Living faithfully with Christ

Sermon 3: Living faithfully with Christ

Titus 3.

Leadership within ourselves

Big Question: How am I to live?

FCF: V3. We were once foolish, disobedient, led astray

Good News: V5. He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.

Jesus our Saviour: V4 and V6

Structure:

- 1-3 (Show Godly Character everywhere)

4-8 (God make it possible to be godly)

9-11 & - 15 (Godliness leads to unity)

How often do we think about the past and just wish that we could just blot out that shameful moment from history. Not the embarrassing moment when we called our teacher mum. But the moment when we laughed at the kid with a funny name, or the time that we deliberately hurt a friend because we were angry. Moments that we are not proud of, That we just wish everyone would move on from, we might say: I’m such a different person now, please everyone just forget what I did back then, lets just move on!

Well, today we will see how God’s grace and his work on the cross, gives us a helpful way to remember our past. Paul explains this as we walk through Chapter three together, which is the final chapter of this short and informative book.

(Slide) So, for those of you who have journeyed along from Chapter 1, you will know that each chapter involves some guidance for what Christian behavior should look like, listing qualifications for Elders in Chapter 1 and lists of virtues for men and women in Chapter 2. You will also know that Paul’s encouragement to the church is not centered on the performance of such virtues, but rather Paul’s encouragement is centered on what God has done through the death and Resurrection of Jesus on the cross.

That as we consider Christ and what he has done, we will respond with teachable hearts, that our Character will grow to reflect the gracious love of our father in heaven and his forgiveness and mercy.

And so with this encouragement from Paul, we reach Chapter 3 and Paul takes the message he has presented thus far and he shows us how we are to live

Which will be unpacked in three parts, Paul will show us that we are to;

1-3 (Show Godly Character everywhere)

Know that

4-8 (God makes it possible to be godly)

and that

9-11 & - 15 (Godliness leads to unity)

Show Godly Character everywhere (Slide)

Now, Character and heart have been the guide to interpreting this book by understanding the virtues add up to an exemplified Christ-like Character. Character traits that all people are to grow towards as we each grow to live Godly lives.

Now for the most part, Paul’s letter has been addressing the contexts that are within Christian circles. That is, we’ve looked at the Godly Christian leader. We’ve also looked at the Godly Christian family, which also encompasses the Godly Christian Church as it relates to one another.

Now in Chapter 3 we venture outside of the Christian circles and look at Godliness in the context of regular life. That is a life that includes Governments, Councils, teachers, pastors, Parents, friends and neighbors.

So the question Paul is answering here, is how do I live as a follower of Jesus in a society and context that is not following Jesus?

And to kick us off Paul says: (Slide) Verse 1

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good”

We might be confronted with the difficulty of what this means. But some things are here for us to notice, and that is simply the clarity of what we are to be. (Slide) Be Subject, be obedient, be ready to do good.

What I especially like about it’s clarity is that is doesn’t give any if’s but’s or depends whether…

See, in our context, It doesn’t matter whether there’s a left government or a right government, whether your school supports climate action or workplace lets you work from home. This passage is not concerned for the political persuasions of the rulers which govern you.

Because no matter how you feel about the authorities and what they are pushing, I guarantee you have not yet faced state sponsored persecution from the likes of the Roman government that Paul is writing in the context of. Yet, Paul, even under Roman rule, he reminds the people to be subject to the rulers. Be obedient, ready to do good.

And so he goes on to inform us of our interpersonal relationships in verse 2, that include class mates, colleagues, distant family, neighbors and strangers. Paul says (Slide) to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.

Now, when we reflect on our conversations with other people about what the government is up to, or the ways our neighbor annoys us, or what Billy did last weekend. I wonder if given a transcript of our private conversations how our words might stack up with Paul’s instruction here?

And given what we might have said about others, what kind of a heart does our words show that we have? A heart that loves others as Christ loves us? or a heart that loves ourselves and our own ideas?

Perhaps this is a good takeaway for us from the first section of Paul’s message, Let us show Godly Character towards everyone, everywhere.

