A Gracious and Peaceful Greeting

Introduce the Passage

Good morning, brothers and sisters. It’s a privilege for me to have the opportunity to bring God’s Word to you this morning.

As most of you know, our Light City Church Family is now a little over 2 years old! Kaylee and I have been gathering here for about the last 10 months, and we committed ourselves to formal membership after the New Year.

Needless to say, we weren’t around in the very beginning when this Light City Family was first established. For those of you who have been a part of Light City since the very beginning, I want to invite you to think back and reflect on those first 2 years for a moment. How has it been so far as a “baby” church family? Have there been some good times? Some challenging times? Some growing pains? Has there been some instruction and some organization needed as you’ve set out and started crawling together as a local church?

My assumption is that you probably would answer “yes” to all of these questions!

Now, here’s something else that I’d like for all of us to reflect on for a moment this morning: Let’s say that it’s around the year 60 AD. We’re living on an island—our home island— in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, about 1500 miles from the coast of the Jewish nation of Israel. Most of us ourselves are not of Jewish descent...and YET…we’ve recently forsaken the various gods that we grew up worshipping, and we’ve come to believe in the One True God of the Jews. More pointedly, we’ve come to believe in a Man, Jesus of Nazareth. Though we haven’t seen Him, we have come to believe the Good News that has been shared about Him. We’ve come to believe that He is the Resurrected Christ, the Son of the Living God...and that in Him, we have forgiveness of our sins, salvation, and the hope of eternal life!

And so here we are together, still living on our home island, but now as Christians...seeking to do life together as believers. We’re one of many newly-forming churches on our island still in their “infancy stage.” And not only that, but we’re also a part of the broader Church of Jesus Christ that is still in Her “infancy stage”…Christ’s Church that has set out from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and is crawling throughout the rest of the Roman Empire.

Well this hypothetical scenario…it was the complex reality for Christians on the island of Crete in the decades that followed the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

This morning, we’re going to be setting out in the Book of Titus. More accurately stated, this “book” is actually a pastoral “letter” written by the Apostle Paul, to be received by Titus himself. Titus was a ministry companion of Paul’s who was left on this island of Crete and entrusted by Paul to bring leadership, organization, and common mission to these believers amid this complex reality.

Lord-willing, in the coming months, as I have the opportunity to preach here at Light City, my hope is to ultimately take us through the entirety of this letter together. My plan is to likely do this in 6 parts. For part 1 this morning, we’ll be taking a look at Titus 1:1-4, where we find Paul’s opening greeting to Titus.

So at this time, if you have a copy of God’s Word, I invite you to turn to Titus 1. And if you’re able to do so, I invite you to stand as I read this passage for us.

Read the Passage, Set the Table, & Pray

Titus 1:1-4. This is the Word of God...

Titus 1:1–4 (ESV)

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

To Titus, my true child in a common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Amen. We thank God for His Word. May He nourish and strengthen us by it today. You may have a seat.

Have you ever met someone for the very first time, and before you know it, they’re pouring out their life story to you? And in one simple greeting, you can come to learn so much about this person? Maybe a little more than you wish you knew!

Well Paul and Titus were certainly no strangers to one another. As we’ll see, this wasn’t their first interaction by any means. But what we’re going to notice from Paul is that, within this short introduction and greeting, he has a lot to say! We not only learn some things about Paul & Titus’ relationship, but we also learn a lot about Paul himself. We also learn some things about God and His redemptive purposes, as well as some things about ourselves and the common faith that we hold so near & dear.

My plan this morning is to consider these 4 verses under 3 basic headings, and then we’ll close our time by further reflecting on the passage together.

But before we jump in, let’s take a moment to seek the Lord in prayer.

Explain & Apply the Passage

Paul’s Identity & Credentials (verse 1a)

The first heading—the first part—that I’d like for us to consider is Paul’s Identity & his Credentials. Paul’s Identity & Credentials. Throughout the New Testament, there are many Pauline letters for us to glean from, and if we were to do a quick survey, we would notice that Paul uses a pretty typical pattern in his introductions. Before directly addressing his various recipients, Paul typically spends a little time not only identifying himself, but unpacking his identity a bit.

Here in his opening words to Titus, after providing his name, Paul then further describes his identity by attributing two titles to himself: 1) Servant of God, and 2) Apostle of Jesus Christ.

