An elderly gentleman took his grandson into the workshop to make a birdhouse. After measuring the boards Grandpa put one in the vice, started a half-inch cut at the place he had marked, and handed the saw to his little subcontractor. The boy bit at his lip and began sawing back and forth with all his might. Suddenly, his wild strokes made the saw bind up and bend sharply to one side. Grandpa smiled, wrapped his hands around the boy's, and said, "You don't need to work so hard. Trust the saw to do the work for you." Together they sawed slowly and gently. Then Grandpa let go, and the boy kept cutting as the saw sailed right through the wood. "Trust the saw to do the work," he kept telling himself.

Often we Christians are like that little boy. Making rules and New Year's resolutions for ourselves often produces quick changes, but they lack the power to help us persevere. We end up feeling guiltier than before. "How to" programs often fail to propel us after the newness has worn off. Instead, we must learn to trust the Lord's "saw" to do the work it was designed to do. His saw is the gospel of Jesus' love for us. Once learned, it becomes a strong force that works through us to make us capable of doing great things.

Many of Paul's letters are sprinkled with insights into how the gospel enlightens us and fills us with the power to conquer sinful habits, overcome the chains of guilt, and free us to love the unlovable. Mature Christians learn to trust the gospel of Jesus to work through them instead of pushing so hard with human strength. The passage from Titus can help us discover how the gospel of Jesus is a power we can trust to transform us and make us eager to do good works for God.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:11-14).

POINTS TO PONDER

1. What does Paul say the gospel teaches us? How does it do that?

Answer: The gospel teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions. It does this by freeing not only from the guilt of our sins but the desire to sin. When we come to faith in God who loved us so much that he gave us his Son to cleanse us from our sins, we actually don't want to sin like we used to. Instead we want to remain clean because we like it. We also love him so much we want to do what makes him happy. It is not a fear of breaking rules and reaping the consequences that motivates us. Instead it is the power of love for God that works within us.

2. According to verse 14, what did Jesus redeem us from? What did he redeem us for?