‘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, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness
and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is
good.’ – Titus 2:11-14 NIV
We believe that the world is so connected
to the Kingdom life. Because of this, we think that God has created and put
into this world to live our lives comfortably and peacefully with a lot of
satisfaction, according to our own nature. We might even believe that all of us
are going to the kingdom of heaven at the end of the age, according to our
deeds. Hence, we try to please God by doing some specific deeds. Once we
receive the free entrance ticket to the kingdom of heaven, we try to enjoy our
lives according to our own nature as much as we can and make our earthly lives
memorable.
Nevertheless, the truth is that there is no
such thing as the free entrance ticket to the kingdom of heaven. This is
because eternal life is already free through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23). This means that the only
requirement to the Kingdom life is through faith in Jesus Christ until the end
of the age (John 3:16-18; John 11:25-26), even though Jesus Christ is
going to come and judge all of us according to our deeds (Matthew 16:27). “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For
we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) These verses define we
are thankful that we are saved by the grace of God, that we tend to do good
works in Jesus Christ.
At one time we too
were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and
pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But
when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because
of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through
the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us
generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his
grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a
trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who
have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.
These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. (Titus 3:3-8)
Furthermore, God wants us to put our
satisfaction in Him, instead of our own nature. This is because the main reason
why we are on this world is to worship Him through Jesus Christ until the end
of the age (Colossians 1:16-23). Jesus Christ states, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when
the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for
they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his
worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24) Therefore, it is better for
us to get rid of our own desires, that will easily make us addicted, and live
our lives according to the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:24-25) with repentance (Acts 2:38-39). The main reason why we have
to get rid of them is the desires of the Spirit is contrary to our own worldly
desires (Galatians 5:17). We have to ask and pray
before our heavenly Father to give us the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13) so that we are able to walk
with Him through the Spirit until the end of the age (John 14:15-27). Not only the Spirit of God
is the Spirit of the holiness (John 14:26-27), but the Spirit of God is
also the Spirit of the life (John 6:63-65), the Spirit of the truth (John 16:7-15), the Spirit of the
righteousness (Romans 8:1-17), and the Spirit of the
freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). In fact, Romans 12:1-2 urges us to live our lives as
a living sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God, and transform our
minds into the Spirit-filled mind so we are able to test and approve what the
will of God is. In addition to this, 1 John 2:15-17 tells us to look at things
that please God—the will of God—instead of the worldly nature in New Living Translation Version and New International Version.
His divine power
has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his
very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil
desires.
For this very
reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness,
knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and
to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual
affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they
will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind,
forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Therefore, my
brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For
if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich
welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11)
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