Motivation to Live Rigteously

Richard Thetford

The inspired Word of God says “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12). The “grace” in this text would represent our Savior Jesus Christ. He did something for us that needed to be done, that nobody else could do for himself. We needed to have our sins atoned for but we were unable to do that ourselves and so it was Jesus who appeared to all men to put away sin by His great and precious sacrifice (Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 9:26). Since Jesus did this for us, something that we could never do for ourselves, He teaches us that there are now things that we must do in order to live with Him forever in eternity.

We should now be motivated to deny ungodliness and worldly lust. That is, we are not to be involved in ungodly deeds and works of ungodliness. Ungodliness results when individuals have a heart of irreverence and a lack of love and appreciation of Jesus. The inspired apostle Peter wrote, “Now If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1 Peter 4:18). The difference between an ungodly person and a sinner is that the ungodly is irreverent, without any regard for God or not having respect for things that are divine. The sinner (in this text) is one who is conscientiously wrong, sincerely in error, or honestly mistaken. Worldly lust can overcome Christians from time to time and because we know this is possible we should be aware of it. Worldly lust is to have inordinate desires for those things of the world that are forbidden to Christians (1 John 2:15-17). Be careful, because if we are not careful we can soon be caught up with the pleasures of life that those of the world are caught up in on a daily basis.

Out of true respect and admiration of our Lord and what He willingly did for us, paying the ultimate price, we must be moved to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this world. Christians have a responsibility to shoulder responsibilities and execute them according to what the grace of God teaches. To live righteously is to focus our attention upon the manner of our life. This will include things such as our thoughts, words, and deeds. The Christian strives to do all things which are right and pleasing to God because we know that we are His chosen generation, a holy priesthood, looking forward to a life of living with our Lord forever! Godliness is the very fountain from which all of man’s outward activities flow. We are told to “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us (John 3:16). In return, out of a deep abiding love for Him because of His great love for us (1 John 4:19), we are now determined to “live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12b-13).