Titus 2:10-15; 3:4-8 October 23, 2011
Turn with me this morning to the book of Titus, chapter 2. I trust that by now you have learned where the book of Titus in located - in the middle of the NT, right after 1 & 2 Timothy, and right before Philemon and Hebrews. This letter is written by the Apostle Paul to one of his young protegés, a young Greek man named Titus. Paul had left Titus on the Greek island of Crete, a 160 mile long island in the Mediterranean Sea, just south of Greece - an island filled with pagans. But the gospel had come to this island, and in the midst of the idol worship, many churches had been established. These Christians were to be light in the darkness. Paul reminds Titus these Cretans were always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons - but the Christians were supposed to be different - they were supposed to stand out - they were supposed to shine! Do you ever feel like everyone around you is so ungodly and immoral? Don’t expect your unsaved friends, neighbors and co-workers to live like Jesus! They never will! They are “Born to Raise Hell!” Because they don’t have Jesus in their life!
So why does Paul leave Titus at Crete? There was a problem - the churches needed something straightened out: they needed leaders. Just like someone with a broken leg needs to go to the doctor and get the bone set, Paul knew that the churches were hurting because they needed capable leaders. So Paul left Titus on Crete to appoint elders in every town. Why did the church need elders? Because elders are to set an example for all of us to follow. We are to follow the pattern of their lives and live our lives the same way.
Paul talks about the pattern for living in chapter 1 of what their lives should look like. In chapter 2, Paul give instructions for key focus areas for young men, older men, young women, older women, and for slaves. Jim Case talked about they area of slaves last week, looking at how that applies in our culture today as the idea of employers and employees. And Paul reminds us here in 2:10 that we are to make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
The sad thing is that often instead of making Christ’s teaching attractive we turn people off to following Christ by the way we live our lives. Do you know any Christians like that? They are always negative - always complaining and criticizing others - they are lazy workers - they shirk responsibility - their speech is improper and the unsaved hear them and say they’re no different than I am - they don’t give a testimony to anyone of anything Christ has done for them, but they’ll plaster the bathroom stalls with gospel tracts - that’s just what I’d want to see if I were unsaved . . . you sit down to do your business and reach for the paper and here’s a gospel tract: prepare for hell! - or do you know the Christian who gloats turn or burn - you’re headed for hell!` And then we wonder why the gospel is unattractive - why unbelievers don’t want to become Christians!
Paul tells us that we are to make the teaching about God our Savior attractive! So what is that teaching and why would it be attractive. Paul gives a summary of the teaching here in chapter 2 and 3, and we want to look at those verses together this morning. We’ll start in chapter 2, verse ll.
Read 2:11-15, 3:4-8 Pray
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 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 glorious appearing 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. These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior 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 Savior, 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.
This morning, I want to remind us that we have an AWESOME message, and anyone who truly understands it will understand that unbelievers need to hear this truth. Sadly, even though we know it, we are often ashamed of it, and feel like we have to “sneak it in” somehow. It’s like my mother’s meatloaf. I say my mother made “enthusiasm meatloaf” - she put everything she had into it. We would take a piece and start picking at it with a fork, and here were carrots, broccoli, spaghettios, chili beans, any leftovers from that week’s meal were liable to show up in it. Well, often we feel we need to “sneak” Jesus into people’s lives. But the truth is, if they truly understand who Jesus is and what He has done for them, the truth will be attractive to them!
Paul reminds Titus here about
Our Problem: and we can sum it up in one word - SIN. In 3:3 he says, At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. Paul says before salvation we were all slaves to sin. We were deceived by Satan, and disobeyed God. But there is a penalty for living for self. Romans 6:23 says, For the wages of sin is death - when you work a job, you are paid a wage. For our sin, we reap the wages, the consequences, eternal death, eternal separation from hell. Many times we are not motivated to share the wonderful truth about God and salvation because we really don’t believe that there is a hell. Even though we might say, Sure, I believe there is a hell and know it with our minds - in our hearts we truly don’t believe in it - because if we did, we’d live a very different life.
Our problem is sin and it’s consequences. Verse 11 says, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. The love of God might long to save us, but the justice of God demands a penalty. The mercy of God motivated Him to give His very son Jesus as the substitute for us. But it is the grace of God that offers us forgiveness.
What is grace? The technical definition is unmerited favor - God gives us that which we do not deserve, which we did not earn, simply because He chooses to. A simple acronym for Grace is this:
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. We get all God has for us, because Jesus paid our penalty.
So who needs salvation? Everyone! Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all are sinners, condemned by our sin. So who does God lavish this grace, this unmerited favor on?
Once again, EVERYONE! 2:11 - For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. You say, What about the natives in Africa who have never heard the gospel? Or you might say, What about the pagans in Owosso? The same answer applies. God has offered His grace and His salvation to all men. And those who do not receive it are eternally damned. God tells us in Romans 1:20 - From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see His invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.
