Grace Teaching How To Live
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
The Book of Titus is one of the most practical in its message, of any of the Epistles. It is grace teaching us how to live.
Titus 1:1-16; Titus 2:1-9 presents God's demands as to Christian life from varied viewpoints. Here we will briefly set these forth. Paul had left Titus in Crete that he might accomplish certain things. These things would have presented a real task anywhere, but in Crete they called upon Titus to do the seemingly impossible. Let us set forth these things step by step.
1. A call to ordain elders of a certain type in every city. To ordain elders might not have been difficult; however to ordain elders such as God demanded was another matter. Here are the Divine requirements: "If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly." This alone would have been difficult indeed, but the Lord still further stated, "A bishop must be blameless, * * not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; but * * sober, just, holy, temperate."
Even in our day of culture and of advance in Christian knowledge, it is not at all easy to secure as church leaders men of such qualifications. We are certain that poor Titus felt the impossibility of the task in Crete. Paul, himself, granted that the Cretians were naturally "liars, evil beasts, slow bellies," How then could God expect so much from so evil a people? We merely stop to say that God has never lowered these standards. What He required in Crete, He requires in our present-day churches.
2. The demand upon aged men. In Titus 2:2 we read: "That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in the faith, in charity, in patience." Aged men may be naturally grave, but they are not naturally patient; neither do they humanly abound in charity or love. As we grow older we are liable to grow a bit sour, and exacting.
3. The demand relative to aged women. Titus 2:3 says, "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things." Here again Titus must have hesitated. Aged women are not overly careful in their criticism of the younger generation. They may have a tendency to false accusations and harsh judgments. However God does not lower His standards to meet the natural propensities even of the aged women in Crete and in
4. The word concerning young women. Titus 2:4 says that the young women should be sober, love their husbands, love their children. They should be "chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands." Such demands are "hard" on the young women of our day, let alone of Crete and of Paul's day.
They are to be sober, not chasers, after pleasure; they are to love their husbands, and to be obedient to them, not to be lords over them; they are. to love their children, not to shun the responsibility of having children; they are to be discreet and chaste not to dress as the godless dress, and to yield their persons to vile social amusements; they are to be "keepers at home" and not gadders about.
"We might go on. God has given us many true young women among our Christian youth, but they do not abound in holiness in our day, any more than they did in Crete.
5. A word of command for young men. Titus 2:6 lays upon them all the principles laid down relative to young women, then adds this: "Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you." Alas, alas, how poor Titus must have felt in the Isle of Crete, with so high a standard for the young men. How also does the true pastor of today feel the lack of young men such as described above. They are indeed few and far between.
6. A final exhortation to servants. In Titus 2:9 and Titus 2:10, servants are instructed to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; not purloining, but showing all good fidelity. Thus God delivers His ideal for servants. It is an ideal unknown in Crete, and unknown here apart from the Gospel.
I. ADORNING THE DOCTRINE OF GOD (Titus 2:10, l.c.)
1. An unspeakable privilege. The doctrine of God, our Saviour, is a doctrine of marvelous glory. When Minister Woo, in Washington, D. C., was discussing the ethics of Christ as set forth in the Sermon on the Mount, he said that they were beyond the reach of men. He was correct. The Bible does hold up a standard of Christian living that surpasses anything known to men. The other doctrines of God, our Saviour, are all on a platform, exalted far above human reach.
The doctrine is, as is the Lord, perfect, pure, holy, and unspeakable.
It is such a doctrine that servants, and also young men and young women, aged men and aged women, and elders, are all called upon to adorn. To hold forth the Word of Life is one thing; to adorn it is another. To preach Christ is one thing; to magnify Him in deed and in truth is another thing.
Saints adorn the Gospel of Christ when they live a life that reaches its message. They adorn the Gospel when they give their all in life or in death to support and sustain the Gospel.
2. An impossible thing made possible. Our heart goes out to Titus. He was told to do that which, seemingly, could not be done. He may have thrown up his hands; he may have cried out, "God does not know the Cretians, He does not understand their evil propensities." "How," thought Titus, can such ideals be carried out; how can such holiness, such sobriety, such self-control, be expected of Cretians, men who dwell in the flesh?
The pastor of today stands aghast even as Titus stood aghast. We are often asked to lower God's standards, and to make them easier on saints.
