Titus: Godly Lives

Today I pray that you will help us as we look at your word. Help us to be people who desire to live the kind of life that is so wholesome, so winsome, that is such a persuasive attraction for others who are outside the Christian faith. just help us to be that kind of people so that we can see people coming to us wanting to know what is the church about what is it that makes us different why is it that we walk out of step with the world but in step with a great one and in such a step that it causes us to be so different that people want to get involved and be a part of it these things we ask in Christ's name his sake. Amen. Well, let's turn to Titus chapter 2 this morning. And I'm going to really start with the end of the chapter. If you see verse 11, hopefully your English translation begins with the word, in verse 11, the word for.

Does everybody see that? For.

If you look back in chapter 1, you will see that verse 10 begins with the word for. Is that right? Does everybody have that? What happens in both chapter 1 and chapter 2, Paul gives at the beginning of each chapter instructions about how we are to be or how our church leaders are to be. And then at the end of the chapter, he gives the reasons for that.

In chapter 1, he said, look, you've got a group of people on Crete who are what he called the circumcision group who were teaching false doctrine. That's starting at the 4 of verse 10. And it was for that reason that he told Titus that he needed some godly church leaders to help him. In chapter 2, you get to the fore of verse 11, and he's going to give us some reasons for why we should be the way he says we should be in the first 10 verses of chapter 2. of chapter 2.

So the end of chapter 2 gives the reason or basis for why we should be the way Paul admonishes us to be in chapter 2, verses 1 through 10. So my question for us is why should we live godly lives? And I want to read verses 11 to 14 of chapter 2 and try to answer that question. for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. That's the way the NIV reads.

That's the way the King James reads. Let me tell you how I think it should read. Instead of saying has appeared to all men, it should say for the grace of God has appeared,

bringing salvation to all men. To all men goes with the bringing of salvation as opposed to the appearing. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. 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 glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify from himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

These then are the things you should teach, encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you. There are three reasons I think that Paul gives us in this section and also in the beginning part of the chapter about why we should live godly lives. First, the grace of Christ has appeared.

Secondly, the glory of Christ will appear. And then thirdly, others are watching us. So why should you live godly lives? And I'm going to explain each of these in a little more detail. First, because the grace of Christ has appeared.

Secondly, the glory of Christ will appear. Thirdly, others are watching. Do you see it? the grace of Christ has appeared out of gratitude for what Christ has done for us through his grace. We should reciprocate and live a godly life for him.

Secondly, the glory of Christ will appear.

One day we will stand before him. We don't want to shrink back in shame at his coming. So live godly lives now. Others are watching us. People are looking at us to see what does my life, what does David Rogers' life say about Jesus Christ?

What does your life say about Jesus Christ? And people are affected and influenced by how we live. So you got the three reasons? Now let's take them apart just a little bit. the grace of Christ has appeared

bringing salvation to all men and I think it's pretty clear in the Greek text it should say bringing salvation to all men one of the most explosive verses

in the Bible is Galatians 3 28 and I want us to turn and read that together

this is one of those verses that's worth memorizing or underlining if you write in your Bible. Galatians 3.28 says this, There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. That whole chapter is talking about salvation.

And Paul is writing under the inspiration of the Spirit to tell us that when you walk to the foot of the cross, it doesn't matter what gender you are, what your national origin is, it doesn't matter if you happen to be a master or a slave, we all come to faith through Jesus Christ. We all come on a level playing ground when it comes to having salvation in Jesus Christ. And when Paul says that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, there's several thoughts here. The grace of God has appeared. When did the grace of God appear?

With the first coming of Jesus Christ. So when he says the grace of God has appeared, I think Paul has in mind the first coming of Jesus. And in a minute, he's going to talk about the glory of Christ at the second coming. But the grace of Christ has appeared at his first coming. And when he came, he brought salvation to all men.

Not meaning that everyone would be saved, but that all people, regardless of socioeconomic background, ethnic origin, nationality, gender, whatever, have an offer of salvation. through Jesus Christ. And the Christian church says to the world, we don't care who you are. We don't care what your past has been like. We don't care if you're rich, poor, educated, uneducated, black, white.

We open the door and we say, come to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Christianity is remarkably inclusive. We don't go after the rich.

We don't go after the wealthy. We go after everyone. we want everyone to come and accept this salvation that has been now offered to all men in the first coming of Jesus Christ okay so hear me it's not saying when it says bring salvation to all men it's not saying everybody's going to be saved but it's saying everybody without distinction has this offer of salvation my Armenian friends love this passage and we don't want to shrink back from the notion that every race, every socioeconomic group, every ethnic background has salvation offered to them through Jesus Christ. Another big word that is used is the word redemption in this passage. Verse 14, 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.

