Titus 2:11-14

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 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 appearing of the glory 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.

My wife and I didn’t have to teach our children to say “no.” They knew that word instinctively. If they didn’t want to do something, they would say “No!” If they didn’t want to try some new food, the same word came out. If they didn’t want to share, there it was again. We had to teach them NOT to say the word no when it came to listening to us or sharing or obeying their parents. There is a time and place for no, but when they’re not listening, that isn’t the place.

Guess what? Titus 2 gives us a great time to say “No!” Say “No” to sin. That’s what God wants us to do. But did you notice what God has to do to get us to do that? Saying “No” to sin isn’t something that comes naturally. By nature, we say “Yes” to sin and everything about godly living. No is something we say to God and his will.

Then things changed when Jesus appeared and gave himself for us. He gave his life as a sacrifice to rescue us from an empty, ungodly way of life. He rescued us from sin, forgave us, and adopted us into the family of God. That gift of grace, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and what it accomplished for us, teaches us to say, “No.”

It teaches us daily to say “No” to sin and everything immoral. We say “No” to everything God finds detestable and against his will. The appearance of Jesus and the salvation he won for us teaches us to say “No” to the sinful things and ideas of this world. It shows us a better way, a godly way, a way that glorifies God and shows who we truly are. We aren’t people controlled by our sinful nature and this evil world.

It’s a good thing to say “No”, but only when it’s God teaching you to say “No” to the sinful things of life.