The grace of God not only saves all peoples, but trains those who are God’s people through Christ to “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:12). I recommend that we who are followers of Christ not simply relegate grace to when we were saved (justification) but bring it along to when we are being saved (sanctification).
The key word is ‘training,’ from the Greek paideuo which is where we get the word ‘pedagogy.’ It refers to the training and discipline, especially that of a child. The training can be that or simple correction or even of chastisement and discipline, like that of a father disciplining his son. Grace (Christ, through His Spirit) teaches us to renounce (or, to put it a better way, say ‘no’) not only ungodly acts but also the passions and desires that arise which lead to the ungodly actions.
This is where many immature Christians get ‘stuck.’ Some grow disillusioned with this notion: “When God saves me, I shall not struggle with sin any longer. I hear that I’m free from sin, therefore not only will I be clean but I shall have no desire to sin.” When they find themselves struggling with sin (from without through Satan and from within from the ‘flesh’), they begin to question the potency of God’s work in their lives, but they also question the very notion of the validity of Christianity. “If this is what Christianity is like in struggling with this, no thank you.”
Yet, when God brings salvation and removes the penalty of sin through removing the guilt and justifying us through Christ’s work, He does not leave us. We are still in the flesh and its desires, surrounded by people who are still under the world’s system fueled by the flesh and its desires. And (again), do not forget that Satan still lurks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5). With all this coming at us from without and within, we need training! We need our Father to guide us through the valley of the shadow of death! And we are in zero position as infant, toddler or even adolescent Christians to train ourselves!
The story is told of a young girl who accepted Christ as her Savior and applied for membership in a local church. "Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your Life?" inquired an old deacon. "Yes, sir," she replied. "Well, are you still a sinner?" "To tell you the truth, I feel I’m a greater sinner than ever." "Then what real change have you experienced?" "I don’t quite know how to explain it," she said, "except I used to be a sinner running after sin, but now that I am saved. I’m a sinner running from sin!" she was received into the fellowship of the church, and she proved by her consistent life that she was truly converted.
