Irreducibles of Ministry

MIS: The transforming power of the Grace of God is a teaching the church cannot afford to lose.

Introduction

On April 18, 1942 the United States conducted an aerial raid on to Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. This mission, the Doolittle Raid, was very important for a couple of reason:

It was the initial retaliation for the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.

It was the first time aircraft bombers where lunch of an aircraft carrier.

The runway on deck was only 250 meter long and the bombers weighted 15 tons. In order to make the bombers takeoff, the crew had to strip-down the bombers of all the weight they could spare.

So drastic was this measure, history tells they replaced the gunners’ machine guns with broom stick painted black.

They stripped down the aircraft of everything they could, but the aircraft, eventually needed to flight.

They spare defense mechanism, but they didn’t spare the bombs.

They spare fuel to return, but to to arrive to their destination.

They wanted to spare everything they could, but there were some things they simply could not afford to lose less they jeopardize the mission.

The same can be said of ministry...

There are great things we can do.

There are good things we need to do.

And there are essential things we simply cannot afford to lose, less we jeopardize the mission of God.

“Our text this morning present us with one of these irreducible of ministry...”

Titus 2:11–15 ESV

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. 15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

🐢 “This morning I want us to consider three (3) elements of the grace of God that no church can afford to neglect...”

The Nature of the Grace of God

The Outcome of the Grace of God

The Importance of the Grace of God

Context

“First, allow me to bring you up to speed with what has been happening to Titus so far...”

Paul left Titus in the island of Crete to bring order and to appoint elders in the churches (Ti 1:5).

However, this was not an easy task. Cretan culture was infamous for its moral decay.

Paul quotes a popular saying among the Cretans when he says in Titus 1:12

Titus 1:12b (ESV)

12 […] “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

⚠️ You know you live in a godless culture when secular culture considers you greatly immoral.

No surprise this ungodly culture made its way into the Cretan church.

Spiritual leaders where deceiving whole families for personal gain (Ti 1:10-11).

They professed to know God, but they denied God with their actions (Ti 1:16).

Paul calls them, “detestable, disobedient, [and] unfit for any good work.” (Ti 1:16).

To many Christians, Crete would be consider a God-forsaken place. A hard soil to do ministry.

To Paul, Crete was the perfect place to plant churches.

Here is our D.A. Carson puts it...

“The letter is clear evidence that the Christian church is not intended to function only in cozy, respectable, middle-class environments. The gospel is for the most unpromising of people.”

- D.A. Carson

This make Paul’s words in Titus 2:11 more convicting when he says...

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people…” (Including the Cretans)

“Which leads us to the first elements of the grace of God that no church can afford to neglect...”

1. The Nature of the Grace of God

“We all know what grace means...”

An underserved gift.

“One Biblical Dictionary defined it like this...”

God’s unlimited kindness toward his people regardless of what they might deserve.

- Evangelical Dictionary of Theology

“J.I Packer once put it this way...”

“Grace is what the New Testament is about.”

J. I. Packer

But grace is not simply an attitude or a message of God. Grace is first and foremost a person.

In verse 11, Paul says this “grace of God” brought salvation for all people.

In verse 14, Paul tells us how this salvation came about...

“Speaking about Jesus, Paul says...”

Titus 2:14 ESV

14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

What Paul is talking about here is a transfer of ownership.

Jesus Christ gave himself for us, to redeem us, that is, to purchase us out of the slavery of sin (lawlessness).

Having then acquired our legal custody, Jesus purifies us and make us His possession.

What does that mean for the Cretan church (a for anyone who’s been redeemed by Christ)?

🔥 Sin is no longer our default setting.

It doesn’t matter how godless our culture could be.

It doesn’t matter how messed up our upbringing could be.

It doesn’t matter the hurt we have inflicted on other people, or the hurt other people have inflected on us.

🔥 The grace of God offers salvation to all people… ⏸️ Because it is powerful to transform any people.

“Which introduces the second element of the grace of God that no church can afford to neglect...”

