Preached Sunday, March 9, 2014 from Titus 2:11-14
Theme: We will be a life-changing church so long as we keep the whole life of Jesus before us.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
I would like to share with you this morning from the impact that just one word in the Bible had on me recently. It’s probably doesn’t seem like a very important word at first glance. It’s the simple word “for”. But small word that it is, it’s a word that made all the difference in a passage I read the other day. I even believe it’s a word that could help transform our church—if we will allow its place in this passage to do so.
I hope you won’t mind if I walk you through my recent encounter with this passage, and show you what I learned from that simple word.
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That little word “for” is a word that holds a very pivotal place in a passage that we studied together several years ago. It’s found at the beginning of Titus 2:11-14; which reads,
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 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 2:11-14).
The reasons that this word struck me as so pivotal is because of what I read that comes before it. Chapter 2 of Titus is part of a letter that the apostle Paul wrote to a pastoral colleague who served on the Isle of Crete. Titus was given the job of pastoring the church that had begun there; and among the things Paul told him to do was to help the believers behave as they should in their different relationships as examples of the Christian life to the world. I have to tell you; whenever I read the first ten verses of Titus 2, my heart thrills over what it says. It describes, I believe, a church that truly makes a difference in this world. As I read this passage to you, see if you don’t agree.
Paul wrote to Pastor Titus and said;
But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you. Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things (Titus 2:1-10).
Think of what that passage is setting before us. It’s describing a church in which everyone in it is living a life of godly Christ-likeness; and in such a way as to adorn the gospel. It speaks of a church in which everyone is relating to each other—throughout all the different age groups and positions of life—in such a way as to love and respect each other in Christ, genuinely care for one another, and to help each other grow.
Older men are mentioned first. They’re to be examples of sound-mindedness and reverence; and are to be well-ordered in faith, and love, and patience. They were to be the kind of godly elder-statesmen that would encourage and inspire everyone else to live a godly life. They were to be the kind of men that the young people would look up to and say, “I want to be like them!”
After that, the older women were mentioned. Titus was to urge them to likewise be examples—teaching the younger women to be reverent toward God; avoiding gossip and addictive practices, but to instead be teachers of good conduct—showing the younger women how to be good, Christ-like wives and mothers.
Pastor Titus himself was to be a good example to the younger men. How often nowadays do you hear young men say, “I want to be just like my pastor!” I’ve got to admit—I long for that! He was to urge the younger men to be good students—believe it or not—of theology!; so that they show a consistency in the way they believe and in the way they live their Christian lives, whether in the church or out in the world. He was to teach them how to be reverent, honest, good-speaking men whose lives are above reproach in the midst of a dark and fallen world.
Even the work world was to be affected by the life of the church family. After church, as everyone went on to their work week or school week, they were to live differently from everyone else. They were to obey those in authority over them, and do their best in their tasks; not answering back or stealing or behaving dishonestly, but always living like a follower of Jesus in the secular world. They were to live in such a way as to make unbelievers say, “Christian employees are the best employees you can hire!”, or “Christian students are the best and most diligent students in the classroom!”
And look at why Paul urged that this happen—”that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say about you”. Paul wanted the people in the church to live in such a way that those who are opposed to our Savior and hate the gospel will have to admit that they can’t find anything bad to say about us—that we live with such honesty and integrity that even the unbelieving people admire the results of our beliefs. I like how Paul put it at the end of that passage—that we “may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.”
Now; brothers and sisters in Christ—I read that passage the other day, and found myself longing for it describes! But it upset me that it is something so rare to see. Please don’t get me wrong. I am very grateful for this church family. Obviously, we are not perfect. We all know that we each have a lot of growing to do. But we truly have a wonderful church family that I am very glad to be a part of. And yet, this passage describes a kind of conduct that ought to be the rule—when practically speaking, it’s the exception. It is something that we should see far more than we do. And I found myself wondered why that was so.
You’ve heard the talk; haven’t you? You hear people say all the time, “Church is filled with hypocrites.” Or they say, “As far as I can tell, most people who call themselves Christians live just like everyone else. They have the same amount of troubles; and mess up just as much in life.” Or they say, “I tried ‘going to church’, and it didn’t work for me. Frankly, I’ve got enough troubles in life; and I get far more out of not going at all.” Or “Church is lame”, or “Church is boring” or, “Church is no longer relevant when it comes to the needs people have today.” I hate that kind of talk. But the problem is, very often, it represents things as people really see them.
Look through this list again. Isn’t it all too often that we find the people in churches characterized by the exact opposite of what it commands? We often find people who are not self-controlled or temperate; not sound in faith or love or patience. We often find churches that are plagued by infighting and division; by gossip and evil speaking, by dishonesty and irreverence and immorality and unfaithfulness. The people in churches—all too often—do not live consistently with the doctrine that they proclaim to the world; and the world looks on, and decides that it wants nothing to do with the message the church proclaims.
