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Gospel Obedience (The Well-Pleased Father #3) (King’s Cross)
Lindsey Gardner on October 16, 2024
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The Personality of the Holy Spirit (Troy)

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SERMON TEXT

Titus 3:4-7

INTRODUCTION

When I was young, listening to music was a big part of our family dynamic. I have very vivid memories of seeing my parents’ CD collection neatly lined up on the shelf. Mom and Dad liked to listen to a lot of things, but smooth jazz was a staple genre in the house. So Dad would push the button on the Sony, the tray would extend, and the five-cd-carousel would spin as it jutted out, revealing which discs were currently in rotation. He would take a disc out, replace it with something, push the button again to retract the tray, push play, and the dulcet tones of Geoge Benson would fill the family room over the hi-fi speakers. If they wanted to discover music they would listen to 94.7 The Wave, and I would sit there on the couch and listen to Kenny G, Lee Ritenour, Candy Dulfer, Earl Klugh, and Larry Carlton. And so my love for music began at a very young age. When I was in college I played bass for the gospel choir, and I fell in love with the genre. So now that’s in rotation at our home. One of my favorite albums is called The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin, a live gospel album recorded in the year 2000.

OUR TRIUNE GOD

There are three pillars to trinitarian theology. First, there is monotheism. We worship one God. We do not worship three Gods; we worship one God. Two, God is three persons. God exists in three persons. And lastly, each person is fully God. How do we skate the accusation that we are not monotheists and that we actually worship three gods? To properly represent the trinity, we must understand the distinction between being and person.

A human retains both being and personhood. This time, a bidirectional confirmation of existence occurs when you shake a person’s hand. A very unique experience transpires when you look another human in the eye, so much so that it is bound up in the fabric of our socialization. Too much eye contact is creepy, too little eye contact communicates a lack of care or concern. Our senses serve to confirm the existence of the other person and we can interact with one another. A human, therefore, is one being and one person.

THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Bible also describes for us various appearances of the Holy Spirit. When the Lord was baptized by John, the Spirit of God descended like a dove coming to rest on him. When the great flood covered the earth and the wrath of God submerged the great mountains and every man, woman, and child suffered a watery grave, the ark floated atop the surface and weathered the storm. The tides beat against the bow of the ark, the current pulled the lumbering ship whichever direction it willed, the rains buffeted the upper decks, and yet those who were in the ark were protected from God’s anger. And so the symbol of Christ emerges, pictured through a wooden barge. As people of faith, we see ourselves in the family of Noah, hunkered down inside the hull, while the ark of Christ takes the full brunt of the waves and is battered by the wind and the tempest. When the wrath of God subsides and Noah peers out the window, feeling the sun on his face for the first time in 40 days he sees nothing but water. 150 days later the gopher wood beast comes to rest on the mountain of Ararat and Noah releases a black raven out of the window. An unclean bird that feeds on carrion. Similar to the vulture, the scavenger doesn’t have to search long before it finds a food source floating on the surface. And so the black bird, a symbol of death, does not return to Noah because it had all the sustenance it could ever want. Noah releases a 2nd bird, this time a white dove, who has a diet of seeds and grains. And the bird returns. He tries it again and this time the bird returns with a promising result, an olive leaf sticking out of its beak. He tries a third time. and this time the bird does not return. The waters had receded and the bird no longer had to rely on Noah for sustenance. And so the dove symbolizes a new beginning. God, out of his regret for ever having made humans wiped the face of the earth from its wicked inhabitants. The flood waters, which dominated the planet for over a year, finally relented. Like a bear coming out of hibernation, Noah and his family step out of the ark onto dry ground.

THE HOLY SPIRIT’S ROLE IN REDEMPTION

In 597 BC, the son of Buzi who was born in Judah was transported to Babylon along with the rest of the Jews. A judgment of exile had come upon the Israelites. The prophet Ezekiel, whose name means “God will strengthen” was God’s messenger to the Jews while they were in captivity. The prophecy communicates a message of hope for the jews that were in captivity 2500 years ago. In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a decree is made and the Babylonian exile is finally over. The Israelites can return home. And the Holy Spirit worked in the heart of the jews to return to God, to forsake their idols, and to walk in His statutes. And so we learn that the Holy Spirit is a catalyst for change, the type of change that can only be described as a miracle.

