Is. 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps. 104:1b-4, 24-25, 27-30; Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Lk. 3:15-16, 21-22

“Justified by his grace” is both present and not yet.  Justified by grace is present by the coming of Jesus and not yet for the unbaptized, the unrepentant sinner, the untrained soul in the ways of the Lord for not all have responded to receive this gift.  Even the baptized repented soul has its work to do in the vineyard of the Lord for salvation comes by God’s grace of mercy and our response by faith through works.  It is in the doing that grace abounds. If we say we believe, then the evidence is in the fruit we produce.  God’s love and mercy cannot save us without us as a precondition of our free will.  The power of the word is given to us to live out as a well-trained soul “filled with expectation”. 

Our expectation is to know God, love God and serve God “eager to do what is good”.  After the “cleansing” through baptism comes the justification by grace so that our expectation is to grow in the Lord guided by the Holy Spirit.  Is this our expectation to grow in the Lord or are we still seeking to live out our own expectation?  The Lord can unite our hopes and dreams with his call to serve him in all we do but it begins with turning our expectation over to him to do with us according to his will.  In this we will be confirmed, to know God is with us producing the good fruit of our labor as heirs to the kingdom. 

We “become heirs in hope of eternal life” something to be thankful, hopeful, and dedicated to the Lord’s “training (of) us to reject godless ways and worldly desires”.  We are thankful, Jesus has arrived, but we remain a work in progress awaiting our day of judgment.  In the endless argument among faithful Christians, we are not justified by faith “alone” nor by “any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy” we are invited to enter in the Lord’s vineyard and fulfill our call through works of love and mercy. 

Faith leads us to the waters of baptism and baptism opens the gate of heaven to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that we may be confirmed that is strengthened to do the will of God in our participation of our salvation by living “temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age”.  The false edict “once saved always saved” is the devil’s temptation to fall into the prideful sin of making the greatest false assumption “our actions will not determine our judgment”.  It is foolish to believe baptism is our “get out of jail pass” and entry ticket to heaven regardless of our sins.  Called to sin no more is the ideal but humanity remains in a state of sin, and we must seek constant reconciliation. 

Salvation arrived in the birth of Jesus to be “justified by grace” and in his love we are now in the age of mercy to live by this same grace “eager to do what is good.”  We are a “hopeful” people, and our work of salvation remains our “hope for eternal life” as “heirs” who must put on the armor of our work and go forth to do what is good and avoid what is evil by the training we receive from the word of God, the body and blood of Jesus, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.   “Hope” implies the reality of an expectation that has yet to come yet it comes to us daily in the Eucharist, in our acts of love and mercy leading us to that particular day, the final day even as judgment comes daily in the manner we choose to respond to the Lord’s call.  It is both here and not yet. 

“Justified by grace…he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit”.  The Lord was faithful to his call for which he was born and in the baptism of the Lord he cleansed the water so we may join him by faith, water, and service.  Are we faithful to our call for the purpose we have received as “heirs” not to squander our inheritance on worldly desires but to multiply it by the same grace in which we were justified?  This “grace” is to love and be merciful in an unjust world.  We are given a light of truth to shine on the darkness around us.  It is a light that cannot be denied and a flame that is to be kept burning and not die from neglect. 

We are “justified by grace” when we go to confession as a repentant sinner called to be perfect but not yet.  Confession is our renewal of our baptismal promises as much as the forgiveness of our sins.  We are to daily rededicate ourselves to receive and to serve by grace the will of God in all we do for nothing is insignificant to the Lord, not our thoughts, not our feelings, or our actions.  We are not only “justified by grace” but being trained by grace to overcome what is evil and seek what is good.  This world is our “bootcamp” in which our struggles, suffering, and pain is to be offered up to the Lord so we may claim our victory in this life and celebrate in the eternal one to come.  This is our call to “live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age.”  How is it going so far?  Are we there yet and keeping our priorities in order with the call to know, love, and serve God?  We are “justified by grace” to enter into the battlefield where the evil one prowls about seeking the ruin of souls. 

The battlefield is waged in the mind, heart and will of the believer to render the enemy powerless from any attack from the outside world.  That is why we must nourish our minds with the word of God, nourish our hearts with love of God and be trained in the will of God. In the baptism of the Lord, he established the channel of grace that we may receive him as our greatest defender over the powers of evil.  We are not alone we are never alone with Christ for us no one can defeat us.