¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, ¹²instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,

The great purpose in life, which we should all should strive for—whether male, female, young, old, or enslaved—is to live for God. We cannot escape the thrust of Paul’s teaching here. No matter our circumstances, we are not left off the hook of obeying God’s design for us. In other words, Christianity “works,” even in the most challenging circumstance of slavery. Wherever we are, there are people to whom we must preach the gospel, by the grace of God who came in the person of Jesus Christ to die for all.

The same grace of God that brought us salvation, Paul writes, continues to instruct us. This is called “grace” because we don’t deserve any more than the general revelation of God that makes Him known to us in a general way (see Rom. 1:19–20). We deserve that much by virtue of being created in His image. But since our fall, all entitlement is off the table. God has graciously given us a way out of our fallen nature, through salvation. And He has graciously given us instructions to restore our lives to the purposes for which He created us.

So Paul writes that the same grace of God that saved us is also evident in His instructions about living for Him. It is all the same thing, God working in redemption, a continuous work of restoration. Paul words it as a single coin with two sides: a denial and an affirmation, a turning away and a turning toward, a leaving behind the bad and embracing the good.

God’s grace leads us to deny two things: ungodliness and worldly desires. Ungodliness means lack of reverence, taking God and His ways as having no bearing in our lives. Worldly desires means wanting the things and ways of the unredeemed world instead. While the earth and all that is in it belongs to the Lord and is therefore given to us for our enjoyment, we dare not love the gift and neglect the Giver. The great irony is that worldly thinking “in the present age” strives for the things God wants to freely give us, while denying the grace-giver leaves us ignorant of the things that are already ours.

On the other hand, we are to pursue three things: to live sensibly, righteously, and godly, thus fully affirming and embracing God’s grace. It is God’s grace that reveals the truth to us, and it is His grace that puts it within our reach. We live because He is the God who has revealed Himself through our Savior, Christ Jesus.

Lord, I recommit to living sensibly, righteously, and godly—today.