Let’s first consider Paul being a Servant of God. Well, we know that before Paul was ever “Paul,” he was “Saul”, right? In his earlier years, he had been a zealous Jewish leader. As he writes of himself elsewhere in the New Testament, he was, quote, ”circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee.”

Now, here’s a question: do you think that this younger version of Paul—this Saul of Tarsus—do you think that he saw himself as a Servant of God at that time? Of course he did! He was so rigorously devoted to the law and to righteousness, there’s no doubt that he saw himself as such! But in reality, was this truly the case? Had he really been a servant of God? Far from it actually! The supposed “service” that he had offered to God earlier in his life was less about offering himself as a slave to God, in humble submission to God’s righteousness...and it was more-so about Saul establishing his own status and his own righteousness before God and others. And the apex of Saul’s “false servanthood”…it came, when, thinking that he was truly serving God, he actually was persecuting God and His Church! Talk about the blinding power of pride, sin, and self-righteousness, right?

How often can all of us, unfortunately even as Christians, blindly convince ourselves that our service to Christ and others is done with a zealousness that is so pure and so unpolluted? May this “false servanthood” from Saul’s earlier life be a cautionary word to all of us as we consider our own remaining flesh, and the spiritual battles that we continue to face in this life.

For Paul, as terrible as his past was, he had the incredible blessing of experiencing God’s transformative power. It is the power of God that can bring forth true servants out of falsehood. He graciously did such a thing for Paul, removing the scales from his eyes, and bringing him to faith in Jesus Christ. And rather than continuing in prideful “false servanthood”, Paul’s new and “true servanthood” was now marked by faith, repentance, and humble submission to God and His Righteousness.

And yet, for Paul, it was a humble servanthood that also carried with it an endowed authority from God. This same title—Servant of God—it was also attributed to faith-filled prophets throughout the Old Testament, who themselves spoke authoritatively on behalf of God. For instance, God Himself referred to the Prophet Moses as, quote, “his Servant”. So I think that it’s also significant that Paul ascribes this title to himself, because in a way, it connects him to these authoritative, prophetic voices of old.

This leads us nicely into the second title that Paul attributes to himself. He calls himself an Apostle of Jesus Christ.

What is an “apostle” of Jesus Christ? I think a simple and helpful definition is that they are “chosen messengers or ambassadors of Jesus Christ.” Some of you might be sitting there thinking, “well I’ve been chosen by God…and I carry the message of Jesus Christ with me…so does that make me an apostle!?” To that, I would say that in the informal sense, yes…all of us as Christians can carry out apostolic-like efforts to an extent. But in the formal, official sense, regardless of what some might say in today’s world, there are no apostles of Jesus Christ that exist today, and none have existed since the first century.

There were very specific qualifications that one must have had in order to be considered for the authoritative office of apostle. In Acts Chapter 1, we see a list of these qualifications while the early disciples were prayerfully in the process of replacing Judas Iscariot. In this process, they show us 2 qualifications that needed to be met:

1) This person had to have been among the greater number of disciples who had accompanied Jesus and the original 12 disciples from the beginning to the end of his ministry.

2) This person had to have been an eye-witness to Jesus’ resurrection.

But for Paul himself, his own appointment as an Apostle of Jesus Christ was a unique exception. In Acts 9, shortly after appearing to Paul on the road to Damascus, the Resurrected Christ spoke these words to Ananias in a vision: “He [Paul] is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.” Later in Acts 13, we are shown that the Holy Spirit Himself affirmed Paul’s apostolic ministry. And then in Galatians 2, we see that the other apostles themselves affirmed Paul and his apostolic ministry.

So we clearly see that, although Paul’s appointment as an Apostle of Jesus Christ was definitely unorthodox, it was indeed legitimate. Yet, because he was an unorthodox apostle, there’s no doubt that many questioned his authority along the way. He faced opposition for various reasons and from all sides, both Jew and Gentile. And particularly on this island of Crete where he had left Titus, we’ll see throughout this letter that there was a combination of both Jew and Gentile-influenced opposition.

So in his effort to equip & empower Titus to bring leadership, organization, and stability to the Church in Crete, Paul needed to make sure that his apostolic credentials were clearly display. While this was indeed a personal letter to Titus, I think it’s safe to infer that this letter would have been made public as well. The fact that Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ—a chosen messenger who spoke in the authority of Christ Himself—It was necessary for him to “pull rank” within this letter.