II. THE ADVENT OF GRACE (Titus 2:11)
1. Grace the key to holy living. Titus could now no longer misunderstand God's call to holiness. God knew that the Cretians were evil; He also knew the power of the grace of God.
Over against all of the natural sinfulness of the Cretians and of us all in our natural estate the Lord through the Word: The grace of God hath appeared the grace that bringeth salvation.
2. Salvation the way to righteousness. It was as though God had said, "Sin is great but salvation is greater." In other words God said, in a new and an effective way, what He had said before: "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous."
Thus where sin abounded in Adam, grace superabounded in Christ, "For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."
3. Accordingly sin is now condemned in the saved, that the righteous deeds of the Law may be fulfilled in them.
In the New Hebrides with its villainous, man-eating debauchees, Howard Taylor could go, and see the Islands where Satan and sin reigned changed to peace loving and holy living Christians.
In Crete, in the heart of heathendom, or anywhere, and at any time, God can change the black heart and make it white. He can not only impute the righteousness of God in Christ, but He can impart the holiness of God, in the Christ.
III. THE MESSAGE OF GRACE FOR THIS PRESENT LIFE NEGATIVELY STATED (Titus 2:12)
Our verse runs like this: "The grace of God * * hath appeared * * teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." There are two things before us, or one thing spoken in two ways.
We are to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. That is, we are not to give any place to these things.
1. The ungodly are those who change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man. The ungodly are those who change the truth of God into a lie, and worship and serve the creature more than the Creator. The ungodly are those who do not like to retain God in their knowledge. The ungodly are those who say: "There is no God."
God hath said that the way of the ungodly shall perish. He speaks of the perdition of ungodly men.
The ungodly man is the opposite of the righteous man, the God- fearing man. He is included in 1 Timothy 1:9 with the lawless and disobedient, the unholy and the profane.
2. Worldly lusts come as a result of ungodliness. In Romans we read that God gave up the ungodly "unto vile affections." Again we read, "As they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind."
The fourteenth Psalm says; "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." Immediately it adds: "They are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy."
IV. THE MESSAGE OF GRACE FOR THIS PRESENT LIFE POSITIVELY STATED (Titus 2:12, l.c.)
Grace not only gives us a message of denying ungodliness and worldly lusts but it adds: "We should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world."
We have now three things before us:
1. Living soberly. This includes the believer's inner life. We remember how, in the second chapter of Titus, the aged men and the aged women and the young men are all exhorted to be sober, and sober-minded.
The word carries us into the realm of our mental attitude. We must not be carried about by winds of doctrine. We must not be up today and down tomorrow. We should have that gift of the Spirit which is a sound mind, a sane and a sober attitude; not flighty within, not thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, but to think soberly.
2. Living righteously. Righteously is our attitude toward people without. A righteous man is a man who is right in his dealings, and righteous in his acts. He does not defraud his brother. He does not seek to further his own advance, by riding over the rights of others.
3. Living godly. We should live with God on the throne of our hearts. We should live godlike. Here is our attitude toward God. "Soberly," looks within at the heart; "righteously" is what we are to those around us; "godly" is what we are toward the One above us. These are the realms where grace operates.
There are some who imagine that grace gives license to licentiousness. In answer to this, the Apostle Paul asks the question: "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" Then he cries out, "God forbid!"
We are saved by grace and apart from works. However, grace brings no excuse to careless, indifferent living. God's greatest appeal to holiness is the fact that the grace of God found us, washed us, and made us white.
V. THE MESSAGE OF GRACE FOR THE COMING AGE (Titus 2:13)
Let us connect our three verses as follows: "The grace of God * * hath appeared * * teaching us * * that, * * we should live * * looking for that Blessed Hope, and the glorious Appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."
According to this, grace does not only teach us how to live in this present world but it tells us how to live anticipating another world. Grace does not teach us that we should live alone with the Calvary work of Christ in view, but we should live also with His glorious Appearing in view.
Grace certainly is found at the Cross, for by grace have we been saved. Grace, however, will be glorified at the Coming of Christ. Have we not read, "That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus"?
Grace began its marvelous blessings toward us on the Cross. Grace will continue its blessings as the eternal ages roll by.
Grace teaches us to look for Christ's Coming: therefore, the Cross teaches us to look for His Coming. When God saved us, He had far more than our present salvation in view.
