fruitful

Remember to be Fruitful

And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful. All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. (Titus 3:14-15)

These last sentences from Paul’s letter to Titus give us a few final things to remember. We can first look at the goal: that Christians may not be unfruitful. God wants us to “bear fruit” as believers.

fruitful

The idea of “fruit” or being unfruitful here is a poetic way to speak of a Christian life that brings forth good things. It’s good for an apple tree to bring forth good apples, and it’s good for a Christian life to show the “fruit of the Spirit” described in Galatians 5:22-23: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

Here, Paul says we will not be unfruitful if we maintain good works, and if we meet urgent needs, giving us the opportunity to show forth the fruit of the Spirit. It’s good for Christians to do good, and to do good in Jesus’ name! We should not only start doing good works, but we should maintain good works, keep on doing them. We should look for urgent needs and try to meet them in Jesus’ name.

This is another way that the wonderful letter to Titus encourages us to do good and to show the reality of our faith through such good works. We also see another way that the message of Paul and the message of James were not in contradiction, and that Paul also believed that real faith would show in real life.

A Special Kind of Love

In the last verse of Titus, we are reminded of Paul’s warm relationships with Christians all over the Roman Empire. He sent a greeting both to Titus and to the other Christians on the Island of Crete. In this, notice this line: greet those who love us in the faith.

We should be grateful for the people in our life who love us in the faith. We enjoy our bond as brothers and sisters in Jesus, a bond that can go deeper than blood because it is in the faith. I want to say “thank you” to those who love us in the faith.

At the end of it all, Paul wrote: Grace be with you all. Even though the letter to Titus has a lot of emphasis on practical Christian living, we can only live the way God wants us to when we walk in His grace. We’re grateful for all His grace gives us and teaches us, and we long for that grace to be with us more and more. By faith, receive His grace today and for the coming week – and then maintain good works!

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 3

four friends

Remember People

When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing. (Titus 3:12-13)

Many times, towards the end of one of Paul’s letters, he included personal notes to several different people. Paul’s letter to Titus was no different. Here, towards the very end of this short letter, Paul mentioned four people: ArtemasTychicus, Zenas, and Apollos.

four friends

It’s easy to read these words and respond with a great big, “So what?” After all, who really cares about these four people that we know so little about? Yet there is value even in passages like these.

First, this shows us that Paul was a real man in a real world with real friends that he had regular contact with and care for. We can think of a man like Paul of something like a superman, but he wasn’t. He had friends and needed friends and valued these co-workers in the kingdom.

Second, it shows that the work God did in the first century of Christianity went far beyond what the Apostle Paul did. We know the most about Paul’s work, but there may have been many people who did a similar work that Paul did that are lost to history. The mention of these several names shows the dynamic growth of the Christian movement.

Time to Move On

Third, it shows that Titus was not to do his work on Crete forever. It seems that when Artemas and Tychicus came to Titus, he was to leave Crete and join Paul at Nicopolis (a city on what is today the western coast of Greece). Titus was to do as much as he could until those two came, and then turn the work over to them. There was time and a season for Titus’ work there, and it would end.

Fourth, it shows that we should support those who do God’s work. When Paul said, send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing he meant that Titus should give them the money and help they needed for their travel. Zenas and Apollos probably the ones who brought the letter to Titus. When they left, Titus was to use the money in common among God’s people to send them on their way.

If there are some people you can support along the way as they do God’s work, the prayerfully consider doing. Maybe there is a Zenas or an Apollos you could provide for.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 3

divisive man

Remember to Reject

Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. (Titus 3:10-11)

In this section of Titus 3, Paul told Titus to remember several things. Here he told him to remember to reject a divisive man.

divisive man

Divisive people are not a new problem for the church. Titus 3:10-11 tells us that they have been a challenge for pastors and church leaders from the earliest days of Christianity. Simply said, the divisive man divides people in God’s family without good cause. I have never met a divisive person who didn’t think they had good cause, but clearly not all of them do.

Connecting Titus 3:10-11 with the previous verse, we can see that these divisive people were focused on “foolish disputes” and things that were “unprofitable and useless.” It seems they divided over things that didn’t matter much.

