Faith and Knowledge in the Elect: Rest, Roots, Revelation

Text Titus 1:1-3 Time 17/03/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We have begun to look at the Letter of Paul to Titus and we have begun by concentrating on what Paul says to introduce himself in verses 1 and 2. He is by name Paul, a converted man working among the Gentiles and both a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. His purpose, we saw last week in serving God and going in the name of Jesus Christ is described as being for the faith of God's elect or to put it another way and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness. Paul rounds off his self-description in verses 2 and 3 by saying that this faith and knowledge rest on the hope of eternal life. This hope he speaks of as something that, on the one hand, God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and, on the other, that at his appointed season he brought ... to light through the preaching entrusted to Paul by the command of God our Saviour.

I was reading something this week where the writer (Don Carson) spoke of some verses in Scripture being quite loose and easy to understand and others being rather tight and needing to be unpacked. This idea of unpacking has become a bit of a jargon phrase, I guess, but it is a good way of describing some of Paul's sentences especially where without doing some unpacking, some loosening up if you like, then we don't really grasp quite what is being said.

We've done a bit of this work already but let's look now at the whole section from for the faith of God's elect through to through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour. We'll be more brief on the parts we've looked at already and go into more detail with what follows. Altogether I think the section can be divided into five parts and we can use one word in each case to remind us of what that part contains. So I say

1. Recipients: Look in - who are we focusing on?

We saw last week that Paul was a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect. God's elect were his great concern. He cared about all people but it was especially God's chosen people that he was concerned to find and to help. These are the ones who know and believe. The gift of faith and knowledge is not given to everyone but only to the chosen few, those God chose before the beginning of the world. God's elect are more special to him than any others – more than any earthly or heavenly creature, more than all the reprobate. It is on them that he showers his gifts, and especially the gifts of faith and knowledge. The presence of faith and saving knowledge suggest a person who is elect.

@ How much do we think about God's elect? Perhaps for various reasons we shy away from thinking about the subject. Let's rather seek to find the elect by telling the good news to all and let's seek to support those who are elect in every way that we can, as Paul did.

2. Results: Look ahead - what does their faith and knowledge lead to?

As we saw last time Paul speaks of this faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth as something that leads to godliness. This is the result of real faith and real spiritual knowledge. It is not that godliness leads to faith and knowledge but the other way round. The way to a godly life is through faith in Christ and the knowledge of his name. In 2:11-14 Paul says that the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who 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. We stand in desperate need as a nation of moral revival but that revival is only going to happen if people in large numbers turn to Christ in faith and come to know him.

@ Let's see then that God's elect are marked not only by faith and knowledge but also by godliness. Indeed, this is where faith and knowledge are to lead. It should be so in our own lives and in the lives of others. Let's do all we can to make it so.

3. Rest: Look beneath – on what do their faith and knowledge rest?

This faith and knowledge says Paul are resting on the hope of eternal life. Christian hope is not like mere worldly hope – I hope so, but I doubt it. No, it is something positive and definite. It is an earnest yearning, a confident expectation and a patient waiting. The hope is – eternal life. For the believer, there is a sense in which eternal life has already begun but he still longs for the continuation of that life in heaven forever. That is what Paul is talking about here – not just entrance into heaven but the abundant life of glory.

People in this world put their hope in all sorts of things but the one great hope is the hope of eternal life. In 1 Timothy 6:17-19 Paul says to Timothy Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Are we holding on to the right thing? There is not a hope that compares with this hope. It is because of this hope that the elect believe and know the truth.

@ What a wonderful thing it is to have hope! In Ephesians 2:12 Paul describes unbelievers as separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. That is their hopeless situation. What a horror. On the other hand as the Psalmist puts it (Psalm 25:3) No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, ... To have the hope of eternal life is to be blessed indeed.

4. Roots: Look back – what are the roots of these teachings?

Paul goes on to speak of this faith and knowledge as something with a past and a present or future. First, a past. It is something which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time. So note that the roots are

1. In God who cannot lie

Literally Paul speaks of the unlying God. Part of God's unchanging nature is that he does not and cannot lie. Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. 1 Samuel 15:29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind. Sometimes a negative statement can be stronger than a positive one. God is a God who makes promises. In these promises it is impossible for him to lie.

2. In promises made before the beginning of time

We often revere things because of their antiquity. Well, as far as the gospel is concerned, it has a very ancient history indeed. It goes back, says Paul, to a time before time itself. Because God's purpose is so ancient we can say that his promise really goes back to a time before time. He speaks similarly in Romans 16:25 of the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past and Colossians 1:26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, and 2 Timothy 1:9 This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ... . In Matthew 25:34 the king in the parable says to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. Here it is, what was promised before the beginning of time.

@ These truths are rooted in God himself, God who cannot lie and in the unbreakable promises he made before the beginning of time. This further encourages us to believe these truths and to live in the light of them.

5. Revelation: Look here – How have these teachings now been revealed?

The final thing that Paul says is in verse 3 and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour. This is like the verses that follow the ones we just quoted in Romans, Colossians and 2 Timothy.

Romans 16:25, 26 the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him. Colossians 1.26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations but is now disclosed to the saints. 2 Timothy 1:9 This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

If we concentrate just on what Paul says here in Titus we can get at the material by asking those three great questions – what, when and how.

1. What?

Paul says that God brought his word to light. He who made promises before the beginning of time kept it hidden in darkness for some time but then brought his word to light. The coming of the gospel was like the shining of a light in a dark place. All the wonderful promises of God were at last clearly revealed.

2. When?

Paul says that what God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time he brought to light at his appointed season. He is clearly referring here to the New Testament era which began with the coming of Jesus Christ and was in full swing at the time that Paul was writing. This is the time that God had appointed from all eternity for his light to shine.

3. How?

How did the light shine at that time? It was, says Paul, through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Saviour. Paul wasn't the only preacher, of course, but he was one of the main ones and this is how the truth was revealed then – by preaching.
@ How thankful we should be that these wonderful promises have been revealed in the New Testament. We, too, have a duty to let everyone know.