Introduction

A few years ago, I was flying back from Nairobi to the UK. I had been there for about three weeks and had been sharing in ministry with different churches in the outskirts of the area. By the time I was heading home, I was ready to head home – something that is strange for me! It had been an amazing trip, but I was looking forward to just getting back into the routine of normal. All the stress of travel was made worse by my host’s relaxed attitude of getting me to the airport – let’s just say there was no three-hour window! Yet, we got to the airport, made my way through the first level of security, got to the door, and then checked in before going through another layer of protection. It was among the crowds and people that one person stood out to me. There was no real reason, but something about the way he presented himself and dressed. I remember thinking “interesting” and wondering where he was off to, and then just moving on through with the security and getting to the gate.

It was not until I was on board the BA flight from London to Heathrow that I noticed the same guy shuffling down the aisle towards where I was sitting! Then, with his bag in the overhead bin and an iPad and a book in hand, he sat down in the aisle seat across from me. After a few minutes and moments of exchanging glances, we began to chat, as he asked me what I did for work and what had brought me to Nairobi. When I told him that I was there to do some work with the Anglican Church and teach theology, he looked perplexed before asking “At your age?” We chatted and chatted, and eventually I asked him about his own story and journey, basically, why he was on the flight. As I asked him if he was travelling for work (he dressed like he was), he laughed, smiled and then said something like “No, I work no more; All I do is for me!” It was a strange answer, so I enquired some more about what the journey might entail. That was when he told me that he was travelling to London, to spend a few days exploring his Spirituality, before he would then fly to Los Angeles for a week’s residency in his master’s program. I asked him what he was studying. He looked like he was pondering before he began by saying something like:

“I want to know who I am, and what it is to be me. I need to explore my inner self and all that it is that makes me what I am. I have done religion, I have done Christianity, and I have searched for that which would fulfil me, and I have yet to find it! So I decided to follow my truth and do what feels right for me for once….”

Now, as this man was talking and explaining, I was literally speechless as I tried to figure out what he was saying and where he was going with this speech. He spoke for a few more moments before finally explaining his Master’s; as he told me he was studying A Master’s in Science at the Spirituality centre, focusing on:

“Consciousness, Spirituality, and Transpersonal Psychology. ”

Now, if you know me, you will see that I am not often lost for words – I usually am the first to find them – yet, there was something about listening to this man Lament about his upbringing, and explain his journey that just made my heart break, my mind sink, and my tongue disappear. But as the conversation went on, I was not sure where to go, because as soon as he had finished explaining his studies, all I could muster was – “That sounds really interesting, all the best”

There was something about him that caught my attention as we walked to the plane, it might have been the fact that in 30-degree heat, he was wearing a wastecoat, flatcap and £500 headphones. Yet, as that plane flew back to London at 40,000 ft and I pondered the conversation I just had with a man I did not know, I realised I was disheartened because he represented everything that was our culture, and often of what people think I am to live. Here was a man born and raised in Kenya, still deeply influenced by the notion of self that has dominated the world today. The world that we live in tells people that the purpose they need, the worth they seek, is found nowhere but in the self. We live in a culture that is obsessed with self-expression, self-worth, and purpose found within. It might be identity, gender, or worth, but this moment we live in tells us to “Be yourself, follow your truth, do what feels right”, and everything will be alright, and sadly, more and more people believe it. As one author puts it:

“The ethics of authenticity ask of us to find our own way of realising our humanity, and not succumb to a framework imposed on us from outside, by society, the previous generation, or religious or political authority “¹

In a world where everyone is looking for meaning, it can be hard to know where to look. In a world where everyone is trying to be individualistic, it can be hard to know what it means to be you – yet, as Christians, we are not lost; in fact, we believe we have found. Unlike the man on the plane who felt that Jesus did not offer him the fulfilment of self, as Christians, we understand what it is to be human, and where our purpose should be found – in Christ. Furthermore, we should recognise that our identity is not seen by looking inwardly or living for ourselves, but by looking upwardly and loving in community, because we have been brought into that community of Christ – the church. We are those who know that to be Church is in its essence to be different and live differently. That is to show by our lives that the gospel is real and by it life is found.

