Living Way Church
Between Grace and Glory
  • This Is Amazing Grace
  • Jesus Thank You
  • Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me
  • Living Hope
  • Good afternoon, Living Way Church. It is good to be together again.
    Over the past few weeks, we’ve been asking how believers can stay steady when life feels uncertain. Today, Paul brings these thoughts together in a powerful passage. In just four verses, he points us back to Christ’s first coming, shows us how to live now, and turns our attention to Christ’s return.
    If you’re feeling tired, anxious about the future, or frustrated by slow change in your life, this passage is for you. If you’ve wondered how to wait faithfully for Jesus, it’s for you. And if you belong to Christ but still feel the pull of sin and the pressures of today, this passage is especially for you.
    Let’s pray together.
    Father, thank You for gathering us together. We confess that our hearts are easily unsettled by what we see around us and easily distracted by the desires within us. We need more than information today. We need Your grace to teach us.
    Help us see the beauty of Christ. Show us what His grace has done, what His grace is doing in us now, and what His glory will bring when He returns. Through Your Word, steady those who are afraid, wake up those who are drifting, convict those who are wandering, and encourage those who are weary. Make us a people who clearly belong to Jesus and who want to do what is good.
    We ask this in the name of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
    There are two common ways people respond when the world appears unstable.
    Some people panic. They watch every news headline, follow every rumor, and treat each new crisis as if it might be the last. Their attention is taken over by fear. They may believe Christ will return, but instead of making them steady, this expectation makes them anxious.
    Others become passive. They think that since Jesus is coming, what we do now doesn’t matter much. They pull back from hard obedience, everyday service, and patient faithfulness. Their expectation doesn’t make them steady either; it makes them indifferent.
    Titus 2:11–14 leaves room for neither panic nor passivity.
    Paul teaches us that Christians live between two great appearances. Verse 11 says, “the grace of God has appeared.” Verse 13 says we are waiting for “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Grace has appeared, and glory will appear. The first appearing assures us that God has acted to save. The second assures us that Christ will return to finish what He began.
    Between those two appearances is the present age. This is the time when we live, work, face struggles, resist temptation, love our families, serve each other, and share Christ with others.
    That’s why this sermon matters. We need to know what it means to wait faithfully. We need hope that helps us face the future and grace that changes us now. The gospel isn’t just about getting us ready for death; it teaches us how to live today.
    The question before us is: How do we live steadily while we wait for Christ to come?
    Paul’s answer is simple: look back to grace, let grace shape how you live now, and look forward to glory.

    Grace Has Appeared to Bring Salvation

    Paul begins, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.”
    Titus 2:11 ESV
    For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
    The first word, “for,” matters. It connects these verses to what Paul just said in Titus 2:1–10. He gave instructions to older men, older women, younger women, younger men, Titus, and bondservants about living in a way that matches sound teaching. Now he explains why this life is possible and needed: “For the grace of God has appeared.”
    Christian obedience does not begin with us trying harder so that God might accept us. It begins with God acting graciously to save people who could never save themselvPaul doesn’t say people worked their way up to God. He says grace appeared. This word means something visible happened, an arrival, something you could see. God’s grace isn’t just a feeling in God’s heart. Grace showed up in history through Jesus Christ.rist.
    The Son of God took on flesh. He lived among sinners without sharing our sin. He went willingly to the cross. He rose bodily from the grave. The grace of God appeared.
    Paul says this grace is “bringing salvation for all people.” Here, “all people” doesn’t mean everyone is saved no matter what. Paul just spoke to every kind of person in the church: old and young, men and women, free and enslaved. Salvation isn’t just for a special group. No matter your age, background, weakness, or past, if you turn to God, His grace can reach you.
    The gospel is for the older man who has followed Christ for decades and for the younger man still learning self-control. It is for the woman whose faith has shaped generations and for the woman who feels she is just beginning. It is for the respected and the overlooked. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.
    This is where steadiness begins—not with confidence in our own strength, but with confidence that God’s saving grace has decisively entered history.
    When it seems like God is absent, look back: grace has appeared. When your sin makes you feel like you can never change, look back: grace has appeared.
    When suffering makes you wonder if God has forgotten His people, look back: grace has appeared.
    The cross and the empty tomb stand in history as God’s answer. Our faith is not built on wishful thinking. God has acted in Christ.
    But Paul does not stop with grace bringing salvation. The grace that saves also begins to train.

