Gospel Basics: Holy Life

[Part 3 in a series on Gospel Basics. See here Part 1 and Part 2.]

The good news of grace comes to foolish, disobedient, enslaved people with glorious mercy for all people:

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 . . . (Titus 2:11-12).

Many are willing to accept grace; some are even willing to admit that they had been foolish disobedient and enslaved; but fewer still are willing to accept the Gospel as that which trains us to renounce sin, and live upright lives in this age. This is the 'narrow gate' of the Gospel. At every point it shatters our pride, and puts us completely on Christ. Just as we did not merit love, nor had we power to repent, now we cannot live without continual trust and dependence on Christ to enable us to renounce that which once enslaved us, and to live self-controlled (that is to say, Christ-controlled) lives in this present age.

This is the core of the Good News. It is the message of a holy God who reconciles unholy people to Himself, makes us holy in this age progressively, and in the age to come, completely and finally. It is not a message of license, but of liberty. We become free, for the first time, to live as we were created to live: loving our Creator with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength; and loving our neighbors as ourselves. This, indeed, is good news.