Christ has redeemed us. That is what salvation is. is redemption is a word that has to do with sort of a, it was a transaction when a slave was set free. Someone could buy their way out of slavery. They could be redeemed from slavery.

And it was the payment of a price to be set free from something that held you in bondage. So there was a process whereby slaves could literally be set free or redeemed from their slavery. But through salvation, and this is an essential teaching of the Christian faith, this is some of our most basic theology, we have been redeemed from the bondage or slavery of sin. We have been set free from the bondage or slavery of sin. We have been liberated from that sin when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

That redemption comes because Jesus Christ gave himself for us. That's what the verse 14 says. He gave himself. It was a voluntary act by Jesus Christ. He was not under obligation to come the first time to die on the cross, but as a voluntary act, he did so.

how great a love that without compulsion he voluntarily came to die on the cross. And he came to die for us. And that word for us, those words for us mean in our place. Substitution. The sin that should have rightly been ours and the penalty that we should have paid for that sin he took upon himself and died in our place paying the penalty for that sin.

Does everybody understand that concept? It's called substitutionary atonement. The perfect son of God was the perfect sacrifice for your sin and for my sin. God is just. He will not let lawbreakers just go free without punishment.

But he is a God of love and he said, guess what folks? I'm going to let my son take your punishment. I'm sending him. So he is both just, sin was punished, but he is the justifier. He provided the way of salvation when we put our faith and trust in him.

He redeemed us for a purpose. And Paul gives us two purposes. Jesus Christ died for our sins for two purposes. wickedness. That's what the text says in verse 14.

And when it says to redeem us from wickedness, it is to redeem us or buy us back from the penalty and the power of sin.

We were redeemed from wickedness. When Jesus Christ died for us, he paid the penalty for our sin, but he also, also, by breaking the bondage of sin, we are no longer under the power of sin. Listen to a couple of verses. Romans 6, 22 and 23. But now being set free from sin you have become slaves to God and the benefit that you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life.

For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is no condemnation, Romans 8, 1 Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. What I want to tell you is, if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, your eternal destiny is secure. The penalty for your sin has been paid, but I want to tell you something else. You are free from the power of sin.

You are no longer slaves to sin. You are now slaves to Jesus Christ. and through the power of God's Spirit, you can defeat sin. There are many people, and sometimes we hear it from Christians, who seem to have this notion that we are bound in sin. To be sure, we still deal with that old sin nature.

We won't be perfect until we get to glory. But the power of sin has been broken. You do not have to sin. you can resist the temptation you can turn from that which is evil to that which is good because you now have the Holy Spirit in you that gives you the power to do that so when you face the temptations of this world when the worldly passions seem about to overwhelm you you need to step back and you need to think of the cross of Jesus Christ and say I am free, I am free by the power of God's Spirit and through the work of Jesus Christ I do not have to do this evil thing. I can turn from it, and I have the strength through God to do it.

You know, my son Caleb and I play tennis. We still play tennis together. It's kind of ugly now. But for a long time, even when he was better than I was in tennis, I could still beat him because in his mind he didn't know yet he could beat me. but when he finally knew he could beat me it was all over you know what some of you in your minds don't think you can beat sin you think it's stronger than you are I'm here to tell you today it is not for he who is in you is stronger than anything you face you can beat sin you should beat sin walk around defeated because you've got the power of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in you. You can beat sin. So be like my son Caleb now. As he beats me like a drum, you go beat sin like a drum. Okay? Liberation. But he redeemed us to purify us. Jesus wanted a people for himself.

In the Old Testament, God's people were the people of Israel. In the New Testament, it is the church. He redeemed us from the penalty and power of sin because He wants a pure people, a holy people committed to Him. A people who are, as the text says in verse 14, zealous or eager for good works. We ought to want to do good.

We ought to, that word zealous means anticipation to do the right thing. Because in doing that, we honor the one who gave himself for us. So redeemed from wickedness to purity of life.

The second reason that we ought to do good is because the glory of Christ will appear. Verse 13 While we wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing

Christ is coming back. And while we await that glory, we should be living holy lives so that when we meet Him, He will say to us, well done, good and faithful servant. Now let me make a couple of points. The text in verse 13 refers to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The word God and Savior both refer to Jesus Christ.

This is an explicit statement of the deity of Jesus Christ. He is the great God and Savior. He is the one who has redeemed us, but he is also God. So a clear affirmation of his deity.