    Grace Trains Us to Live Differently in the Present Age

    Verse 12 says that grace is
    Titus 2:12 ESV
    training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
    The word “training” here means teaching and guiding, like raising a child. Grace isn’t just how we begin the Christian life. It keeps teaching and shaping us as we grow.
    Sometimes we talk as if grace means God ignores our sin and expects nothing from us. But Paul says something different. Grace forgives us, but it also challenges us. Grace welcomes us as we are, but it also changes us.
    Grace trains us first to say no: “to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions.”
    To renounce something is to reject its claim on us. Ungodliness is living without real reverence for God, where God might be acknowledged but doesn’t actually guide our decisions. Worldly passions are desires shaped by this fallen age: cravings for approval, control, comfort, pleasure, possessions, revenge, or anything else we want apart from submitting to God.
    Paul does not say grace merely makes us feel bad about those things. Grace teaches us to renounce them. It teaches us to say, “That desire does not own me. That bitterness is not my master. That fear does not get to direct my life. That secret habit has no rightful claim over someone who belongs to Jesus.”
    This training doesn’t happen all at once. It takes practice, correction, patience, and growth. Struggling doesn’t mean grace is missing. In fact, the struggle often shows that grace has opened our eyes to a fight we didn’t notice before.
    Grace trains us to say no, but Christian holiness is not simply a list of things we avoid. Paul continues: grace trains us “to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.”
    Those three words describe the whole direction of a believer’s life.
    “Self-controlled” is about what’s inside us. By God’s grace, we learn not to be ruled by every impulse, appetite, fear, or emotion. Self-control doesn’t mean we never feel deeply. It means our feelings are guided by Christ instead of ruling over us.
    “Upright” points outward. It concerns how we treat other people. Grace trains us to tell the truth, keep our word, act justly, forgive freely, work honestly, and love our neighbor. A gospel that never changes how we treat people is not the gospel Paul is describing.
    “Godly” points upward. It means living with respect for God, being aware of His presence, and wanting to please Him. Godliness isn’t just outward religion. It’s a heart that says, “My life belongs to God.”
    Inwardly self-controlled. Outwardly upright. Upwardly godly.
    And where are we to live this way? Paul says, “in the present age.”
    It’s easy to think living faithfully would be easier at another time. We might say we’ll be more patient when life slows down, more generous when we have more money, more prayerful when we’re less busy, or more courageous when people are more open.
    But grace trains us here. In this age. In this family. In this body. In this economy. In this season of weakness. In the middle of circumstances we would not have chosen.
    God is not waiting for the world to become stable before He teaches His people to be steady.
    Our steadiness is not the product of calm circumstances. It is the fruit of grace’s training.

    Glory Will Appear, So We Wait with Expectant Hope

    Christian life looks forward. We remember the grace that came before, but we also look ahead to the glory that’s coming.
    Paul continues and writes:
    Titus 2:13 ESV
    waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
    The word “waiting” here means looking forward with excitement and hope. It’s not like sitting in a dull waiting room. It’s like watching for someone you love, knowing their arrival will change everything.
    Paul calls this “our blessed hope.” Usually, hope means we’re unsure, like saying, “I hope it happens, but I’m not sure.” But biblical hope is different. It’s a confident expectation based on God’s promise and character.
    Our blessed hope is not that humanity will eventually solve every problem. It is not that our health will always improve, that prices will always fall, that nations will become peaceful, or that the next generation will automatically make wiser choices.
    Our blessed hope is a person: Jesus Christ will appear in glory.
    Paul’s grammar joins “our great God and Savior” to one person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the New Testament’s clear and precious affirmations of the deity of Christ. The One for whom we wait is not a lesser heavenly messenger. He is our great God and Savior.
    At His first coming, His glory was hidden in humility. He came as a servant. He was laid in a manger. He was rejected, beaten, and crucified. At His second coming, His glory will be clear to everyone. The crucified and risen Christ will be seen as He truly is.
    That is blessed hope because His appearing will mean the end of sin’s rebellion, the vindication of His people, the resurrection of the body, the renewal of creation, and life in the unhindered presence of our Savior.
    This hope also directs how we live today.
    If we forget that Christ is coming, this present age starts to seem like all there is. Its threats feel too big, and its pleasures seem too important. But when we remember Jesus is coming, we can hold both suffering and success loosely. Neither will last forever. Christ will.
    Jesus’ return doesn’t make today less important. It gives today meaning. Every faithful choice is part of getting ready to meet our King.
    We don’t know when Jesus will return. Paul isn’t asking us to guess or speculate. He wants us to be ready and expectant, not to try to figure out every sign, but to live prepared for whenever Christ come.s.
    Prophecy isn’t meant to make us anxious or fearful. It’s meant to help us stand firm in hope.