So, the bad news is that ALL men are without excuse, lost, under the penalty of their sin, and destined for eternal separation from God is hell, a place of eternal torment created for the devil and his angels. And that IS a big problem! But let’s consider,
God’s Solution: Grace. Verse 11 once again - For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It is God’s grace, His unmerited favor, His free gift that provides us forgiveness and salvation. 3:4 makes it clear to us that this salvation is not based on anything we can do ourselves: But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. If you ask most people if they plan on making it to heaven, the typical answer is I hope so. If you ask them why God should let them into heaven, they’ll normally respond, I’m a good person. But the Bible makes it clear - NO, you are NOT a good person. Romans 3:12 - there is no-one who does good, not even one.
So where there is nothing WE can do to receive salvation, the good news, the gospel (which means “good news”) is that God has done for us what we could never accomplish on our own. Salvation is described in many ways. 3:5 tells us, 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 Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
It says here, we have rebirth - that’s what Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3 - I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. The idea is being born from above - born physically the first time, born of the Spirit the second time.
It says here we are renewed - Remember 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
And it says here we are Justified - the easy way to remember this is “just as if I had never sinned.” Really it is a technical legal term that refers to a “not guilty” verdict being given. Yes, we sinned, but when God looks at us as the righteous judge of all the earth, He declares us “not guilty” because the penalty of our sin was placed upon Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 - God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
So the problem we all face - SIN. God’s provision - salvation, rebirth, regeneration, justification - all through His grace and mercy. But once we have received that grace, what will grace do for us?
1. Grace Redeems Us - This is a change in position. Where once we were enemies of God, guilty of our sin, we are declared “not guilty.” 2:14 says, 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. To redeem is to set free by paying a price. Yes, in salvation we are set free from the power of sin over us - but our salvation, our freedom, was bought with a great price. 1 Peter 1:18-20 - For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
Grace redeems us. God’s desire is not to reform the world, but to redeem individual men and women, and reform them, and in the process our world will become transformed through individual Christians changing. Grace redeems us,
2. Grace Reforms Us - This is a change in practice. We are not saved by the things we do, but once we are saved, the things we do should change. Look at verse 12, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. Grace teaches us to say NO to our passions, our desires, our will. Most people live for pleasure - they do whatever they FEEL like doing. But grace teaches us to say “NO.”
The word for “teaches” is the word for child training. Think back to raising a 2 year old. How many times to you have to say “NOOO, Billy, put the cookie back on the table.” Over and over and over again we need to learn to say NO. Some people think I’ll just become a Christian and all my bad habits will change. God will break the power of sin over you, but we need to learn to say NO to sin. For some of you, I could stop right there and you could work on that one thing all week - just learning to say NO whenever you are tempted to indulge in your worldly passions. What are worldly passions? Whenever we hear the word “passion” we think about sexual things. But passion is desire - that which we are passionate about. 1 John 2:16 tells us clearly what these are: For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world. The KJV says, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Physical, mental, and emotional desires. We need to say NO and not be driven by our desires.
But there is more that we need to do. Many Christians try to “just say no” and end up frustrated. Instead, we need to replace the negative with a positive. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. We say no to sin, and then say YES to God. We are to live self-controlled lives - keeping our passions in check. This is how we relate to our selves. We are to be upright - above board in our dealings with others. And we are to live godly lives - our relationship with our God.
So God’s grace reforms us - it changes us to be the person we should be. Here in this passage we see the three stages of our salvation.
God saves us from the penalty of sin - that is salvation - vs. 14 - who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness. God saves us from the power of sin over us - that is sanctification - who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own. And thirdly God saves us from the presence of sin - vs 13 - while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. When He appears, he will take us to be with Him in heaven forevermore. 3:7 - so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
And that is our third point about grace -
3. Grace Rewards Us - this is a change of property - to use a “p” word. Verse 13 says this is a blessed hope, a glorious appearing. Why is it blessed and glorious? Because when God returns for us, He will take us to receive our eternal rewards. 3:7 says so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. What does it mean we are heirs? It means we inherit a blessing from God. Something is prepared to give to us. Did you ever inherit anything? You read the will and maybe you inherit a family heirloom passed down to you from one of your ancestors. Sometimes inheritances are valuable; sometimes just sentimental. But what do we inherit?
Romans 8:17 - Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Paul says what we have to put up with on earth is nothing when we think about what God has in store to give us. If I said, would you quit your job and work at a nursing home taking care of patients for free - most of you would say no. If I said after a month of doing it, I’ll pay you $10 million, most of us would start today. Our problem is we don’t focus on the rewards enough.
We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. That means what Christ gets, we share in that inheritance. Colossians 3:4 - When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 2 Timothy 2:12 - If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. We will rule and reign with Christ. 1 Peter 1 - Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Corinthians 2:9 - No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.
Grace rewards us. When we serve God, He makes it worth our while!
So, let’s review - We are to live so that we will make the teaching of Christ attractive. Is it? We are all sinners, eternally destined for eternal punishment and separation from God. But God loves us and freely offers us escape, His free gift of salvation, a changed life, and eternal rewards forevermore. Is that good news? YES!
So, 3:8 tells us, if we really believe this, then we should live like we do. And we’ll talk more about that next week. Let’s pray.
