The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,

12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,

13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus;

14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

Scripture is always exciting! You don’t fully realize the excitement until you spend time analyzing it. Take, for instance, the three timeframes in these four verses. Verse 11 addresses the past; verse 12 addresses the present; and verse 13 addresses the future.

Past: God has already brought the opportunity of salvation to all men. The word all (???, pas) speaks of the highest privilege man has ever received from the LORD. It occurred at the Cross, when Jesus died for us, making salvation possible for everyone.

Present: The same grace we discover in verse 11, now instructs us 1) to deny A) ungodliness and B) worldly desires and 2) to live A) sensibly, B) righteously and C) godly in the timeframe He gives us.

Future: The Blessed Hope is the Rapture (snatching up) of the Church as Jesus comes back and draws us to Him in the air. Verse 14 then repeats the matter of redemption, where He forgives our sin and purifies us for Himself. This final phase of redemption will come when He comes again to gather us to and for Himself.

Remember when you were a kid, how you played outside and got dirty? The first thing your mother did when you came in was to clean you up and make you presentable for the meal or for company or whatever. So, it is with the LORD and us. Salvation requires our repentance (being sorry for our sin and asking God’s forgiveness). When we repent, God cleans us up (saves us), making us presentable for Himself. No dirty, old cracked glass vase serves well as the centerpiece of the dinning table. Neither do we serve and honor the LORD well until we are clean. Let’s start cleaning up! Jesus could come for us at any moment!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

P. S. Haley writes appreciatively of all of our prayers. All the nurses in

her group in Quito are believers; so they are ministering

spiritually as they minister medically.

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”