One central tenet of the Christian faith is that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. it is a doctrine that is abused and laughed at by many outside the evangelical Christian world many view Jesus as a great moral teacher a good man, kind, generous but they shrink back from calling him God himself and Lord maybe it's because if they acknowledged he was Lord they would have to bow before him and there's something in human hearts that just rebels against that I gave you C.S. Lewis' quote. It's one of the most famous quotes of C.S. Lewis about the deity of Jesus Christ.

Read it with me. I'm trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him. I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic on the level with the man who says he's a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God or else a madman or something worse. Something worse would be a deceiver who intentionally misled people. You can shut him up for a fool.

you can spit at him, kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. And then lastly, others are watching us.

Look at verses 5, 8, and 10. Paul is going to give instructions about how we as Christians are supposed to live. And he keeps noting how people are watching us. Look at what he says in verse 5.

That's not the right verse. Yeah, it is. I'm looking at the wrong chapter. Verse 5. The end of the verse.

So that no one will malign, it's literally blaspheme, the word of God. You're supposed to live a godly life so no one will malign, blaspheme, ridicule the word. Look at verse 8. So that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. He wanted people to live such holy lives and good lives that even those who opposed them would be ashamed if they criticized the church.

Because the church was obviously such a wholesome place. And look at verse 10. He's talking to slaves now. So that in every way, they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. He was saying slaves were to live in such a way that they would attract people to the faith.

So the grace of Christ has appeared. Out of gratitude, we should live holy lives. The glory of Christ will appear. And then thirdly, others are watching us. Let me read, before I move on to the qualities we should have in our lives, let me just read a couple of quotes from some of our founding fathers.

Wouldn't today be a good day to do that? Benjamin Rush was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. And listen to his words today. My only hope of salvation is the infinite, transcendent love of God manifested to the world by the death of his son upon the cross. Nothing but his blood will wash away my sins.

I rely exclusively upon it. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence. And how about our Supreme Court? The first Supreme Court Chief Justice was a guy named John Jay.

we don't see these words too often in Supreme Court opinions today. But listen to John Jay. Unto him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for his manifold and unmerited blessings, and especially for our redemption and salvation by his beloved Son. Blessed be his holy name.

Powerful words. Blessed be his holy name, for he has redeemed us. Well, how are we supposed to live? And here's where I want to turn to some qualities. Somebody tell me what time it is.

I don't have my watch. Okay, we're going to go quick through this. I've given you a chart that sets out the qualities that we are to have as church members. Those of you who are leaders in the church, you've been on the hot seat. For the last couple of weeks, now all of us are on the hot seat.

Because Paul gives a long list of admonitions for various groups within the church. Older men, older women. Younger men, younger women. And slaves. And I just want to highlight some of these qualities.

First, for older men. How do you know if you're older?

Well, it's probably, let me give you at least a parameter to think about. In the text, it seems to be that those who are addressed as younger men and younger women are those who still have younger children, children who are still in the home that they're having to care for. So if you have grown children, and you really have no responsibility for young children anymore, you probably would fall in the category of the older men. Now, you could be among the older men if you have younger children. or whatever, but sometimes your family circumstances indicate whether you would fall in the older category or the younger category.

I won't try to draw sharp edge lines. I'm probably, I'm 48, and my children are now both 18. I'm probably just kind of slipped over into that older category. A little earlier I might have been in the younger category. These are qualities that are good for all of us, but they're particularly addressed to older men.

that is the older men should be level-headed not rash or intemperate this word is sometimes used for not drinking too much wine but it has a broader connotation of people who are sober level-headed when all the everything seems to be going wrong this is the person that can say all right calm down calm down things are going to be okay let me give you some That's what older men should be doing, right? They should be worthy of respect. You know, older men often get respect just because they're old.

But Paul says, teach the older men there to be worthy of the respect. In other words, older men should be of good character. Honorable men who don't just get respect because they're old, but because they're good. They're of good character. Self-controlled.

This word self-controlled gets used time and again in the book of Titus. Paul really wants Titus to teach the church members to be self-controlled. It means if you're self-controlled, you're able to curb your desires and impulses and to live in an orderly and sensible way. Some translations even translate this word self-controlled as sensible. don't be stupid don't do things that don't make sense that cause harm that injure the family that injure yourself be sensible people and if you're sensible it means you're able to control your desires so that you don't do something rash impulsive and stupid that you will regret later how many times have we how's our self control how many times have we done things and we wish man why did I say that keep my mouth shut. A self-controlled person knows when to keep his or her mouth shut.