Recently I heard a respected pastor say that one of the biggest problems in the church today is pettiness. People get offended and divide over small, sometimes trivial things. They lose their sense of proportion and end up going their own way and drawing others with them over minor issues. I think there was a lot of truth in that pastor’s observation.

What to Do With the Divisive

Notice what Paul said to do with the divisive person. First, reason with him or her, and do it a first and second time. Our first reaction to such people should not be anger or frustration, or to tell them to “shut up.” We should approach them with love, bringing godly admonition in wisdom. We should be willing to do this more than once.

If they persist in their divisive ways, they add rebellion, rejection of authority, and unwillingness to learn to their sin of divisiveness. It’s only then that we should reject them. This means that we should put them outside the care and comfort of the community of God’s people. We should do this as gently as possible and with only the necessary measure of firmness, not more.

Notice that we are not to do them any harm in body, soul, character, or property. The times when the church dealt with divisive people by persecuting them in those ways were dark days that, God helping, will never be repeated.

It’s good to know how to deal with such divisive people. But consider this: are you the divisive one?Do you argue and dispute and divide over things that are small in the big picture? It’s hard to see this sin in our self; pray that God searches our heart and mind and that we listen to what He tells us.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 3

Remember Things that Matter

But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. (Titus 3:9)

In this portion of Paul’s letter to Titus, he reminded his younger co-worker of several different things. With these words, he reminded Titus to focus on the things that matter, to not get distracted with foolish disputes and things that are unprofitable and useless.

This is actually something that was important to Paul. Several times he warned Timothy and Titus about the danger of focusing on foolish disputes and arguments:

He is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions. (1 Timothy 6:4)

Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. (2 Timothy 2:14)

But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. (2 Timothy 2:23)

Don’t Get Tangled Up

In our social media age, it seems easier than ever for God’s people to get caught up in the web of foolish disputes and contentions and things that are unprofitable and useless. We need to pray – a lot – for the wisdom to stay out of those distracting arguments that really don’t accomplish anything.

The church must stand for the truth, but it must not become just another debating society. We have bigger and more important things to talk about than many of the arguments that the culture fights over. We can get so worked up over things that actually have little more purpose or reason than to win the argument.

According to one writer, the word Paul use for “avoid” in the phrase avoid foolish disputes literally means to turn and face the other way. We should turn our back to such useless arguing and keep our focus on God’s Word.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 3

apostle paul

Remember Good Works

This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. (Titus 3:8)

Some people like to claim that the Bible contradicts itself. Most of these claims are fairly silly, and can be dealt with easily. Some are a more involved, and take some effort to understand. Titus 3:8 speaks to one of these “more involved” matters.

apostle paul

The claimed contradiction is between Paul and James. The Apostle Paul was one of the champions of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone. The Apostle James emphasized the necessity of good works and a life that honors God.

If you took a single verse from James and a single verse from Paul and set them against each other, you might think there is a contradiction.

Then we read what Paul wrote here in Titus 3:8: those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. You might say that with that statement, Paul summarized the entire theme of the book of James!

Both Are Right

Paul definitely believed in good works, and that Christians should maintain them. In fact, he wanted Titus to affirm constantly this truth. It was a faithful saying. Paul would never say, “Just have faith, give no concern to good works.” Paul knew just as James wrote, that good works are an important part of the Christian life.

Yet, good works are not the reason why we are right with God. We are right with God because of who Jesus is and what He did for us on the cross. What Paul and James want us to know is that if you are made right with God, it will show in good works. We are saved by grace through faith, but it is a living faith – the faith that saves will do something, and many good things for God, His people, and a needy world.

To put it another way, faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone. We must never put the cart of works before the horse of grace.

Ask God for wisdom about your own life. Do you maintain good works? Are you good for something in the here-and-now, or are you good for nothing?

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 3

receiving

Remember His Great Salvation

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:4-5)

The first two words of Titus 3 are, “remind them,” and I see many things to remember in the chapter. I see that we should remember how to live (Titus 3:1-2) and that we should remember what we were before Jesus changed our life (Titus 3:3).

receiving

Now in Titus 3:4-5, I see something else really important to remember: the great salvation God brings to His people as they put their trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

It all began when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared. When we were in the place described by Titus 3:3 (foolish, disobedient, deceived, and so on), we didn’t rescue ourselves. We were rescued by the kindness and the love of God. He reached out to us long before we reached out to Him.