As we continue through this magnificent pastoral, personal and powerful letter from Paul to Titus, we begin to see what it means to live out the faith in the mundane of normality. That is to say, Titus Chapter 2 shows us something of what following Jesus looks like in practice; what it means to live as an ordinary Christian empowered by the Spirit in an ordinary place, yet in an extraordinary way – lives shaped by Grace (and not the pursuit of self, the way of the world). We see this in the three natural divisions of the passage:

1. Sound Doctrine leads to Sound Living (2:1-10).
2. A Grace that saves us, sustains us, and trains us (2:11-14)
3. The Means, Message, and Authority – The Gospel (2:15)
   

1 – Sound Doctrine for All (2:1–10)

We always remember that when we read Scripture or prepare to preach it, we are looking at it in the context of a larger whole. Paul begins chapter two by challenging Timothy to action in comparison to whatever example went before. What did he say to set up his call to action to young Titus:

They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. (Titus 1:16 NJKV)

They profess to know God, but their actual behaviour denies their profession, for they are obviously vile and rebellious, and when it comes to doing any real good, they are palpable frauds. (Titus 1:16 Philips)

Paul spoke of those who professed a faith with their lips but not with their lives. In how they lived, they showed they worshipped other things, created things. As such, when it comes to doing anything good for the Glory of God, they are useless. Thus, the flow of Paul’s writing to Titus in light of this negative example of ” Christians” – But as for you… They might profess with their lips and declare another love and allegiance with their lives, but it will not be so with you, Titus. Their lives might teach the things of the world, but “you must speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine.” Those who profess with their lips and lack with their lives show what it is they live for and love, even if they don’t realise it. Paul commands Titus to demonstrate the value of his beliefs by teaching people how they should impact their lives and shape their way of living. Why? Because the Gospel is not a momentary one-time event that secures us and then leaves us waiting. The Gospel is life-giving and life-shaping. Hence, the beauty of how JB Philips captures the introduction to Paul’s thinking here:

“Now you must tell them the sort of character which should spring from sound teaching.”²

By faith, the Gospel saves us, and in the Spirit, the Gospel shapes us. Paul does not tell Timothy that he is to instruct people about how the Gospel should shape their lives; he addresses different groups to show in each place how the good news of Jesus and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, what is clear as Paul addresses five separate groups here is the fact that he sees them as one. The Gospel shapes how the individual lives in the Gospel and for Christ, and that will look different depending on our circumstances. Yet, the gospel draws us out of individuality and into family, the family of Christ – this is Paul’s clear motivation for writing here. It comes out in both Paul’s instructions for older men and women; they are to live in such a way that exemplifies the gospel ethic to the rest of the family of faith. Thus, Paul addresses five different people within Titus’ family of faith: Older Men, Older Women, Younger Women, Younger Men, and servants. Everyone is to be instructed by Titus because the Gospel is for everyone, and will graciously affect how everyone is to live; as such, Titus must “teach what accords with sound doctrine” – because right belief will lead to right living.

1.1Those with More Experience (2-3)