A self-controlled person knows not to go to the wrong place at the wrong time. Why did you go to that place that night, late at night, with that person of the opposite sex? What were you thinking? You let those impulses and desires take control. You've got to be self-controlled. And he urges the older men to be sound, that means to have a healthy or correct view about faith, love, and endurance. They are to be sound in their faith toward God, love everyone, and they are to endure to the end. That's what Titus was to teach the older men, to endure to the end. You know sometimes when you get old, you get to that retirement age, you say, man, I don't have to do anything anymore. I'm going to leave it to those younger people to do it.

It's their turn now. I'm going to quit. I'm going to play golf. I'm going to retire. Nothing wrong with golf.

Unless it preoccupies you and so you don't do the things you're supposed to do. Paul says the older men don't quit. They endure to the end. They are steadfast. They are patient.

But they don't quit. they cross the finish line of life doing the things that God wants them to do. So if you're an older person, don't quit. Don't retire from the Christian life. In fact, when you're older, you probably are freer to do more for Jesus Christ than you have been probably at any time in your life.

And often you're in a little more financially secure position to do it. So give yourself maybe even more to Jesus Christ in those older years. Don't quit. Older women are to be reverent. This is a word used only here in the New Testament, the Greek word.

It means that older women were to conduct themselves in such a way that they would be fit to serve as priestesses in the temple of God. They are that reverent. They have that much holy fear toward God, such holy fear that they live holy lives so that they would be fit to serve in his temple. They're not to be slanderers. The Greek word there is the word for devil, diabolos, devil.

The devil, the diabolos, is the accuser. That's what that word diabolos means. He's the accuser. What is a slanderer? A slanderer is someone who accuses someone of bad things.

Older women weren't to do that, nor were they to be addicted to much wine. we see some problems that may have existed in the church in this area and so Paul's addressing them. They were to teach what is good. This Greek word is only used here in all of Greek literature that we know about. It is an extremely unusual word.

It's not only used here in the Bible, it's only used here in all of Greek literature. The older women are to teach what is good. Particularly the younger women, they're to train. And this word teach means that the older women, not just in their words, but by their daily examples, were to teach younger women how they were to live. So by word and example, they were to teach and train the younger women.

The younger men were to be self-controlled. and then Titus was also to be an example for them of how they were to live but Paul gets to the younger men and his major admonition to younger men is be self-controlled that is be able to control those rash, impulsive desires. His laundry list for the younger men is the shortest of the laundry list. Why is that? Well men are a little slow sometimes, they need a short list.

and the younger men really needed to focus on this not following their impulsive desires and their rash living. You go to the prisons in our country, most of the prisons are occupied by young men because younger men have often not learned to control their rash emotions. If you're a younger man, you need to be self-controlled, not to just act, but to think before you act. The younger women were to love their husbands and their children. On some of the funeral inscriptions in ancient, in the first century, you can go back and see funeral inscriptions, and you will see that these women who were praiseworthy are praised because they loved their husband and their children.

They were to be self-controlled, we've talked about that, and pure. They were busy at home, the NIV says. Paul makes it very clear that the younger women were to give diligent attention to the home life. The word could be translated homemakers. The younger women were to be homemakers.

Next to their allegiance to Jesus Christ their allegiance was to be to the home to husband, to children. I think that's true for men too. But the women then, and even today, are so often involved, particularly in the nurturing of children, that Paul says, don't neglect that. Don't neglect that. Be diligent in taking care of the home.

We've gone through some cycles in our country, haven't we? When I was in high school and college, to tell a woman she ought to think about being a homemaker could earn you some quick, ugly responses. I think we've actually moved beyond that to some degree, and people are realizing that some of the extremes of the 70s and early 80s were actually not healthy. Even people who aren't Christian have realized that. This is not arguing that women can't achieve or so forth, but it's saying, let's keep first what should come first in life.

You may be a successful businesswoman, but if you lose your husband or you lose your children, what have you gained? What have you gained? They were to be kind and then the most difficult, they were to submit to their own husbands. Somebody tell me what time it is again.

Okay. I'm going to hit this very quickly and then I'm going to go to life's lessons. Are women who are married supposed to be submissive to their husbands?

Yes. Not just this passage. Ephesians 5, 21-23. Colossians 3, 18. Read it.

It's clear. Women are to be submissive to their husbands.

Now, I would be one that would argue there's a sense in which men are to be submissive to their wives. Husbands are to be submissive to their wives. But there's no doubt here that women are to be submissive to their own husbands. Let me make several observations on this point. Paul is not here dealing with the relationship between men and women in general.

