Gospel Living

Text Titus 2:11-15 Time 06/10/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church 

Paul's letters often begin with doctrine and then move on to duty. First he lays down the principles then explains the practice. Here in Titus 2 we have what is pretty much the opposite. In verses 1-10 we have all the practical teaching. Older men are to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Older women are to be reverent ... not ... slanderers or addicted to much wine, but teaching what is good and training the younger women, who are to love their husbands and children, ... be self-controlled and pure ... busy at home ... kind ... subject to their husbands. Young men are to be self-controlled. Titus himself is to set an example in everything ... by doing what is good. Slaves are to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, .... All very practical indeed.

The chapter begins, however, with Paul saying You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine and in verse 11 he goes on to say that the reason all this godly living must occur is because the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men and so a certain way of living is demanded – one that rejects ungodliness and worldly passions and chooses, rather, being self-controlled, upright and godly waiting for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ who died to make us good.

As Matthew Henry says “Here we have the grounds or considerations upon which all the foregoing directions are urged, taken from the nature and design of the gospel, and the end of Christ's death.”

So let's consider verses 11-14 then. There are five things we need to say

1. All our behaviour must be based on the gospel

Verse 11 says For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Why should older men be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, etc? Why should older women be reverent ... not ... slanderers or addicted to much wine, etc? Why should slaves be subject to their masters in everything and try to please them, etc?

In 1837 the Royal Danish Society of Scientific Studies launched an essay competition. The question was, "Are the source and foundation of morals to be looked for in an idea of morality lying immediately in consciousness (or conscience) and in the analysis of other fundamental moral concepts springing from that idea, or are they to be looked for in a different ground of knowledge?". The only entry they had to the contest was from Arthur Schopenhauer in July 1839. He failed to win the competition as on January 17, 1840, the society published a response claiming that he had misunderstood the question. Whether he did or not at some point in the essay he says “to preach Morality is easy, to found it difficult.” This is a problem that many philosophers are conscious of. Too often people who have not thought things through make moral judgements with no basis whatsoever. I was hearing recently of a woman who claimed that there were no absolutes. When she was asked about countries who trample on women's rights she suddenly wanted to argue against it.

For the Christian, however, this should not be too difficult a question. The reason for Christian morality, as outlined here in Titus 2, is that something very special indeed has happened in this world and it has changed everything. It is to do with the grace of God, his undeserved love, which brings salvation from sin and from death and from hell. This grace that brings salvation has now appeared to all men. It has not just been made known to the Jews. It has not been revealed only to certain types of people. No, it has appeared to all sorts of men.

Given that fact, we can no longer go on living in just the way we please. No, the grace of God means the possibility of godly living, the hope of salvation makes all the difference. Here is a gospel that has something to say to men and to women, to young and to old, to free and to slave.

The gospel does not begin with instruction about how to live but it does include it and, as we shall see, the gospel is powerful force to change the behaviour of men and women.

So here is the first point - all our behaviour must be based on the gospel. The way we live must be rooted in the grace of God and the salvation that he alone can give.

2. The gospel is against ungodliness and worldly passions

Now although the gospel is all about grace, it has something to say about behaviour too. In verse 12 Paul puts it this way It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. First, its negative lesson then

It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions

Ungodliness is the very opposite of the godliness that is being advocated in this chapter. Worldly passions are the sort of desires that typify the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does. Such things must be rejected by the Christian. That s what the gospel teaches. It doesn't say, of course, reject these things and you will be saved but it does say that if you have been saved then you must turn from these things. The Christian should reject the way of ungodliness and worldly passion not because he hopes to be saved by that means but because he now has a new life to live and such things are totally inimical to that life.

In America in the 1980s and 1990s there was a successful advertising campaign called “Just Say No”. It was part of the USA's war on drugs and was intended to discourage children from engaging in recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying no. Eventually, the realm of "Just Say No" was expanded to include issues such as violence, premarital sex and other vices that young people may be involved in. The slogan was created and championed by Nancy Reagan during her husband's presidency.

Are you remembering the “No” message implicit in the gospel? We must say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions every day.

3. The gospel promotes self-control, uprightness and godliness

At the same time, positively, we must live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. Self-control, righteousness and godliness are the sorts of things that Paul has been emphasising throughout the chapter. Such things mark the true Christian. He sees that these are not just for the age to come but for this present age.

Again, this is not because we hope to become worthy of heaven by means of such good deeds but because, having been saved, we want to be self-controlled, upright and godly in the way that we live for his glory and for our enjoyment.

Again the question comes – are we striving for self-control, upright living and godliness? We know that we cannot earn salvation by such means but we ought to be self-controlled, upright and godly if we have really been converted and really have a desire to please God through Jesus Christ.

4. It also involves patient waiting for the return of Christ

If we are tempted to think that Paul's vision of the Christian life is a very this worldly one at this point then we need to note what he adds in verse 13 ... while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Christian life is not simply about living a life of self-control, righteousness and godliness in this present age it is just as much about waiting for a second appearance, a glorious appearance – that of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is not until then that we will be truly holy but when he comes we will be like him for we shall see him as he is.

The obvious question to us then is whether we are looking forward to the return of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Clearly, if we are those who have known the salvation that is rooted in the grace of God that has now appeared to all then we should be.

5. Christ died to redeem from wickedness and purify for himself a people eager to do good

The final thing to notice is that this Christ who is going to come again is the same one who (14) gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. The whole purpose of Christ giving himself as he did to die on the cross was so that he might (negatively) redeem us from all wickedness and (positively) purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. In the way that we live now we must keep this in mind then. This is one of Paul's great concerns in this letter. See 3:8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

1. A price has been paid – the price of Christ's own blood. That price was paid we are reminded here to deliver us from wickedness. Why would we walk in the paths of sin, therefore?

2. Christ has acted to purify for himself a people, a people who are marked by their eagerness to do good. The fact that we are eager to do good is a suggestion that we really are one of his people. A lack of eagerness suggests that there is something wrong indeed.

$ Literally Paul says that a Christian should be a zealot to do good. You have heard of the zealots. They were a fanatical political faction that existed in Jesus's day. They were fanatically nationalistic and hated the Romans who were ruling over them. At Masada they committed suicide rather than be taken alive. The word zealot can be used for similar forms of fanaticism. Now the believer should be fanatical about good deeds.

In the light of this we can say at least two things

1. With regard to this life, the very fact that we have been redeemed from wickedness and set apart to be one of Christ's own should mean that we say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and ... live self-controlled, upright and godly lives.

2. Further, we await the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ for then we will be completely redeemed from wickedness and purified so that we are more eager than ever to do what is good.

The questions then are obvious
1. A price has been paid – the price of Christ's own blood. Are you turning from wickedness and looking forward to redemption?
2. Christ has acted to purify for himself a people. Do you belong to that people? If so, are you marked by an eagerness to do good and longing for the day when you will be good indeed? That is how it should be.