In grace God predestinated us unto the adoption of children. In grace He chose us to be holy and without blame before Him in love. In grace, He purposed, in the dispensation of the fullness of time: that we might obtain an inheritance in Him, and be to the praise of His glory. In grace when we believed, God gave us the sealing of the Spirit of promise, until the redemption of the purchased possession.
Do we marvel, therefore, that grace turns our eyes onward and upward toward the Second Coming of Christ? That is the beginning of the glorious fruition which awaits us. His Coming is our Blessed Hope. Then will the exceeding riches of God begin to unfold.
VI. THE CLIMACTIC VISION OF CHRIST'S GRACE (Titus 2:14)
Our verse says: "Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
Once more the Spirit of God carries our minds back to the agonies of Calvary. Having just told us that we should live looking for the Blessed Hope, He would hold us to the main discussion of holy living as the objective of the Cross.
When Jesus Christ died on Calvary, He had many things in view. Three of these are distinctively set forth in our verse.
1. He had in view redeeming us from all iniquity. In other words, He died that He might put our sins forever under His Blood. He died in order that our sins might never be mentioned against us. He died that He might wash us, and make us whiter than snow. He died that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
2. He had in view the purifying unto Himself of a peculiar people.
(1) He wanted us to be a purified people, that is, pure in word and thought and deed. Having been washed in His Blood and made legally white, He wanted us to live white, that is, righteously, soberly, and godly. In other words, He desired not alone to impute unto us His Divine righteousness, but to impart unto us personal holiness.
(2) He wanted us to be a peculiar people. The word peculiar does not mean fanatical. It does mean a people different from other people. It does mean a people specially His own. We remember the words of the Holy Ghost through Peter "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people."
In the Old Testament it is put this way: "The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." All things are His in one sense. We are His in a peculiar and special sense.
3. He had in view a people zealous of good works. Of Christ it was said: "The zeal of Thine House hath eaten me up." There is no place in the province of God for a lukewarm believer. God even went so far as to say to the Laodiceans "I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth."
It was that evil servant who wrapped his pound in a napkin, to whom Christ said: "Thou wicked and slothful servant." Let us be zealous of good works.
VII. A FINAL COMMAND (Titus 2:15)
"These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee." This is the way our key verse runs.
1. God foresaw a time when His ministers would soft pedal some things. Therefore, He gave the command to them to speak, to exhort, and to rebuke with all authority. What are the things which God would have thus spoken? They are His commands to elders, to aged men, to aged women, to young women, to young men, and to servants. In other words, we are to preach separation and cleansing and sanctification.
Let us pity the present day apostasy, and the world-mixing which we find among saints with sinners. Let us not condone such things. Let us show every man how to possess his vessel in righteousness, and in true holiness. Let us acclaim a Spirit-filled, God-endued spiritual life and walk among God's people.
2. God fore-seeing, fore-warned and fore-commanded. We are told two things:
(1) We are to speak with all authority; that is, vested with all power. Did not Jesus say: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature"? Yes, but He also said: "All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth: Go * * and, lo, I am with you."
It is with this authority, God-given, and with this power, God-endued, that we are to speak, to exhort and to rebuke the very things which we have considered today.
(2) We are to let no man despise us. That is, God has made us a stone wall and an iron pillar. What He tells us to say we must say, neither courting favors, nor fearing frowns.
Ecclesiastics who would hinder us, must be set aside. The world which would close our mouths and seal our testimony, must be denied. We must preach His bidding at any and every cost. It is for us to preach the whole counsel of God, to proclaim a commanded message, and to proclaim it fearlessly.
AN ILLUSTRATION
GRACE TEACHES US HOW TO WORK AS WELL AS HOW TO LIVE
"To every man according to his several ability" (Matthew 25:15). A rescue missionary was lecturing where he was unaccustomed to speak. He said that every Christian, however poor or busy, could do personal work for Christ, if willing. After the lecture a woman said: "What can I do? I am a poor widow with five children to support. How can I find time to go to anyone about Christ?" "Does the milkman call at your house?" "Of course." "Does the baker?" "Yes." "Does the butcher?" "Yes," was the curt reply, and the woman turned away. Two years after, the man of God spoke in the same place. After the service a woman said, "I am the person who was vexed with you when you asked whether the milkman and baker and butcher visited me. But I went home to pray. God showed me my duty. Through my humble efforts five persons have been led to the Saviour, and they all are consistent working members of the church." From Home Study Quarterly.