Titus 3 (NIV)
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to being obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no-one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility towards all men. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
As soon as I send Artemas and Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need.
Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.
Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.
Living in a world where there is so much negativity is hard for us all. We are continually facing others who argue about pointless things, things that serve only to make one better than the other. People are happy putting other people down with words we chose to use, actions we do and we find we become envious and jealous because someone has something we don't. Paul recognises the societal norm of living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another (v3). This is something that has become acceptable living in today's society, in fact, in some cities of the world, it is seen as 'God's given right to treat others with utter contempt'. It has got to the point of living where people who try not to live like this are considered abnormal or are themselves ridiculed and hated. It begs the question, can anyone win in today's society?
Well, the answer is, "Yes, we can!" Paul lays out his instructions to Titus in chapter 3 before closing his letter.
Verses 4-6 reminds us of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The grace God gave us and through his mercy, we are saved. We are told that God chose to do this when we were still living in malice and envy. There was nothing that we had done to deserve God's grace as Jesus Christ. We are told that when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy (v5). This is Grace Alone. The concept the Reformers, like Martin Luther argued 500 years ago this month. God, through his grace, sent Jesus, his only begotten son, to take the sins of the world upon his shoulders to pay the ransom for our sin by dying on the cross. As a result, we who believe and call upon the name of the Lord are dead to sin and reborn in Christ through the Holy Spirit (v5). We who believe are heirs to the hope of eternal life (v7) because we are justified before God because of Christ's atoning sacrifice.
Therefore, we are to remind ourselves every day not to conform to the world's acceptable way of living, but be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no-one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility towards all men. This is the only way we are going to stand out from those who belong to the world and to Satan.
Living a life for God is not easy, particularly in today's climate. With so many pressures up against us, deadlines imposed upon us, everyone working towards their own agenda forsaking all other agendas, it is easy for us all to just let one thing slide and conform. But Paul tells us we must not. We must devote ourselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone (v8). We have the Holy Spirit that God poured out on us (v5&6) to help us on a daily basis, to strengthen us, to guide us and as we found in my last message Hold Onto God’s Grace, to say “No!” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.
We are to avoid all things that prevent us from doing just that (v9) avoid foolish genealogies and controversies and arguments and quarrels about the law. Why waste time on things that mean nothing? Why get bogged down with the nitty gritty? Why allow anyone to continually put us down, get us confused with pointless genealogies and distract us from a godly life?
Hold Onto Our Hope of eternal life, Hold Onto Jesus who gave his life for us, Hold Onto The Truth of the Gospel, Hold Onto Sound Doctrine from Scripture, Hold Onto God’s Grace given freely for the forgiveness of our sins and only then can we provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives (v14).
Grace be with you all.