In a world that is afraid of leadership and its responsibilities, Paul seems to address the elders of the family of faith first because some of that is true in the Cretian Church. Age does not automatically mean wisdom or leadership, but it should hint at it. Here, the older men and women have perhaps lost sight of both the Joy of the Gospel and the responsibility that flows from its joy in terms of the life of faith and life in the family of faith. The Gospel shapes us, and should affect every aspect of our lives. We come to God by faith, and we are received fully into his family. Then, because of the Gospel and the joy it brings us, we are moved to live out the life of faith. Not because we need to earn more from God or please Him; no, it is because we are received fully, so we live out fully the call of Christ because by our very calling and living, we grow in the good things of the Gospel, and they grow in us. If our lives are not affected by the Gospel, it suggests that our hearts do not know the Gospel. Yet, to be clear, we are not talking about perfection transformation; rather, it is about ongoing scantification. Thus, in a context where the men are known as lazy and liars, gluttons, the fathers of the church so model the ethic of a different way, a different kingdom. Where the cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons,” spiritual fathers in the church should be sober, reverent, temperate; sound in faith, in love, and in patience. Remember that we do not read Chapter 2 in isolation from Chapter one; the call for those more mature in age and faith is not that distinct from the qualifications of elders. Where the men called to lead who should not be “given to wine, blameless, not greedy for money, hospitable, sober-minded, a lover of way is good, self-controlled….” Titus is to teach the older men of the Church that the basis of respect for them in the family of the faith is not age but character. If they love Jesus and the Spirit of God is producing fruit in their heart, then it will be born into the normal, the world will notice their gospel fruit, because they will be distinct from the island:

• Sober/temperance: literally meaning drunkenness – a person not mixed with wine. Like a tree wrapped in a vine, the older man should be free from entanglement in alcoholic wine.
• Reverent: To have a sound man and to be sane and sensible.
• Sound in Faith/love/patience: Literally, that their faith is to be in good health, their Love be healthy because it is a love like Christ, and patience in a difficult world.
• Steadfastness: Literal endurance. Like the runner of a race, mature men of faith must show endurance in a world that offers flickers from difficult things.
  

It is not just the men who need to do better; Paul’s instructions to Titus seem to be more limited to them, perhaps because of the instructions already outlined for eldership and overseeing, as now he moves to the second group he addresses. Yet, these thoughts are not separate. The NKJV seems to capture better that there is a consistent flow of thought. But all the principal translations capture (likewise, similarly) how Paul’s imperatives for the older men flow to the older women. They are to produce the same fruit of the Spirit in their lives, living, and example. Isn’t it amazing that, despite the different roles men and women play in the Church, they share the same fruit of the Spirit and the ethic of the Kingdom? Why? Because it is the same spirit at work across all the groups in the Church, and although the fruit might be different because roles are different, the heart of the fruit will be the same. Thus, the challenge to the older women in the church reflects the challenge to the men as they are to be:

• Reverent: A unique word used only once in all the NT and used here (hieroprepēs). Abbot-Smith translates it as meaning “suited to a sacred character – reverend. JP Philips phrases it as reverent in behaviour, “ which I think the NLT helps us to understand as meaning simply “live in a way that honours God.”
• Not Slander: Literally, the gospel should stop people from gossiping because we love truth and being true.
• Drunk: As the men and elders should not become dependent on alcohol, the older women should model to those in the family of faith the same self-control by not being “drunk” or “heavy drinkers” (NLT) or “over-fond of wine.” Literally translated as ensvaled to wine. It is not that alcohol is bad; it is how we often become dependent on it to cope with the stresses of life.
  

Instead, those who are more mature in life should model to those who are newer on the walk with Christ the way of Christ, that is what it means to teach others what is good, or as Eugene Peterson puts it – modelling goodness. Why does it matter? Because our life shows what we live for, if the older women have been walking with God for longer and their lives show it, then as the younger women look to them for wisdom and example, they will know what this distinct Gospel life looks like. To be culturally distinct in a selfish world, to be selfless – that is why I love how Peterson captures it:

“By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, and be good wives.”

This gospel way of life, with the fruit of the Spirit being produced, is not just culturally distinct living for religious reasons. It is living lives that honour God so that God is not dishonoured in a dishonourable culture. If the men and women of maturity look different to the world, then the world cannot dismiss the God they claim. Thus, by living right and seeking to produce Gospel fruit, it means no one will “look down on God’s message because of their behaviour.”