THE INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

At one time, God’s presence filled the tabernacle through the form of a cloud. But in these latter days, our body being the temple of the Lord, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts. What beautiful furnishings and renovations have been undertaken to make the abode of the Holy Spirit fitting and proper. He cannot dwell in filth. He sweeps our hearts, shines light in the dark corners and clears the cobwebs so that He can set His mind to work. Speaking first, He is the comforter. Jesus says, “But when the comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

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Take Over the World (Pentecost 2023)

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INTRODUCTION

Paul’s vision for the church of Crete was not narrow in scope. He was’t just trying to get them to have more polite manners at the dinner table. This letter is an instruction manual for a culture war. Titus is tasked with laying the groundwork for conquering the globe with the Gospel. Crete may be a mess, but if the wind of God blows, the dry bones will live and move once more.

THE TEXT

Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost […] Titus 3:1ff

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul’s movement of thought has gone from elders & their households specifically (1:6-9), to Christian households in general (2:1-10). He now broadens the circle a third time to encompass all Christians’ duties as citizens (3:1-3). Crete was the home of many mercenaries, as well as many busy harbors, which brought in all manner of riff-raff; the population of Crete was notorious for villainy. Christians were to live in stark contrast. They should live in mindful submission to the magistrate, eager in good works (v1), refusing to join the course banter & brawling of the unbelieving, and instead should be marked by gentleness coupled with harnessed strength (v2).

The dissolute life they (and Paul) once lived (v3), has been washed away by the kindness of God appearing (v4, Cf. 2:11-14). This salvation is “not by works” but by mercy, the two-fold mercy of regenerative washing & the renewing work of the Holy Ghost (v5). This mercy comes to us, in abundance, through Jesus Christ our Savior (v6). All the exhortations to good works throughout this epistle should be couched in this high-octane Gospel: justified by His grace (v7a). But this justification makes us heirs of God the Father & the eternal life which is found in His Son Jesus Christ (v7b, Cf. 1 Jn. 5:12, Heb. 7:16). The glory of the Gospel should cause those who believe it to maintain good works (vv8, 14); this point is clearly important because Paul repeats it once more in verse 14: “maintain good works, do not be unfruitful.” Believing in God, and being careful to maintain good works, is good and profitable unto mankind. This is how the church will subvert the ungodly world (v8b).

Paul then gives instructions as to what to do about the false teachers and division specialists who were bothering the church. Were he writing to us, he might says something like: “Don’t spend much, if any, time arguing in YouTube comment threads.” All these squabbles ––about Zeus’ birthplace (and if perhaps you were descended from him), or what specific angels did, or how thin you could slice the plain law of Moses––are all unprofitable (v9). Verse 10-11 gives us the only reference in the NT to a “heretick” and what to do about him: rebuke him a time or two, and then let him fall headlong into his self-deception (vv10-11).

Paul closes his letters with some final practical details, and final blessings of true Christian love and prayers for grace (vv12-15). One detail in this closing we shouldn’t overlook is that Paul expects Titus to get all this in place in enough time to be able to join him in Nicopolis by winter. Other men will take over what Titus’ began. An encouraging thought is found here, a true reformation doesn’t need a long time to get started, even while it will take generational faithfulness to sustain it.

ZEUS’ BIRTHPLACE

Some Greek mythology is actually at play in the background of this epistle. As the legend went, a cave on Crete was believed to be the place where Zeus’ mother hid him from his father, Cronus. Cronus had devoured all his previous children. But Zeus had been hid away on Crete, to be raised in secret. Once Zeus was strong enough, he overthrew his father, delivered his siblings from his father’s stomach, and then, by casting lots, the rule of Mt. Olympus was given over to Zeus.

Many on Crete believed that they were possible descendants of this Titan. Thus, the fables of lineage captured the social imagination. But along comes a rival story, a rival myth, and one that just so happened to be true. God the Father sent His Son. The Christ died in our stead, washed us with covenantal waters, and renews us by His indwelling Spirit. All of this means that those who trusted in Christ were made true heirs of the eternal life of God.

