God has made His grace abundantly available for the whole world, the entire human race, the whole of mankind – first for its salvation and subsequently for its righteous living. Cue Titus 2:11 – 12

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

In the past few blogs we established the need for grace in our lives and the essentiality of being continuously plugged into and connected to the Source, of being constantly “switched on” to grace so as not fall short of it.  For there are indeed consequences and perils of falling short of this grace God has freely supplied as we shall see in later blogs.

But where do we get or access this “grace of God” that the Bible asserts has indeed appeared? How do we tap into it for both our salvation and, equally important, righteous living?

Referring to Christ’s coming into the world, in John 1:16 – 17 the Bible asserts that “…from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” and that “…grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” testifying to the truth that God’s grace that has appeared for all people did so in abundance and through His Son Jesus Christ. It is in putting our faith and trust in God’s Son that we start availing ourselves of God’s amazing grace leading first to our salvation and then to our transformed lives.

When it comes to our salvation (which is only part one of the work of grace in our lives – Titus 2:11 – 12), there is only one element at play in activating God’s grace in our lives and that is our faith – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (Ephesians 2:8). Once we put our trust and faith in God’s gift of His Son, we are instantly saved by His grace alone (John 3:16).

We are also clearly and categorically taught that it is by this same grace God has made available that He expects us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, (Titus 2:12) in the here and now. Only this time the mechanism of grace’s working in our lives is slightly different – it requires our effort and input to access and obtain that grace for our ongoing transformation.

But make no mistake – God expects us not to live in sin, associate with it, condone or excuse it in any shape or form and in any scenario or situation be it in ourselves or in others. We are expected (and adequately empowered) to renounce (not excuse or condone) ungodliness and worldly passions in all their varying and different forms but on the contrary live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age which is, on the face of it, not conducive to such living. However, God has provided His grace to coach and instruct us, empower and enable us to live exactly as He desires and expects of us in a world that is precisely unfavourable and discouraging for such living. Hence why we are expected to take a strong, firm and resolute stand against ungodliness in all its form and in its place model righteousness, integrity and godliness.

Are you ready to take on the challenge of grace, to be coached and instructed, empowered and enabled for righteous living by her?

Will you enrol in her Academy and remain under her tutelage for the rest of your life?

If you are, in the next blog we shall surely be looking at the four principal avenues grace is powerfully poured into our lives.

Now is the time to make sure your life is firmly established in the path of the ever flowing river of God’s grace.