Don't forget this week - bring whatever it is that God is using to speak to you and share. I think this is going to be one of our best yet. It will be so interesting to see how He may be speaking the same thing to us as individuals in different ways.
TITUS – CHAPTER 3
OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD OUR GOVERNMENT
We answer to God FIRST but we must also obey our government and our leaders. The only time we are not to obey our government is when it goes against the will of God.
Romans 13:1 – Obey the government, for God is the One Who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God.
Acts 5:29 – But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than human authority.”
OUR CONDITION WHEN WE WERE LOST
We are ALL guilty of sin. Paul is reminding Titus (and us) how we were at one time living foolish and disobedient lives. We were not serving the Lord but were serving Satan and following after the lusts and pleasures of sin. The pleasure obtained from sin is short lived and then a price has to be paid. Jesus died and paid our penalty for sin. Paul says we were living in envy, full of evil and we hated and were hated. But for the ones who have accepted Jesus, we have been freed from the penalty of sin because of His great sacrifice on Calvary.
Ephesians 2:1-3
SALVATION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
In verses 3-8 Paul summarizes what Christ does for us when He saves us. We go from living a life full of sin to one of being led by God’s Holy Spirit. He doesn’t just wash away some of our sins – He washes away ALL of our sins and we have a new life through the Holy Spirit. We don’t get this because of anything we did or because we deserve it – it is God’s GIFT to us.
In verses 4-6 all three persons of the Trinity are mentioned because all three participate in the work of salvation. Based upon the redemptive work of His Son, the Father forgives us and sends the Holy Spirit to wash away our sins and continually renew us.
BELIEVERS SHOULD MAINTAIN GOOD WORKS
Verse 8 also reminds us to do good deeds all the time. We don’t do these deeds to “be saved” – rather we will WANT to do these good deeds out of love and gratitude for what He has done for us. We glorify the Father when we let others see our good works. How we ACT in front of others has a lot to do with how people view God and whether or not they want to be like us. We need to live a life that exemplifies Christ in everything we do.
THINGS THAT ARE UNPROFITABLE
Paul warns us in verse 9 not to get involved in foolish and unprofitable arguments. Not meaning that we shouldn’t study, discuss and examine different interpretations of difficult Bible passages. He is warning against getting involved in petty quarrels, not honest discussion that leads to wisdom. When a foolish argument develops, it is best to turn the discussion back to a helpful direction or politely excuse yourself altogether.
Throughout verses 9-11 we are instructed to warn anyone that is causing division that threatens the unity of the church. This is not to be done in a “bullish” way but in a loving way. If that person refuses to accept the correction after two warnings, then we should have nothing more to do with them as they are condemning themselves.
PAUL’S PLANS FOR WINTER
Verses 12-13 are about Paul letting Titus know that he was planning to send Artemas or Tychicus to Crete to relieve him. Paul wanted Titus to meet him in Nicopolis so they could spend the winter there and also instructed him to bring Zenas, the lawyer, with him, as well as Apollos.
DESIRE TO MAINTAIN GOOD WORKS
Paul tells us that we should not have unproductive lives. We need to learn to do good by helping others who have urgent needs. God wants us to be fruitful. If we never lead a soul to the Lord or make efforts to reach the lost, we are not being fruitful.
I don’t believe this necessarily means, going up to everyone you meet and trying to lead them in the “road to salvation”. I believe God gifts us all in different ways of leading others to Christ. Some of us may do it in talking, some may lead others to Christ through songs they sing and others may lead people to Christ simply by the life they live. There are several different ways to lead others to Christ. And I also believe that we may not even necessarily know when we have led someone to the Lord – not on this side of Heaven, anyway – we may not know til we get there just how many people we led to Him by our influence.
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Special thanks to David Parham and also the people that put the notes in my Life Application Bible. I got most of my above notes from those two places.
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