The divine life is yours; not by fables, but by faith. This Gospel is a potent story which upends dominant cultural narrative of their day. This divine life is yours because you have received a new paternity. In regeneration, God becomes Your Father. This takes place when you are washed in Christ & renewed by His Spirit. None of this is by your doing. It isn’t obtained your striving to get it from your Father. Rather, it comes to you by His grace & favor alone. Your Father is not a devourer like Cronus. Your Father gives you Himself, by giving you His Son (Cf. 2:14).

GRACE IN THE HARBORS

We might ask, why did Paul single out this island of scoundrels and scallawags as worth devoting some his best resources? The harbors of Crete were one of the main crossroads of the Mediterranean. Paul identified correctly that if these “lymph nodes” of commerce were conquered, it would have a disproportionate impact on the Gospel effort to take over the world.

But like the hymn puts it: not with swords loud clashing, or roll of stirring drums, but with deeds of love and mercy, the heavenly kingdom comes. This overthrow will come by the Christian church being vibrantly alive. The gracious gift of the Gospel is followed by the good works of the Spirit. As A.A. Hodge put it, “Grace in the heart cannot exist without good works
as their consequent.” We should also lay stress upon the fact that Paul’s vision is not an escapist mentality. He insists that these good works are to be done publicly, in the civil sphere, with an aim to bring about the total reformation of the culture of Crete.

God’s favor has been described & depicted in some wonderful terms throughout this letter: the kindness & love of God (3:4), the blessed hope (2:13), the hope of eternal life manifested in the preaching of Christ (1:2-3). Once this grace takes root in the harbors, it will overthrow empires. Paul’s strategy works at every level, from the individual to the empire. Where is the mess? That’s where God’s grace will appear, not to leave the mess as it is. Through Christ, abundance of grace is shed upon you. The Holy Spirit brings renewal. To use one example, the dead frost of winter gives way to the fresh life of spring.

WASHED & RENEWED

Dead men have dead works. The wicked men were subverting others’ households (1:11) because they themselves were subverted (3:11). Sin is self-delusion. Paul includes himself, “For we ourselves were once” this way. Every time you sin, you, in effect are the fool saying in his heart, “There is no God.” Jesus told the Pharisees that by rejecting him as Messiah (the anointed Prince), they were showing that their father was the devil. Sin is unfruitful. Sin is dead works. Sin is the result of being a descendant of Adam, and his capitulation to Satan. The Spirit comes, and brings life. He brings a second generation. A new paternity. Pentecost wasn’t followed by the idleness of corpses, but with the activity of New Birth.

Your baptism tells you two things. First, you once were dead in Adam; and so none of your righteousness will suffice. Secondly, it tells you that God is your Father. You are an heir. Regeneration is not a matter of subjective feelings, but of the objective work of the Spirit, which renews you. Christ washes you, the Spirit renews you, and the Father calls you child. You are washed in wave after wave of the free grace of God through Christ, and then the Spirit renews you day by day, week by week, to bear the fruit of God’s life in you. Baptized in Christ you can know that God is your Father. Renewed by the Spirit, you are told to get to work taking over the world with Christ’s abundant life.

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Gospel & Good Works (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

We don’t often think of strict rules as comfortable. But the sound doctrine of the Gospel, rigid & inflexible with its truth that salvation is in Christ alone, and the summons to obedience to our respective duties is anything but confining. It is, in fact, a comfort. This is what we were made for, to glorify God & enjoy Him forever.

THE TEXT

But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded… (Titus 2).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Throughout this short letter, Paul repeatedly exhorts believers to good works, as well as avoiding foolish questions & ungodly indulgence. He’s affirmed their own prophet’s assessment when he called the Cretans lazy, lying slugs. The point is, some people get sucked into “foolish questions” out of laziness, not because they’re striving after good works.

