What's my motivation?

A while back I met up each week with a Christian friend who was feeling really weighed down by their sin. He wanted to change, but changing his sinful habits was proving hard. He was struggling. And I’ve thought about him a lot this past week, not least because one of the books of the Bible we looked at together was Paul’s letter to Titus. We’re halfway through our series looking at this great little letter. Last week we saw the nature of Godly character and Godly living from Titus 2.1-10. And we need that, my friend needed that – he needed to see what the God honouring way of life was, and what it looked like practically. He needed to keep reminding himself of the truth and goodness of it. But he needed more than that: he needed to see where the motivation to live a changed life lies. And as we looked at the book of Titus, that’s what we unpacked together. And, tonight, we’ll see it too, and we’ll see that the source, and the engine, of our motivation to live Godly lives is in looking back to Jesus’ gracious salvation and looking forward to his return in glory. Together those twin “appearings” of Jesus motivate us to live for him. But before we go any further, let’s pray:

[prayer]

So, firstly, to motivate us for good works we need to:

1. Look back to Jesus’ gracious salvation (Titus 2.11-12)

Reading 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...

God’s grace is his unmerited favour and love of sinful people, like you and like me. God’s character, right through history, has always been to be graceful. But what Paul’s saying here is that grace appeared visibly in the coming of Jesus 2,000 years ago. It’s like grace has a face – and it’s the face of Jesus! God’s generous grace shone brightly in Jesus’ lowly birth for us, in his words and in his deeds. But, above all, in his death that brings salvation (saving) from sin for (Titus 2.11) all people. Which doesn’t mean literally everyone, but rather all kinds of people – whoever they may be, whatever background they’re from, however they have lived their life - even Cretans! Remember how they were described in Titus 1. Titus 1.12:

Always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons...

But Jesus died for them. God’s grace sent Jesus to die for us on the cross for us. To take on himself all the punishment, and the anger of God, that we deserved for pushing him out of our lives. Knowing full well what we’re like, and what he would endure, Jesus chose to go to the cross for us. He is full of grace. Jesus is grace. So, Paul is saying when the grace of God appeared in Jesus, and hung on the cross for us, that’s when God’s grace was seen in the world so clearly and so conclusively.

Tonight, do you feel tired and worn down by your sin? Is your heart burdened by it? If so, lift up your eyes and look back. Look back to the appearing of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Look to the cross and know that on it Jesus died for you. He hung there for you. He took all of your sin (every little bit of it, all that we’ve done and thought) on himself. He took the punishment it deserved. That’s the grace of the cross, God’s unmerited love and forgiveness of you: that you might be free from the penalty your deserved, free to know, love, and live for God. Because, Paul is saying to Titus very clearly: Christians do need to live for God. That’s the emphasis of Titus 2. It’s not just that good works are possible, but actually that they’re necessary in the Christian life.
So, Titus 2. 11-12 again:

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 [i.e. in the here and the now]...

Not only does the grace of God in Jesus save us, it transform us, by training (teaching or disciplining) us. So, what does grace teach us? Firstly, it teaches us to say “no”. We say “no” to ungodliness. “No longer will I live without reference to God. No longer will I refuse to live in a way that doesn’t please him.”And we say “no” to worldly passions. “No longer will I seek to follow the rules and ways of the world, and to go along with what everyone else does”. So, what in your life do you need to say “no” to? What ungodliness? Which worldly passions? What will saying “no” look like?

But, secondly, and more positively, grace teaches us to say “yes”. So, we want to say “yes” to self-control. “Yes” to governing our lives based on God’s wisdom. We say “yes” to an upright life: which means we’ll treat other people as we would want to be treated, and as God would treat us. We say “yes” to living godly lives. “Yes” to God-orientated and God-motivated behaviour. “Yes” to putting God first. That trio is about us (self-control), others (upright lives), and God (Godly lives). So, to live for God, what in your life do you need to say “yes” to? What will saying “yes” look like? But, above all, we need to see that the engine driving all of this change is the grace of God. It’s God’s grace that trains us to say “no” to self-rule and to say “yes” to God’s rule. Because when we accept what Jesus has done for us, and we want to live a life transformed for him.

Think of a close friend, or family member. Why do you care for and serve them? You don’t do it to win their love, but because you love them, and they love you. It’s love and relationship, then it’s service. Why do we serve our saviour? Not to win his love but because in his grace, he first loved us. So, we want to serve him. But that word training in Titus 2.12 is so important because training in anything takes time. Real Christian faith results in real change but it’s not instantaneous change. Sometimes it’s slow. Often if feels hard. There’s inconsistencies, and a difficult struggle to make progress as we might like.

That friend I mentioned at the beginning didn’t feel like he was making any progress. For so long he felt like he was fighting a losing battle but he kept going, and he slowly made progress. And it was looking to God’s grace that motivated him to keep going because it led him to look back to Jesus; Jesus knew his sin, he knew his worst, he saw what he would do, knew what he was capable of and he still chose to die for it. And that gave the assurance of forgiveness time after time, and I began to see God’s grace transform him! It is only God’s grace that transforms like this.

