Redeemed and Reformed

As Joe discussed last week. Adam was to be the keeper of the garden. He was to be the steward and Eve was to be his perfect partner and helper. As the head of their marriage, Adam was responsible to guard not only the physical garden but the spiritual truth which was established by God and governed the garden. Specifically that they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was Adam’s duty to protect the truth and his failure to do so left his wife vulnerable. This failure led to the downfall of mankind. Sin entered the world and the law of God was no longer written on their hearts. A law of sin and death replaced it. This is why we have to war within ourselves in order to pursue godliness and good works.

As Joe taught over that past couple of weeks Paul begins by dealing with the issue of leadership. We need godly leadership that has been redeemed. Leaders whose hearts have rejected the temptation of sin and have been filled with the truth of the gospel.

These men are intended to be an example of what Adam was supposed to be in the garden. They are to be godly and to defend godliness. This was Adam’s job . . . but he failed. This is why Jesus came, to do what Adam could not. Where Adam failed, Christ succeeded. When Paul utters those famous words, “For me to live is Christ and to Die is gain.” echo this truth. Our greatest life is lived when we live not just for Christ, but in Him.

The core of the book of Titus is focused on how we can not only have such leaders but how we all can live with hearts obedient to the law of God. The law which is bound in the truth of who God is and which is given to us in scripture to know and live by. Headship in the church is only one piece of the puzzle. We must build a culture that produces young men and women who will come after us and hold to the truth with passion.

Over the next few weeks we will be talking about how thIs life we are called to live should impact the older men and younger men. We will dig into the impact of living for Christ in the lives of godly older women and younger women. We will address those in the position of bondservant and Titus himself as a leader in the church. Before we get to these specific groups we are going to look at the key verses in the book of Titus that build a framework that will guide each group as they pursue God’s best.

This weeks passage will address the core of the book. These key verses will guide us to what we must know and what we must do to be people who reflect the law of God in our hearts and in our works.

Grab your Bibles and turn to Titus chapter 2. We will be studying verses 11-14.

READ

Titus 2:11–14 ESV

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Look at verse 11 with me.

Titus 2:11 ESV

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,

Step One: God fixes our mess

God’s Grace

Salvation for All

Did you fix it? Did your pastor fix it? Did the elders fix it? Did the women fix it? Did the Men fix it? No; Christ fixed it. This is God’s grace expressed to us.

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Acts 4:12 ESV

12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Salvation! Salvation! Salvation!

Step One: God fixes our mess

God’s Grace

Salvation for all

So what does that mean for us. We have this great gift but how does that gift impact our lives?

Let’s look at verse 12 together.

Titus 2:12 ESV

12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

Step Two: God changes our lives

We walk away from ungodliness and worldly desires

We walk toward godliness

Self-controlled (We plan to do the right thing)

Spiritual disciplines

Upright (We aren’t half way in and halfway out)

I’m not holding on to that vice, that forbidden fruit

Godly (We reflect him in all we do)

Helping others see God is my ultimate priority

In this we have the picture of repentance. When we repent of our sin we walk away from ungodliness and worldly sin and our course is now set towards godliness.

When things get hard, how to I keep my focus?

Let’s look at verse 13

Titus 2:13 ESV

13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Step three: God fills us with hope

We wait for a sure thing (blessed hope)

He conquered sin and death

He lives preparing a place for us

We anticipate his glorious return

John 14:3 ESV

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

As we wait in hope we are not idle. Look at verse 14 with me.

Titus 2:14 ESV

14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Step four: He refits us for good works

Redeems us from lawlessness.

Purifies us for his possession

He gives us zeal to do Good works!

Being redeemed from lawlessness means that I am not wasting my time! I’m not spinning my wheels. I am purpose filled. I’m not chasing the pleasures of the world. In my heart, God has written his law. The law of Christ which is life and purpose and hope.

Purified for his possession means that I am his. There is no shame, no sin, no struggle that can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord! He has made me pure! My works don’t make me pure. No penance required. He took all the punishment on the cross. He is enough and the only thing I can bring is faith to trust in him.

He make me zealous for good works! I’m not confused about good works, are you? We can really get in our own heads about good works. We can make the good works an idol and worship them instead of God. We can sit on the sidelines not doing anything waiting for a super spiritual sign to smack us in the face. But that’s not right either. God has given us ZEAL! Energy, passion, excitement! We gotta live this out church.

But Marcus, I don’t know what to do? In the next few weeks our sermons will be dealing with some specifics for various groups in the church but for us as individuals its simple.

What did Jesus do?

He reached out to the marginalized. He drew in those who disagreed with him. He ate and drank with the outcasts. He loved. He wore the love of God on his sleeve and his words dripped with compassion. He spoke the truth boldly. He refuted the devil. He conquered death.

Maybe start by throwing a few things away and replacing them. Let’s trade some ungodliness for godliness, shall we.

Fear - Prayer

Cynicism - Hope

Judgement - Compassion

walls - doors

fortresses - festivals

The book of Titus is meant to teach us to move towards godliness and good works. That good work is supposed to be filled with Zeal. Let’s begin today by repenting of our complacency and fear. Let’s repent of following our culture instead of shaping it. Let’s be the church that rises up in name of Christ and changes our world. To this we are called, for this we are equipped, and God is going before us! Let’s move church!

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