is there for beyond this life?

And then, what's our purpose?

What are we doing here?

Why do we exist?

If you take God out of the picture, you don't have answers to those questions.

But if you understand the grace of God that has brought

salvation, you realize that that gift of salvation, that gracious

gift of salvation that God gives, that God

brings about, that God effects in the life of a sinner, that grace of

God that brings salvation answers all three of those questions.

Now that's brought out in Titus chapter 2 and in verses 11 and following, verse 11

makes it clear that salvation, that is being saved from the

penalty of your sin, which is death, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is

eternal life.

That gift of God that is eternal life is that salvation that is

given by God's grace.

It's not something you earn, you can't merit it in any way, shape, or form.

It is a gift graciously given by God.

So that grace that brings salvation teaches us things.

It teaches us how to live.

It gives us a manner of life to follow.

That's what Paul says next.

That grace teaches us that.

Here's how we should live.

Denying ungodliness, remember the other day we talked about godliness.

Godliness is living in a way that reflects the character of God and is

consistent with the will of God.

Salvation teaches us that we deny ungodliness, a lifestyle that

ignores the will of God and doesn't care about living in a way that's consistent with his character.

We deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, passions, desires that

are just pursued to gratify ourselves.

We deny these things.

He says instead, God's salvation, his grace that brings salvation teaches us that

we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.

This is the way we are to live.

So this gracious gift of salvation gives us a manner of life to follow.

But he continues on, looking for the blessed hope and glorious

appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We have something to look forward to.

We have something to hope in.

We have a hope because of the gracious gift of salvation.

We have the hope of the coming of Christ, and he shall indeed come.

And when he comes, we will be like him for we will see him as he is, is the promise of.

Scripture.

That's a hope that the world doesn't have.

That's a hope that apart from God, no one has.

So the grace of God that brings salvation provides us a manner of life.

It gives us hope in life.

And then this passage tells us that Jesus Christ gave himself for us

that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for

himself his own special people who are zealous of good works.

That gives us a purpose in life.

Because I have been graciously redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ in his death on the cross,

and he has redeemed me as one of his own special people.

He has set me apart for himself.

I have a purpose in this life, and that purpose is to be zealous of good works,

zealous of living a life that serves him, that pleases him.

This is a wonderful gift, this gracious gift of salvation, because it gives you

a way to live, it gives you something to look forward to, and it gives you a purpose in life.

Oh, let's be grateful today for this wonderful, gracious gift of God's

salvation.

Let's pray.

And so Father, we do thank you today for your grace that has brought

salvation to us.

Thank you for the impact of that salvation, that it teaches us how to live, it gives us

something to look forward to, and provides for us a purpose in life.

Thank you for this gift.

Bless these thoughts to our hearts today, we pray, in Jesus' name, and for his sake we ask it.

Amen.

All right.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful day reflecting upon the grace of God that has brought salvation to

you.

I trust that it has.

I trust that he has.

Have a good day.

God bless.