Paul’s Purpose & Message (verse 1b-3)

So from the first half of verse 1, we’ve seen Paul unpack his identity & his credentials. He’s Paul. He’s a Servant of God and an Apostle of Jesus Christ. And then from this point, he then starts to shift, and he starts to share how this identity actually drives & defines his mission. He goes on to share 2 components: 1) His Purpose as a Servant & an Apostle, and 2) The Message that He Carries as a Servant & an Apostle. That’s our 2nd Heading for this morning: Paul’s Purpose & Message.

So let’s talk specifically about Paul’s Purpose for a moment. In the latter half of verse 1, he gives us a pretty clear picture of this. His purpose was, quote, “for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,”

Paul’s primary purpose was about ministering to God’s elect, for the benefit of their faith, their knowledge of the truth, and their godliness.

So who are “God’s elect” that Paul is referring to? Such a debate-free topic in the evangelical world, right? Simply put, it is those whom God has chosen (in Christ) before the foundation of the world, to call and to redeem unto Himself. Hard to fully comprehend, yet biblically true. This election is not according to our own deeds, but it’s in spite of our own deeds. It is God’s sovereign election that is done according to His own free grace and mercy. God’s elect are those of us whom He has brought, and will bring, from spiritual death to spiritual life and faith. It is those who have believed, and will believe, in Jesus Christ.

Friends, it wasn’t Paul’s job to go out and try to determine who all of God’s elect were. Even as an Apostle, that was above his pay grade. It’s certainly above our pay grade as well. At the end of the day, God alone knows His Elect. Christ alone knows His Flock. Jesus said these words in John 10:14-16

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

In order for one to be saved and to enter into Christ’s Fold in the first place, one must have “faith” in Him. Faith is thee instrument that connects and unites us to our Good Shepherd. Faith is a priceless gift from God. That’s why the Apostle Peter says that faith is, quote, “more precious that gold.”

Well, coupled with “faith”, we see that Paul’s ministry was also for the sake of the Elect’s “knowledge of the truth.” Think about this: how can one have saving faith without having a knowledge of the truth? The two go hand-in-hand. Faith and a Knowledge of the Truth. That’s what makes proclaiming the truth of the gospel so important! So that one might “know” and “believe”! As we’ll see later in verse 3, Paul had been entrusted with the privilege of preaching this manifested gospel! Throughout the Book of Acts, we read all about him venturing into regions of unbelieving Gentiles, carrying with him this incredible gospel message, and witnessing the Resurrected Christ bring the Elect People of God—bring His Elect Sheep—into His fold!

Beloved: May we not concern ourselves with trying to determine who is and who isn’t a part of God’s elect, nor concern ourselves with trying to fully comprehend the unsearchable mysteries of what God has chosen to remain hidden about His Sovereign Election. Instead, may we concern ourselves with indiscriminately advancing and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Well Paul’s purpose was not only about evangelizing unbelievers, so that they would enter Christ’s flock. But another major purpose of his was to evangelize, equip, and edify those who had already believed and entered into Christ’s flock. His efforts were about seeing God’s people come to faith and a knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ, and about trying his best to then ensure that their faith and knowledge would be nurtured and strengthened for the long-haul. May this be the same noble purpose and mission for pastors in today’s generation. May this be the same noble purpose and mission for all of us as believers. That we would evangelize, equip, and encourage one another in the Lord until we go to be with the Lord.

One other essential part of Paul’s purpose was not just serving God’s People for the sake of their faith and knowledge of the truth…but it was serving God’s People for the sake of their godliness as well. He writes that a believer’s knowledge of the truth “accords” with godliness. What does it mean when one thing accords with another? It means that they are harmonious, or consistent with one another. So just as faith and knowledge go together, faith-filled knowledge goes together with godliness. They all are connected. You can’t have faith without a knowledge of the truth, and faith without works is dead, right?

Obedient, godly living is so important in the Christian life! It’s God’s will for us…It’s God’s gift to us…it’s an opportunity for us to display our love for God...it’s for our well-being…it’s for the well-being of our neighbor...and it serves as an important witness for the watching world.

Like faith, and like a knowledge of the truth, godliness is an essential part of the Christian life. With that being said, though, it’s extremely important that we keep the relationship between faith, knowledge and godliness in its proper place.

