What Does God's Grace Teach Us (3)

It Teaches Me to Live Right

It would be one thing to teach me what is wrong but what if I am never told what is right? I may not be doing the things which are mentioned as evil but I still may not be living right. Thankfully, God’s grace teaches me the life which I am to live.

Live Soberly. To live soberly is to exercise self-restraint or to be clear minded. This is the opposite of drunkenness, which would hinder self-restraint and clear thinking. One should be mindful of that next time he thinks of drinking an alcoholic beverage. It is imperative that an individual live his life soberly. Why? For one, it would hinder an individual from properly performing his duties to God, his fellow man, family, and so on because he has no self-restraint. An individual who lacks this could not be an elder (1 Tim. 3:2). Soberness is needed to fight against the devil lest one’s soul is devoured (1 Pet. 5:8).

Live Righteously. That is, to live a life which is right in the eyes of God. To be righteous is to keep the commands which God has given us. “My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness” (Psalm 119:172; cf. Acts 10:34-35, 1 John 3:7).

Live Godly. Being godly is the opposite of being ungodly. It is trying to be like God in our thoughts and actions. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord” (Is. 55:8). It is funny how many people look to this verse and say, “Well, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and our ways are not like His. Moving on.” If being godly is to be like God in our thoughts and actions doesn’t that mean we should be striving to make our thoughts as His thoughts and our ways as His? This is also part of the great chain which we refer to as “The Christian Graces” (2 Pet. 1:6-7).

When Do We Live It? Paul said, “in this present world.” This present world refers to the world in which we currently live. That means we are to live soberly, righteously, and godly NOW. One is not to wait until next week or next year. This is a problem when one thinks about the way the world works. The world is focused on the physical – the here and now. It stands in contradiction of the world of the eternal. God’s grace teaches us to live in such a way that it prepares us for the world that is to come and to live it now.