    Christ Gave Himself to Make Us His Own

    Paul says Jesus Christ gave Himself for us. The cross wasn’t an accident, and Jesus wasn’t powerless. He gave Himself freely, on purpose, and with love. This echoes Jesus’ own words that the Son of Man came to give His life as a ransom for many.
    Paul writes:
    Titus 2:14 ESV
    who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
    Those two words, “for us,” carry the heart of the gospel. Christ acted on our behalf and in our place. He bore the judgment our lawlessness deserved. The Good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep.
    Paul then gives three purposes of Christ’s self-giving.
    First, He gave Himself “to redeem us from all lawlessness.” Redemptionmeans being set freen at a cost. We were’t justy people who needed better advice. We weretrapped byo sin and guilty of rebellogn against God. Christ paid the price to set His people fre.e.
    He doesn’t just save us from sin’s penalty; He also breaks sin’s control over us. “All lawlessness” means no sin has a rightful claim on those Christ has redeemed. This doesn’t mean Christians become perfect in this life. It means sin is no longer our master. We might stumble, but we don’t belong to sin anymore.
    Second, He gave Himself “to purify for himself a people for his own possession.”
    Paul is drawing on the language of the Old Testament. In Exodus 19 and Deuteronomy 7, God called Israel His treasured possession. Ezekiel promised a day when God would cleanse His people from their defilement and make them His own. Paul sees those promises reaching their fulfillment in Christ.
    Jesus did not die merely to collect isolated individuals who occasionally think about Him. He died to form a cleansed people who belong to Him.
    The phrase “for his own possession” is deeply comforting. As Christians, we aren’t defined by what we own, what we achieve, what others think of us, or what we lose in this life. We are defined by who we belong to.
    You belong to Christ. You were purchased by Christ. You are being cleansed by Christ. You will be kept for Christ.
    The world may make you feel insignificant, but the Son of God calls you His own.
    Third, He gave Himself to create a people “who are zealous for good works.”
    “Zealous” means being eager, enthusiastic, and ready to act. Grace doesn’t make us people who just do the bare minimum. Instead, it makes us want to serve Christ, love others, and look for ways to do good in His name.
    Good works aren’t how we earn salvation. Christ already paid that price. Good works are the result of salvation—they’re our grateful response as people redeemed, purified, and belonging to Jesus.
    This guards us from two errors.
    It guards us from legalism, because we are not saved by our works. Grace appeared to save us; Christ gave Himself for us.
    It also guards us from empty profession, because the grace that saves us changes us. Christ redeemed us so that we would no longer live under lawlessness and purified us so that we would become eager for good works.
    The gospel doesn’t say, “Do good so Jesus will accept you.” It says, “Jesus gave Himself to make you His. Now let His grace make you want to do good.”
    This is the complete movement of the passage:
    Grace has appeared.
    Grace is training us.
    Glory will appear.
    Christ is making us His own.
    That is how believers remain steady until He comes.

    How Do We Live This Out?

