Sacred Life: Living in the Overflow
- Jerry Witham
- Aug 6, 2009
- Series: Sacred
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It was good to be back Sunday. Thank you once again for the break. We are grateful for your understanding that a pastor needs rest and refreshment. I hope you enjoy our time in Titus as much as I am overjoyed about teaching. The Lord continues to impress on my heart that this is a very timely book for us as a church. As I am in the custom of often doing, I will reiterate what was taught Sunday each week via enews in article form so you are brought to remembrance what was taught.
Author and Recipient
As we opened the message Sunday we were informed from the very beginning whom the author and specific recipient of the letter was. The Apostle Paul is the author (1.1) of the letter that is written to Titus (1.4). In the salutation Paul refers to himself as a bond-servant and an apostle (1.1). A bond-servant is one who has given his life to another and specifically here Paul's life is not his own, but Christ's. His heart's desire is not my will, but the will of God be done. An apostle is one who is a messenger who has been sent forth with a mission by Jesus. We see that this was Paul's calling as soon as he was ushered into the Kingdom of God while on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).
As Paul addresses the recipient of the, Titus, he refers to him as, my true child in a common faith (1.4). Titus is the recipient of this letter even though it was meant to be read widely. He was a Gentile convert who had served and traveled with Paul (Galatians 2.1-3). He was a man whose presence brought comfort to others (2 Corinthians 7.6-7). He was one that had genuine concern for those he served. He was appointed by Paul to administer the church at Corinth's portion of a collection so that they would excel in gracious giving (2 Corinthians 8.6, 16). Titus was one who could be trusted. Titus was one who truly lived out His faith in Christ just as Paul did and it made Paul proud as Paul seems to be the one who led Titus to faith in Christ. We see in the relationship with Paul and Titus that one is not simply to share the gospel with someone, get a response and then that is it. No, Scripture calls us to make disciples (Matthew 28.19-20). We are to share the gospel, but then teach them the ways of Christ and His Word. Paul did this as he would take brothers he would lead to the Lord under his wing, investing in them the Word of God and modeling to them faith lived out.
Purpose of Titus
So Paul writes the letter to Titus, but what is the occasion for the letter, the purpose? Paul says, For the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life (1.1-2a). After studying and reading through this the following is how I flesh this passage out. For the faith and the furtherance of the faith of those who are chosen by God and that their life would be drenched in the knowledge of the truth overflowing to godliness in their daily life and their different spheres of influence - the home, the church, work and the ocean of all men (we will see this in Titus 3)- as they live in the hope of eternal life (1.1-2a).
Faith
First Paul is concerned, For the faith of those chosen of God (the elect). He longs for the elect's furtherance of faith in Christ. That those who have responded by faith to the gospel would grow in their faith and relationship with Christ. Faith is a concern of Paul in this letter due to the lack of changed lives in the churches in Crete. We will learn more about Crete this Sunday. There are those who profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him (Titus 1.16). The churches looked more like the culture at large than those who had been changed by Christ.
So, when Paul speaks of faith what is he talking about? Paul says in Ephesians 2.8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. First the need for faith in Christ implies that you and I need to be saved. Saved from what? From the wrath of God (He reserves wrath for His enemies. Nahum 1.2) and death (Which, is never satisfied. Habakkuk 2.5). Romans 6.23 says, For the wages of sin is death. Each one of us sins, all sin (Romans 3.23). Therefore we are due death, but this is not just physical death. This death speaks of separation, both now and forever in the second death, a real place, Hell. An online article in the USA today shares how pastors are shying away from the topic of hell. They feel they cannot sell Jesus if they talk about Hell. Yet a recent poll shows 70% of Americans are on their way to Hell. Now polls are polls, but the reality is people are going to Hell and the last we need to do is stop talking about it. The Bible says, Without holiness no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12.14). God cannot allow anything impure in His presence because He is righteous and holy. Therefore He requires holiness from all who would be in a loving relationship with Him. We need a change from death to life! And we need to cry out what Habakkuk does, that God would in wrath remember mercy (Habakkuk 3.2).
Second, God made a way for us to be saved and changed. Paul tells Titus in 3.4-5a, But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us. Though we are sinners God loves us. He loves us so much that He was willing to give His one and only Son, Jesus Christ to us as the payment, the covering, the sacrifice, that would satisfy the requirements of God. During my sabbatical, Noah and Grace had their tonsils and adenoids removed and Grace also had tubes put in her ears. Before they went back for surgery they were given some medicine to help get them groggy and eventually asleep. Then the nurses came in and said, We are ready to take them back. As I carried Grace down the hall to the door where the doctors and nurses were she was clinging on to me. Then as I gave Grace to the anesthesiologists she lost it and was yelling for me. Everything in me wanted to get her, but I knew I couldn't and that this was for her best. The same happened when Annette and I pushed Noah down the hall in a bed. I was only giving my kiddos up for a short amount of time for surgery, but the following thought has stayed with me: What would it have been like for the Father to send His Son down to earth and placing the sin of the world on Him, forsaking Him and having Him killed on the cross? This is what He did for us so that we could be saved from His wrath and death.
