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Titus

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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Set In Order

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Introduction

If you were to pick a word to describe the current state of affairs, what would it be? Disorder? Chaos? Fear? Confusion? A big mess?

What about the current state of your own soul? Could you describe yourself as peaceful, full of joy, at ease in your conscience? Or is your inner man a hairball of guilt, shame, disordered desires, and fear of judgment? It is clear that all around us and within us things are all out of order. The nub of the matter is: how do we get things back into order?

The Text

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee” (Titus 2:11–15).

Summary of the Text

Paul sent Titus to set things in order in Crete (1:5), an island nation which was notorious for being, to use the technical Greek term: scumbags. Even Epimenides the philosopher noted how the Cretans were “alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies (Tit. 1:12).”

But Paul insists that because Christ, the grace of God which brought salvation, has now appeared to all men, mankind is obliged to learn a lesson (2:11). The lesson being taught is that in denying our sinful cravings, we are to live sober, righteous, and godly lives (2:12). We deny our lusts and pursue holiness by looking to the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus (2:13); and when we look to Jesus we must think of the redeeming work He accomplished for us (2:14). He did this to purify us to be a set apart people who are zealous for good works (2:14). And Titus is tasked with proclaiming this truth with force and authority, regardless of the disdain that may befall him for it (2:15).

Good Works

Paul wants the Cretan church, under Titus’ oversight and by his example, to be busy with good works. Paul’s very greeting emphasizes that our faith and the truth accord with godliness (1:1). Some among them had professed to know God, but had shown themselves in regards to good works to be reprobate (1:16). Later on, Titus is to told to be a pattern of good works (2:7). Christ’s redemption purifies His people to be set apart to and zealous for good works (2:14). The Gospel which Paul proclaims is that we are not saved by our works of righteousness but according to God’s mercy (3:5) and by the kindness and love of God as displayed by sending His Son (3:4); all this is so that the Cretans “might by careful to maintain good works (3:8).” The believers under Titus’ care were to “learn to maintain good works” so that they would not be found unfruitful (3:14).

Paul, the great Apostle who formulated for us the glorious truth that we are not saved by our works of righteousness but by God’s grace alone, insists that though we are not saved by our good works, we are saved in order to do good works.

Arranging Skeletons

All of our current cultural chaos is the direct result of man trying to set things in order without the the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit. We are like paleontologists in a dinosaur graveyard just imaginatively assembling bones according to what we think the creatures must have looked like.

Our politicians try to arrange the dead bones of racial animosity into a semblance of peace and justice, and all they get is dead works of racial hostility, envy, and bitterness. When you try to simply do good works so that men think well of you, all you are doing is polishing the dead bones of self-righteousness to be displayed in a museum, which sooner or later will get cancelled anyway. Dead hearts make dead works. Dead men make dead laws. Dead bones make dead cultures.

But Paul tells Titus that he is to set things in order by preaching sound doctrine. The Gospel preached is the only way for mankind to be arranged properly. To put it another way, the Gospel is a setting of things in order.

The Good News is that the grace of God which brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to slit the throat of our disordered and depraved desires, and to zealously pursue good works. This is what Jesus redeemed us for, that by Him our sin might be forgiven and defeated, and our good works truly received by the Father. After all, Christ’s redeeming work gives us a new heart, by the regenerating and renewing power of the Holy Spirit (3:5).

So, are you in disarray? Are you fearful of all the derangement in our culture? The Gospel sets it all in order. It tells elders what sort of men to be (1:6-9), and how aged men are to bear themselves (2:2). It tells older women to teach younger women how to keep their home, love their husbands and children (2:3-5). It teaches young men to be sober and grave not hooligans given to every impulse (2:6). It has servants obeying their masters with fidelity (2:9-10). It reminds you of your foolish enslavement to lust and malice (3:3), and how you were re-ordered by the kindness of God (3:4).

And it can do all this and accomplish all this within you and within the church––and even within a nation––because God the Father, sent His Son to die for your sins, and the Son sent the Spirit to give you a new heart that you might be busy with good works. You are given a new heart because you have also been given a new identity. You are no longer a Cretan. You are no longer to be known by your lies, your lusts, your fears, or your follies. You have been set in order, by the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit, which lifts up the Lord Jesus who died to forgive your sins and who is your righteousness.

