Practicing the Truth that Leads to Godliness
Notes
Transcript
Pray
Last week we saw how important the truth of the bible is - because it is what leads us to godliness.
And we saw how we are to have godly elders to protect that truth.
But we also saw that we are not people who do ‘good works’ or live in a ‘godly way’ in order to be saved.
No -
Titus 3:5 (NIV)
he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
Or
Titus 1:15 (NIV)
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.
In other words, salavation, purity before God, is a God given gift by grace alone through Christ alone despite our works.
Paul used the word ‘elect’ - to reflect that idea.
The purpose then of living in a godly way is not to earn salavtion, but becasue we have salvation.
Godliness demonstatres we have been saved, it does not save us.
That was the focus of Paul’s rebuke in chapter 1 towards those who teach you can be saved through good works Or other worldly ideas.
But godliness is not just a porof of salavtion,
In this chapeter we see that godliness is a key part of God’s plan to spread his good news across the world.
Our first point..
1 - Godliness in the Context of Eternity Attracts Others to the Gospel
1 - Godliness in the Context of Eternity Attracts Others to the Gospel
I think you’ll agree - one of my more snappy points!
Look at the end of the following verses, after instructions about godly living, from todays chapter. - to Paul’s reason for this way of life:
Titus 2:5 (NIV)
, so that no one will malign the word of God.
Titus 2:8 (NIV)
so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
Titus 2:10 (NIV)
so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
In other words - if the Christian church looks no better than the community around it in terms of biblical standards of living
then the gospel we claim to be the power of God for salavation may appear to be ineffective.
It undermines God’s truth, dishonours his glory and fails to attract more to His grace.
v11-13 makes this clearer..
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.
Here Paul uses the idea of ‘appearing’ to describe Jesus. The grace of God that has ‘appeared’ is the first coming of Jesus that, offers salavtion to all people.
Then v12 assumes a positive responce to that first appearing and tells us what it does aside from salavtion:
It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
In other words, the grace of God, salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus - who died in our place to take our judgement before God and then rose again,
does more than just save us into eternal life with him, as if we have no purpose or relationship with Jesus now,
it teaches us to say no to ungodliness and yes to godliness - in the present. We are on a journey of increasing godliness
All in the context of
while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
The second ‘appearing’ of Jesus will not be defined by his grace but by his glory!
And we will be caught up in that if we have accepetd his first appearing and that has been prooved in our pursuit of godliness.
That is the blessed day we await in great anticipation and excitement for as followers of Jesus!
Our joy in life now is not in the present experience but in the blessed hope we have in Jesus - while learning godliness.
Which is why however bad life gets,
we can still live lives of godliness.
because in the present
We have joy and purpose and comfort and satisfaction and excitement in the next ‘appearing of our Great God, the Lord Jesus who will come in Glory!
And it is only with that mindset,
that blessed and sure hope,
based on the undeserved grace of salvation in Jesus’ first appearing,
that we can live godly, sacrficial, disciplined, self-controlled, loving lives today.
v14 puts it all like this:
Titus 2:14 (NIV)
[Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Jesus has given himself for us.
He has redemed us - paid the penalty of our wickedness at his own expense,
he has died so we don’t have to.
Take heart - you didn’t do anything to acheive that.
And he loves you and calls you regardelss of your sin.
And he saved us for himself to be pure.
And so that is what we eagerly do.
Are you eager to be Godly for Jesus?
In that context - let’s see what godliness can look like for certain groups of people:
Godliness for Older Men
Godliness for Older Men
Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
First off - Paul isn’t just talking to old men like
Look around Martin) -
He’s most likely using ‘older’ as a relative term.
In other words - older men set the example to younger men.
In that sense all adult men are in view here so long as there are younger than you men about.
Obviously, the older you get the more responsibility your godliness carries simply becasue there are far more younger men relative to you!
So, older me are to be
1 - temperate, sober-minded, think things through clearly.
2 - worthy of respect, dignified - they keep the mind from the cheap and showy things to that which is noble and good and of moral worth
3 - self-controlled - a central and repeated characetristic for all people as we’ll see. It’s a nessecery characteristic for anyone hopeing to behave in a godly way, for it does not come naturally - but it is what we are saved to be.
4thly, there is this triad of specifically ‘Christian’ charcetristics to work on.
older me are to be sound:
in faith,
in love
and in endurance or steadfastness or perseverance.
That triad of sound doctrine and faith is obviously good traits for all to have but it is interesting that these are specifcally pointed out for older men here.
Perhaps becasue older men at this time had a tendancy to soften their views on sound faith, love and steadfastness as they got older.
- instead opting for a more liberal or human view of things,
rather than the stricktness of sound doctrine?
It’s a trait we still see in men today
I was once asked to preachat a church by a minister who was fairly libral theologically.
I said I would but that I would be firm on the Gospel - on human sin and our only hope in this life being the grace fo Jesus.
He basiclaly said ‘I used to be strong on the gospel but now I’m older I dont’ feel it’s my place to challenge and questions peoples own journey and thoughts.
He’d not remian sound in faith, love and endurance.
After my sermon he didn’t speak to me and I wasn’t asked to preach again.
It’s so concerning when men are compromise on faith, Christian love and endurance for it reverses v5 - the word of God is malligned.
Ironically He felt he was being loving by being soft on the truth - when he was actually condemning his hearers to judgment before God.
