Titus 3:1-15
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
In this Last chapter we See Paul encourages Titus to keep his focus on the Lord. We see Paul has encouraged Titus throughout this letter. As we have seen throughout this letter Titus has a lot to handle from what we saw in the first chapter- Training up elders in Crete and watching out for the False teachers and doctrines. And as we saw in the second chapter- encouraging the younger in the faith to allow the older in the faith to mentor and train up.
As we look at this final chapter to this letter Paul sent to Titus we see Paul is encouraging Titus to live under the law as God has guided them and he also reminds Titus and the Cretian believers of their heritage in Christ as we will see in a little bit. But there was also some issues that were present (aside from the false teachers that were referenced in the first chapter) that Paul was guiding Titus on how to avoid conflict with the heretics and the ones that have gone astray. Here we see Paul encourages Titus as he continues to deal with the hardships hes facing and continues to follow the Lord’s guidance on the Island of Crete.
Lets Look at the passage tonight and see How this encouraged Titus then and how Paul's encouragement an still apply to us now.
1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
12 When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter.
13 Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them.
14 And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.
15 All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
What Should the Christians Focus Be On? (1-8)
What Should the Christians Focus Be On? (1-8)
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Here we see Paul is encouraging Titus and the believers in Crete to keep their focus on the Lord, but to also be subject under the rulers God placed over them. Christians back in that day were looked at differently because of the way they acted and they were often oppressed for what they believed.
Paul is expressing that even though the people around them may be involved in sinful acts, the Christian is encouraged to follow the Lord and follow the law placed over them.
As we see in verse 1-
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
In this verse Paul is telling the Christians at Crete are still to follow the Law that was placed over them. As the verse says be ready to every good work that comes their way. Now that doesn't mean follow every part of the Law, because what if the Law required Christians to go against what God says is right? Paul is saying to follow the law as long as its in accordance with the Lord, if it goes against the Lord stand against it. What if that started to happen here in America? What if they outlawed being able to meet in church for services and the sentence would be prison or even death? What would we do?
Moving on to verse 2
To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
Paul is saying here that even though the world around us may be living in sin and following their own personal desires, we are not to speak evil or talk bad about them. Paul reminds them that the were once the same way in verse 3-
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
We were once living in sin, but the Lord has redeemed us from our old ways. Even though the World around us may be living in sin and following their own “gods”, they still need Jesus. Paul shows what the Lord did for us in verse 4-
But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
The Lord showed kindness and love toward us and we have the free gift of salvation that is available to all! The Lord has redeemed us from what we once were as Paul is showing the Cretians that they once were living worldly lives, but God changed them and made them new. This principle applies today, The Lord has freed us from the man we once were, He has given us the freedom of a new life in Him. Paul in verse 5-6 shows how the Lord had mercy on us-
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
He tells us that we couldn't do anything to change from our old ways! But the Lord’s mercy has changed us.
But sometimes we live as though we haven't been freed. Here is an example-
THE STORY is told of a bear that lived in a 12 × 12 foot cage. It lived there for some twelve years and so it got to know that cage extremely intimately. The bear was so proficient at moving around his small world that it could close its eyes, walk to the end of the cage, and before it hit the end of the cage, it would stop, turn around, and go to the other end. Before it hit the other end, it would spin around and do it over and over again, never ever bumping into the cage. As it got larger, the bear’s handlers decided to enlarge its world, and built the animal a 36 × 36 foot cage to give it a lot more room to experience life inside of this cage. The problem was that when they put the bear, which had lived in the 12 × 12 foot cage, into the 36 × 36 foot cage, it would still only walk twelve feet and then turn around and go the other way. The bear’s problem was that even though it moved to a new cage, it brought the old cage with it. The problem with the bear was that it was still hostage to the limitations of its old life. Even though it had been promoted to a whole new environment, it had not shed the habits that had been learned in the old place. This is like the effect of the law on the lives of Christians. Many of us have been used to living under law so long and under the limitations and restrictions of a performance-based approach to Christian living, that we don’t know how to handle the new freedom called grace. We keep living, limited by law, even though we’ve been set free to a lot more room under grace.
We have been redeemed to live a new life for the Lord, but often times we allow the old man to keep hold of us. The Lord has redeemed us and set us free in Him. Too many Christians nowadays live as though they haven't been set free, we go throughout the day living as if we are in bondage, but in all reality we have been set free in the Lord!
We deserved justice for sin, but the Lord had mercy on us and sent His Son to die a sinners death so that we could have a relationship with Him.
I saw this while studying and it perfectly describes what Christ has done for us- JUSTICE is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. We deserved death and separation, but the Lord had mercy on us and gave us the free gift which we didn’t deserve.
Look at verse 7-
That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Look at that first part. We have been Justified by his grace! But what does that mean? That word Justified can be translated as being declared righteous. Lets put that together. We have been declared righteous by the Grace of The Lord! When we accept Christ His blood declares us righteous. We are no longer bound to sin, and we are declared righteous in Him. Doesn't that get you excited? We no longer have to worry about our past, because the Lord has redeemed us.