What, then, does it mean that faith-filled knowledge of the truth “accords” with godliness? What this DOES NOT mean is that our faith-filled knowledge merely accompanies godliness. What it DOES mean is that our faith-filled knowledge has the very purpose and end of yielding godliness.

It is a faith-filled knowledge of Jesus Christ that establishes our relationship with God. Without an established relationship with God....there will be no godliness. You might see a lot of seemingly “righteous acts” from all sorts of people, but if they’re not flowing from a heart of faith in Christ, then it’s not true godliness. That’s why the writer of Hebrews says that “without faith, it is impossible to please God.” Faith-filled knowledge places us safely “in Christ”, which unlocks the floodgates and will culminate in godliness. There will be godly fruit. The righteous and godly acts of the believer are acceptable and pleasing to God, not because they’re pure and holy in their own substance—far from it actually—but because they are done “in Christ”, flowing from a heart of faith and dependency on Him. Flowing ultimately from Christ Himself, the Fountainhead of Holiness.

Again, a proper understanding of this relationship between faith, knowledge, and godliness is so important, because ultimately the purity of both God’s Righteous Law and God’s Gracious Gospel is at stake. It’s important for us not to undermine either one of them, but rather to allow them to work in beautiful accord with one another.

This 2nd half of verse 1 that we’ve been covering…where we’ve been dealing with faith, knowledge, and godliness: Essentially, it could serve as a theme verse for all of Paul’s letter to Titus in a way. In the coming months, as we work our way through this letter, we’ll see Paul hammering home this tight-knit relationship between faith, knowledge, and godliness. The relationship between sound doctrine and and sound living.

But for now, let’s continue on with the next couple verses, and let’s talk more specifically about Paul’s Message as a Servant of God and an Apostle of Jesus Christ. He shows us in verse 2 that this faith, knowledge, and godliness that he seeks to build up in God’s People: that all of this ultimately rests upon his crowning purpose: which is to encourage and remind God’s People of their blessed “hope of eternal life.”

From there, he then immediately goes on to talk more about this hope …particularly about how it is that God’s people are even able to possess such a wonderful blessing. And in this process of explanation, he reveals much about God Himself and God’s glorious gospel.

After Paul reveals his most crowning purpose of encouraging believers with the hope of eternal life, he then immediately starts “putting icing on the cake” if you will! How so? Not only by sharing that this hope of eternal life can be possessed, but how it can be confidently possessed! He writes this in Verse 2: “in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.”

In this one verse, Paul grounds our hope of eternal life in two “assurance-bolstering” ways. The first way that he does this is by reminding us of God’s faithful character; that this hope of eternal life which believers have been promised: it’s been promised to us by a God who is 100% honest and faithful! Is this not an incredible, reassuring reminder? That our hope of eternal life is ultimately grounded in the promises of a God who always keeps His promises.

And yet Paul doesn’t stop there! He keeps slapping that icing on the cake! The second way that he grounds our hope of eternal life in an “assurance-bolstering” way is by pulling back the curtain for us a bit…by letting us see how the sausage is made, if you will…by revealing some of the mystery of God’s redemptive plans and purposes. This current hope of eternal life that we cling to? It is a hope that our faithful God promised before the ages began…before the foundation of the world. That’s hard to comprehend, isn’t it? Some of you might be wondering this: ‘well who on earth did God promise this to? Before the ages began, there was literally no one on earth even to make this promise to, because their was no earth!’

Biblically-speaking, I would say that there could be two perspectives on this:

One perspective I suppose that could be held is that this promise of hope for eternal life was not necessarily promised before the ages began, but it was more-so purposed before the ages began. That in the mind of God, before the foundation of the world, He planned and purposed to then later give the promise of hope to fallen humanity. And then after the ages began, He first promised this hope of eternal life to fallen humanity in Genesis 3:15, where He promises that He will bring forth a Redeemer, the promised Offspring of the woman.

But for myself, and for many other Christians and theologians throughout history, I do believe that there was indeed a promise that was actually made in eternity past. How so? Well many would say that this promise of a hope for eternal life was made within the relational, Triune Godhead—1 God, 3 Persons—and that this promise was a part of what many would call a“Covenant of Redemption”....a Covenant of Redemption that was particularly made between the Father and the Son…a covenant in which they purposed and promised, within this Godhead, to redeem a sinful people…a redemption that is absolutely tied to the hope of eternal life!

