Titus 2:11-12 “God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone. This same grace teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles, and it equips us to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in this present age.” Today's episode talks about what this scripture says about grace. It explains what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about grace. It talks about grace and the Holy Spirit. This episode reminds us of the power we have living inside of us. It reminds us we don't have do things in our own power, we have a supernatural power living inside of us. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
What Does Grace Even Mean?
Titus 2:11-12 “God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone. This same grace teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles, and it equips us to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in this present age.”
I had someone reach out to me and ask me about God’s grace. I talk about it a lot and so I thought I would take the next few days and look at what Scripture has to say about God’s grace. The verse above is a great place to start. It begins with God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person brining salvation for everyone. Jesus was God’s grace manifested in person. Jesus came to bring salvation to all of us. He died on the cross so that we would be saved. He took all of our sins, all of our shame, all that is not right and brought it to the cross with Him. He healed us from our sinful nature. He saved us from ourselves. He set us free from the hold the enemy had over us ever since sin entered this world.
He saved us and set us free and yet it is our job to walk in that freedom. How does one do that? How do we walk in our freedom? The second part of today’s verse addresses that. This same grace that brought us salvation also teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles. If Jesus was the grace that set us free then how can that same grace teach us how to live our lives? Jesus is not longer on earth. He went to be with the Father. In John 14:18 Jesus said, “I promise that I will never leave you helpless or abandon you as orphans—I will come back to you!” Then in verse 26 it says, “But when the Father sends the Spirit of Holiness, the One like me who sets you free, he will teach you all things in my name. And he will inspire you to remember every word that I’ve told you.”
Jesus was here on earth and yet His time teaching us was not very long. He did a lot of teaching while He was here. He gave a lot of hard teachings that shaped the way we understand God and what God actually wants from us. He also did a lot of signs and wonders while he was here teaching. However, His main purpose for coming was to set us free. His main purpose was to redeem us so we no longer have to be separate from the Father. Once He did that, His job was over and He went to be with the Father. However, you can see in John 14:18 & 26 that He did not leave us alone to our own devices. He asked His Father to send the Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
The Holy Spirit was sent to us to help us walk in our freedom. He was sent to us to teach us all the things that we need to know and to inspire us to remember all that Jesus taught us. I don’t know exactly how to define grace. However, I do know that the verse above says, “This same grace teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles, and it equips us to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in this present age.” I wonder if Grace is the Holy Spirit?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) defines grace as a free and undeserved gift from God that enables people to respond to God’s call to become children of God. The CCC also describes grace as a participation in the life of God. The CCC distinguishes between two types of grace. One is habitual grace: A permanent disposition to act and live in accordance with God’s call. Second is actual grace: God’s intervention, such as when someone is tempted to do something wrong, but God sends actual grace to help them choose what is right.
It sounds to me like grace is a power that God gives us to resist what is bad and to do what is right. Who doesn’t need more of that in their life? It also sounds like grace teaches us right from wrong. We don’t need to look to the world for that, as the world often teaches us the opposite of what God teaches us. Isn’t it great to know that we don’t have to remember everything on our own? Isn’t great to know that when we aren’t sure what to do, which is the right thing to do and what is the wrong thing to do then we can rely on the Holy Spirit and God’s grace to show us what to do.
I find it comforting to know that I don’t have to do the right thing in my own power. In personal development, you often hear a lot about a person’s willpower. Do they have the willpower to stick to the diet? Do they have enough willpower to keep going to the gym? It’s all about a person’s willpower. I love that it is not all up to me. I know that I am weak and if we are just relying on my power, not much will get done. Yet, we aren’t just relying on our own power. We have the power of the one who raised Jesus from the dead living inside of us. This power was given to us so that we could be taught right from wrong. This power was given to us so we could overcome our challenges, our weaknesses, and our chains.
Jesus died on the cross to redeem us. Then He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us to help us walk in that freedom. That means we are no longer captives. We are no longer slaves to sin. We, you and me, have the power to stand up to sin and say we will no longer be letting it run our lives. This is because of God’s grace. This is because God wants us to live in the freedom he sacrificed so much to achieve.
I don’t know if grace is different than the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us or not. I don’t know that it matters. I do know that grace is freely given to us by God. That means that we don’t have to earn it. We don’t have to do all the right things to get it. We don’t have to be strong or perfect to get grace. Grace is given to us freely because we need it. Grace is something you can request from God. Grace is something you can rely on. You can trust that if you need the grace, then God will give you the grace. You can also trust you already have that power living inside of you because we all have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. That is the same power Jesus had inside of Him. Next time you feel like you aren’t sure what to do, look inward and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and teach you. I simply say, “Come Holy Spirit Come.” You can also ask God for the grace to do the right thing. Next time you feel like you can’t overcome the enemy, remember about the power you have inside of you and all the grace God wants to give you and call upon it. We are no longer slaves to sin. Jesus died to set us free, lets live in that freedom!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode today. Lord, help us to understand more about your grace. Help us to lean in and rely on your grace more. Help us to be ok with being weak because when we are you weak you are strong. Help us to rely on the Holy Spirit to teach us right from wrong instead of this world. Rain down your graces on us, Lord, not because we are greedy, but because we are needy! We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!
Thank you for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Remember I am hosting a retreat from Oct. 11-13th. If you would like to join me you are running out of time to register. I have to the let the retreat house know a count of how many are attending in three weeks. There is a link below if you would like more information. I know going to new things can be scary. I promise you won’t regret going to this retreat. Also, retreats aren’t just for super holy people. There is nothing you need to know before coming on this retreat. I promise you won’t be the only person there who things they aren’t holy enough, religious enough, worthy enough to be there. Everyone is welcome and will feel right at home. CLICK HERE for retreat info.
I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day and may the grace and favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you.
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in April 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “You must come, and once you come, and I share with you, go out and share with others. Make me known in love. I count on each one of you, my children. Do not delay to come.”