"For Grace Appeared"

The duty of slaves - and of us all

2:9-10 - Slaves should be told that it is their duty as Christians to obey their masters and to give them satisfactory service in every way. They are not to "answer back" or to be light-fingered, but they are to show themselves utterly trustworthy, a living testimonial to the teaching of God our Savior.

2:11-14 - For the grace of God, which can save every man, has now become known, and it teaches us to have no more to do with godlessness or the desires of this world but to live, here and now, responsible, honorable and God-fearing lives. And while we live this life we hope and wait for the glorious dénouement of the Great God and of Jesus Christ our Savior. For he gave himself for us all, that he might rescue us from all our evil ways and make for himself a people of his own, clean and pure, with our hearts set upon living a life that is good. Titus 1:1 – 2:14, J.B. Phillips New Testament

Now if you were paying attention (and this is why I wanted you to hear it in different terminology than you are accustomed to) you may have observed as I read that Paul was calling to the attention of Titus something of which Titus probably had very little need of reminder.

He was among a difficult people. The Cretans had a history of piracy around the Mediterranean, and of the evil habits that historically accompanied that lifestyle.

Paul even quotes one of their own prophets here in his letter and there is an interesting side point to be made from that.

The line in verse 12 of chapter 1, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons’, is from an ode to Zeus written by one, Epimenides.

There is much to say about this so-called prophet also; I can’t take time to go into it today but the curious student can ‘Google’ that name and come up with a number of websites that will tell the sketchy information we have on this character.

There are four lines from this poem that may interest you, as you will hear not only the line quoted here by Paul, but also one he used with the philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens, recorded in Acts 17. The lines go like this:

(Remember, this is to Zeus)

“They fashioned a tomb for thee, O holy and high one –

The Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies!

But thou art not dead; thou livest and abidest forever,

For in thee we live and move and have our being.”

The important point for us to note from this is that Paul affirms the words of the poet, saying to Titus, ‘This testimony is true.’ And then says, ‘for this reason reprove them severely that they may be sound in the faith’.

From the beginning of the letter up to our text verses, this entire correspondence is about good behavior, Godly character, sound teaching of sound doctrine, and Paul addresses every group of society.

He has left Titus with silly, self-indulgent people and he wants to impress upon them that the Christian is supposed to be different; that behaviors change, that beliefs change, that basic thinking changes, in the one who has been saved by the appearing of God’s grace through Jesus Christ our Savior.