The grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. Titus 2:11
A few years ago, a popular song hit the charts, with a gospel choir singing the chorus, “Jesus walks with me.” Behind the lyrics lies a powerful story.
The choir was started by jazz musician Curtis Lundy when he entered a treatment program for cocaine addiction. Drawing fellow addicts together and finding inspiration in an old hymnal, he wrote that chorus as a hymn of hope for those in rehab. “We were singing for our lives,” one choir member says of the song. “We were asking Jesus to save us, to help us get out of the drugs.” Another found that her chronic pain subsided when she sang the song. That choir wasn’t just singing words on a sheet but offering desperate prayers for redemption.
Today’s Scripture reading describes their experience well. In Christ, our God has appeared to offer salvation to all people (Titus 2:11). While eternal life is part of this gift (v. 13), God is working on us now, empowering us to regain self-control, say no to worldly passions, and redeem us for life with Him (vv. 12, 14). As the choir members found, Jesus doesn’t just forgive our sins—He frees us from destructive lifestyles.
Jesus walks with me. And you. And anyone who cries out to Him for help. He’s with us, offering hope for the future and salvation now.
What do you need Jesus to change in you today? How desperate are you for Him to do it?
Dear Jesus, I need You. Forgive my sins, free me from destructive habits, and change me from the inside out.
INSIGHT
Titus was one of many young protégés that the apostle Paul had mentored in ministry. In addition to traveling and serving with him, Titus also carried messages back and forth between Paul and the troubled church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 7:6–9). A gentile who had come to faith in Christ (Galatians 2:3), Titus eventually was entrusted with leading the work of the gospel in the church of Crete (Titus 1:5). The theme of grace is a regular one for Paul in many of his letters (see especially Galatians and Ephesians), and it’s at the heart of today’s text: “The grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people” (Titus 2:11). Paul was continually drawing people away from a faith rooted in religious works and focusing instead on God’s free gift to us in Christ.