In contrast to these unruly babblers who were besetting the Cretan church, Titus is to instruct the saints how to live in accordance with sound doctrine (v1). Paul will outline the substance of sound doctrine in the second half of this chapter, but he now spells out the behavior which should be expected from teaching this sound doctrine (vv2-11). The false teachers were subverting households through their tall tales. They were serving up a diet of deep fried theology. So Paul’s remedy for this ailment is healthy doctrine.

Old men are not only to be dignified, but full of the sort of faith, charity, and patience which is alive & healthy (v2). Older women are to cultivate a holy bearing, avoid loose tongues, refuse to numb themselves to life’s trials through wine or other similar “dulling” treatments, and teach good things (v3). Older women are given young women as their pupils, and virtuous home-keeping is their curriculum. Of all the duties given in this passage, the instructions to young women are the most extensive. It consists of seven things: sobriety, husband-loving, children-loving, the twin virtues of discretion & chastity, home-keeping, goodness, obedience to their own husbands; these duties are accompanied with the rationale. This manner of life is one of the potent ways to stop the blasphemous mouths of the false teachers (vv4-5; Cf. 1:11). Young men are told, very briefly to be sober-minded (v6); that encompasses a whole world.

Titus is told to set the example of bold teaching coupled with a holy example of good works, so that those contrary to him would be unable to say anything bad about you (vv7-8). Household servants are exhorted to live in such a way that will overthrow the wickedness innate to their servitude. Treat their master’s property (themselves included) with shocking respect. Obey their commands, don’t take what belongs to them, and be trustworthy. In so doing, a servant puts the Gospel on display, as if it was a precious jewel in a glorious display case (vv9-10)

Paul then sums up the sound doctrine which obligates us to these various duties. The Good Works commanded come out of the Good News proclaimed. God’s favor, which brought salvation, has appeared to all men (v11). This good news teaches us, and what it teaches is that we must turn from our sin and turn to godliness (v12). God’s grace has appeared to save us, but it is looking forward to the blessed hope of Christ’s second appearing which enables godly living. He gave Himself for our redemption, that we might be a priestly people, zealous for good works (vv13-14, Cf. Ps. 130:7-8, Ez. 37:23). Titus is to impart all of this with all authority; this firm insistence on sound doctrine & sound living might ruffle some feathers, so Titus should live as to give no room for being despised (v15).

HOME-WRECKERS & HOME-KEEPERS

It is striking that one of the features of the false teachers was that they were subverting whole households. Given the indulgence of Cretan culture, it would seem that Paul’s more extensive remarks to older and younger women were of particular concern. We learn more in the next chapter what exactly was so fascinating in the false teacher’s doctrines, but one thing is plain, women were particularly vulnerable to these serpents.

Elsewhere, Paul has warned of false teachers who creep into houses to lead silly women laden with sin and enticed with diverse lusts (2 Tim. 3:6). He’s also warned of the temptation for women to give way to being a busy-body which flits from house to house (1 Tim. 5:13). Here, Titus is to instruct older women not to give in to “wine-mom” culture. Rather, that ought to be sober-minded in order to pass on to young women the wisdom of how to love their husbands and children, by being home-ward. The enticement for young women is to nurture the whole world, while neglecting to make their own nest a place of warm and lawful indulgence.

Feminism teaches young women to spend all their time in the house of the corporate world, scrolling (often with envy) the homes of all the Instagram influencers, eating up all the latest celebrity Gossip, adopting all the fashionable opinions. Paul, however, wants Titus to teach these young women to make their home a garden for this Gospel life to flourish and be passed along. False teachers from the Jews of Crete, down to modern CRT Marxists, all aim to subvert the home. Godly women will see to it that they don’t listen to the serpent. A young women, living this out, is a blockade to God’s Word being blasphemed.

ORDER & ARDOR

The Apostle’s instruction here should make one thing abundantly clear. Good works are the expected outcome of the Gospel. Paul’s instruction for the various classes of Christians is summed up in his euphoric description of the Gospel. We’re told how we should live: abundant in the various good works described. But we’re also told why we should do so: because Christ appeared, and will appear again.