We didn’t earn His rescue in any way. It was not by works of righteousness which we have done. Our salvation isn’t based on any works of righteousness which we have done. Think of it:

– By itself, response to an altar call does not save.
– By itself, saying the sinner’s prayer does not save.
– By itself, baptism does not save.
– By itself, church attendance does not save.
– By itself, giving does not save.
– By itself, reading the Bible does not save.

Each of these may be wonderful works of righteousness, but by themselves they do not save us. Instead, according to His mercy He saved us. If God had not worked in us first by His mercy, none of these would have any effect.

We can say it simply: He saved us. This is the essence and distinctive of the gospel. We can notice the emphasis: of God… not by works… His mercy… He saved us… of the Holy Spirit. God is always the initiator, and we receive from Him before we give anything back.

So, respond to such a loving, gracious, giving God by trusting Him; surrendering your past, present, and future to Him; loving Him; praising Him; and receiving the great gift given to you according to His mercy.

Remember what you used to be, and have faith that the God who has begun a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 3

new life

Remember What You Used to Be

For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. (Titus 3:3)

In Paul’s letter to Titus, this is a section of reminders. Paul wanted Titus to remind the Christians under his teaching and leadership of how to live the Christian life (Titus 3:1-2). But he also wanted Titus to remind them of how they used to live, what they used to be.

new life

It’s as if God tells us, “Don’t ever forget how I have changed your life.” As Paul wrote, “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived.” When in verses 1 and 2 we learned how to live, we learn in verse 3 why it is sometime such a struggle. We didn’t used to live in a godly way, and we have bad habits of thinking and doing to overcome.

Notice that Paul used the word “we” in this sentence. He included himself, and it was quite a list to include one’s self in: foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

For the Christian, all that should belong to the old life. Jesus gives us something new. Remembering this work of God builds four things in us.

First, gratitude  for how God changed us. When we think of what we used to be, we can be so thankful that God has done a work in our life and is still doing that work. We often think that we are not yet what we should be (and that is true); but thank God, we are not what we used to be.

Second, humilityas we see that it was His work that changed us. This was not our own self-improvement program; it was the work of the living God within us. Of course, it involved our will and effort; but even our will and effort were the work of God in us. We have nothing to be proud about.

Third, kindness to others in the same place. Sometimes we are quite judgmental towards those caught in the web of sin, forgetting that we also once were in similar traps. Remembering the changes God has done in our life should make us compassionate towards those who need a similar work of God.

Finally, faith that God can change those who are still in that place. It’s easy to despair when we long to see God work in the lives of others. Sometimes we give up hope. The next time you feel like that, ask Him for the grace to remember that if God changed you, He can change others as well.

Remember what you used to be, and have faith that the God who has begun a good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 3

rulers and authorities

Remember How to Live

Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. (Titus 3:1-2)

The core of the Christian life is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Receiving by faith what God gives us in Jesus comes first. That being said, it isn’t the only aspect of the Christian life. Once we receive, we are then to respond. One way we respond is by living in a way that brings God glory. In these two verses, Paul tells us several aspects of living that kind of life.

rulers and authorities

To show the importance of this, Paul started by telling Titus, remind them. I have read that in the grammar of the ancient Greek text, remind is in the present tense. It actually has the sense, “Go on reminding.” Titus was to constantly remind the Christians under his care how to live the Christian life.

The first specific thing Paul told Titus to remind them of was to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey. Normally, Christians are not rebels or troublemakers. We respect the principle shown in Romans 13:1-7: that we are to do this because these governmental leaders are actually appointed by God for the good of society.

I say that “normally” Christians are not rebels or troublemakers, because we do recognize a higher allegiance. When government tells us to sin and disobey God, we honor God first (Acts 5:29) and obey God rather than men. There are times when government oversteps its bounds and the Christian is obligated to say “no” and stand for God and His righteousness.

Paul also noted that it was important for the Christian to be ready for every good work. If we simply focus on being subject to rulers and authorities, it is easy to make the Christian life passive. Titus should not allow this, and also remind them to be ready for every good work. We should always look for ways to do good in the world for Jesus’ sake.