As I read those verses, I found myself growing pretty frustrated by all this. Why aren’t we, as Christians, living up more often to the standard that the Scripture sets for us? But it’s then that I came across that word “for” in verse 11. I don’t know why I hadn’t seen it before so clearly in the context of that whole passage; but the other day, it hit me like a two-by-four across the head! Do you know what that word “for” does? It makes verses 11-14 become the “cause” for what we read in verses 1-10.
Verses 1-10, you see, describe an “effect”—that wonderful description of the ongoing life of a godly church family. I’ve read books, or have been to seminars and workshops—and perhaps you have too—that all try to address the problems of the church not living like it should. They try hard to bring about that desired “effect” by dealing with it directly; but they seem to forget the all-important “cause” that brings that “effect” about. And you can’t have what comes before the word “for” in this passage without it being based on what comes after. You can’t bring about God’s appointed “effect” without rightly emphasizing God’s appointed “cause”. Verses 11-14 give us the cause that results in that wonderful effect.
And that cause—so wonderfully described for us in verses 11-14—is the whole life of a wonderful Person named Jesus Christ. That was another startling thing I discovered from our passage this morning. Verses 11-14 is describing Jesus’ whole life—and the ongoing, ever-present impact that His life is to be having on us right now as a family of believers. We are to be so wrapped up together in the real, personal, practical, present impact of the life of Jesus Christ upon us—His advent into this world for us as it is mentioned in verse 11, His promised return in power and glory for us as it is described in verses 12-13; and His sacrifice on the cross for us as it is described in verse 14—that it permanently transforms everything about us for the the whole of our lives! And that’s when the watching world around us will see the church as a place where real, substantial life-transformation occurs—making them want to know the Savior that we love and celebrate. They will—as in the words of Acts 4:13—realize that we have ‘been with Jesus’.
Let me put it to you another way: if the cause is a constant, intentional, vital union with the whole life of Christ; then the effect will be a dramatically transformed community of believers. And so, my goal this morning is to convince you that we together—each one of us—needs to become totally united to, utterly enamored with, and completely impacted by the wonderful life and work of our Savior; because to the degree we do so, we will be a life-transforming church.
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Now; how does Paul work out this focus on the life of Christ for us? The first thing I notice, in verse 11, is . . .
1. HIS ADVENT AS THE SAVIOR (v. 11).
Paul begins with that wonderful word “for” and writes, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men . . .”
The word “grace” speaks of the free, unmerited favor of God. It means that He loves us and welcomes us to Himself and fully accepts us as a gift—not because we have earned it or deserve it, but because He has freely granted it to us. And in this verse, Paul tells us that the grace of God has “appeared”. It has been made manifest for all to see.
But how has it been made to appear? How has it been “manifested”? It’s been manifested by the coming into this world of God’s own Son Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself—the second Person of the triune Godhead—has manifested God’s grace to the world by the fact that He left His heavenly throne, set His glory aside, and condescended to be born into the human family as one of us. I agree with what many Bible teachers have said—that this isn’t speaking strictly of Jesus’ birth. Rather, it’s speaking of all that was implied in His birth—that the Son of God became born into the human family; coming to us in order to save us. I believe it’s what John was talking about in John 1:14 when he wrote,
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
What wonderful news that is! The grace of God has been made manifest in this world! That alone should utterly transform us! But there’s more. As I read that verse, some of you may have noticed that it read a little differently in the translation of the Bible you may be using. The translation I am using has it that the grace of God that brings salvation “has appeared to all men”. But other translations have it that the grace of God has appeared “bringing salvation to all men”. And that is actually the best translation of the way it reads in the original language of Paul’s letter. The grace of God has appeared through the advent of Jesus Christ—the Son of God in human flesh—into the world of fallen humanity. And that grace brings salvation to all people!
Now; we have to be careful how we understand that, of course. Not every human being is saved; because not all believe. But what Paul is saying is that the grace that God has shown in sending His Son into the world makes salvation freely available to every member of Adam’s fallen race who will receive it! Everyone who wants to be saved can be, and no one who turns to Jesus for salvation will be excluded! As Paul put it in 1 Timothy 4:10, Jesus is “the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.”
And this wonderful fact—that Jesus Christ has been born into the human family in order to be the Savior of those who believe on Him—is an aspect of Jesus’ life that ought to utterly transform us! For one thing, it means that we ourselves—who believe freely on Him—are forgiven and are in God’s favor! All of our sins have been pardoned before God and we are now free to approach Him as His loved and accepted children! That would mean that, if God has forgiven us, we should be forgiving of one another. If God no longer holds our faults against us, we who are in Christ should be a church of people no longer hold faults against one another.
And it should also impact our passion for the lost people around us! If the grace of God has truly been manifested—bringing salvation to all people—then we should look at each person we meet differently. We should see them as precious souls for whom Jesus died; and we should long to introduce them to Him! As Paul put it in 2 Corinthians 5:14-21;
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:14-21).