Some want the Gospel to liberate us into an antinomian lawlessness. But Paul insists that we’ve been redeemed from such lawlessness. Your salvation is from your lawless works to lawful ones. Order & ardor are not at odds. The Gospel frees us from our sin. These are indeed, glad tidings of great joy. But that joy is not feral joy. It isn’t tumorous joy. This is joy which lives in the wide borders of God’s will.

Sound doctrine brings the joy of life lived to God’s glory by God’s power, while false doctrine brings the misery of living to according to your own laws of self-indulgence. This Gospel of Grace brings us out of the barren wasteland and into fertile fields. You are free from your sin, in order to be free to be godly, by the new life He’s revealed in Christ.

THE GLORIOUS APPEARING

It’s providential that there’s no need to shoe-horn Christ’s Ascension into this message. It arises quite naturally, and nicely. Christ’s appearing is assured because of His ascension. He is reigning, and must reign until all enemies are subdued. He has tasked us with living in His Kingdom, and under His Lordship, in a certain manner.

Our obedience is an adornment on the Gospel. Of course, our obedience is not what procures our justification, but it is what should confirm to the world the potency of the Gospel. You believe that God raised that good teacher from Nazareth, what proof do you give? The Christian’s life ought to be a large part of the answer. Our sober-minded, joyful faithfulness in our God-assigned duties is the apologetic which Paul says will leave our opponents red-faced with embarrassment.

Salvation has appeared. You were dead, but now you are alive, and you are raised up with Christ. You are seated in Christ. And He shall appear again. All that should spark zeal for good works. This blessed hope, of the great God & Savior Jesus appearing again, is how you fight sin and live righteously. This is your only comfort, in life & in death.

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God Can’t Lie (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

We’re in the time of year where you’re likely to have attended a graduation. As parents and grandparents look on their children, the emotions in the arena likely range wildly. Pride, fear, hope, disappointment, maybe a touch of doubt. “He chose to major in Klingon?” The older generations are prone to be skeptical of the generation who is about to take their place. But in the Christian Church, we aren’t to simply wish that the next generation “makes it.” Paul lays out a plan for creating a culture of faith & good works that will last for eternal ages, because God said we should and promised it would work.

THE TEXT

Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour; To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. […] Titus 1:1-16

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul’s opening establishes the basis for all authentic Christian ministry. Notice the clauses: according to faith, acknowledgement of the truth, in hope of eternal life, which is declared through preaching, and Paul is doing so by God’s commandment (vv1-3). This is a personal letter to Titus, a fellow-partaker of the triune blessing of grace, mercy, and peace authorizing him to act with Paul’s apostolic authority (v4); we learn that Paul has a particular assignment for Titus to “set in order” the church in Crete, and to do so by a counter-cultural project of raising up godly elders throughout the island (v5). These men must be identified not only by their own character, conduct, and doctrinal fidelity, but also by the condition of their marriage & children (vv6-9).

These exemplary men will stand in stark contrast to the disorderliness of the Jewish deceivers who were causing the subversion of entire households, and going along with the infamous unruliness of Cretan culture (vv10-12). Titus is tasked with going toe-to-toe with these unruly men, in order that they might be reformed or silenced, while not giving an inch to either Jewish fables or tedious, man-made morality (vv13-14). This massive undertaking can be done only by purity of life & conduct. These compromised leaders are worse than useless in this reformation project (vv15-16).

GENERATIONAL FAITHFULNESS

As the world swirls the drain, the temptation is to shake your head in disgust, shrug your shoulders, and assume there is nothing you can do about it. The temptation which many Christians of our day are succumbing to is to presume that the church’s best days are behind her. They don’t say, as Elisha said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” They assume that faithfulness from one generation to another isn’t possible. They have many biblical instances to point to. Eli’s scoundrel sons, Samuel’s wayward sons. Rehoboam failing to maintain the glory which David & Solomon had procured. Joshua’s warnings at the end of his life seem to be forgotten by Israel shortly after his death. Even back to Eden, Adam was God’s son, who had left his father’s house to be united to his wife; the test in Eden was how would this son do out on his own. The answer to that question was a disaster.

