Grace Teaching You To Obey

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age..." - Titus 3:11-12

Now we come to second function of God's grace - instruction in godliness.

We've already found out that God's grace will forgive us when we commit sin. To be sure, that's great news for us all! But would anything change in our lives if that was all that grace did for us? What would it look like if the grace of God was only about forgiveness?

Grace IS NOT Forgiveness Only!

The fourth verse of Jude answers this question:
"For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."

Jude warns us that there are dangerous "teachers" that have crept into church - people who turn the grace of God into "lewdness". Lewdness is defined as being "vulgar, obscene, characterized by lust and by base desires." How could God's grace be turned into that?

This is what happens when you teach grace as if it was only the forgiveness of sins. When Christians only hear this one side of grace being taught, they often begin to assume that it doesn't matter what they do. When Christians assume that God will automatically forgive them because of His grace, they'll begin to say something like this: "Let's continue in sin so that grace can abound!" (Romans 5:21)

But grace goes so much further than washing away your sin when you fall. If you'll let it work, it'll actually begin to keep you out of sin. That process starts with teaching you right and wrong.

True Conviction Vs. Condemnation

People often call this part of grace "conviction" - and they're right to do so.

To "convict" someone means to persuade and convince them of something beyond all doubt - and that's exactly what grace does with us. It will work on the inside of us, teaching and convincing us. But the question is: Convincing us of what?

If you grew up in a religious church, you may have heard that one of the Holy Spirit's (called the "Spirit of Grace" in Hebrews 10:29) jobs is to convict us of our sin. We're told that the guilt and the shame that comes from committing a sin is a "gift of the Spirit". The result of this teaching is that millions of Christians are trying to serve God with a guilty conscience.

But you can't do that! 1 Timothy 1:3 tells us that we can only serve God with a "pure conscience." If you're always feeling guilty about the sins of your past - you cannot serve Him. No my friends, according to Hebrews 9:14, Jesus shed His blood to cleanse your conscience from dead works.

The Holy Spirit did not come to convict believers of sin. And why would He? All of the believer's sins have been washed away! So the conviction of grace is not about convincing us of how badly we behaved.

So how does grace convict us? We see the answer to that in John 16:8-11

"And when He has come [the Holy Spirit], He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."

Did you see the three unique convictions of the Holy Spirit? Did you notice that they were each targeted at different groups?

He convicts the world of sin...those who do not believe!

He convicts the believer of righteousness!

He convicts the devil of his judgment!

So if you have a voice whispering in your ear about how bad you were, or how terrible that decision was, or how hopeless you've made your situation...that's not the Holy Spirit - and it's not the conviction of grace!

When grace convicts you of something, it's always seasoned with righteousness.

"Son, that wasn't what a righteous person does."

"Daughter, let me show you the righteous way to handle that."

"Child, you messed up there...but you're still righteous to me. And I promise you, when you confess that, I'll wash it all away!"

This is the gentle instruction of grace...and it will change everything!

Changing Your Will By Grace

Let me tell you something, God's grace will completely change you from the inside out! I know this because I've lived it.

I was raised in church - and I've wanted to serve God as long as I can remember. I read and studied and have been taught the Word since I was born. And yet, there was always a distance between me and God....always a sin to conquer, always a decision to feel guilty over.

I thought that the more I could work to obey God, the less guilty I would feel...but the exact opposite happened. The more I tried, the more I failed. And I thought that the more I failed, the less God could use me for His kingdom.

But when God began to show me what His grace was really about, I was never the same!

First, I realized that I didn't have to live in regret for the sins of my past. Every past sin was forgiven...and by "past sin" I mean anything further out than two minutes ago! If my sin was forgiven, then it was forgiven - and it didn't make a difference to God how recent or distant it was.

Then grace began to teach me what righteousness is and how it works. I began to realize that my standing with God did not depend on doing everything right! It also taught me how I should behave now that I'm righteous. 

But then, something miraculous happened: Grace actually began to change my will. I know that a lot of Christians say that God can't change someone's will - and that's probably true for stubborn people. But when you submit to the work of grace...it will change what you want! 

"...for it is God who works in you both to will and to do..." - Philippians 2:13

God's grace will make you want to obey Him and not want to sin. When you think about it, this is a huge part of the battle to stay clean. We would not sin if we didn't want to.

As grace invades our hearts, it will teach us to deny ungodliness. It will convict us of our righteous status before God. And it will even give us new desires - ones that please God!

Is it any wonder then that Hebrews 12:28 tells us that it's only by grace that we can serve God acceptably?