“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,”
Titus 2:11-13 NIV
As mentioned last week the grace of God strengthens us while we are living in blessed hope.
It is this hope that causes us to live before God with a clear conscience, as we do exploits for the kingdom of God.
Clear conscience here has everything to do with the human spirit. The grace of God helps us to become more and more sensitive in our conscience.
We are therefore able to hear God more clearly, and walk in His perfect will for our lives, here on earth while living under His grace.
Hope is strengthened by grace, as we become established in the Kingdom of God to do the will of God, the Father on the earth.
You need to pay particular attention, to how the Apostle Paul here referred to the appearance of Jesus, when He will return.
Jesus is referred to here as “our great God”. All the earth will bow before Him, and worship Him as “our great God” at His appearance in glory when He returns.
The synergy of Faith, Hope and Love.
Faith, hope and love are very important so that your Christian life can be productive.
But the hope which works through grace, causes us to be more fruitful in God’s kingdom. It is of great blessing to the heart, as we are getting established in this hope.
Without hope our faith cannot work for us. Faith itself is the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1).
Hope is vital for the corresponding action of our faith while manifesting the glory of God in our lives.
In exercising our faith, we are able to receive answers to our prayers directly from God.
But hope remains the anchor on which our faith hangs on to, as we receive the answers to our prayers from God.
The blessed hope of the Christian faith is primarily in the return of Christ Jesus on the earth in glory and power.
This Christian hope empowers us, to shun all ungodliness and worldly passions, as we look forward to the return of the Lord.
Faith, hope and love work together in this way, to make this a reality for us.
Hope also strengthens us on the inner man, while enabling us to live a godly lifestyle.
As the inner man is being strengthened by grace through hope; so also does our faith becomes stronger as we are meditating on God’s word daily.
Hope is therefore important to our spiritual growth as Christians; just as faith and walking in love are both important.
You cannot pray as a believer in Christ Jesus, if you have no hope of receiving answered prayer.
But thanks be to God that the substance of the things, that we do hope for as we are praying, are written in the Bible for us to have faith in them as we pray.
Grace and Hope keep you close to God.
A lot of Christians often listen to their senses, instead of listening to the voice of their inner man. And because they are not established in hope, they often fall into every form of deceptions from the enemy as a result of this.
The inner man has a voice, just as our senses or feelings has a voice also.
The voice of the spirit man inside you come through an inner witness from the Holy Spirit who lives in you.
The Spirit of Truth (Holy Spirit) gives you “an inner knowing” of the will of God. This is sometimes called “a spiritual green light”, in guiding and directing your life as a Christian.
As Jesus said:
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore, I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
John 16:13-15 NKJV
There are certain things that we have knowledge of through the inner witness or the inner knowing of the spirit man.
You may not necessarily pray about them. But because your heart is established in hope, faith becomes automatically activated in the heart, to know the will of God about those things.
And the response of your faith has to be with corresponding action. And the Lord God will act on your behalf in manifesting the desired result.
The voice of your senses on the other hand, comes to you through your feelings.
That’s why you have to be careful, not to pay so much attention to those feelings whenever they come. The enemy has a way of manipulating them against you.
This is because your senses primarily never got saved from the works of the evil one. It is with the heart that you believed and are saved, not with your senses (Romans 10:9-10).
Secondly, your feelings are never permanent, and they are subject to changes very often.
That’s why we are advised by the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:1-2, to renew our mind or the senses with the word of God.
By doing so your senses will be trained, to take its cues from the inner man, rather than from feelings.
Human senses that are trained and transformed in this way, becomes stronger and bolder to resist the enemy.
It is the voice of the spirit man that is real, authentic and permanent.
But you must also be able to differentiate, between the voice of your human spirit, and the voice of the Holy Spirit in your life.
The Holy Spirit speaks often emphatically, in communicating the will of God than your spirit man does. The inner witness of the Holy Spirit in your life is often softer and gentler in speaking and appealing to you.
The Bible says:
“The human spirit is the lamp of the LORD that sheds light on one’s inmost being.”
