The Bible answers famous theologian’s great question …

It was theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor, Francis Schaeffer, who proffered the question, “How should we then live?”

The Bible answers his question, in multiple places and different ways, but could it be any more clear in providing a distinct response than in Titus 2:11-13?

“For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.” – Titus 2:11-13.

THE HOPE OF SALVATION
Because of the grace of God — Jesus Christ offering His sinless life on our behalf — salvation has been provided for all who will will receive Christ as Lord and Savior. Therefore, the life of a disciple is one punctuated with hope as “… we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.”

Because we have the hope of salvation, scripture says “… we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures.” But as we wait on the Lord’s return, how shall we then live?

WITH WISDOM
On March 13, 2013 the Roanoke Times reported the southbound side of I-77 near the North Carolina-Virginia border was closed for hours following a massive chain of accidents. Police later reported that seventeen different collisions involved ninety-five cars and trucks. The wrecks left three people dead and more than two dozen injured, many of them seriously. The cause of the accidents was people driving into a thick fog that descended over the Interstate that Sunday afternoon. A police spokesman said, “Visibility at the time this accident occurred was down to about one hundred feet or less.”

As people continued to drive blindly forward, they could not see the danger that was just ahead until it was too late. Prudence reminds us to be on guard for danger — not just in the present but in the future as well. Because of the way our minds work, we often tend to discount what may happen in the future simply because it hasn’t happened yet. But the Apostle Paul tells us, “We should live in this evil world with wisdom …”

“A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences,” Proverbs 27:12.

WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS
Staying on the right course in life is a new challenge every day. Michael Fordham tells the story of a runner wise enough to stay on the right course …

In a NCAA cross-country championship held in Riverside, California, 123 of the 128 runners missed a turn. One competitor, Mike Delcavo, stayed on the 10,000 meter course and began waving for fellow runners to follow him. Delcavo was able to convince only four other runners to go with him. Asked what his competitors thought of his mid-race decision not to follow the crowd, Delcavo responded, “They thought it was funny that I went the right way.” Delcavo was one who ran correctly. In the same way, our goal is to run correctly; to finish the race marked out for us by Christ. We can rejoice over those who have courage to follow the Lord, ignoring the cheering of the crowd.

The Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook address “righteouness” like this:

Right standing, specifically before God. Among the Greeks, righteousness was an ethical virtue. Among the Hebrews, it was a legal concept; the righteous man was the one who got the verdict of acceptability when tried at the bar of God’s justice. Christ’s death took away our sins and made it possible for sinners to have “the righteousness of God,” i.e., right standing before God (Rom. 1:16-17; 3:22; 5:17). That gift of righteousness is to be followed by upright living (Rom. 6:13-14).

“Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts,” 2 Timothy 2:2.

WITH DEVOTION TO GOD
The concept of a life of devotion to anyone or anything, including to God, is largely foreign to our self-oriented ways. Thomas Bevers compares our draw to a buffet against the idea of daily devotion …

Me and my wife’s favorite food in the world is any Chinese buffet that we can belly up to, or any other buffet for that matter … Golden corral, Pizza Hut. We love buffets!

Wouldn’t it be great if you could go to a buffet and eat enough to last you all week? Would that not just be wonderful? You could go in and pay the price of the buffet, just pile it on that plate and be done with eating for a whole week!

But we know it doesn’t work that way. No matter how much you eat off of that buffet, the next day you’re going to be hungry and you need to eat again.

Yet isn’t this how we approach our need for spiritual sustenance? We feed our soul one day and then starve it for six, as though what happens on Sunday is enough to last us all week.

This buffet approach to life is very different from the lives of daily devotion we see lived out by the first Christians …

“They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved,” Acts 2:46-47.

HOW ARE YOU LIVING?
If you have surrendered your life to Christ, receiving Jesus as both your Lord and Savior, how are you living your life as His disciple?

Is your life punctuated with hope?

Are you living out your life “… with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God”?

If you are a Christian, how have you answered that great question: How should we then live?

Scotty