Titus 2:1-14
1 You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive.
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, 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.
15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
Why should anyone believe Christianity?
The modern world in general is a tolerant society, and you can choose from literally hundreds of different belief systems. We are spoilt for choice like never before.
The mere fact that you are sitting in a Christian Church today means that you have either chosen to believe the Christian faith, or you are seriously considering doing so.
But there are many more people out there who have not chosen to believe what we claim to be the truth. So again – why should they believe us? Where does the Christian faith find its credibility?
The Book of Titus deals with that same question.
The context for this letter is the pagan island of Crete where Paul and Titus had been planting Churches. Christianity was coming to Crete for the first time, and Paul left Titus so “that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town.” This is what Paul wrote to Titus in 1:5.
The standards for eldership in the Church were, and remain very high, and clearly it wasn’t going to be easy to find people like that in Crete. When we read the first chapter of Titus we are given some idea of just how bad things were in those days. The island of Crete was a stop off point for sailors and pirates. It was a real den of iniquity, and the early Church on that island faced huge challenges.
In fact, in the 1st century there was a verb in Greek literature – to Creteinise – and it meant “to lie.” That’s why the issue for Titus was credibility.
People wanted to know, “Is this Christian message really credible, and what makes it different from all the others?”
It was a culture very much like our own in which you couldn’t really believe anything that anybody said. The issue of truth being relative – in other words, what is true for me might not necessarily be true for you, is not a 21st century phenomenon. It’s been around for thousands of years, and the truth was just as wishy washy then as it is now.
No one could be trusted, and Crete was full of liars. So why should anybody believe the Christian preachers? Why should anyone believe the gospel in Crete, or in our world today?
The Gospel of Grace is spoken about so clearly in Titus 2:11-14 (NLT): “The grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”
That’s the evidence people should see in us. When the world sees God’s grace at work, when there is evidence of the reality of God, the Christian faith becomes credible.
God’s grace meets humanity’s greatest need, and this is a major theme of the book of Titus.
Five times in just three chapters God is referred to as our Saviour. What this means quite simply, is that we have a need – we need salvation.
And if we go to 3:3, we are told what we need salvation from: “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.”
We are rescued when the danger is greater than our ability to deal with it. There are some things I can do for myself, but I can do nothing to achieve my own salvation – I need a Saviour more powerful than myself.
And this is where the amazing grace of God makes provision for us. 2:11 says “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.”
It is His unique remedy for the problem which I am unable to solve. I need to be rescued because I can’t dig myself out of my own pit. I don’t have the will or the moral strength to do it.
So unless a power of righteousness greater than my own acts on my behalf, there is no hope. God, of course, does not need to do that, and that is why we call it grace. His grace is His free favour that we cannot and do not deserve.
In grace, God does not give us what we deserve; He gives us what we don’t deserve. This salvation is available to everyone, since we are all equally in need.
God’s plan is rooted in the historical appearing of Jesus Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem, who gave His life as an atoning sacrifice for the world. Everyone who accepts that grace finds peace with God and a restored relationship with Him. It’s all about God’s grace. Jesus appeared to rescue sinners.
There is a verb in verse 11 which is very important. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared.
It is a historical verb. It points us back to a particular event. Something happened in time and space, in history, when the grace of God ceased being just an idea and became visible, tangible, a reality. It appeared.
Verse 13 defines it as the “appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.” And that grace has been accessible to everybody ever since.
Now that’s all well and good, but let’s go back to the original question: What credibility does this message have? Every year at about this time we talk about the fact that Jesus came. Even non-Christians know what Christmas is really supposed to be about, but what is it that makes the Christian faith different from all the others?
What makes our message so unique?
The simplest way to test its credibility is to test the results.
In other words, if this Good News actually changes people’s lives – if it really did transform “liars, evil brutes, and lazy gluttons” (1:12) to people who became “self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined” (1:8), others would notice, and the message of the Gospel would gain credibility.