He's not saying women are to be submissive to men. He is talking solely about the relationship between a husband and a wife. And he's very in fact, he says you are to submit to your own husband. And the emphasis on your own husband or their own husbands seems to imply you don't have to worry about submitting to anybody else. There's a difference in the relationship.

There's a sense in which all Christians submit to one another, He's really focusing on the relationship between husband and wife.

Second, remember Galatians 3.28. Christ, we're neither male nor female. In other words, we're all equal before the cross and before Christ. Christianity of all the major religions of the world has been the most liberating for women. Of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, there is no doubt that Christianity has been the most liberating.

For the Apostle Paul, the gospel always comes first. And he knew that if women were not good mothers and good wives, it would cause the gospel to be discredited on the island of Crete and throughout the New Testament world. And it was when women were submissive to their husbands and were good mothers and good wives that the gospel would be elevated. And so he's really calling for that devotion to home so that the gospel would get a good reputation. The status of women in the New Testament era was not good.

The Jewish rabbis used to teach people to pray three times a day, thank God I'm not a Gentile, a slave, or a woman. And there was a reason for that. Women's testimony wasn't accepted in court. Their husbands had complete authority over them. women were viewed often as being inferior in the first century era.

They were viewed as not being able to handle difficult situations and so forth. You look at the New Testament and you see women serving in so many capacities, so many roles, and you see the elevation of women in the New Testament, the way Jesus treated women, the way Paul treated women, Phoebe, Hunia, and other women who served with him.

So the New Testament is not teaching any kind of inferiority, but it is teaching that in the best of homes, wives are submissive to their husbands. What does it mean to be submissive? Let me just hit this very quickly.

Biblical submission is a way of life for all Christians, but it is particularly important for wives to be submissive to their husbands. It means that they're respectful toward their husbands. It means they're willing to serve their husbands. It means they're caring and concerned about their husbands. It means they reject an attitude of selfishness.

It says, I'm just going to have my way. And instead, it says, I'm going to be unselfish and loving. Biblical submission doesn't mean you always do what your husband says. it's not the word obey it's submission and sometimes husbands could give unbiblical commands to a wife or be abusive to a wife and Paul would not he's not addressing those situations here but in the good home setting the wives are to have this respectful attitude that says I'll put you first before my own interest

it's a tough command in many respects because we rebel against this notion of putting someone else first. Husbands, you put your wives first before yourself. You're supposed to love her so much you'll die for her, which is the ultimate act of submission. So let's don't forget there is some reciprocity here, but let's don't soften the teaching for women. Slaves were also enjoined to obey their be submissive to their masters be pleasing to them so that they would not discredit the gospel Paul is not advocating slavery he's advocating advancing the gospel let me close with the lessons for life just so we'll wrap those up for today I'm going to do these fairly quickly the reputation of Christ and the gospel are affected by how we live secondly our Christian faith should be modeled at home first.

Our Christian faith should be modeled at home first. We want our children to have godly lives. They need to see it modeled in the home. You can't just talk about it once a week. You've got to live it every day.

When Caleb, Kate, and I lift weights several months, when we get to that last set of weights and you can't, you know, you're struggling to do the curls, I'll often say, do you love Jesus?

And it means in my way, having a good time. I want him to remind him that even when life is not easy, even when things are hard, the love of Jesus comes first and we give him everything we've got. Model it at home. Thirdly, let's be more intentional about mentoring. Older men and older women, when you are in relationship, particularly with someone younger, be willing to give them some advice.

I've often shrunk back from giving advice to people because I'm saying, well, who am I, you know? What do I have to say to them?

What kind of example have I been? But I think we need to be more intentional when we see where we can help people. We need to help. the next generation by being mentors. Next, the choices we make reflect what or whom is at the center of our lives.

Make no mistake, people know whom you serve when they watch you live every day. Who's at the center of your life? Fifthly, before you act, think. Think. Think.

That's part of self-control. Before you do something, think. what are the consequences of what I do? What are the implications of what I do? How does it affect other people?

I wish Christians would think more before they acted. It would help put lawyers out of business. I spent much of my career dealing with people who didn't think before they acted. And unfortunately, too many of them went to church. Think.

Apply biblical principles. When facing temptations, think of the cross, then fight, then fight, Don't surrender. You can beat this sin.

And lastly, guard your heart in your marriage. Don't let your heart and mind be infiltrated with junk. Because junk comes out. And guard your marriages. Satan wants them to fall.