Paul, nearing the end of his life & ministry, writes to his two closest assistants (Timothy & Titus) and gives them a pointed commission to not fumble at the goal-line. As the Old world was passing away with all its shadows, Paul is like a New Testament Moses, commissioning NT Joshua’s to be faithful in life & doctrine. The church was fanning out in conquest of the world, and this conquest would be successful if faithful men faithfully lived and preached the Gospel, and taught others to do so. Paul expected that even in the most unruly culture, this strategy would be effective. Believe the Gospel, live out the Gospel, and preach the Gospel

Titus was a Gentile convert who had been quite the utility player for Paul’s missionary efforts (2 Tim. 4:10). Paul points to him (Gal. 2:3) as an example of a faithful Gentile convert despite not having received the OT covenant sign of circumcision. The Cretan Jews who were bringing in a whole cornucopia of false doctrines/traditions of men, might make a claim to the promises of God, but they only have the husk and not the pith. Titus is the true inheritor of God’s eternal promise, by faithfulness to God’s promise. Titus was no stranger to dealing with difficult pastoral problems (2 Cor. 8:32); but this assignment of reforming Cretan culture was not a weekend project. It was multigenerational (Cf. 2:1-8, 2 Tim. 2:2 Ex. 18).

AUTHORITY IN ACTION

Authority is not a whip to get people to do what you want, it is a tool which must be used to build something. Authority is so often misused because those in office see it as something with which to get what they desire. We see this in the description of the unruly leaders currently infecting the believers of Crete. Their greed, indulgence, and infatuation with fables was causing the demolition of entire households. By contrast, Christian homes, with the elder’s setting the pace, should demonstrate that godly authority builds up something which their subordinates are glad to contribute to & be around.

Titus is to silence the false teachers. This is done by holding fast to the faithful Word. True authority submits to God’s authority. This refutation is not to be done passively: as if just mowing your lawn regularly is enough to spread “Gospel presence”. It is done as godly elders create a contrast between the fruitfulness of their own life & household with the fruitlessness of the unruly. It also means a godly elder will need to actually pick fights. He should, by sound doctrine, exhort & convince gainsayers, and shut up the unruly and vain-talkers. We’ll see another instance in the next chapter that this godly exercise of authority is to be passed on to the next generation. This counter-cultural project, however, isn’t anarchy, it is submission, holding fast to the Word of the God who can’t lie.

BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN

There is a line in the opening that might sneak by us, but which needs to be central to our minds as we work through this epistle: “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” The divine covenant of God’s redeeming purpose forms the basis for your certainty that you can walk in godliness. This is nothing other than Paul restating Christ’s prayer for us: “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world (Jn. 17:24).”

Cretan culture came with a gravitation pull toward a specific set of sins. Paul affirms this pagan prophet’s insight, and the authority of it. But the underlying redemptive message reveals that the Cretan concrete isn’t fully set. The ship can be turned. Titus, along with faithful elders and the saints they shepherd can be a rudder of generational reformation. This is possible because of God’s eternal promise.

GOD OUR SAVIOR

Central to the success of this project is the good news. Cretans may have been an unruly bunch. Lies may have been their currency. Entire households may be enchanted by the fanciful tales of carnal leaders. But Paul, multiple times in this epistle gives Titus the secret ingredient to setting all this in order: God is our Savior (Cf. 1:3, 4; 2:10, 13; 3:4,6). It’s worth pointing out that God our Savior & Christ our Savior are used interchangeably.

Have you made a mess of things? Are things in your home, or life, or culture unruly, disordered, and tangled? Has your sin become so notorious as to become proverbial? Are you like the person described in verse 16, professing knowledge of God, but contradicting it by your lifestyle? Paul’s message to Titus is to set in order the Cretan believers by bringing this sound doctrine to bear upon their lives. God is our Savior. Cretans are liars, but God does not lie. False teachers feign knowledge of God, but deny Him by their sinful works; but God can’t lie. His promise, covenanted in eternity, was to be your Savior. This is the Gospel, God takes dead men, and makes them live. God takes unruly cultures and sets them in order. God takes things that are formless and void, and fills them with light and life, and this life is in His Son, who cannot fail in this task, Christ our Savior.

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