Sermon Tone Analysis

Context

Our passage this morning is Titus 3:3-7.

For context, we will read Titus 3 verses 1 through 8.

Verses 1-2 encourage believers toward good works, which remains the goal of this letter.

We can see that in verse 8 as well: that those who believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.

Remember what the main theme of the book of Titus is?

That’s right, Moving the Church toward Godliness and Good Works.

So underlying our passage today, there is a command for us, the church, to commit to in the present: Do Good Works.

Be courteous to all people.

To avoid quarreling.

To be gentle with all people.

It’s these exhortations that are the main objective here.

But there’s an important principle as to why Christians are able to do good works: and that is the main idea of our sermon today: Why are Christians able to do good works?

Because God is Generous in Mercy, we are able to do good works.

Because God is Generous in Mercy, we are able to do good works.

We cannot do good things from our own strength or power, because our natural state of existence was one of sin and death.

But God intervened, even when we deserved death, by pouring out the life of his Son in the greatest act of love this world has ever seen, so that the payment of our sins would be made and we would be justified before the Lord.

It was God who brings our spirit to life and who makes us a new creation, capable of carrying out actions that are truly good.

But the hinging point, the crux of this passage, centers on the Mercy of God.

So before we get much further, let’s read the passage, and then we’ll jump in.

Please read with me, Titus chapter 3, beginning in verse 1.

Our verses this morning, the middle section of that, are the gospel of Jesus Christ.

They explain how we as Christians are moved from a former state of sin into a glorified state, being able to carry out good works.

Why?

Because of the mercy of God.

You see, the gospel and good works are inseparable.

Good works are the fruit, the produce, of such a miraculous transformation.

And You cannot have good works apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Once your life has been radically transformed, there will be marks, signifiers if you will, of that renewed Spirit of God in you.

Jesus said: “You shall know a tree by its fruit.”

and the Christian who has been affected by the renewing Spirit of God will be recognized by the fruits of the Spirit= love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.

For from these things stem actions that are good before the Lord.

And that leads us to our first principle:

God is Good

This should be evident to us.

We are told that it is evident to us in the things that we see, in the world around us.

The whole world has in its very blueprints the goodness of God himself.

And we are told that all things were made through Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ.

It is a gift from God the Father to God the Son.

The Father does not hate the Son, but he loves the Son.

And out of this love comes a great gift, one that is good.

This underlying love is seen in everything that is good in creation: things that are pleasing to the touch or to your sight.

Food that is enjoyable.

Vibrant colors and amazing creatures.

People who carry forth the light of God into the world.

All of the things that fill the earth are meant as a gift by God the Father for God the son, because all things were made through him and for him.

And all of these things stem from the one true good, and that good is God himself.

When he authored creation and its order, he created it to be good.

And upon making man as the capstone of all of creation, he looked over all that he had done as the creator and ruler over the entire world and deemed it very good.

Goodness flows from the one who is truly Good.

This fundamental goodness of God is what motivates God’s act of mercy toward us, even when we were dead in our sins.

So firstly, God is Good.

But secondly, no good exists apart from God.

No Good Exists Apart from God

no good exists apart from God.

No true good work or good thing can exist apart from God and more specifically, apart from the gospel of Christ.

The early church, and people throughout all of time, and people today (perhaps, even yourself) have questioned whether someone who is not a Christian can do a good deed.

But scripture claims that apart from God, there is no good.

We are told this in Romans 3:12- “There is no one who does good, not even one”.

Though God made all of creation for Christ and it was very good, mankind turned away from God by the pursuit of their own passions and desires rather than to acknowledge the good order of God.

Consider verse three:

As fools, we turn away from God into the pursuit of our own interests and desires.

Rather than fulfilling our role as people made through Christ and for him, by our sin nature we disobey God.

We are led astray by the enemy of God, Satan, by feeding the inclinations of our own evil and wicked hearts, through seeking the fulfillment of passions and pleasures, gorging selfishly upon the goodness of God and claiming the good creation as our own.

Rather than being generous with the good things of God and living according to the goodness which he created us for as a gift to the Son, we instead exchanged the truth of God for a lie and devoted ourselves to sin and destruction.

The results of this action are evident: malice, which is the intention of evil or ill will toward someone; envy, which is looking at something that someone else has and thinking they are undeserving of said thing, and wanting it for your own; hatred: hating others and being hated.

It is an unpleasant place to which we have strayed when we depart from the goodness of God and seek to find fulfillment elsewhere.

Consider another passage similar to this one in the book of Ephesians, which reads,

And so we see the similarities between these two passages, which help show us what life apart from God is like:

It’s a state of disobedience- Seeing the commands of God and choosing the opposite.

Seeing the natural order of God for creation and pursuing the opposite.

It’s a pursuit of passions of the flesh- our bodies and minds have become corrupt in the things that they desire.

Some may argue “Well, it’s just our nature to pursue these things, so we must.”

And in part they are correct: it is because of their sinful nature that they chase headlong after passions and desires.

But there is an even older nature than that of the sin nature: and that is the nature of God and his goodness.

But without help from God, we are slaves to our own sinfulness.

But what about the good things that nonbelievers do?

You might say.

Can’t people who are not Christians do good things?

This is a good question, for other people in the world seem to do good things: they feed the poor (sometimes), they take care of each other (sometimes) … aren’t these things good?

And you might think that they are good.

You might think so.

But remember our principle from scripture?

That no good exists apart from God.

A person of the world who seeks to do good apart from God twists God’s gifted skills and abilities for their own gain.

Consider the Pharisees of Jesus’ time: Outwardly, they were good.

They avoided all things unclean.

They regulated what they ate, what they did on the Sabbath.

They were ceremonially clean.

They observed all of the religious holidays.

They were dedicated to the study of God’s word and law, knowing it backwards and forwards.

And yet what was Jesus’ words to them?

Rather than being the holy persons like they pretended, Jesus revealed how the deeds of the Pharisees and Jewish religious persons were more of a snare to them, an extra burden placed upon themselves, a facade which hid the evil heart within, a facade that sought good through the outward works of man rather than an alignment with the good nature of God.

If they had understood God’s nature, they would have been willing to step out of their way to help those who were sick and who were lost, rather than holding their own position of status in high regard.

For man, changing outward appearances does not lead away from sin, which leads to death.

Even if we changed our outward actions, there would still be an issue with the heart, the inclination toward disobedience against God’s order of creation and the pursuit of our own selfish pleasures and desires.

And there are many who pass through life thinking that they are a good person by the works that they do.

They believe they will go to heaven because they’re a good person.

But such ways of thinking are only chains that enslave them to an eternity of destruction.

In this life, they add religious limitations, the abstinence of certain foods, special times of dedication and feasts and services, they donate to charities and spend time feeding others in soup kitchens, they dedicate their lives toward helping those who are impoverished, toward bettering the world and humanitarian aid: this is the same kind of person who believes that if they attend church regularly every Sunday, then they are saved.