1.2The Up and Coming (4–8)

Age is not an excuse for poor living, whether the two younger groups are new Christians or simply lazy/immature in faith – they have got to know the Gospel and live it, especially because they have somewhere to look and see it modelled! They can see this Gospel lived out, and in the lives of the older believers, the ethic of the Kingdom. Paul has instructed Titus to instruct the first two groups in the way of faith, not so that their religious performance is better, but so that God is honoured and the Gospel is lived, and because that is how discipleship works. We learn by modelling. In Philippians, Paul called the Church to look to him and model his example, and here Paul instructs Titus first to teach the older members of the Church to live the faith so that younger members can see the life of faith.

The younger women are to love their husbands and children, because they have seen it modelled as a counter-cultural way of life that gives glory to God. Additionally, they are to be self-controlled, pure, and kind; again in a culture and on an island where the people were marked by selfishness, and where there was a loose approach to the covenant of marriage and relationship. Titus is to call the Church to distinct living because they worship the living God. Their lives are meant to show what they live for.

The younger men, too, are to be self-controlled. Their lives are to be markedly different from an island and a culture that epitomises what is often wrong with the human self – selfishness. Where there was too much drink, where gossip was the way, where people were enslaved to wine and lovers of what was evil, the younger men and women of the Church are to be marked by the character of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit. Their lives will display what they love, and the Gospel will be seen in them. The gospel must be seen in them. It is not, then, that younger women are to love husbands while husbands go free to do whatever they want. No, says Paul to Titus, tell the younger men to be self-controlled, not lazy gluttons, not liars, but a model of integrity and sound speech.

Paul’s main focus here is not on dividing people into distinct groups in isolation from one another. Rather, it is to encourage God’s Church to live as God’s family together – men and women, older and younger – in a way that will challenge the world and the island they live on.

1.3 Those Who Serve (9-10)

And then Paul turns to the servants, who in their work and workplace must model the life of the Gospel and produce the fruit of the Spirit. They are not to be argumentative. In our modern language, they are to be model employees and get on with the work. Not for the sake of it, but because Christ submitted himself to earthly authority, and in their life has already given them all they need. Additionally, they do not need to steal or take things that do not belong to them because in Christ, they have all that they need, and the family of faith should be helping them. Instead, they are to subject themselves to the authority placed over them. Titus is to instruct all these different groups in the Gospel of faith, because the Gospel is for all people, and should bear fruit in all people, and in all areas of their lives and living. For us today, that can feel like a strange thing to grasp, but think simply of where we work, how we serve, how we live out our faith in the workplace. If we are employed, then we are to live faithfully there: following instructions, working with integrity, not taking what is not ours. Why? Because we have already received what we did not deserve: grace upon grace in Christ.

1.4 Making the Gospel Attractive

Again and again, in every context and situation, Paul is showing Titus that the gospel of Jesus Christ changes everything. That is why we defend it. We can’t hide from it, we can’t twist it, we can’t reduce it. This is why those in authority in the Church are called to submit to it themselves and to stand firm in it, even in the face of a world that detests it. Because it is what it is: the gospel, the truth of God. And the purpose is clear: “so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour” (v.10).

In other words, in every way, their lives will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive, how you live, how I live in the Church and outside of it. These things show what we truly live for. And I promise you this: if we live faithfully, if we submit to the will of God and to the Word of God, then we won’t need to go around telling people we’re Christians – they will see it. They will see it in our hearts, they will see it in our smiles, they will see it in that deeper quality of life that comes only from Christ.

I know this from growing up. I can’t remember a single sermon word-for-word; not even the ones I’ve preached! But I can remember the people whose lives were marked by something different, something real. They lived in such a way that what Paul calls Titus to in verse 10 was visible in them: something about God our Saviour was attractive in their lives.

And if we are shaped by the gospel – if we submit to the Lordship of Christ, if we admit our sin and confess that we cannot do it on our own, if we rest in the fact that Christ has done it all – then we are freed to live radically different lives. Not in our own strength, but in grace, by faith, because of what God has done. And as we live it, our lives will show it.