Proverbs 20:27 NIV
In other words when God speaks to us as His children, He speaks directly to the human spirit, through the voice of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
If your heart is established in hope, you will be firm and strong, in opposing the voice of the enemy with your shield of faith.
Where your hope is strong, then your faith becomes very effective in spiritual warfare.
That’s why people with no hope, can never pray effectively.
Hope strengthens you through grace, so that you may be able to walk by faith.
Your inner man is then able to separate the voice of your human senses, the voice of your inner man and that of the Holy Spirit from one another.
This is very important for every child of God in doing spiritual warfare.
When you are able to differentiate these three voices, you will be well able to recognize when God is speaking to you.
Proclaiming hope to the nations.
Every believer in Christ is supposed to be looking forward, expectantly for this blessed hope of the return of Jesus Christ.
Christianity offers the only hope which no religion can ever give. It is a hope which stretches beyond time and eternity, because God can never be measured with time:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8) NKJV
This Christian hope in the return of the Lord, causes us to act in the grace of God, for the salvation of all men.
It is hope for eternity with Christ Jesus, that energizes us on the inner man, to be able to take the gospel to all nations.
Jesus said:
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.””
Matthew 28:19-20 NIV
This last statement of Jesus made it plain to us, that He will always be with us, even to the very end of the age.
This promise of Jesus has not changed – He is always there with us, and for us as we act in obedience to His word.
The Christian hope is what drives the proclamation of the gospel around the world; as believers risk their lives continually, while our faith is anchored in Christ Jesus.
The grace of God, which is being manifested, through the workings of the Holy Spirit, instructs us and reveals things to us as we stand in hope. Grace teaches us what to do in all circumstances, while we walk in obedience to the Spirit of Christ.
The grace of God has great authority in our lives, as it empowers us in doing exploits for the kingdom of God.
God’s grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires; in order for us to be able to live sensibly, righteously and godly lives before God in this world.
Grace helps us to look forward to the return of the Lord. It helps us to get ourselves ready, and unashamed while we wait to appear before Jesus Christ on the Day.
Hope Consecrates, Sanctifies and Purifies.
The Bible says:
“And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
I John 3:3 NKJV
Our hope in the return of the Lord, leads us also into purifying ourselves. Purification is essential if we really want to see the Lord when He appears in glory.
The Bible says:
“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:”
Hebrews 12:14 NKJV
This process begins in our lives, as we shun evil, and cling on to the Christian hope.
If our hope is based on the substance of faith, it will definitely affect our lifestyle as believers in this world. We will definitely be transformed by the Holy Spirit, who does the works of sanctification and purification in our lives as His followers.
Apostle Paul wrote:
“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”
II Timothy 2:20-21 NKJV
Our ability to yield to the Holy Spirit, opens the way for the sanctification and purification of our lives as Christians. We are changed as we hold on to the Christian hope in this way.
This basically means that every believer with the Christian hope, does has evidence of faith in His life.
As believers in Christ Jesus, we are continually being sanctified and purified, as we deny ungodliness and worldly passions.
Living righteously, sensibly and godly lifestyle in this world, should be at the center of our lives as God’s children. This is one way that the Christian hope affects, our focus on the appearance of Jesus Christ in glory.
Secondly, by having hope we are released from the bondage of time, as we wait on the Lord’s return.
We are looking forward into eternity with hope. We are not worried or disturbed by the disasters and troubles of living in the bondage of time in this world as some people do, because they have nothing else to look forward to.
There are so many people who live daily, with the fear of disasters and troubles in this world, because they have no hope for eternity.
People like that are often constrained to this world. They are shut up in just the few years that they live in this world.
They have no hope for eternity. But thanks be to God for the hope that the Christian faith gives us.
And for those who have this glorious hope, our lives on earth are just a preparation for eternity with God.
Having this hope in the return of the Lord, should have a huge effect on the way we live. When we come in contact with people with this hope, we become spiritually connected with them instantly.
Do you have that hope? Is your lifestyle as a believer, only constrained by time in this world? Or are you looking forward beyond time into eternity with Christ Jesus?
