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.

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