FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Titus 2:11-15

Until He Comes . . . – Continued

From Last Lesson: Since Christ has given Himself for us to redeem and purify us, it is for each of us to fall in with that purpose and never seek to thwart it.

In practical terms it means that lawlessness in every form is to be shunned. It means being eager to do what is good. Specifically, in the context of Paul’s concerns in chapter 2, it means following the directives that he has given for the various different groups. We are not to think for one moment that these are merely Paul’s opinions; remember, Paul was anointed in his writing by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. It may have been Paul’s pen, but it was God’s Words. The truth is far from one man’s opinion. Christ died that we might live such lives. As His redeemed, it is our unchanging obligation to fall in with that purpose, to be what He has purposed we should be; to do what He has purposed we should do, until He does return. Don’t be misled, or doubt, He will come!

Final Directives

The Apostle ends this part of his letter by again emphasizing Titus’s responsibility in regard to the various different groups he is to instruct: “These, then, are the things you should teach.” Right at the beginning of the chapter Titus is exhorted to “teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). Now that same exhortation is repeated. These details of Christian duty, with the impulses to obedience from the grace of God and the self-giving of Christ, are to be the subject of clear and careful instruction.

Paul then adds, “Encourage and rebuke with all authority.” Titus is not only to tell the Cretans how they are to live. He is to exhort and encourage them to carry his instructions out and to rebuke them for any failure to do so. And he is to do so “with all authority.” These instructions on godly living are ultimately Christ’s, conveyed to the Cretans through an apostle whom Christ has authorized to speak on His behalf. They have the backing of heaven and are to be delivered and received accordingly.

Finally, Paul says “Do not let anyone despise you.” Titus is to command the people’s respect as he labors among them as a teacher. How? By being an example of the godly lifestyle that he is preaching to others. It isn’t by lording it over others in a tyrannical way. In a similar exhortation to Timothy, Paul writes, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). Titus is to follow a similar path; “In everything set them an example by doing what is good” (Titus 2:7).

There is much here for teachers and preachers today. We are certainly to teach the doctrines of the Word of God. Doctrines are foundational. But we are also to teach the duties that correspond to those doctrines and to clearly set before our hearers what godly living looks like. We are to do so with exhortation and rebuke, urging obedience and reproving sin, and all with the authority of Christ, if it is truly Christ’s directives that we are giving. Thus we are to be at pains to model this godly living ourselves. If we are to command our hearers’ respect and gain for our message the welcome that it ought to receive, we must exemplify that message in our own lives.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Titus 2:11-15

Redemption

Imagine you were back in the first century, the slave-world of Paul’s day. There are a number of slaves in your congregation. They have heard the gospel, believed in Jesus, and are now saved. Among them is one whose situation is particularly distressing. He has a very cruel master and though becoming a Christian has made this slave a better worker, his master, if anything, is even more cruel to him. So you decide to try and secure his freedom. You offer to buy the man and his master agrees to sell him. What have you done for this slave? Simply put, you have redeemed him! By the payment of a price, a ransom, as it were, you have secured his freedom from the cruel tyranny to which he was subject.

It is that kind of transaction that helps us to understand Jesus’ death. He gave Himself for us to “redeem us,” or ransom us. He paid the price of His own life to obtain freedom for us. Paul tells us explicitly what that freedom was from: “all wickedness,” which literally means, all lawlessness. Think of the life you were living before your conversion. As far as the law of the land is concerned you may have been a law-abiding citizen. You didn’t steal cars, burgle houses, or do drugs. But as far as the law of God is concerned, it was an entirely different matter. At point after point your life was out of line with God’s law. It was full of things that the Law (of God) both forbids and condemns. Lawless! Therefore, it was precisely in order to set us free from such lawlessness that Jesus gave Himself as the ransom price for each and everyone of us.

Purification

His purpose in dying for us, however, went even beyond this. He “gave himself for us,” says Paul, “to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” To be eager to do what is good is to be the very opposite of being lawless. A person who is eager to do good, in the New Testament sense of that term, is eager to please his Savior and to do what He would have him to do. He wants to obey, to serve, and to worship by his doing. Thus, it was to have just such a people for Himself that Jesus died. However, it was necessary that we first be purified. We needed to be cleansed from our sin as well as delivered from its enslaving power if we were to be Jesus’ special, good-doing people. That was only possible through Jesus’ sacrificial self-giving, we couldn’t do it on our own.

Until He Comes . . .

We might naturally ask, “Why is Paul telling us this in particular?” Primarily, to answer a very basic question: “How are we to live in the meantime, in this present age?” This present age continues. Christ still has to appear to fulfill the promise. How are we to conduct ourselves as we wait for the fulfilment of that blessed hope? Part of the answer has already been given in what has been said about the grace of God in salvation. However, now in Christ’s self-giving on Calvary, we have another part of it. Since Christ has given Himself for us to redeem and purify us, it is for each of us to fall in with that purpose and never seek to thwart it.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved