Titus 3
Okay, we’ve covered holiness in the church & holiness in the home; now the rubber really meets the road – it’s time to consider holy living in the community, in the world. It is in the community where it should be most apparent that an individual is a true believer; the differentness of a true Christian will be highly visible, and will be the most difficult to maintain. It’s easy to be a “good Christian” when your worldview or system of belief and way of life is not being challenged. When you are surrounded by people who do not share your priorities, who practice a lifestyle contrary to what God’s Word teaches, who speak and think in ways offensive to God, then it is hard to be different.
Paul here in his instruction to Titus goes beyond the immediate situation, reaching out to address the relationship between the Christian and civil authority.
“all the supreme secular powers at this time were pagans, and no friends to the Christians in their dominions, which might be a temptation to the Christians to rebel against them, or at least not to yield them so free, universal, and cheerful an obedience as they ought; therefore the apostle presseth this duty upon them.” Matthew Poole
When secular authorities act in a way that is opposed to Christ and the Gospel it is easy to cop an attitude, to fail to give proper deference to the authorities God has placed over us; see Rom. 13:1-8 Just because they do not honor Christ does not give us the liberty to not honor them. God established civil government to be his agents for justice and maintaining order in society; our responsibility is (negatively) to not undermine their lawful authority and right exercise of it and (positively) to do all we can to make their job easier.
Further, we must not overlook the fact that the Christian’s attitude toward civil authorities plays out in localized actions that impact friends, neighbors and co-workers. As with the other instruction Paul believed it necessary for Titus to give, this reminder of the need for a proper attitude toward authority should be an ongoing one. Titus would be required to repeat it often so his hearers would grasp the practical implications of purposing to live out the Gospel.
A. Action v. 1-2
Beginning with the imperative – keep on reminding them – Paul follows with a series of 5 infinitives defining for Titus and the Cretan Christians what the Gospel in Action looks like.
The Christian – older men & women, younger women and men, servants – under the leadership and following the example of the elders should be submissive to civil authority. Which means they should act like this:
(imperative)
remind
(infinitives)
to be subject – “a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden”
to obey authority – listen to, obey, yield to, comply with the one leading
to be prepared for every good work – prepared to do all that will encourage right behavior in others, those things which are good for society in general; see Matt. 5:14-16
to revile no one – not speaking evil of anyone; NOTE: our responsibility for proper behavior is not limited to those “in the family”
to be peaceable, yielding – not contentious or quarrelsome
(participle)
demonstrating complete courtesy – the injunction reminds us again of our responsibility toward those who are outside the faith.
B. Attitude v. 3-7
remember your roots and who changed you.
We were (ongoing, imperfect)
(adjectives)
foolish – without (spiritual) understanding, not even thinking on spiritual things
disobedient – not compliant (the opposite of “obedient” in v.1); one who will not be persuaded to obey
(participles)
being led astray – wandering around in error (not surprising when the absence of spiritual understanding is considered)
serving manifold passions and pleasures – enslaved to passion (craving for what is forbidden) and desires for pleasure (hedonism)
spending our lives in evil and envy – living daily in wickedness, depravity, and jealousy over the success of others
(adjective)
hateful – odious, detestable, hated by others
(participle)
hating one another – hostility toward others, particularly those who might seem to be in competition, detesting even the very sight of them
Here Paul gives us a dark picture of the natural state of man, depraved and in sin, at enmity with God and with his neighbor. Perhaps he is exaggerating the view by piling up the disgusting adjectives all in one place; however, if the truth be told and acknowledged, these descriptors apply to everyone in some measure before God intervenes in their lives.
Paul’s reason for painting this picture is to remind all who read and hear his words that prior to God by his Spirit moving in our hearts we are all in the same desperate and lost condition. Consequently we have no cause to think of ourselves as superior in any way over anyone else. When we interact with those around us we must remember what we used to be like and behave with compassion toward those who are still bound in their sin.