(Slide) And to help us understand why we should do that, Paul reminds us of the important truth of God’s grace in our lives.

At the start I talked about the desire to blot out those moments when we hurt another through our anger, or laughed at someone maybe just to fit in. Paul is reminds us of these moments, not to haunt us and drive us mad with guilt. but rather because it exemplifies the work that Christ has done in our hearts.

See our histories, when we view them with the lens of Christ’s grace, we have not a horrible memory of the past. But rather an image of Christ’s glorious work in our lives.

Because as we look to what God has done in our own hearts, we are reminded that only...

God makes it possible to be godly. (Slide)

So here on behalf of the church, Paul writes the collective testimony of the Church. Paul shows God’s grace at work in the lives of each of us, as he states the words in verse 3 (Slide)... “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”

Now we may not identify as a hating kind of person or envious or living in malice. These are all strong negative statements. However, once again, let us not focus on the performance of these qualifiers, whether we actually used these words, and rather understand the heart of what these words say about ourselves.

I love this passage particularly because (Slide) it shows that our history reveals the work of God’s Grace in our lives.

One time, in my early twenties I was enslaved with a need to have what my friends had, so without consultation I sold the car that my dad had purchased for me to use as a teenager. I sold it, and used the money to buy a ute, because for whatever the reason, in my heart I had justified the need and did it.

And I have to say, while my actions were not out of hate of my father. I certainly showed that my heart did not care for the generosity of his provision. I did not reflect the love of my father towards me,

However, thanks be to the Grace of God, my father forgave me. Not just for selling his car without permission but for all the ways I acted as a passion filled young man. My dad, never ask for repayment nor made me feel guilty. He forgave me and that forgiveness of my dad, that act of grace, changed my heart. I’ve not been the same since,

and so now, the memory of this gracious moment, while it involves my foolishness will always be remembered as a picture of grace.

You might not have been so extreme, or maybe you did other foolish things, what ever the case, whether we’ve been brash or subtle. Our lives lived for ourselves is disobedience to God, our lives lived for ourselves is the definition of being enslaved by our own pleasures and passions.

So what a wonder it is that Paul would raise to our attention the act of grace from God!

in Verses 4- 7 he presents a beautiful summary of the Gospel.

If someone asks you what the gospel is. This is a great summary, so highlight this in your bibles (Slide)

“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.”

See no matter how deep our sin was, no matter how far away we felt from God, from hope, from mercy. God saved us, and washed us clean.

That is, God has taken our histories and the foolish things we did, and he washed our hearts clean, God has made us new people.

Maybe you have had a hard past, one that you are working hard to forget. God’s message here is that you muct know that our past’s don’t define us, We are no longer the sum of all our decisions. But rather, because of Christ we are re birthed, and made new by the Holy Spirit. (Slide)

SO be encouraged, encouraged to view your past through the lens of God’s grace. That when you look back to your history, first and foremost you see that you are a new person in Christ, Saved because of his mercy, washed clean of all the sin in your past.

Then only look back that to see how much change has occurred, that you would use the testimony of your heart change to glorify Christ by sharing about the work that he has done in you.

That we would all live each day, as an heir of Christ, confident that the hope of eternal life is ours because of God’s great love and mercy for us.

See my fathers act of grace was a big moment for me and my history. But this act from God is far bigger than that! Because God knows the depths of all our sin, he knows the wretched state of our hearts, and even so, he chose to forgive us and give us new life in his name.

This message is so special, so important, because this is the message of hope that the world desperately needs. (Slide) In a world of growing hate, and division, where wars rage, where violence happens in the street.

(Slide) God’s loving act of grace, by his mercy, is the hope the world needs. His act of Grace, where Jesus took our anger, our passions, our desires and freed us from the hold they have over us. Where he gave us new life, that we would live in the hope of eternal life with God. That we no longer have to fear this world, free that we can love others as Christ loved us,

Maybe you are here today and you are hearing this for the first time, or you’ve heard it all before but you still wonder... Could God really save me? Is my life even worth God’s effort to save?

The answer, dear friend, is yes! If you don’t know Jesus as your savior and king, then know that this message is the hope you are searching for.

This is a trust worthy message. Trust that God’s grace is sufficient to save you and each each of us, that we can live for so much more than ourselves. Trust that God’s grace is true

and trust that (Slide) through the Holy Spirit we able to live lives of Godliness because God made it possible.

Therefore, we are to love others like Jesus loves us. Being gentle toward everyone even when they don’t deserve it because God was gentle toward us when we didn’t deserve it.

we can be obedient and subject to authority because God is the ruler over all, able to make us heirs with Christ, having the hope of eternal life.

Which is why Paul finishes off this Christian living message by instructing us towards unity as a church in the truth of God’s grace.

Unity in Truth (Slide)

The whole of Paul’s letter has been concerned with teaching the truth. That leaders and families must be led by good doctrine, which is good teaching that leads to the truth of Jesus, in order for people to grow in godliness.

Therefore, in order to keep to the truth of the gospel, and not get bogged down by (Slide) verse 9. foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law.

We see that sometimes, people need to be rebuked. Which isn’t always easy. but it’s extremely necessary.

(Slide) because these issues are unprofitable and useless

But understand that this warning isn’t just to say bad teaching needs to be rebuked. Paul is also showing that (Slide) the Churches testimony to the grace of God at work among his people is through the unity of truth.

Thus Paul is saying where division and false teaching reign, the grace of God is absent. which is why the church is instructed to have nothing to do with them. 11 (Slide) “You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.”

See a Church that is unwilling to exercise discipline of false teaching is neither loving nor unifying for a church. And to make it worse, the longer a church tolerates false teaching, the greater the division that such teaching will sow in the church, and the more entrenched the false teacher’s heart will be in their own error.

That is to say It is neither loving to the false teacher nor unifying for the church to allow such teaching to flourish.

So doing good, might look like a difficult conversation warning people off divisive chat.

However, it’s not all bad news, because when a church teaches God’s truth and its people grow in godliness and Character...

Doing good for the benefit of others...

(Slide) God’s grace and mercy are then fully on display as the church continues to live within it’s societal context.

And so Paul, sends with his letter some final greetings and news of other people’s travels that the good work of the church in Crete would be beneficial to all. And the repeated message is in verse 14

(Slide) Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.

So let us hear from Paul about our need to do good. Not because that will make us pious or super Christians, but because we reflect on the change in our hearts by the work that Christ has done.

Let us do good to others, because Christ has done good to us. We didn’t deserve the forgiveness, and we haven’t been asked to repay back our debt. Rather Christ has borne the cost, that we would be free from sin.

To summarise the message of Titus for the church remember this scenario

(Slide) Imagine you’re swimming at out at Bondi Beach – you’re 100m away from the shore and you get caught in a rip – you’re getting dragged in – and you’re drowning.

But before you black out – (Slide) a lifeguard appears – and they save you and drag you onto their surfboard.

What are you going to do next?

Do you ask to be thrown back into the water?

Do you ask to spend the rest of your life on the surfboard board?

No, you head back to the beach and start living with this new chance of life

that’s been made possible because of the lifeguard. [pause]

(Slide) JESUS is our lifeguard – who has saved us from something FAR WORSE than drowning.

But, being saved isn’t an end in itself. Rather, It’s the first stage of a whole new life living for God.

And therefore wanting to go back to live our previous life as a non-Christian is just as crazy as wanting to be thrown back into the rip or wanting to live the rest of our life on that surfboard.

If you want to change your life for the better be encouraged to keep looking back to the cross – keep trusting in Jesus – and let the Holy spirit do his work in changing you, shaping you to have the Character of Christ, living a new life doing good always.

Lets Pray

Dear God,

we thank you for the message to Titus, we thank you that you have given us such a trustworthy message. May we always see the grace of you love for us in all our lives. May we live productive and loving lives as with live faithfully with you.

grow us and shape us Lord by your Spirit, we pray in Jesus name,

Amen