In thinking about this passage, one particular moment in my life, from years ago, stands out. I’d failed to treat someone the way I should have. My failure to act caused them pain and distress. It could have been avoided. I should have known better. I had been wrong. And my sense of guilt and shame felt crushing. At first, my response was to beat myself up, to make sure I was going to feel as bad and as sorry for as long as I possibly could. And then it was to shake myself, and make sure I was going to be a “good Christian” from now on and follow all the rules. But, as I soon realised, such a self-centred approach doesn’t work, does it? It was self-training. It was legalism. And at its heart legalism says “The power is with you…Be self-controlled/be upright/be Godly...And before God you’ll be ok.” And we say “I can’t! I can’t do it!” We know we can’t! And legalism says “Well, just try harder...” If we listen to ourselves, and listen to the world, if we’ll try to be self-trainers…we’ll believe the lie that what we do leads to who we are. But live motivated and trained by the grace of God and we will realise that who we are in Jesus leads to what we do. And we’ll be free from gerbil’s wheel of “try harder, try harder, try harder…”

Grace trains us to see that we don’t have to prove ourselves to God, or earn his forgiveness, or make it up to him. Grace trains us believe that we can’t do any of that. Grace trains us to look back to the cross and know the assurance that on it we were forgiven all of our sin (past, present, and future) forever. Grace trains forgiven people to serve Jesus because he’s saved them, not because they have to but, because they want to serve the one they love and the one who loved them first. Next, Paul gives Titus a second motivation for good works, which is to:

2. Look forward to Jesus’ glorious return (Titus 2.13-15)

And that’s our second, and final, point this evening. So, picking it up midway through the sentence at Titus 2.13. As we live self-controlled, upright and Godly lives, we’re (2 Titus 2.13-14):

...waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Jesus has appeared. But one day, Jesus will appear for a second time in glory as he returns to our world. And when he does his glory will be undeniable – i.e. everyone will see how powerful and good, and loving he is. And everyone will bow before him and give him the honour he deserves. But to share in his glory on that day, you need to accept him now. When he appears again it will be too late. The question then is: have you? If you have, then the appearing Jesus in glory will lead to eternity with him without sin, and without everything that sin spoils. A life of perfection, with Jesus as our King – that’s what followers of Jesus have to look forward to. And here in Titus 2.13 Paul describes that as a blessed hope – a joyful, happy certainty; a looking forward and longing for that day!

A friend of mine went through a bad breakup. And afterwards I remember him saying, “I can’t wait for heaven – when what’s broken and sinful in me, will be either be fixed, or gone. And I’ll finally be the man God wants me to be. That’s keeping me going now.” He was looking forwards. The glory to come motivated him to keep going in fighting sin, living for others, and living for Jesus. Does it motivate us?

If we look at the perfection and joy of eternity with Jesus, we’ll see that the apparent attractiveness of sin in this world is not so attractive after all. Because when Jesus returns in glory, sin is not going to pay off. It’s not going to be part of life with him. Not only is it wrong. It’s futile. It’s not part of the character of our saviour that we’ll be with and love forever. Choosing God instead of the immediate and visible pleasures of sin is tough. But when Jesus appears in glory we’ll know without doubt that we made the right choice, and we’ll see just how worth it “yes” to Jesus and “no” to sin really was. When Jesus appears again we will begin to live as God’s perfect people. How we look forwards to that! But now (Titus 2.14) our identity in light of that is to live as his redeemed people:

[Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

To be redeemed is to be freed by the payment of a price. The price Jesus paid for us on the cross, frees us from lawlessness and brings us back to him. Lawlessness doesn’t mean just law breaking, but also law making. Because by nature, we’re outlaws living as if God isn’t there. But God’s grace paves the way to bring us back into relationship with him. And in relationship with him we are purified –the stains of our sinful track record are washed away. The price for them has been paid. And we become God’s own possession – a people that belong to him, that live like him, and are zealous for good works.

I’m at the stage of life where children illustrations come all too easily, but hopefully I can get away with the odd one now and then! I have two boys: Simeon and Luke (2 and half years and 7 months old). I love them both but frankly, it’s rather like looking after a pair of wild dogs. We went to the beach a while back. And the problem with going to the beach with a 2 year old and 7 month is finding a way not to bring half the sand in the northern hemisphere back with you. So, we brushed, and dusted, and washed, and rinsed, and brushed, and dusted, and wiped, and washed, and rinsed, until most the sand was gone. And then…Do you know what those boys managed to do when our backs were turned? They went and rolled about in the sand again. As God’s children, we are not made pure just to go off and get dirty again. God’s grace has come. At the cross the price for our freedom was paid.
And one day when Jesus appears again we will be his perfect people.

Spiritually speaking we’re to do what’s impossible physically – look forward and backwards at the same time and see that we’re people who belong to God, the great King – one day to live in his Kingdom forever. Right now, we are royal children, and royal children have royal manners because who we are leads to what we do. So, I’ll never forget what that friend who’d been struggling with sin would eventually go on to say. He explained how God had worked to change the sin he’d previously found so enticing. After a while he said it began to taste like ashes in his mouth. But he said living for and serving Jesus, began to taste like eating sweet, sweet, honey. He’d tasted the good stuff. Was he the finished product? No. Far from it. None of us are. But…How he’d changed! And by God’s grace, he began to model the end of Titus 2.14 – being zealous for good works. Being described as being zealous today has connotations of being a fanatic, or a fundamentalist…And that’s one of the worst things you can be! But literally being zealous means that we’re to be euthanasic, or passionate, for good works. It means really believing what you believe and acting upon it in a way that will be noticed by others, and causes them to think, “what causes them to live like that?” What about you? Are you zealous for good works?

I worry I’m zealous about keeping my head down, having an easy life, and fitting in with the crowd. What good works has God called you to do with your life? What good is he leading you to be enthusiastic about? Do you know the answer to these questions? Being a Christian is all about living a grace-transformed life that honours God and shines in the world. And the motivation for it is looking back to Jesus’ gracious salvation and looking forward to his glorious return. So, Paul’s final instruction to Titus in Titus 2.15, he says:

Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

So, we too need to play our part in boldly teaching and encouraging each other to see in the Bible what a Godly life looks like. But also, to see that the power behind it all is God himself – and Jesus’ powerful, life-transforming, and amazing grace. Let’s pray.