Good morning and good Tuesday. I have a fun and exciting day ahead as I fly out to Seattle later today for the week. We are opening a new university campus and the kickoff event will be on Thursday afternoon. We’re flying in a guest speaker, having the event catered, it’s gonna be a big deal. I’ve been working with one of the students at the university for the last few months on this. It’s amazing how many small details can be involved in an event. True in life too. There are many details that need proper attention if the whole of the event is to be successful. Details are important.
Well, this is a great segway to our topic this morning in Titus 2, the teaching of sound doctrine. The small details of what a church actually teaches. There was a time in my early Christian walk that I just assumed that a church was a church. I see a church over there and it has a big steeple on top, it’s a church. There’s another church over there but its just a big square building with no steeple, it’s a church too. I drive through a neighborhood and I see a small space in a strip mall between a Subway and a Dollar General and it says a church meets there on Sundays, it’s a church too. But be acutely aware, all churches are not the same. Listen to this very closely…a church IS what it teaches and it MUST teach sound doctrine or it is not a church as God’s Word describes a church. What a church teaches is what makes the church. Not a steeple, a bunch of people, a campus of 9 buildings, a flashy preacher with holes in his jeans or a big choir. Nowhere in Titus does Paul say any of these make a New Testament church. What does? The teaching of sound doctrine.
So what is sound doctrine. Well, its really pretty simple. In fact, I’d say God does a wonderful job of keeping things very simple for us. If you’re to be honest, we’re not the brightest creatures at times and God has generously and lovingly made sound doctrine, and the plan of Salvation, very simple for us. Paul describes sound doctrine in the latter part of the chapter:
“ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11-14
Let’s beak down this passage on sound doctrine. “The grace of God has appeared, bringing Salvation for all people.” This references Jesus Christ, upon which sound doctrine is based. “The grace of God appeared.” He appeared. Jesus came to Earth as a man, lived a sinless life, died, and was resurrected and ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father. Grace is an important word here. We are saved by grace, not by love, works, good behavior, being Baptized, going to church every Sunday or being good enough. We are saved by the grace of God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Eph 2:8-9. Notice who this grace is for. All people. Jesus Christ came to this planet for each and every single person that has ever lived and will ever live. All you must do is simply repent, admit you’re a sinner and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to save you from your sin. “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13. Thank the Lord He made it so simple for us.
Let’s unpack the next part. “training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” If you call upon the name of Jesus and are saved, you will become a new creature. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 1 Cor 5:17.
You are not just a little different, a little changed or kinda better…you are a NEW CREATION. This is amazing and an absolute miracle. If you have ever witnessed anyone accepting Jesus, you have witnessed a miracle. When we were serving in Destin last summer we were blessed enough to be able to go to youth camp with the kids (even though that was never the plan) At evening worship young hearts (and mine) would be greatly moved by the Holy Spirit. On the last night Marge and I were sitting near the front with our youth group and young man and his youth pastor came forward during one of the songs. What we witnessed was a miracle from God that I will never forget. This young life, broken and hurt, yearning for peace and joy, reached out to a God that saves. A God that through grace can save all sinners on this planet. In that moment, seeing that young man with his pastor at his side, both on their knees, I could see the transformation. My friends, when God saves, He saves completely. As you ask for the Lord to save you, He gives you one of the single most amazing gifts a human could ever imagine, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God moves in and my friend, changes happen, total change. You see, you are not just changed a little or moved emotionally….you are a completely different creature.
So if you’re a new creature do you think you’ll be acting a little different. You bet your boots you will be! How can you not. You went from a sinner acting on your own behalf to being saved by grace and living side by side with the Spirit of God within you, you MUST act different! In the Hawaiian islands, the early missionaries would observe new Christians for a few months after they accepted Christ to look for the new creature acting in new ways. When they saw the new creature emerge and start acting in new ways, they would admit them into the church. If they saw no change in their lives, they would continue to minister to them. Wow. It should be that easy today as well to see the difference between a new creature and the old creature.
So this brings us back to the next part of that verse. If we are new creatures, what does God expect from us? We must “renounce ungodliness and world passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.” As new creatures we are now foreign to this planet. The world is a sinful place and satan is thoroughly in charge of it. In fact in John 12:12 he is called "ruler of this world." If this world is a sin-filled evil place, then how should we be living if we have the perfect Holy Spirit of God within us. We should renounce, or reject, things that are not of God. We should reject the passions (lusts) of this world and instead live self-controlled. We should live Godly lives. Lives that please God.
We are not alone in this walk. God’s Holy Spirit that lives within those that have called upon Jesus will have much help indeed. The Spirit will guide you in whats right and proper and will rebuke you and admonish you when you are walking in sin. If the spirit corrects you and you resist and sin anyway, there is a quenching of the Spirit. This is when we, in our rebellion, are not in harmony with God’s Will for our lives, which is, as we're told here, to reject ungodliness and worldly passions.
Next our verse on sound doctrine goes on to talk about the second coming of Christ. You don’t hear too much about this today, but it’s an essential part of the completion of God’s plan and is sound doctrine. “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” You see sound doctrine in God’s Word tells us that Jesus WILL be coming again. He will come again to claim His people. What a glorious day this will be! If we don’t die before this day, Jesus will come and claim believers in Him and take them to Heaven. Since He will be taking us out of this sin filled world we will no longer need His Spirit as we’ll be IN His presence in a perfect sinless Heaven. Oh, glory day!
Let’s look at the last part of our verse on sound doctrine. “Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” Jesus didn’t just come here to save us so we could sit back and watch reruns of Gomer Pyle and eat chips, we have work to do. He gave Himself for us, redeemed us, purified us, and made us His for a purpose. The purpose? To be zealous for good works. Zealous is defined as “to possess great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause.” This is why Jesus saves us and gives us His Holy Spirit. To do good.
What does this look like? First and foremost, the giving out of His Word to the world. Remember the first part of our verse, He brought Salvation for ALL PEOPLE. And how will all people hear? From you and me. Good works is also helping. Helping widows, orphans, the poor, the hurting, the lost. We are lights to a dark world. Anywhere there is dark, we are needed to give light. That’s a big job as this world is a big place.
I always chuckle when I hear someone discuss man’s age old philosophical struggle, “what is the purpose of life.” My friend, if you have been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, He just answered this question for you. It’s done. There’s no longer a reason for you to wonder what your purpose in life is. The real question for Christians should be “How will I serve God and the people of this world with the spiritual gifts He has given me?” Now that’s a great question to talk with God about.
So, remember yesterday when we talked about the logical order of Titus? Chapter one was the orderly organization of the church. Chapter 2 today was the sound doctrine that makes a church a church. And tomorrow chapter 3? Chapter 3 deals with purity of life and being ready for every good work. I’ll be writing on chapter 3 tomorrow morning all the way from Seattle and I’m so excited to see what God has to say to us then!
God bless you and I pray that your 5 minutes in God’s Word everyday is bringing you closer to Him inch by inch. A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. If you’re not growing closer to God through His Word daily, I pray you start today. If you are, then I pray that your daily steps towards Him are rewarded with true blessed peace and Joy that can only come in purity from God the Father.
Peace to you all.
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