In Matthew 7:20 Jesus said “By their fruit you will recognise them.” It is our very lives which can and should attract others.
There are characteristics of Grace which should be evident in our lives, and it is these characteristics which will be far more attractive to non-believers than simply quoting Bible verses to them.
It is virtually impossible to draw up a definitive list of characteristics of grace, but I’d like to look at just a few which might help us.
Remember that what we’re trying to do is authenticate the truth of the Christian faith by the way we live our lives.
1. Grace Encourages Obedience
In John 14:23 Jesus says “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Grace is not a ticket enabling us to live and do as we please. In fact, the exact opposite is true.
1 John 2:5-6 puts it in easy to understand language: “If anyone obeys His word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.”
God gives us moral absolutes to obey, and we prove our love for Him by doing what He says.
2. Grace Promotes A Disciplined and Godly Lifestyle
Basically, grace teaches us to say, ‘No’, to ungodliness and the pleasures of this world. In our own strength we are unable to resist temptation, but the grace of God working in our lives overcomes our weakness. It enables us to live self-controlled lives. Self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit which helps us to live effectively for the glory of God, and not for ourselves.
3. Grace Sets Us Free
Galatians 5:1 says “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we have been released from condemnation and the power of sin so that we can live to please God. Romans 8:1 says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are now free from the bondage of sin, or the ‘yoke of slavery’ as Paul describes it in Galatians 5.
James 1:25 calls it ‘the perfect law that gives freedom.’
This is in sharp contrast to the law of sin and death which leads us to condemnation. We are no longer under law, we are under grace. We are free to do the will of God.
Of course, there are many other characteristics of God’s grace which should be reflected in our lives, but by simply displaying these three: obedience, discipline and freedom from condemnation, the Gospel of Jesus will be noticed.
1 Peter 3:15 says “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”
A Christian was once asked to take part in a debating society meeting at his university. The subject of the debate was the validity of Christianity’s claims and the credibility of the belief in the existence of God.
This is what he later wrote: “My adversary was unafraid to declare his denial of God’s existence and to affirm his belief that death for an individual ends everything. I had been comfortably open that I believe in God and accept the values and principles of Christianity. Our discussion was not meant to dislodge one another from a respected stance. We simply wished to state the bases of our persuasion for and against believing.
My friend finally delivered what he thought was his most effective thrust. He did not apologise for reaching into his quiver and pulling from its pouch the arrow that critics have used for centuries in their attempts to silence the testimony of believers. How dull and bent those arrows have become and yet they keep on flying!
Calm and smug-faced, he presented his convincing summary, relishing in anticipation what he thought would be conclusive victory. He pushed the repeat button and we heard the familiar words once more: Christianity is a crutch on which people lean. I felt sorry for him.
In all of human history, who hasn’t needed a crutch at some juncture in life? In Psalm 23, King David described a danger zone in his path of life. He called it The Valley of the Shadow of Death where danger lurked at every turn.
Then he saw his Divine Shepherd with a rod and a staff in His hands and he was comfortable. What a comforting crutch when it is in God’s hand!
I am not deterred from believing just because of my inability to reason out and intelligently expound on issues that perplex the human mind. I do not negotiate persuasively with my God. I acknowledge my inadequacy to grapple with some events in my life and I cast myself upon the wisdom and power of God whom I understand only from my finite reasoning. Sometimes evidential occurrences bring me to the satisfactory conclusion that it is easier – and safer – to believe than not to believe.
So, according to the light that I have in which to walk, let me be a good man, a Christian companion to those who need a friend.”
As Christians we have been given the greatest gift imaginable – God, in His infinite mercy and love, has set us free. The sin problem has been dealt with. How can we not celebrate that gift by the way in which we live our lives?
I want to go back again to my original question: Why should anyone believe Christianity?
Let’s allow Paul to answer that question with the opening verses of Ephesians 2: “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved! For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.”