Now look at the end of Verse 7-
That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
What is the result of the Lord’s kindness, love, mercy, and grace towards us? We become heirs! We have the hope of eternal life! When the Lord saves us we can have a that hope of eternal life. That word Hope is the expectation or looking forward to it happening just like back in Titus 2:13-
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
We can have a hope in knowing we will spend an eternity as sons and daughters of the Lord!
But what do we do with all this hope? Do we just keep it in? NO!
Share the Hope we have in the Lord! Share the peace we have, share the mercy he has shown us, share the kindness He has shown us, Share of the Love he has for us. Look at verse 8-
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
As we are redeemed Paul is encouraging us to maintain Good works. Let me share with you something i read in my studies-
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: How to Have a Healthy Church (Titus 2–3)
“Good works” do not necessarily mean religious works or church work. It is fine to work at church, sing in the choir, and hold an office; but it is also good to serve our unsaved neighbors, to be helpful in the community, and to have a reputation for assisting those in need. Baby-sitting to relieve a harassed young mother is just as much a spiritual work as passing out a Gospel tract. The best way a local church has to witness to the lost is through the sacrificial service of its members.
I think back to when The group from RU came out on a Saturday and helped serve a community of people. There were many that asked why they were doing it, and their responses were “Because we Love you”, “Jesus did this and I want to follow Him” It was great to see the servants hearts of many that showed up on their personal day to serve the community. That is the kind of attitude the Lord wants in us, a servants heart.
What Should Christians Avoid? (9-11)
What Should Christians Avoid? (9-11)
But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
Paul in these verses was warning Titus of certain people to avoid. Paul is saying to avoid foolish questions or debates (arguments over unimportant things), and fighting amongst each other. Paul tells Titus to avoid these kinds of problems or just walk away from them.
Paul does tell Titus that there is a kind of person to deal with in verse 10-11-
A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
These are the kinds of people that go throughout the church causing problems, stirring up trouble, gossiping about other members. Overall they just enjoy causing trouble. These are the kinds of people that must be dealt with before a church is destroyed. But how was Titus to deal with them?
Paul recommends that Titus avoid any arguments with them as we read earlier, and give them at least 2 admonitions. But what is that? I'm going to be honest I had to pull out the dictionary to figure out what Paul meant when he said this. An admonition is a warning or reproof given by an ecclesiastical authority. So Titus to deal with these heretics was to give them a few chances and if they change their ways that's great, but if they continue in their sinful ways give them 2 chances and after the second time reject them. Here is an excerpt i read while studying for this that Describes what Paul could have meant while writing this-
Church members who cause divisions and then take their membership to another church should be allowed to go. If they come back but manifest a repentant spirit, they should be warned and received. If they cause trouble again, they may be granted the right to transfer a second time; but if they attempt to return again, they must not be received into the fellowship.
Paul points out that some people are subverted and will not change their ways no matter what. And Paul says that they have condemned themselves.
Paul’s Farewell (12-15)
Paul’s Farewell (12-15)
When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter. Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them. And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
At the end of this letter we see Paul’s final encouragement to Titus. We see mention of a few names here and some we don't know much about. We don't know exactly where Paul was when he wrote this letter to Titus, but we do know he was planning to Winter In Nicopolis. And Paul was sending 2 men to Titus so that they can continue the work while Titus met with Paul in person. Paul sent Artemas (We don't know much about this man) and Tychicus (This man was a companion of Paul and spent some time in Ephesus). We see mention of 2 More men Zenas the Lawyer and Apollos and these men were most likely in Crete with Titus and he was to leave these men with everything they needed to continue the work there
Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them.
And Paul's final encouragement is to Titus and to all the Christians In Crete-
And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
We see Paul encourages them to maintain good works for necessary use. Serve others as mentioned earlier and continue to share the Lord. and final we see Paul’s farewell and if you look at that last phrase “Grace Be With You All” this is in plural form, which meant Paul was writing not just to Titus but most likely to the Cretian believers.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we have seen tonight Paul was encouraging Titus and the Christians in Crete to follow the Lord daily and he reminds them of their great heritage in Christ. We Are Heirs in Christ. And we can live day to day free from bondage and free from the weight of sin in our lives. We can live daily for the glory of the Lord. As we live free in the Lord the world around us will see the Lord through us. But as we live daily for the Lord we need to be cautious we don't fall into the temptation of sin. As these Cretians were living they had the temptation daily to go back to their old ways, and Titus was there to guide them and disciple them. We as Christians today need also to watch out for discord and divisions in the church (not saying that we have this here).
As I close tonight lets just ponder on these things as we leave here tonight.
Are we living as if we are free of the old man? Are we living as true heirs in Christ? Are we living daily as an example of the Christ that redeemed us?