Aren’t you thankful to God for that little word “But”? God didn’t leave us in our state of sinfulness and alienated from him. Instead he demonstrated goodness and love toward us in the person of the Savior, Jesus Christ. That goodness and love was demonstrated in his saving of us according to, or on the basis of, his mercy. Our salvation was accomplished by the ministry of the Holy Spirit who regenerated (brought us back to life) and renewed us, making us spiritually new and different. This is all possible because of the work of Christ Himself as the Holy Spirit applies to us the redemption and justification purchased by our Lord Jesus.
Paul uses two significant words here to describe our change of condition: God is the one who did all the work of saving us and he did it according to his mercy and by his grace. God showed mercy by not rewarding us according to our works, not giving us what we deserved; he acted graciously by granting us what we could never earn or deserve because of our inherent sinfulness. It is important to note that God did not merely do the minimum required to get us started in the right direction and then expect us to go the distance by ourselves. He generously provided abundantly in rich measure his Holy Spirit, poured out on us to fit us to be heirs of eternal life.
So that the whole Trinity appears here as concurring in the blessed work of our salvation : we are saved by God the Father, through the ministration of His hfe-giving ordinances, rendered such by the presence and agency of the Holy Spirit ; and this, again, proceeds on the ground of what was done for us by Christ as our Saviour, and what He still does in mediating between us and the Father respecting the bestowal of the Spirit. Fairbairn, Pastoral Epistles
C. Avoidance v. 8-11
If we truly believe the Gospel, it must have a demonstrable effect on our lives and actions. Our obedience to the commands of Christ should be apparent; remember what he told his disciples, “If you love me, keep my commands.” John 14:15 Paul has in view here the principle that the good believers do has a positive effect, not only on fellow Christians but also on the society in which they live. If we expect our friends and neighbors to make better choices and live less destructive lifestyles, we need to set a proper example. When it comes to doing good to others, we should not let zealous “cult” members put us to shame.
We are called to good works but not saved by those works; we do them gladly because we are saved and desire to please our Heavenly Father, not as a means to gain his favor since He has because of his mercy already saved us. We must show kindness to others as God has showed kindness to us; see Matthew 6:12 “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”.
In order to have the time and energy to do as Christ expects us, we must avoid what is unproductive, what will not produce godliness. This includes both the unprofitable behaviors and those who would ensnare us in those behaviors. Paul does not condemn questioning completely, just those foolish or moronic questions which do not lead to godliness. Those sorts of people whose primary purpose is to cause division by their questioning, debates, quarrels, or disputes should be avoided and their teaching rejected.
D. Application v. 12-15
Remember from Chapter 2 that we are to “adorn the teaching of God …in everything”. Sound teaching emphasized in Chapter 2 must have a result in the Christian’s life evidenced by good works. Behavior is the result of belief which is based on doctrine. Paul has emphasized in Chapters 2 & 3 the importance of good works in the life of the believer:
a model of good works Tit. 2:7
following a model
providing a model
zealous for good works Tit. 2:14
who will “perform them from principles of truth and love, and with a zeal for the glory of God, and the honour of his Gospel; and with an holy emulation of one another, striving to go before, and excel each other in the performance of them.” John Gill
ready for every good work Tit. 3:1
“A Christian should be always ready to do good as far as he is able. He should not need to be urged, or coaxed, or persuaded, but should be so ready always to do good that he will count it a privilege to have the opportunity to do it.” Barnes’ Notes
devote[d] to good works Tit. 3:8, 14
“it denotes the application of earnest and continued thought, a careful striving of soul in this direction, that the belief in the doctrines of the gospel should be substantiated by a steady performance of its commanded duties.” Fairbairn, Pastoral Epistles
The principle is that the Christian will consciously make living out the Gospel a priority; when he is faced with a choice about what to do, he will intentionally choose doing what will promote the Gospel and the Kingdom.
So, do you have a model you are following? Are you a proper model for others to follow? Is it your constant priority to follow the perfect model given to us in Christ and lived out by others who love him? To do so will have a cost; 1 Peter 2:20-21 tells us: “But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.”
