Thoughts From Titus

Uplook – September 2017 — Grace & Truth Magazine

Thoughts From Titus

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age.” —Titus 2:11-12 NKJV

After introducing himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, Paul opens his letter to Titus with the greeting, “Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior” (1:4). Our thoughts and hearts are immediately directed to the source of all the blessings that flow down to us. As we know, the law was given by Moses, promising life by obeying its commands; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, demanding nothing. This was Paul’s message by the commandment of God our Savior, making known the hope of eternal life that God promised before time began.

These brief introductory truths form the basis of the exhortations that follow throughout this short epistle, or letter. In the verse at the beginning of this article we read that the grace of God brings salvation. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). This great salvation, that God had promised before the world began, appeared when Christ came, and the promise of eternal life came along with it to all those who receive it by faith. “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life” (Jn. 3:36).

But there is more. This grace of God has not only “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10), but it also teaches us how to live the new life we have received. We are to deny the things that once characterized us when we were living in ungodliness and the lusts of this world (consider 1 Jn. 2:14-15). These are things we must put off before we can even begin to follow the guidelines for this new life – a life that is to be lived in soberness, righteousness and godliness. We will explore together what it means to live this new kind of life.

1. The Grace Of God Teaches Us To Live Soberly
The meaning of the word soberly suggests “the exercise of that self-restraint that governs the passions and desires, enabling the believer to be conformed to the mind of Christ” (Dictionary of New Testament Words by W. E. Vine). We need to have a sound mind. “As he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). In Romans 12:3 we find that each one is exhorted “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly.” We sometimes consider ourselves more spiritual than others, but that is not being sober. Our hearts are deceitful, yet God knows them and searches them out (Jer. 17:9-10).

The only perfect example of true soberness is seen in the life of the Lord Jesus. Before He entered His public ministry, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The Lord had to meet alone with the devil first, before He would meet great crowds of people. After He had fasted forty days, the devil came to Jesus, tempting Him to make bread of the stones to prove that He is the Son of God (Mt. 4:1-4). Jesus did not have to prove that. Far rather, He proved that He was the perfect, dependent Man who lived only by the word of God. Christ never lost His composure. He was ever calm and perfectly in control. Is this true of us, or do we get all upset when things are not just the way we would like them to be? May we apply the words of the psalmist: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11). God does not have a lower standard for us than what is seen in the Lord Jesus. He is God’s standard. It is easy to see that we cannot do this in our own strength; therefore, our prayer must be, “With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!” (v.10). “Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous [deliberate, willful] sins” (19:12-13). This close communion with the Lord and confidence in Him will keep us in the path of safety and cause us to think soberly about ourselves and every aspect of our lives.

2. The Grace Of God Teaches Us To Live Righteously
This speaks of our relationship towards others. Referring again to Vine’s dictionary we find that the word “righteously” means to be “just, without prejudice or partiality.” It is doing what is right before God and men. When we study the life of the Lord Jesus as He walked where we walk, He always answered justly, doing and saying what was right. Let us trace some of the righteous steps of Jesus in His public life here on earth:

• After the devil had ended the temptation, “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee ... And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. So He came to Nazareth ... and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read” (Lk. 4:14-16).
• Jesus had quoted the Scriptures to refute the tempter, and then He read the Word to teach the people and preach the acceptable year of the Lord (v.19).
• The people were drawn to Him. “All bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth” (v.22).
• The people were astonished at His doctrine, for the word was with power. “They were all amazed ... saying, ‘What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out’” (v.36).

All this happened in Nazareth where He had been brought up. Where is our Nazareth? Is it not the place where we are best known, the place we call home? No matter our age, situations constantly arise that bring about a reaction from us. This could be at school, where maybe we are tempted to cheat on our exams, or where we are being mistreated by our peers – and our calm composure leaves us. Perhaps in the business world it might be easy to make some shady deal that is financially beneficial to us. What about employer-employee relationships? Am I willing to suffer wrong for Christ’s sake? I need His strength to do what is right instead of acting or reacting in a way that is displeasing to the Lord. These are just some areas where we can demonstrate righteousness and receive the Lord’s commendation. As we reflect on His words of power and righteousness, realizing this is the same One Who upholds all things by the word of His power, we marvel and bow our heads in humble adoration before the lowly Man of Nazareth. With the centurion in Luke 23:47, we can exclaim, “Certainly this was a righteous man!”

3. The Grace Of God Teaches Us To Live Godly
The Spirit of God, dwelling in every believer, is operating effectively to produce the moral features of Christ in each of us. To live godly is to be like Him. It is characterized by a God-ward attitude, doing what is well-pleasing to Him. The apostle Paul sums up in capsule form what godliness meant to him when he wrote this: “For to me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). As Saul of Tarsus, he had not felt that way; in fact, it was just the opposite. But on the road to Damascus a light from heaven caused him to fall to the ground, and a voice from heaven called out, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Then in answer to his question, “Who are You, Lord?”, there came these words: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Astonished, the man then still known as Saul said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:3-6). This marked the change in this man’s life. He now had a purpose for his life, an example for his walk, and an object in the glory – Jesus Christ. Paul, once a zealous persecutor of the Lord Jesus, became His avid follower.

Words To Live By
Here are words to live by: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). It was that lowly mind that brought Him down from heaven, stooping in obedience even to the death of the cross in order to glorify God and create in us a God-given desire to follow Him in our pathway here. A life marked by soberness, righteousness and godliness will represent Him well in this present ungodly world. Such a life will set the believer apart from this world and awaken in him the attitude of looking up for “the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Ti. 2:13). These exhortations that we have looked at in Titus are crowned with that blessed hope, which is the rapture, and followed by His glorious appearing. To secure us as a special people, He gave Himself for us. Is it asking too much that we give ourselves to Him in heartfelt love, willing obedience, and joyful service while waiting for Him to take us home? Let us respond with a shout of victory, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” GT

By Jacob Redekop