Third, how does such a salvation become ours? Again in Ephesians 2.8-9 Paul says, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. First what Paul says lastly, you have been saved - and that not of yourselves; and not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Can mental acceptance save someone? No! What about moral resolve, living a good life? No! Paul tells Titus in 3.5, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy. So we can't do anything to make ourselves saved, changed or right with God. Instead it is the gift of God to you and I. God is the One who saves. That is why Paul calls them the chosen of God (1.1). Acts 13.48 says, All who were appointed for eternal life believed. Isn't it amazing how God looks at the billions of people living and says, I choose you! On April 22, 2000 I looked at Annette in front of friends and family before God and said, I choose you to love and to cherish, saying, I am yours and you are mine. There is no other. It is you and you alone. So it is with God, who is the one who gives life to spiritually dead people. Paul will talk more about this in Titus 3 as Paul focuses on what a true conversion is.
So when God brings salvation to someone they place their faith in Christ. Paul told the elders in the Ephesus church, how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20.20-21). Our response to the gospel of Jesus Christ is: to repent and place our faith in Christ. To repent is to have a change of mind and because your mind changes your life changes. Your life is turned around as you rely on Christ's finished work on the cross. Faith is submitting to the mercy of God. Genuine repentance and faith brings a changed life. Changed lives were not evident in the church, so Paul wants to make sure there is understanding of faith and growth in faith. It was foundational and it must be with us as well. With this emphasis on faith what Paul does from the beginning is make the gospel central to this letter and central to one's conversion and ongoing transformation.
Knowledge of Truth
Then Paul mentions the knowledge of truth (experiential knowledge). Paul wants the churches in Crete, that Titus has been given charge over, to be drenched in the Word of God. The Word of God is literally the breathe of God, it is the truth (John 17.17), it is the gospel (from Genesis through Revelation), and it is the revelation of God, revealing God to us who is the truth, as Jesus says in John 14.6, I am the way, the truth and the life. Paul wants the church to know, love and delight in the commands of God, to cling to His testimonies (as the Psalmist says in Psalm 119) and tremble at God's Word (as Isaiah says, 66.2). Mark Dever says, The Word of God must be central because God's Holy Spirit creates His people by His Word! The Word of God must be central to our lives as individuals and as a church because God's Spirit uses the Word to create faith in us and because He also uses the Word to make us grow (Nine Marks of a Healthy Church). The Apostle Peter says, You have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God (1 Peter 1.23). God has chosen to use His Word to bring life. That is the pattern that we see in Scripture and in history. His Word is His own chosen instrument for bringing life along with the working of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wants to create a different kind of people, a new people, a people who show the life of God in them as they hear His Word and as by His grace they respond to it through the power of the Holy Spirit (Mark Dever). This is what God wants! It is biblical faithfulness!
Why God's Word? Because God can be trusted. He is the God, who cannot lie (1.2). So you can trust His Word and you can trust Him. In a world and culture of falsehood (Cretans are always liars - 1.12) and with a people who are prone to wander to what is false, God stands alone as the truth! Oh that we would be drenched with the knowledge of truth denying the false idols and lies of this world!
Godliness
This is what Paul longs for, that the knowledge of truth would overflow (produce) to godliness in one's life as one lives in the hope of eternal life (1.1-2). God longs for us to live under the downpour of His Word and that it would overflow into godly living (right thinking/right living) in the different pools of influence in our life. So, Paul calls for godly living. Peter says, His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1.3). God literally gifts it to us.
So, how is godliness produced? Paul says to the church at Corinth, But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3.18). According to Paul godly living involves beholding. In fact, beholding is becoming. As we behold Him we are being transformed into His image through the power and work of the Holy Spirit. When we behold Him we are admiring Him as we fix our attention on Him. John Piper says, Long looking with admiration produces change. As we look and admire Jesus we pick up a way of viewing the world, which informs all our values and dramatically shapes our thinking and decision-making, impacting the way we live as our trust in Jesus, His Word and promises grows. Changing the way we think, so that our right thinking produces right living.
A word of warning: We must be careful that we are not just committing to a set of values and say, I am going to live that way. We must commit to Jesus, beholding, admiring Him and He will produce in us His likeness, producing holiness and godly living in us along life's different paths.
Hope
The intent of the gospel (God/Christ) is to bring faith, a love of the Word, a godly life, but also hope, the hope of eternal life. Our motivation is hope. We live in a culture full of despair. Many cling to the security of finances and earthly homes and when that is lost all hope seems gone. As we behold Christ and admire Him are hope does not grow dim, but increases more and more. Paul says, Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth (Colossians 3.1-2). Those raised up in Christ have the hope of eternal life. They live full of hope as they seek and think on the things above. The hope of eternal life gives us the hope that we can trust Christ with today and with tomorrow. If today is bad there is hope for tomorrow. Living in light of the hope of eternal life dispels fear and worry and lets us be assured that we can make it through today, that things will get better, whether now, tomorrow or when we see Christ.
So, are you living under the water fall of God's Word? Are you being drenched in it? This must be a priority. Are you daily beholding the glory of Jesus and all that He is, longing to become more like Him? I pray during this message series that our faith would grow, our love for the Word would increase, that our lives would look more and more like Jesus daily and that our hope would be steady as we await our coming Savior.