2. The Outcome of the Grace of God

Growing up in the Dominican Republic, we had a banana tree in our backyard.

😅 You know we Dominicans thrive on platano!

The funny thing is, that banana (platano) trees are really not that beautiful, if you think about it. They always look like they are having a rough day.

Most people don’t plant a banana tree because of how beautiful it looks on your backyard, but rather for its fruits!

People who own platano trees expects platanos! Likewise, Jesus expects fruits of righteousness (Phil 1:11) in those whom He had redeemed.

Titus 2:14 (ESV)

14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Paul’s Epistle to Titus is filled with ethical commands and loaded with imperatives, fourteen (14) imperatives to be precise.

In the verses leading to our passage (Titus 2:2-10), Paul commands Titus to teach different groups in the church, how they ought to behave.

Older men are to be sober-minded.

Older women are no to be slanderers.

Younger men are to be self-controlled.

Servants are not to steal from to their master.

“… just to name a few.”

Considering the track-record of the Cretan culture, Paul is asking a lot of the Cretan church.

⚠️ Indeed this is hard, but not impossible. For the grace of God enables us to live godly lives.

“In verse 12, Paul adds, this grace of God is also...”

Titus 2:12 (ESV)

12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

Moreover, Paul is pinning one sinful habit with is counterpart.

It trains us to renounce “ungodliness” and to live “godly lives”.

It trains us to renounce “worldly passions” and to live a “self-controlled, upright” lives.

The expectation is not to meet in the middle, but to radically turnaround.

“In other words...”

🔥 The grace of God does not only enable us for godly living, it demands it!

🐢 ...Even from a lawless culture, like the Cretans.

If Jesus expects that from His church in Crete. How much more would he expect the same from His church in Raleigh-Durham?

3. The Importance of the Grace of God

What is the importance of the grace of God, not only to the life of any Christian, but to the life of our church and ministries?

“Look at Paul’s words in verse 15...”

Titus 2:15 (ESV)

15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

For Their Times

In the original language, all these verbs are in the imperative mood, meaning Paul is commanding Titus to do these things.

Teach (Declare)

Exhort

Rebuke

Likewise in Titus 2:1 Paul commands,

Titus 2:1 (ESV)

1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

Verses 1 and 15 serve as bookends for everything Paul instructs in Titus 2.

Here is what Paul is trying to tell Titus:

🔥“Titus, you cannot produce any transformation in the lives of the Cretan church. Only the Gospel can.”

⚠️ Real, lasting transformation cannot be produced apart from the power of the Gospel...

⏸️ 💣 … And this is a teaching you cannot afford to lose.

For Our Times

We live in fortunate times...

Information is most abounding and most accessible in our time, than in any period in human history.

Our world is more connected than ever, granting us the ability to learn from other culture’s strengths and weaknesses

Countless researches and experiments have been done to help the church be more efficient.

Books have been written, masterclasses have been filmed, podcasts have been recorded to help Christians excel in their God-given calling.

⚠️ But if we ignore the doctrine of the Gospel and its transforming power, ⏸️ we are actually giving up ground.

🔥 To hit the mark on every social issue, growth strategy, counseling techniques, public speaking and leadership model and remove the centrality of the Gospel and its transforming power, is to miss the mark altogether!

⚠️ This doesn’t mean the church cannot benefit from all the tools and resources God has made available to us.

♥️ Please! Don’t let world keep all the great ideas!

But these things are but accessories to the Gospel, not the Gospel in itself.

Again: The transforming power of the Grace of God is a teaching the church cannot afford to lose.

As you minister to your students, remember, it is the Gospel, and not the program, that transform lives.

As you lead our campuses in worship, remember, it is the Gospel, and not the talents, that transform lives.

As you help planning our weekend services, remember, it is the Gospel, and not the experience, that transform lives.

As you meet with a member for coffee, remember, it is the Gospel, and not your wisdom, that transform lives.

[Reframe this application as questions]

Conclusion

These things are great, but they are not the Gospel.