Titus 5

Titus

RIGHT LIVING FROM RIGHT TRUTH

Part 5

“Saved to do What is Good”

Last time we ended with Paul’s words about how God has redeemed and purified for Himself a people zealous for good works. We also discussed how every Christian represents the kingdom of God and His authority in the world.

Now as we begin chapter 3, we’re going to see Paul mention three different times the importance of the Christian being involved in good works. He’s going to tell us to “be ready for good works, to “maintain good works,” and again to “maintain good works.”

Now first off, the Christian is to be a model citizen in the country where they belong:

3:1a “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey,”

Christians are not to be lawless, but rather submitted to the laws of the land, so long as those same laws do not require them to go against God or break His Word.

In the Book of Acts when the disciples had been commanded to no longer speak or teach in Jesus’s name, they refused to comply saying, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

But for the most part, the Christian should exemplify good citizenship, being “subject” to rulers and authorities. Keep in mind that Paul wrote this during the wicked emperor Nero’s rule. If Paul could do it in that wicked reign, we can submit as well!

Then for the second time in Titus he advises,

3:1b “...to be ready for every good work,”

The word “ready” means “standing by.” Christians should be in the forefront of those who minister to the poor, the sick, the handicapped, and the disadvantaged.

As we so often say, good works don’t save you, but they are the evidence that you have been saved!

The Apostle James wrote much on good works mixed with genuine faith.

James 2:14-17 “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

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3:2 “to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all meekness to all men.”

The word for “evil” here is blasphemy. It means to speak reproachfully or to slander. It does not mean you can’t speak truth about a person. Jesus did, particularly regarding the Pharisees. But He didn’t slander them with falsehood.

We are to be PEACEABLE—not a brawler, not a fighter in the physical sense.

GENTLE—fair and fitting, taking into account the difficult circumstances others may be in.

MEEK—Meekness is not weakness. It is that quality in us that bows to the will of God. Commentator John Phillips writes, “Meekness is like an exotic plant that the Holy Spirit cultivates in the souls of the believer.” The meek person is not easily provoked, is patient, long suffering, all which display great strength, not weakness!

Next, Paul tells us why we should be meek and patient toward all men...

3:3 “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.”

First, Paul focuses on the way we were in our interior lives:

He says we used to live just like the people in the world. We were first foolish, which is the same word Paul uses in Romans to describe the lack of wisdom in the heathen. It means “senseless.”

And we were disobedient, which means “unwilling to be persuaded.” Obstinate. Stubborn.

And deceived, meaning “deluded, under delusion, walking in lies.”

And we lived our lives serving various lusts and pleasures. The word serving means “a slave.” Even Jesus said, “Whoever commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34). We were helpless and hopeless slaves to sin!

Next, Paul deals with how the inside of us caused us to treat others outside of us:

We lived in malice and envy. Malice refers to vicious character and literally conveys the ideas of wickedness and depravity. It is the desire to do harm to others. Not pretty! But this is and always will be the condition of the unsaved heart.

Envy is when we resent and even hate others when they are honored, or succeed, or come into blessing. It was envy that caused Joseph’s brothers to betray him, and the Bible tells us that envy motivated the religious leaders to demand Jesus’s execution.

And we were hateful. Interestingly, the Greek word translated into hateful is found only here in the entire New Testament. It presents a picture of something detestable. Unsaved hearts are full of hatred from early on! Jeremiah rightly said that “the heart is desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). A heart full of hate can do anything.

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What a condition we were in! But next comes the GOOD NEWS!

3:4 “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,”

God’s kindness appeared in the midst of our dark sinfulness. When we were wallowing in the muck and mire of sin and evil, suddenly—there He was! “God our Savior!”

And none of it was of us, by us, or from us.

3:5a “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us,”

We did nothing to earn our salvation; it was all of Him and none of us.

This is one of the hardest truths for us to not only accept, but to walk in. Something deep within us is convinced we must do something to help God along. Some good work. Something meritorious. Something to gain His favor.

This truth about God’s grace flies in the face of all other religions. Cults, for instance, always require works in order to gain acceptance from God and cult leadership.

And for some people, the very idea that they are “good enough” to get into heaven betrays how deceived they are. They compare themselves with drug addicts, prisoners, thieves, murderers, swindlers, prostitutes, and others that society typically frowns on and say, “See, I’m not like them! I’m a good person by comparison!”

But this is the very attitude Jesus brought out in a simple story found in Luke’s gospel:

Luke 18:9-14 ”Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer[b]: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! 12 I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

So according to Jesus, one of the great dangers to one becoming saved is self-righteousness, to believe you have no sin to forgive.

In fact, John in his first letter bluntly says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). And, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us” (1:10).

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Paul next describes just how God saved us:

3:5b “through the washing of regeneration,”

The word “washing” is from the Greek word loutron meaning “to have a bath.” In God’s sight our sin is so vile we require a bath! Our bodies were intended to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, and our spirits were intended to be His shrine.

But when sin entered at the fall, the Holy Spirit departed, leaving Adam and Eve (and us by default) spiritually dead. So before the Holy Spirit can re-enter His temple, there has to a total cleansing.

Once the “washing” has taken place, the “regeneration” can take place. He says, “By the washing of regeneration...”

The word regeneration literally means “born again.” In regeneration, the Holy Spirit comes back into the cleansed believer’s body and quickens his dead spirit back to life again.

In Ephesians Paul writes, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ...” (Eph.2:4-5).

We could put it this way: When man was created he was generated (to cause to be). When he fell he was degenerated (to deteriorate from normalcy). Then when man is born again he is regenerated (restored to normalcy, re-created).

So the story of man is from generation, to degeneration, and once saved, to regeneration.

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And then

3:5c “and renewing of the Holy Spirit.”

The renewing of the Holy Spirit is simply the continuing operation of the Holy Spirit in the life of the regenerated believer.

God is now back in your life. You have been restored to the normalcy God always intended for us—that being to walk with Him. Walking with God is normal. Living without Him is abnormal!

The believer has been radically changed from the inside out. “Old things have passed away, and all things are made new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

3:6 “whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,“

Notice Paul uses the personal pronoun “whom,” showing that the Holy Spirit is not an “it,” or a “force,” or some kind of spiritual fog but is a Person.

And He has been given to us “abundantly!” Believers have a vast supply of living water God pours out in a never-failing stream.

As Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive;” (John 7:38-39)

The Christian life is a supernatural life. The very life of Jesus is given to us through His mighty Spirit who indwells us, fills us, anoints us, and flows through us.

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Next, Paul looks to the future:

3:7a “that having been justified by His grace...”

The word “justified” is a legal term that means “to be declared righteous before the law.” The law has no claim against a justified person.

Justification is greater than forgiveness in this respect—A person who has been proven guilty may be forgive by the offended party while still facing the consequences of their actions.

But a justified person has been acquitted; there is no more record of being guilty. The guilty slate has been wiped clean.

The salvation Jesus brought to us not only offers forgiveness, but it justifies the believer, acquitting them of all charges. the record of our sins is eternally expunged from God’s memory! (See Jer. 31:34; Heb 8:12; 10:16-17)

And lastly, that,

3:7b “we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Hope points forward. Because all charges against us have been thrown out of heaven’s court, we will inherit as heirs the eternal life only Jesus can offer.

No wonder the Holy Spirit tells us in Hebrews 7:25 that we have been “saved to the uttermost!” Or as someone has put it, we’ve been saved “from the gutter most to the uttermost!”

NEXT TIME: Last Thoughts