Paul's Pastoral Letters 15

To Titus My Son In Our Faith

Old Test. Numbers 23:19 “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”

Titus 1:1–9 “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”

Today we will begin studying the third of Paul’s pastoral letters. We have looked at 1st and 2nd Timothy. In order of writing, Titus probably was in the middle 60 A.Ds closer to 1st Timothy. We determined that 2nd Timothy was probably the last letter that Paul wrote just prior to his death.

The salutation in Titus is longer than in the other two. Paul describes himself as both a servant and an apostle of Jesus. A servant in that he is bound to Jesus. We visited Thomas Jefferson’s home Monticello recently. One of the presentations was how the relationship of a servant and slave differed. In one way a servant might have had the option to leave the service of the master, while a slave had no choice. Apparently Jefferson referred to his people as servants, but they considered themselves to be slaves unable to leave. We know that there were laws passed that a slave who left was considered a runaway and by law if captured had to be returned to his owner and would be severely punished. If we look at the KJV the word is translated slave, not servant. Paul would have considered himself to be a slave in the sense that he could not leave service to Jesus even if he was physically able or wanted to leave. When Paul calls himself a slave he is claiming succession to those who went before him in service to God. Moses was called the slave of God as was Joshua his successor. Then we had the prophets. There were times that their message was one of great sorrow. Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet because the message he had to deliver caused him great sorrow. King David was also referred to as a servant of God. Paul was so committed to Jesus that there was no thought of leaving.

An apostle of Jesus implies his mission or work . He states that it is to further the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of truth. The job of any pastor is to further knowledge and preach the truth. When people accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior there is the need to grow. Last week we considered the passage in Romans where Paul tells the people that they are still in need of milk, and are not ready for solid food. How many people who profess to be Christians don’t attend worship, don’t read their Bibles, and neglect prayer until they have a crisis in their lives. Romans 10:14 “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”

The pastor needs to preach the truth, not just some of the Bible but the whole Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”

Preach the truth. There are so many false teachings that are bandied about. People are deceived and don’t know the truth. This deception goes back to the garden of Eden. Eve responded to God’s question, Genesis 3.13“the serpent deceived me and I did eat.” When we know the truth found in God’s word it sets us free. Free from the bonds of sin and leads us to godliness. A way of life that reflects the love of God here on this earth and gives us hope of eternal life. God has promised from before the beginning of time and God will not, and cannot lie.

Paul says to Titus, his son in the common faith. As a son Titus probably came to know the Lord through Paul’s teaching and therefore they share a common faith. Have you had the experience of meeting someone for the first time and learning that you are both Christians and share a common faith? It is exciting and you can begin a conversation knowing that you have a common faith. Paul’s message is founded in the hope of eternal life purchased by Jesus' blood shed at calvary. It is faith that encourages us to believe in Jesus. With faith we are able to grow in knowledge of the Word of God and what Jesus did for us on the cross.

The greeting, now the assignment. Paul says that the reason he left Titus in Crete was so that he could put in order what needed to be done and finish the work that had been started. Then to appoint elders in every town. Paul repeats the qualifications for an elder that he gave to Timothy with some changes. An elder should be above reproach, blameless in his actions. The husband of one wife and his children should be believers and not be open to the charge of being wild or disobedient. An elder or overseer will be managing God’s household, he should not be overbearing. It is easy to follow a church leader when they are concerned for the people and treat them with respect as fellow believers. Not quick-tempered, given to drunkenness , violent or pursuing dishonest gain. How can a pastor maintain order in a congregation when the elders are disruptive. Paul now turns to positive traits; hospitable, one who loves good, self controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. Holds firmly to the message of the gospel and encourages others to follow it. Correct those who oppose the gospel. We refer to those who defend and explain the gospel as apologetics. Charlie Kirk has been on the forefront of the news lately. He mission was to take the gospel to the universities and present the gospel as truth. He would engage young people in debate, defending the scriptures and pointing out the the inaccuracies of atheistic teachings. The only way they could silence him was to kill him. He paid the ultimate price, his life, in service of Jesus.

Titus 1:10–16 “For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”

Paul doesn’t have much good to say about the people in Crete. They are Rebellious, sometimes we meet people who have to argue about everything. If you say we need to go right, they say no we have to go left. This can be very disruptive in the church.

Full of meaningless talk. Perhaps you have met people who talk a good days work, always talking and never doing anything. I once heard of a person who was training to be a missionary. He was always taking classes that he thought would be helpful when he went to the mission field. He was finally told that he needed to pull the trigger and go, trust God to give him what was needed when it was needed. There was no way he could prepare for every contingence.

Meaningless talk, that reminds me of some sermons I have heard. I am thinking of one recently where the person talked for a half hour, made several interesting comments, but never made an application to the Bible verse that was read. Cookie and I were disappointed, we felt empty. I hope none of you leave here empty.

Paul again calls out the people who were teaching that you had to have circumcision in order to be a Christian. They were disrupting whole households. Paul again, makes the charge that they are being disruptive for personal gain. He quotes one of Crete’s own prophets; “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” Paul says it is true. This is a sad condemnation of a people. Titus is instructed to find godly men for leadership in the church. I hope that condemnation is not true of every one in Crete. Paul calls for rebuking them so that they will avoid false doctrine, so they will be sound in the faith. He once again calls out the people who spread Jewish myths, leading people astray. We still have people today who lead people astray. One example that I have pointed out before and I feel that I must mention it again, that is the teaching that you can not be sure of your salvation. That is if you have an unconfessed sin you will not enter heaven when you die. I will point out some scripture to refute that false teaching

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

There are two ways to look at sin. Sin is any sin and all sin, it is collective. Sins are individual actions. So we confess that we are sinners and our sin is forgiven, all the sins that we have committed . If I commit a sin today I will confess it, but I have already been set free from the sin nature by the blood of Jesus.

1 John 4:9–10 “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

God’s love for us, a love that is so great, It cannot be measured. Jesus, God’s son is the sacrifice for our sin. He died for us.

Hebrews 10:14 “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”

One sacrifice , perfect, forever. In the Old Testament law the priest had to continually make sacrifices, but Jesus made one sacrifice for all. All who are being made holy. all who believe in him.

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

We are Saved by grace through faith. It is the gift of God. We can’t buy it, We can’t earn it. There is no, “if we are good enough, maybe we will get to heaven.”

Romans 11:29 “for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.”

God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Gifts are given most times without strings attached and not taken back. God calls his people, he gives the gift of salvation. It is not revocable, that means he will not take it away from you. You are saved, it is a promise, you don’t have to live in fear that you can lose your salvation.

When I read verse 15 I think of how people who follow a Christian code of morals or ethics sometimes have trouble in the world. People who don’t lie assume that other people are truthful in their actions. People who lie are always suspicious that others are lying to them. They are constantly looking for ways to trap people in a lie. Have you noticed how newscasters ask the same question repeatedly hoping to catch the speaker in a lie. To those who are pure, they expect that others are pure also. I once had a business deal with someone that changed his story and I called him on it. He didn’t deny changing it, he told me that I was too trusting.

People are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are not fit for anything good. God’s word spoken in truth cannot be silenced. When people are martyred for their faith others take up the message and his Word continues to save people. The blood of martyrs can be compared to putting gasoline on a fire. We have our Bibles, God’s Word, receive it, believe it, and live it for his glory. Amen