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Sexual Sanity (State of the Church 2018 #6)

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Introduction

We are living in a time of sexual bedlam, sexual madness. The frenzy that has captured the Western world has many manifestations—open marriages, pornography, same sex mirage, robo-sex, trannies, and worse. My point is not to get into all these deviations in order to attack or refute them point by point. My point is to acknowledge that we are surrounded by it all, and in that context declare the only alternative to the madness, which is faithful Christian monogamy, and to highlight Scripture’s idea of what constitutes a faithful sexual testimony.

The Text

“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” (Titus 2:3–5).

Summary of the Text

I want to work through what is mentioned here, but with a particular emphasis on what the world is seeing as we obey passages such as this. The older women in the church need to be holy in their behavior (v. 3). They need to guard themselves against speaking false accusations. In addition, they should be careful to avoid “much” wine. In living this way, they should be teachers of good things—meaning that they should be in a position to teach the younger women how to behave (v. 4). They should instruct the younger women in sobriety (v. 4) and the arts of domesticity (v. 4). This is how I take the instruction on loving husbands and children. There are two words underneath that instruction, which are philandros and philoteknos. The word for love here (philo) is the word for warm affection, and in both instances it is a compound word, together with the word for man and the word for children. I would render it in a paraphrase as “teach them to be into husbands and into kids.”

The older women are also to teach the younger women to be discrete and chaste, to be busy at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, so that the Word of God not be blasphemed.

A Few Other Examples

So older wives are expressed taught to teach younger wives to subordinate themselves (hypotasso), so that the church not get a bad reputation. Young men are commanded to be sober-minded also, doing good in all things, and again for the same reason—so that the one who is opposed has no evil thing to say about you. And slaves are commanded to be diligent and obedient also (hypotasso again). Why? So that they might adorn the doctrine of God (v. 10).

Which Direction to Lean?

We are not just supposed to do what the Scripture says to do—although that is always important. We are also supposed to do it for the reasons that Scripture gives.

In other words, we must let Scripture determine how to head off what false ideas the pagans might have about us. Paul says here that the unbelievers should see the wife’s submission and obedience. That is what is to be in the foreground. Paul does not say that submission and obedience must be there somewhere in the background, but make sure what they notice is how educated or witty you are. No, Paul says that your unbelieving friends should notice what a sweetheart your husband has. Let them find out how educated you are after they become Christians.

I am not saying that Christian women should hide their light under a bushel. I am saying that God tells us what the light actually is—the light that shouldn’t be under that bushel. Being into the kids is the light that shouldn’t be under the bushel.

This is because God knows better than we do what kind of thing will be attractive to unbelievers living in the midst of sexual and marital chaos. He knows what they need, and He knows what behavior on our part will stir them up inside. He knows all that, and He has told us all about it.

And if unbelievers are not attracted to it, but rather are in rebellion against it, this kind of testimony remains potent. If you are out at the park with your small tribe, and you get cold stares from angry lesbians, you are not bringing disrepute on the gospel. God says the opposite. God is in charge of what constitutes a good testimony in an age like ours. We have our marching orders.

Modest Flappers

Take this another way. Suppose God told Christian women to be modest (which, come to think of it, He did). Suppose further that all the women outside the church, or at least all the women who were au courant, were flappers. There are two ways to approach this. One says “I obviously need to be a flapper too, and so I need to figure out a way to include modesty in there somehow. And hope nobody notices.” The other is to simply do what God instructs, and let the other pieces fall where they may.

Gospel and More Gospel

When we try to “gray out” the Christian forms of marriage that we practice, we are actually trying to “gray out” the gospel. Christ is the Bridegroom, and the Church is His Bride. Christian husbands are told to love their wives sacrificially, the way Christ loved His Bride (Eph. 5:25, 33). Christian wives are told to submit to their own husbands (Eph. 5:22, 33). Why would we try to hide this from the world? If they kick, let them kick. This is the good news of salvation.

Husbands, your task is to model for the world what the objective gospel actually looks like. And, in case you have forgotten, it looks like blood, sweat, and tears. You are the hands of Christ as He preaches His salvation to the world, and never forget that those hands are pierced. You are husbands—you are to be pierced.