Beloved: regardless of potentially differing perspectives on this...at the end of the day...why is it that Paul ultimately pulls back the curtain on God’s redemptive plans and purposes in eternity? It’s NOT in order to rack our brains or to unsettle us with many questions that are left unanswered. Not at all! Rather, it’s to reveal some of his glorious mysteries in order to bring us comfort, rest, and assurance…and to bring us to our knees in worship!

In this fallen world, what would our lives and our experiences be like if we didn’t have the sure and certain hope of eternal life to cling to? A hope that we can not only possess, but a hope that we can confidently possess. Isn’t it comforting, brothers and sisters: to know that what we are hoping for, God promised before the ages began…and that this promise was made by a God who never lies…by a God who is truly faithful…by a God who always keeps His promises.

This is the very crown and jewel of the gospel: our future hope of eternal life, spent with Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Thanks be to our wonderfully-gracious God.

Well, just when we thought that Paul might be done putting icing on the cake, he actually continues to unpack this hope of eternal life that God promised before the ages began. In verse 3, he goes on to write that “at the proper time”—meaning after the ages had begun...in history…after Christ accomplished His work of redemption—at this “proper time”, God ultimately “manifested” this hope of eternal life....and He did so “in His Word through the preaching with which” Paul himself had been “entrusted by the command of God our Savior.”

This hope of eternal life, which God promised before the ages began: He made this “promised-hope” a reality by sending His Son to this earth in history. The Son, Jesus Christ: He made this “promised-hope” a reality by accomplishing the redemptive work that He was sent to carry out. Hope purposed & promised within the Godhead in eternity…hope promised to fallen humanity in history....hope continually promised and anticipated throughout the Old Testament...hope accomplished by Jesus Christ. And with hope now secured by Christ in history, the message of eternal hope in Christ was now secured. This message of eternal hope in Christ was now manifested in God’s “proper time” in history…a message, a word, good news...ready to be proclaimed…and ready to be faithfully received by God’s Elect.

Paul was given the incredible privilege and responsibility of carrying this message of hope with him. God commanded and entrusted Him to do so.

Friends, it is through the preaching of the gospel that this hope of eternal life is first obtained by faith in Jesus Christ. And it is through the continued preaching of the gospel that we have the privilege of continually reminding one another of the hope that we confidently possess. And so may the gospel continue to go forth. May the gospel continue to be preached. Though none of us are apostles…and though most of us aren’t formal preachers...All of us are Christians, and we too have been commanded and entrusted to carry this good news of hope with us. May we do so joyfully and eagerly! For, as Paul himself writes in Romans Chapter 10...

Romans 10:13–15 (ESV)

...“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Amen.

Paul’s Child & Brother (verse 4)

Well as I mentioned at the outset, and as we’ve since explored, Paul has quite a bit to say in this introduction. He provides his identity and his credentials as a servant of God and an Apostle of Jesus Christ. He provides the purpose of his role, and all sorts of information related to the gospel message that he carries with him.

Finally, after these first 3 jam-packed verses, he then primarily focuses on the actual recipient of this letter: Titus: Paul’s Child and Brother in the faith. This is our 3rd and last heading this morning.

Paul writes these words in verse 4: “To Titus, my true child in a common faith. Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.”

One of the things that we immediately recognize from this verse is that Paul and Titus shared a very a special relationship with one another. Paul calls him his “true child”. What he does NOT mean by this is that Titus was his biological son. But what he DOES mean is that he was his spiritual son. Paul was a fatherly-figure to Titus in the faith. Many commentators even suggest that Titus likely came to faith through Paul’s evangelizing efforts.

Not only did Paul and Titus share a special personal relationship with one another, but they shared a special ministry relationship with one another. The very fact that Paul was writing this ministry-related letter to Titus is clear evidence of this. Apparently Titus had good enough repore with Paul that Paul entrusted him to appoint elders, and to bring organization and leadership to the Church in Crete. This required a special trust and special ministry relationship. We see further evidence of this relationship elsewhere in Scripture. Paul also writes of Titus’s ministry involvement in Galatians, 2 Corinthians, and 2 Timothy.

But what else do we know about this man, Titus? Well from Scripture, not a whole lot actually…other than this important fact in Galatians: that he was Greek…that he was a Gentile…a non-Jew.