    Here are four simple ways we can live out this passage this week.
    First, identify what grace is teaching you to renounce.
    Do not only ask, “What is wrong with the world?” Ask, “What desire of this age is still trying to rule my heart?”
    Is it fear? The need to control what you cannot control? Resentment you keep rehearsing? Comfort you refuse to surrender? Approval you believe you must have? A private temptation you have learned to excuse?
    Be honest with God about it. Don’t try to fight it with shame. Bring it into the light of grace. Say, “Christ gave Himself to redeem me from this. This does not own me anymore.”
    Second, practice the life grace is teaching you to pursue.
    Choose one concrete expression of self-control, uprightness, or godliness.
    Pause before answering in anger. Keep the promise that has become inconvenient. Pray before reaching for your phone. Speak truthfully when exaggeration would make you look better. Forgive someone who cannot repay you. Do the quiet good work no one else may notice.
    Grace forms us as we obey in everyday life.
    Third, rehearse your blessed hope.
    When the news unsettles you, when your body reminds you that it is wearing down, when grief makes the future feel empty, speak the truth to your soul: “Jesus Christ will appear in glory.”
    Our future isn’t just a vague uncertainty. Our future is the coming of our Savior.
    Fourth, do good as someone who belongs to Jesus.
    Find one person you can encourage, one burden you can help with, one need you can meet, or one truth you can share kindly. We don’t wait for Christ by doing nothing. We wait by being ready to serve.

    So What?

    So What?
    What difference does this sermon make in my life today, tomorrow, and further into the future?
    Today, it means your guilt, fear, and circumstances do not have the final word. Grace has appeared. God has acted in Christ, and everyone who comes to Christ in repentant faith finds a Savior who is able to redeem and cleanse.
    Tomorrow, it means the ordinary struggles of obedience are not meaningless. When you say no to a worldly desire and yes to what is good, grace is training you. You are not earning Christ’s love. You are learning to live as someone who already belongs to Him.
    Looking further ahead, it means history is not drifting without purpose. The same Jesus who gave Himself for us will appear in glory. Aging, sickness, injustice, loss, and death will not have the final word. Our great God and Savior will.
    This means we can admit when life is hard, but we don’t have to lose hope about the future.
    We don’t have to pretend the world is stable. We know who holds the world, and we know the King who is coming.

    Between Grace and Glory

    Church, we are living between grace and glory.
    Behind us stands the appearing of grace: the Son of God came, gave Himself for us, and rose again.
    Ahead of us stands the appearing of glory: our great God and Savior Jesus Christ will return.
    And every day until then, God’s steady grace is with us. It teaches us to say no to what harms us, yes to what pleases God, and to pray, “Come, Lord Jesus,” with hope.
    So do not panic. Christ has not lost control.
    Do not become passive. Grace is still training you.
    Do not surrender to sin. Christ gave Himself to redeem you from its power.
    Do not believe you are forgotten. You are part of a people He calls His own.
    And do not lose heart. Glory will appear.
    The Christian life isn’t sustained by focusing on the turmoil around us. We stay steady by remembering the grace that appeared, living faithfully now, and looking forward to the glory that’s coming.
    Our big takeaway is this:
    Look back to the grace that appeared, live faithfully in the present age, and look ahead to the glory that will appear.
    The grace that saved us is training us to live as Christ’s own people while we wait for His glorious return.
    When He comes, our faith will become sight, our training will be complete, and those He saved will celebrate forever with the Savior who gave Himself for us.
    Until that day, let us be steady. Let us be godly. Let us be hopeful. And let us be anxious to do what is good.
    Let’s pray.
    Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, thank You that You gave Yourself for us. Thank You for redeeming us from lawlessness, cleansing us from sin, and making us Your own.
    Forgive us for the times we have treated grace as permission to remain unchanged. Forgive us for the times we have allowed the instability of this age to make us fearful, distracted, or passive.
    Train us by Your grace. Teach us to renounce ungodliness and worldly desires. Form in us self-control, uprightness, and godliness. Make us eager to do what is good—not to earn Your favor, but because we have received it freely in Christ.
    Lift our eyes toward our blessed hope. When we are weary, remind us that You are coming. When we are afraid, remind us that You reign. When we feel forgotten, remind us that we are Your treasured possession.
    Keep us steady until You come. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
    “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.”
    Go in the grace that has appeared, live in the hope of the glory that will appear, and be established in every good work and word. Amen.

      • Titus 2:11ESV

      • Titus 2:12ESV

      • Titus 2:13ESV

      • Titus 2:14ESV

Living Way Church
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(717) 601-2402
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