Titus addresses all people: From the older to the younger, from the free to the servant, the gospel shapes us all. Because sound doctrine is not just what we confess with our lips, it is what we embody with our lives/living. And the purpose is simple yet profound – “so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour” (v.10). Our lives are meant to make the gospel attractive, to display its beauty in a watching world. Which means the challenge for us is this: our conduct will either discredit the gospel or adorn it. The question is not whether our lives speak, but what they say. And so Titus is told, and we are reminded, that sound doctrine is not just what we confess, it is what we embody. That is the gospel taking root in ordinary people, in ordinary places, producing extraordinary fruit to the glory of God.

Just as the women where challenged to live in a culturally gospel distinct way so that the word of God would not be dishonoured, so the servants (and all in the church) and called to live in such radically different ways as people under subjection because it has missional implications – if they live as Christ for Christ, they will in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive. Let us be clear, our lives are either adorning the gospel or denying it – there is no middle ground.

2| The Grace of God (v 11-14)

Paul has laid out his ethical instructions for those who claim the name of Christ as their own and identity: How the Old and Young, Servants and free are to live out their faith within the family, and in any circumstances they might find themselves in. Summed up to the challenges to those who were in bondage to do their best so that “they will make the teaching about our God and Saviour attractive in every way.” It is profound in these verses that we see the way we as Christians must walk with another, not over the top of our brothers and sisters and Christ, but alongside and with love and help, because we are all in this together. Then we have seen the why – our reason to live and love in such a way that when people see us, they will see the beauty and attractiveness of Christ.

2.1 The Foundation of our Beauty and Existence (The Gospel)

Now, in the most profound and powerful section, we see both what the “teaching about God our saviour” that is “attractive in every way” is (11), and the foundation of this Kingdom ethic being lived out – the gospel. The very life of Jesus Christ himself, that “the Grace of God has appeared.” The foundation of our Kingdom ethic within the Church is the coming of the King, the incarnation – Jesus Christ himself, who was born unseen and unknown by the world, and walked perfectly among us. That he came and lived among us and died so that we could live eternally with Him is the reason why we trust the work of the Spirit and the way of the Cross for our life, because we have this eternal hope. Quite literally, the imagery Paul deploys here is that of a shining light – the breaking of dawn at Sunrise.

That is the moment, the beauty and power of the resurrection, and it is not just our foundation, it is Grace itself. Christ walked among us and incarnated Grace as he modelled the way to live, and made it possible for us to live with him. Yet, sometimes we fail to grasp the fullness of what Grace means for us now. We can cope with knowing that Grace is pardon, but we struggle to comprehend that it is the power of the Christian life. That the Holy Spirit makes real in us Grace, and makes real through us Grace, because it is not some abstract idea or philosophical notion. Grace is not something ethereal, mystical or faint. Grace is power! Power that was embodied in the life of Christ, thus Grace appeared when he came into the world. We could go as far as to say that the incarnation is Grace in flesh, as the appearing of Jesus was the visible kindness and love of God, and it gives us confidence that we will inherit eternal life (3:5,6).

Thus, embrace it, and embrace the work of the Spirit of God in us and through us. And, as Grace appeared, it saved us and brought us Salvation to all people (2:11). A Salvation that is not because of righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy, and our new birth in the Spirit-the Spirit who was poured out generously on us through Jesus Christ (3:5-6). Grace is foundational because it gives life to the sinner who comes by faith; it is universal, in that salvation is for Jews, Gentiles, slaves, and free. Yet it is not universalism, because we must come in faith and with knowledge of our sin. In the Titsu Context in Crete, divisions marked and defined society, and Paul was making clear that in the Church, Grace was level ground, and the great leveller.