We may grow more liberal or gentle in our judgement of others,
or our understanding of culture,
or people -
but one thing is not to grow soft or liberal as men get older -
we are to remain sound in Faith in Jesus alone,
Sound in love for God and love for others,
and sound in endurance.
These are qualities that older men should have.
Godliness for Older Women
Godliness for Older Women
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
1 - The word for reverent implies simply to behave in a way that is worthy and respectful of someone who is in the presence of God.
1 tim 2v10 says it like this:
but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
2 - Older women are not to be slanders,
perhaps as the older men of Ephesas get dangerously libral, the older women become salnderous.
Perhpas envious and gossiping to bring down others for their own gain or sport?
A challnege for women today perhaps?
Choosing envy or annoyance that leads to slander is too easy.
Instead women Should be choosing, as we’ll see, to teach others godliness - not slandering them.
3 - don’t drink too much!
One for men a women throughout the NT in fact - for it may bring shame on the church.
4 - Teach what is good.
So, what is good and who should they teach is covered in our next demographic, all women need to pay attention to this next group.
Godliness for Younger Women
Godliness for Younger Women
Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children,
Titus 2:5 (NIV)
to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands.
I don’t think we can emphasis enough the importance of these verses in todays culture.
Growing a godly family does not simply reply of the science of creating babies - as the world seems to think it is.
Mothers and wives are key to sucessful families and so older women are to teach younger women how to love their children and husbands and to choose God’s order of things by choosing submission to their husbands.
OUr culture today has so devalued the acceptability of husbands being ‘head’ of the family and women choosing submission and service to their husbands- that it seems wrong to even say it as I just have!
As we considered last week - God has chosen these roles of husband and wife to be roles that reflect God the Father’s headship of God the Son, who chooses to glorify God the Father through service.
Women, if you love God then choosing to serve your husband is of great glory to God and will not malign the word of God.
But refusing to accept your husbands authroity may well do The opposite.
It is not a lesser role, or of little importance! You are essential to healthy godly families and marriages if God has made you a wife or mother.
How sad that our world devalues those roles.
It does not mean silent submission or abusive headship - quite the opposite, women are challenged to work hard for the familiy and men in other passages are to put their wives before themseleves.
But The world is messing about with God’s design of family at it’s peril.
And as we begin to see more samesex marriages - and now they are adopting or even scientifically growing children
- this world and her people will suffer.
How different the Christian church should be.
We welcome anyone who finds themselevs in situations that are not in line with God’s design - perhaps as we’ve been talking about
For that is all of us, for we all live in sin without Jesus - in many many ways.
But if we accept the Grace of God - we also accet the glory of God and live in godlienss before him - even if the world doesn’t like it.
Just a note on Women also told to remain busy at home.
This doesn’t need to conjour up a modern view of a house wife.
Proaverbs 31 describes a wife of nobel characeter - and that includes running businesses as well as dressing her familiy well!
It’s a huge role of immense importance - and equally Father cannot be a mother - God did not deisgn a father to give birth or feed a young child.
So where at all possible, as counter culturel and un PC this may sound.
mums - your duty is first and foremost to your family, to nuture and raise your chidlren.
IN other words run a business or work on a career if it serves your family, but don’t do it for yourself. (It’s not really a different call for men in work).
If you‘re not married then of course then men and women are to work for Jesus, not yourself.
The difference is the way a married woman does that is by prioritising her family and in that she will be glorifying JEsus.
To not do this is to bring potential shame on the word of God, and the gospel we have benefitted from.
Jesus was not out furthering his own career, or drinking, or slandering when he came to earth - he gave up all his entitlements of heaven to sacrifice his life for us, his chidlren, whom he loved.
Don’t we all want to be like Him?
Godliness for Younger Men
Godliness for Younger Men
Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.
I don’t think many will object to the sterotype that young men could often do with being more self-controlled!
And so, that it that - men, work on your self-control.
Some examples of where self control is needed follows:
In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
In a culture that elevates self, we often perhaps unwittingly, or unrealisingly,
fail to value and learn from those older than us,
who live lives of integrity,
who are sound in how they contduct themeselevs and speak.
We don’t often exhult these qualities and we don’t often aspire to them, or teach them to those who are younger.
It’s a challenging reminder, again:
Titus 2:7–8 (NIV)
In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech
That is how Jesus lived as a man on earth,
intergral enough to lead 12 men in extraordianry circumstances,
serious enough to die for those he loved.
FInally,
Godliness for Slaves
Godliness for Slaves
The final catagory of behaviour is for slaves.
None the less - the principles can help us in our work places today:
Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
Our aim, as we have seen in all our relationships earlier
- is that we do not malign the word of God,
or put positively this time, so we make the word about Jesus our saviour attractive!
And as such,
we do not cut corners, talk back, steal from our employers.
We please them, we impressise them,
we proove how trustworthy we are.
Of course this is not at the expense of our integrity, or at the expenses of our love for our fmailiy, and not at the expense of sound soctrine and teaching -
but within that - we work hard and dilegently for our emplyers as is fitting within our agreements/our contracts with them.
Why?
So that they will even be attracted to the Gospel.
It is a challenge - what a great perspective to reallign our attitudes towards work.
To Conclude:
Without these behaviours in our church,
and without the sound teaching and example being shown in the male and felame roles and characteristics God has ordained,
we will bring shame on the word of God,
on God himself.
But in the context of Jesus’ first and second appearing,
the blessed hope before us and his slavation behind us.
All we are being asked to do,
is to be like the Lord Jesus whom we love:
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Pray