Paul continued, saying that we should speak evil of no one, be peaceable and gentle, showing all humility to all men. This is a distinctively Christian kindness, coming not from simple good manners but from knowing who we are and who others are in the heart of Jesus. We won’t gossip or tell lies about others, we will look to make peace instead of stirring up trouble, we won’t try to dominate others (gentle), and our humility will be evident to everyone.

That’s a great last thought. Maybe you think of yourself as a humble person. Yet the question is, “Is my humility evident to anyone else? Am I actually showing humility to all men?” It’s easy to show humility to some people – those who might be thought to be “above” us. But the Bible says that we should show humility to all men.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 3

speak the word

Speak the Word, Live the Life

Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you. (Titus 2:15)

These words from the Apostle Paul come at the end of a long section where he told Titus how to lead the churches on the island of Crete. Titus chapter 2 is filled with practical guidance for the pastor and the church leader, and the chapter ends with this interesting statement. Paul told Titus, “Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.”

speak the word

The first thing is to speak these things. Titus, and every one of God’s messengers of grace are directed to speak the things of God’s Word. What Paul wrote to Titus (these things) was and is God-inspired Scripture.

We could have an interesting discussion over the question, “Did Paul knowwhat he wrote was Scripture?” But it really doesn’t matter if Paul was aware of it or not. God guided Paul and the other human authors of Scripture, enabling them to write His inspired Word through their own human personality.

These things were to be the focus of what Titus taught. The preacher must always stay centered on God’s Word.

Next, Paul told Titus to exhort and rebuke– and to do it with all authority. God’s messengers are to remember that they are messengers from a King, holding the word that brings life and turns back hell. The preacher needs to speak forth God’s Word, exalting it high above human opinion and speculation. When the preacher speaks, sometimes it will be encouraging (exhort) sometimes correcting (rebuke).

Finally, Paul told Titus, “let no one despise you.” This didn’t happen by Titus making a rule saying that Christians weren’t allowed to despise him. It happened because Titus lived a life of love and integrity. If Titus spoke with all authority, he had to back it up with his life. Titus had to live in such a way so that no one could rightfully despise him or his message.

One commentator points out that it was common for these letters from Paul to be read in the churches. Therefore, this remark, “let no one despise you,” was also something for the Christians and Crete to hear. When they saw Titus living an honorable and godly life, they had to step up and respect him and his message, even when it was a rebuke.

I’m sure that at some point this week God will have a word to encourage you (exhort) or to correct you (rebuke). Be ready to receive either word and to respond to it.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 2

gave himself

He Gave Himself

Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:14)

We believe that the collected letters of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament were inspired by God, that they communicate God’s word to us. There are certain places where this inspiration is more obvious; places where the message of the gospel is given in such a brief and glorious way that it says, “God was in this writing.”

gave himself

I think that this brief statement in Titus 2:14 is one of those places. When Paul wrote, “Who gave Himself for us,” every part of this description of Jesus’ work is beautiful and important.

Jesus gave, which means it was voluntary. He didn’t have to do what He did, but He did it out of love. It’s good to emphasize what John 3:16 says – that the Father gave the Son. But don’t forget that Jesus also gave.

Jesus gave Himself, which means Jesus gave all He could give. It’s possible to help someone, and even to help them in a big way, without really giving yourself. Yet Jesus gave the greatest thing He could ever offer: He gave himself.

Jesus gave Himself for us, which means Jesus was given as a substitute for sinful man. We needed a substitute, someone to stand in our place as guilty sinners before God. Jesus took the guilt for us. He took the shame for us.

Jesus did it all that He might redeem us. Redemption means “to be bought out of slavery by the paying of a ransom.” We are bought out of our slavery to sin and purchased for His service. The death of Jesus wasn’t only to bring us forgiveness, but also to give us new life. We are set free from every lawless deed.

Finally, Jesus did this to make something special of us – to make us His own special people. According to William Barclay, the idea behind this phrase is the spoil of battle that a conquering king set aside for himself. We – His own special people– are His reward, we are the plunder of Jesus great victory at the cross.

There it is – only 25 words in English, but a beautiful summary of God’s great love and great work of us in Jesus Christ. Thank Jesus today that He gave Himself for you, making you one of His own special people.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 2