2.2 The Great Leveller (Grace)

Grace was the great leveller in that we all stand equal before the Cross in need of it, and beneficial from it in light of eternity. Yet, more beautifully still in the Kingdom of God, it was the great leveller because as we were all equal in our beneficial receipt form it, we also all benefit from it now, for Grace is the very power of faith within the Body. Whether we are the hands, feet, nose, mouth or an unseen bit of the body – Grace is the blood that flows through us and to us, bringing us together in unity and empowering our personal world and collective Kingdom work for the Glory of God. It is grace that trains us, shapes us, and sanctifies us into the ethic of the Kingdom, so that we become people who can renounce the former things that blighted us – those moments of ungodliness and worldly passion – and instead enjoy self-controlled lives that are upright and Godly. Grace allows us to live, and through the Spirit empowers us to live like Jesus; that is what a Godly life is.

Let’s be clear, we are only here because of Grace, the very air we breathe is because of the Goodness of God’s common Grace, and the very life of faith that sustains us by the Spirit is a daily, hourly, heart-beating momentary consistent revelation of Grace and the gift of Grace. Grace allows us to live! And, Grace shows us the way to live as we think of the Life of Christ, that the Spirit empowers us to live out in our ordinary moments – That is what a Godly life looks like today. Also, take a moment and see how Paul puts it, the beauty of the imagery he paints about how Grace should reshape our understanding of time to be shaped around all that Christ had done. Not in the sense of BC and AD but in the likeness of eternity: when we lift our eyes to what is ahead, we trust what he has done, as we await this blessed hope, the appearing of our Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Why? Because in the past Christ gave himself to redeem us on the Cross, and then rose again to destroy the death that seeks to hold us.

2.3 A People With a Purpose (Purified)

It is one of the most beautiful sentences and images in all of Scripture, in Paul’s summary: Christ gave himself not just to pardon us, but to purify a people for himself! That is to make us his treasured possession, his covenant family; that we might become heirs alongside of him, because of him! Not only to save us by Grace, but then because of Grace, through the Spirit, and in the way Jesus all for the Glory of God; we are set us aflame with zeal for good works (v.14). Do we grasp how much more there is to Grace that just a moment, it is our life and the power of life: it redeems us, renews us, and re-purposes us in the work of God to the Glory of God. It makes us a people for his glory and a people for the good of the world to bring him Glory. By the Spirit’s work, Grace transforms us from death to life, and then trains us how to live out the great life.

Think of all the imagery that Paul used in his writings, and how much of it was tied to some form of training and discipline: the runner who runs with perseverance, the boxer who lands his punches, the athlete who trains with discipline for a crown of Glory (1 Cor 9; 2 Tim 4). That is grace at work in us. Grace is the coach and the strength that keeps us in the race, the power that gives us endurance, the fire that makes us finish well. Grace moves us from the side of onto the course of life, to run with eyes fixed on Jesus until the day the race is done.

2.4 A People Who Adorn Beauty (Purpose)

So then, what does this mean for us? It means that when people see us, whether at home, in work, in church, or in the public sphere, because of Grace in us and through us, they should see the ethic of the Kingdom, the beauty of the Gospel, and nothing of this world. They should see lives that are levelled by the cross, lifted by the Spirit, and longing for the appearing of our Saviour. Grace is not a doctrine we file away; it is the power of faith and the source of our life. The grace that saved us is the grace that sustains us, and the grace that sustains us is the grace that shapes us. Thus, Paul’s vision becomes our challenge, our call: to be a people who adorn the gospel in every way and in every sphere we live! Who, by our very normal and ordinary ways, with Grace infused, makes Christ attractive to a watching world. Why? Because we have been redeemed, renewed, and made ready by the wonder of grace in us and through us.

3 – The Authority of Gospel Teaching (v.15)

This is not an optional extra moment for Young Timothy, as Paul has written and given imperative after instruction for the sake of the Gospel – Titus is to be clear about his call as a minister of this Church, the elders responsibility; and what those in the family of the faith are called to live in and out of together for Christ, by Christ for the sake of the Gospel. It is not something the super spiritual get to add on, and the routine spiritual get to ignore. It is for all people in the life of faith, because the Spirit of God is the power of God in all people who have confessed Christ as Lord.

