The Violence of Grace

Some thoughts on Titus 2:11-12...will continue them over the next bit of time.
Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;


Occasionally there is a thread of uncertainty that traverses the minds of this world that puts into doubt the ability of the Word to be current in our day. The previous study bears out the absolute timelessness of this Book, the Book of Life. It is the chronic state of young men to want to stay without responsibility and to delay it as long as possible. However, there comes a point in which a young man must stand on his own feet financially, spiritually and emotionally and often there is a confusion of how this is to be. Young men often want the family finances, aren’t dedicated to the pursuit of spiritual things, and yet choose chasing the fleeting emotions of the day until there is little or no money, and more importantly, no God except themselves left in their lives and the god of self has bankrupted them, too.

The goal of our lives is to mature.

So with this in mind, Paul pursues a few concepts here in the text that will be with us throughout our walk with God. Some things are relieved from us due to time and age. The wise words of the Preacher echoes into our ears when he speaks

Ecclesiastes 9:10-11 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

It remains that time and chance happens to all of us, both in the sense of age as well as circumstance. So despite the vagaries of life, the changing places, the differing circumstances, as well as the work of our lives, there remains a necessary dedication to some principles that Paul lays down in the pages of Titus.

Perhaps of the concepts of the Bible, one of the most difficult ones to understand and to wrap our minds around is that of Grace. Charis, the Greek word, is used in the New Testament 156 times in 147 verses. Obviously, it is a concept that is recurs over and over again. Trying to give a complete understanding of the definition of grace is a bit difficult. Not because it doesn’t have a definition, but rather it is a concept that is so foreign to our lives that we mostly don’t even think in these realms.
We understand justice, which is a concept that rules our world and often our minds, in that one gets what one deserves. It is a natural law that commends itself to our minds and we find a degree of relief in. However, in the commanding precision of Scripture, grace is not the opposite of justice, because grace looks past what we have done and gives us what we don’t deserve. It is more than mercy, a relieving of what we rightfully deserve, which inevitably creates a bond of needing to return the favor.
Grace, on the other hand, offers so much more than that. Grace gives us something that we do not deserve, and further, have no ability to repay. The ancient philosophers have struggled mightily with this concept, because it is antithetical to human nature. In ancient Greece, from which we get the word, it was exclusively given to a friend, and never on an enemy. It is easy to give something to a friend, one that cares about you and that you care about….however, to extend a gift to one that doesn’t love and care back, and often may throw the gift back in your face is another concept altogether. Not many of us can claim that sort of magnanimity, if any at all.
Our lives consist mostly of giving to those that are able to send back, perhaps in a different way, but signal to us that they appreciate what we have done, or at least are trying to do.
It took the blood of a perfect man to bring us the understanding that the New Testament brings, and changes what the earlier definition of grace had meant. Assuming a brand new meaning via the death of Jesus Christ, no longer did grace carry with it the giving of something to someone that was a friend, but rather, it was a gift that was given to His enemies.
This is a revolutionary change in the meaning of grace. No longer would grace be something that was easily understood, but rather, perhaps not understandable from the human mind point of view, but exclusively a Savior point of view. The mind can only accept it, but to deeply understand it only comes from the working of the Spirit of God in and on our lives. Many words have tried to define it: altruism, etc. However, altruism is infrequently done to those that willfully spit on the offer.
In this case, it is clear that only God, and God alone could offer this sort of gift. He alone had the ability to offer us this particular portion of eternal life. Only through His son, Jesus Christ, was grace available.
So in the annals of time, Christ died for us when we were enemies, made so by our own desires.

Romans 5:6-8 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The only way for this to occur was for Jesus to take the sins that we have committed on Himself. What I have done, He paid the price for, and the gruesome way that He did pay was to be sacrificed.
The Garden of Gethsamane was a mental and spiritual battle that would mirror the physical horror that he would face in the scourging and on the Hill of the Skull. This perhaps will give an understanding of the degree of commitment that it took to bring grace to us. Further, it perhaps is the only way that we can understand grace...Only through the Cross does grace become even slightly more understandable. He died so that grace could be offered not to those who were deserving, but to those who spat on it...grace came by the violence of the Cross.