This is especially important as we continue to consider verse 4. Paul not only calls this Gentile, Titus, his “true child”…but he calls him his true child “in a common faith.” Let’s think about this for moment. Paul? He was a Jew…a Hebrew of Hebrews...of the Tribe of Benjamin within Israel, God’s chosen nation. Titus? He was a Pagan Gentile who grew up worshipping false gods. Historically-speaking, Jews and Gentiles did not mix....they were like oil and water. And yet, we see here that this Jewish man and this Gentile man shared a close relationship and a common faith. What happened?

Christ happened! They shared this close relationship and this common faith because of the object of their common faith: Jesus Christ. What happens when Christ shows up? When he is held clearly in view? When He is THEE object of our faith and our worship? Barriers of Difference and Hostility are torn down! Unity happens! Writing to a group of Gentile Christians, Paul wrote these powerful words in Ephesians 2:11-14

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

Christ intervened in the hearts and lives of both Paul and Titus, and by His Spirit, brought them to a place of common faith in Him…a place of common knowledge of the truth about Him....and what flowed out of this common faith and knowledge was a common godliness & common purpose to minister to the Elect People of God.

Paul and Titus ultimately shared a common faith because they shared a common Savior. In two of our verses from today’s passage, Paul highlights this reality. In verse 3, he refers to God as being “our” Savior. And then here in verse 4, he refers to Jesus Christ as being “our” Savior.

Yes, Paul had been a Hebrew of Hebrews. Yes, Titus had been a Pagan Gentile. But the reality is, that all along, they had both been standing on equal ground...because, all along, they were both in equal need of a Savior. And oh what a Savior they were both given!

Let’s continue to consider their common ground, now from a different lens, even after receiving salvation:

Yes, Paul had been given unique authority as an Apostle of Jesus Christ, and he held an authoritative position over Titus. Yes, Paul was a “spiritual father” to Titus. But at the end of the day, they continued standing on equal ground—albeit, they were now standing on new, redeemed ground! Now, as they were holding onto “a common faith”, saved by a “common Savior”....they were standing on common ground…on the common Rock that is Jesus Christ.

And what does it mean, that Paul and Titus were standing together on equal ground? Standing together on the common Rock that is Jesus Christ? Set your eyes on the last part of verse 4. It means that they were both recipients of “grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” This is the word of blessing that Paul gives Titus as he finishes his introductory greeting.

Closing Reflection & Prayer

Beloved, as we wind down our time, let’s spend some time reflecting more on this grace and peace that God gives.

Like Paul and like Titus…at one time, all of us not only rejected God in unbelief, but we were sinful enemies of God. Having no faith in Him…suppressing the knowledge of the truth about Him…without godliness...without the hope of eternal life. We all stood on equal ground “in Adam”, on the common ground of condemnation...and we were too prideful to even realize it.

But little did we know. Before the ages began, our Creator purposed and promised...that even though we would willingly sin against Him...and even though He would be just in condemning us…Instead, He purposed and promised to graciously call us out of enemy territory and into peace with Him through Jesus Christ.

By God’s grace, we have been given the gift of a common faith, and the gift of a common knowledge of the truth about Who Christ is and what He’s done for us. By God’s grace, we have been pardoned and counted with the perfect godliness of Christ....justified and given peace with God through Christ. Now being at peace with God, by God’s grace, we have been set free to now gladly pursue common godliness…not for our own godly standing...but flowing from the godly standing that we already have “in Christ.” Now being at peace with God, by God’s grace, this means that we have been given the hope of eternal life…a hope that’s been eternally promised to us by a God Who never lies…the promise of a hope of an eternal inheritance and an eternal dwelling with the very One Who’s secured this hope for us.

Beloved:

-whether you’re more of a spiritual parent or a spiritual child at this point in your life

-whether your past was relatively “squeaky clean” or whether your past was relatively a “total mess”

-whether your rich or poor

-whether you have children, or you’ve been barren

-whether you’re a man or a woman

-whether you’re an elder or not an elder...deacon or not a deacon...preacher or not a preacher

-whether you have a certain ethnic lineage or whether you don’t have a certain ethnic lineage

-whether you struggle in your battle against this particular sin or that particular sin

Beloved: grace and peace has been given to us from God “our” Father and Christ Jesus “our” Savior. May we steadfastly exercise the common faith that we share…may we joyfully embrace the common hope that we share…may we gladly pursue the common godliness that we’ve been called to. All of this, as we continue to rest upon on the common Rock upon which we all stand: our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Would you pray with me?