3.1 Declare, Exhort, and Rebuke (Contend)

Thus, Titus must “declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority.” because these things are the thing – the Gospel, of which we are nothing without. The Gospel is the gospel because Christ has made it so, and it cannot be added to or taken from because Christ has said so. Thus, Titus is called here not simply to preach the Gospel, but to use the very truth of Jesus to instruct the Church into the life of faith, and the fruit that comes from being in the Spirit. What is the life of faith? It is living in the kingdom of God for the King by the Grace he gives us through faith, all made real in us through the powerful work of the Spirit in us. It is the Spirit of God who gives the Gospel life in us and through us! Thus, the work that Titus is called to here is the very work of giving life and protecting the means by which that life is given! The Gospel is his authority, the Gospel is his power, the Gospel is the means of rebuke because the Gospel is the power of God in the life of the people of God. Thus, Paul calls Titus to be confident and bold in the ministry of life-giving, and in calling the people of God to show the life they have been given by the life they are living! That is what Paul emboldens Timothy with the simplest of instructions – Do not let anyone disregard you.

3.2 The Reality of Our Call (Opposition)

Why? Because to live this Gospel truth and stand firm in it – especially in a self-centred culture like Crete – will mean certain opposition. People like their comforts and the life of ease, and not many people are open to being rebuked and corrected – especially when it comes to faith and the life of faith. For Titus in the season ahead, teaching the Gospel will require daily courage, clarity, and confidence that his authority comes not from himself, but from Christ. As Wesley reflected: “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth.”

3.3 The Reality of Our Call Remains the Same Today (Still Standing & Contending)

Two thousand years ago, Paul called Titus to stand firm in the gospel and press on with it. He is to stand firm because the Gospel is good and secure, and to press on with it because it is both the message and the means in a culture where individualism, selfishness, and the worship of pleasure and its pursuit were the norm. Where people cared only for themselves and trusted in their own devices and desires, the gospel was both an offence and an affront. An offence because it called people to look away from themselves to God, and an affront because it called out the shallowness of their culture and moment. Thus, Titus was to be strong and ready for the despise that would come, not because it’s personal – but because Jesus said it would be so. Is our moment any different? We live in a world obsessed with comfort and pleasure, and we love anything that promises to make our lives easy or easier! Why then, when the heresy of the prosperity Gospel is even given ear? Because it offers people what they want in the moment – comfort. We want all of Christ without the cost of the Cross, and so heresies become palatable, whether it’s liberal theology or prosperity thinking – they both come from a desire to make the call to follow Jesus easier to a certain type of people and group. And to both and all false Gospel we are called to the way of Titus in our moments in that by it we contend, rebuke, and exhort! Two thousand years have passed, and yet the same problems remain. We live in a selfish, individualistic world that is suspicious of authority or any absolute claim of truth. Yet, absolute truth is all that the Church has to offer a world that desperately needs it! Thus, every one of us, whether a minister, bishop, lay person or behind-the-scenes sort of guy, needs to be confident in what Christ has done for us, then in the power of the Spirit, be bold and grace-filled voices who speak the truth clearly, and the truth with love.

Conclusion (Modelling Grace )

It can seem a challenging passage to preach, yet the point is quite simple – the gospel changes everything. Sadly, today we are so often consumed with a narrative that is individualistic and centred on self, even when it comes to the Church and faith. Yet, Pal shows Titus how the Gospel does not just change him and all as individuals, but it affects them collectively: older, younger, male, female, bondservant, and free. And they should live it out as a witness among one another and to the world so that the word of God may not be blasphemed (5), and more positively that on those watching on might begin to grasp that Grace is not simply a historic pardon, but a present power for the. Life of faith, and the deposit and constant reminder of our certain future hope.

Even within the family of faith, we are witnessing to the Glory and goodness of God, so our lives must adorn the gospel. That is, we – with the help of the Spirit every day – wear the gospel on display to the world. As we delight in it, we make the wonder of Christ real and the beauty of life with him all the more attractive.

1. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/8/674? ↩
2. Titus, Pauls letter to, in modern English. https://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CP17Titus.htm ↩