Wives, your task is to model for this lost world what a subjective and personal response to the gospel looks like.

As I have noted before, we are all limited, and we cannot duplicate what Christ did. But even though we cannot duplicate it, we are commanded to imitate it, and we are to imitate it as best we can.

Husbands, the world is watching you. You are to model what the saving looks like. Wives, the world is watching you. You are to model what salvation looks like.

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The Apostles Creed 21: And the Life Everlasting. Amen.

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What we now know as the Apostles Creed descended from an earlier form of the creed, known as the Old Roman Symbol. The beginning of the creed dates from as early as the second century. We do not have any direct evidence that it was penned by any of the apostles, but it is an admirable summary of the apostolic teaching.

Introduction

The gospel is given to us so that fellowship with God might be restored. God created us without fault or failing, and yet through our father Adam we all grasped for the fruit, and fell into spiritual death. When we reached for the knowledge of good and evil, we were attempting to seize the rule prematurely. We were already eating from the tree of life, but on account of our rebellion, we were banished from the entire Garden, which included the tree of life. In the gospel, we are invited back to the tree of eternal life (Rev. 2:7).

The Text

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord.  He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the virgin, Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.  He descended into Hades. On the third day He rose again from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Summary of 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” (Titus 1:1–3).

As part of his preamble to the letter to Titus, Paul summarizes his calling and his mission. He is a servant of God, and He was sent out as an apostle by Jesus Christ (v. 1). This lines up with the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth which is in accordance with godliness (v. 1). All this is undertaken in hopes of eternal life, which God—who cannot lie—promised before eternal times (v. 2). But now, in due time, God has manifested His Word through His preachers, which was committed to Paul through the commandment of God our Savior (v. 3).

Sorting Out the Words

What is the difference between eternal, everlasting, and forever? Is there a difference?

We are pursuing eternal life, hoping for it, and the word for eternal here is aionios. The word means ages, or world, or era. In v. 2, using the same word, God promised this before the timeless ages, or perhaps before eternal times. In English, everlasting and eternal are distinct—everlasting means temporal succession without end, and eternal means timeless—a forever is like everlasting. One refers to duration and the other to quality. But our English translations are working from the same word in both Hebrew and Greek (compare John 3:15 and 3:16), and so the meaning of the word in Scripture is largely contextual. There is only so much juice that can be squeezed from a lexicon.

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [before eternal times]” (2 Tim. 1:9). In short God gave His grace to us before there was such a concept as before. The one thing we can be sure of is that God’s temporal dealings with us are anchored in decisions He made before the foundation of the world.

Begin with Hope

Calvin dismisses those men who want us to limit our spiritual considerations to this life, saying they “reduce men to the condition of cattle.” God has put eternity into our hearts (Ecc. 3:11), speaking of our yearning, and if anyone believes in the Son of God He also puts eternal life there (John 3:15-16; 6:54; 10:28; 17:2-3)—speaking of the fulfillment. So what are you yearning for? What is your hope? “To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life” (Rom. 2:7).

The God of Amen

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen! “ Praise the Lord!” (Ps. 106:48)

In Scripture we find three basic uses of amen. The first is that it has the force of a covenant oath (Num. 5:22; Dt. 27; Neh. 5:13). This far stronger than a simple, “Yes, I agree with that.” The second use is a benediction. “Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen” (Gal. 6:18; Phil 4:23; 2 Tim. 4:22; Rev. 22:21). And last is the doxological use. Justified men have also been given the privilege of blessing God. When God is solemnly blessed and praised, we conclude it with amen. “. . . the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (Rom. 1:25; 9:5; Eph. 3:21; 2 Tim. 4:18; Heb. 13:21; 1 Pet. 5:11). When we say Amen in this context, we are tasting eternity.

In both Old and New Testaments, God identifies Himself with this word. Speaking of the time of the New Covenant, Isaiah prophesies in this way: “So that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth [lit. “God of Amen”]; and he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth [same] (Is. 65:16).

And John the apostle records, “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God . . .’ (Rev. 3:14). And Paul teaches, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2 Cor. 1:20).

The Final and Ultimate Hope

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

And so all the promises of God culminate in this living and triune Amen. And so we believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth . . . and in the life everlasting. Amen.

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