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So; one aspect of Jesus’ whole life that we ought to always keep in our focus is His first advent into this world. Because of it, the grace of God truly has been manifested! But we should also keep our focus on His second advent. Paul goes on to show us how we are to be affected by . . .
2. HIS SECOND COMING IN GLORY (vv. 12-13).
Notice that Paul tells us that God’s grace has been revealed to us by the coming of Jesus into this world—a grace that makes full salvation available to all people—”teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age . . .” (v. 12). The wonderful, saving grace of God—if received rightly by us—puts us in school, and instructs us to live differently.
Notice, first that there are certain ways in which we are to cease living. He says that we are to deny—or renounce—”ungodliness and worldly lusts”. I tend to think of “ungodliness” as an inward attitude of heart. It’s an attitude in which we live as if God doesn’t exist, or as if He has not given us His commandments. It’s the attitude of heart that says, “I will live my own way, and no one will tell me what to do.” And I believe that “worldly lusts” speaks of an outward pattern of behavior. It’s a pattern in which we seek to live by the principle of the gratification of our sensual desires. That’s the way unbelieving people live. That’s how we once lived before we believed on the grace of God through Jesus Christ. But we are to live that way no longer.
And notice, secondly, how we are to live instead. Paul writes that we are to live “soberly, righteously, and godly”. To live “soberly” or “self-controlled” places our own selves in focus. We are to live lives that are under the rule of God—and not under the rule of our passions, or our fears, or substances, or anything other than God’s good will for us. To live “righteously” has other people in focus. We are to live in a way that is just and right with respect to other people—doing what is good to those around us. And finally, to live “godly” has—of course—God in focus. We are to live in a sense of continual reverence toward God—always acknowledging Him, always trusting and obeying Him, always thanking and praising Him. That truly covers all relationships, doesn’t it?—ourselves, our neighbor, and our Creator and Savior.
And notice also that we are to do this consistently “in the present age”. Sometimes people reject God’s way of righteous living under the silly excuse, “Well that was then, this is now.” Sometimes, when you confront people about sinful habits and life-style choices, they respond by handing you a calendar and telling you, “Things have changed. This is the twenty-first century.” But we’re to live as if God’s commands and instructions for living are timeless. We—as a church of God’s people—are to always deny the ungodliness and worldly lusts that characterize the unbelieving people around us, and always live soberly, righteously, and godly—even “in the present age”.
And as you look at the next verse, you can see why. The basis of such faithful living is something that truly is timeless, and is growing more and more relevant with each passing day. Paul says, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ . . .” (v. 13). In the grammar of the original text of Paul’s letter, “the blessed hope” is the same exact thing as “the glorious appearing” of Jesus. And what’s more—according to the same principle of grammar—the “our great God” is presented as the same Person as our “Savior Jesus Christ”. He who is our Savior is also the God of glory! And His return in power and glory is to be the blessed hope that motivates our faithful walk before Him.
I love how the apostle John put this in 1 John 3:1-2. He wrote to his brothers and sisters in Christ and told them;
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:1-2).
Do you see it, brothers and sisters in Christ? The reason we have the Lord’s return as our “blessed hope” is because, when He returns for us in glory, we will be transformed by God into sharers of that glory along with Him! Our glorification is as sure as His return! That is our prospect together! And notice very carefully what John tells us in verse 3;
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (v. 3).
Our hope in the glorious return of Jesus for us—and our glorification with Him—is to be the great motivation for our living holy lives right now! We won’t be perfect, of course, until Jesus returns for us. But the prospect of His return for us is to move us with a passion to be now what He will make us to be at His return!
No wonder it’s vital that we keep the whole life of Jesus before us—including His glorious return!
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So; if we want to be the church that God wants us to be—if we want to be a church that is truly a life-transforming force in this world—then we must keep the life of Jesus ever before us! We must keep our focus on His first coming as our gracious Savior, and on His second coming as our glorious Hope.
And there’s one more aspect of His life that we must keep continually before us—one that concerns what He did for us between His first coming and His second coming; and that is . . .
3. HIS SACRIFICE AS THE REDEEMER (v. 14).
We must keep the cross of Jesus ever before us. Paul speaks of Him in verse 14 as the one “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.”
When Paul says that Jesus “gave Himself”, he’s speaking of the sacrifice that Jesus willingly made for us when He took our sins upon Himself and died on a cursed cross in our place—taking the death penalty for our sins upon His own person, and paying the price on our behalf. He did this for us in love; and a constant gaze upon the cross makes us love Him in return.
Look at why He did this for us. First of all, Paul says that He might “redeem us from every lawless deed”. To “redeem” someone is to buy them out of debt and servitude; so that they can be free. And that’s what Jesus did for us. Our sins made us slaves—placing us under the mastery of the devil and keeping us separated from the God who made us. But Jesus—by His own sacrifice on the cross for us—bought us out of our slavery to “every lawless deed” and set us free to enter into a relationship with God the Father. That means that, because of what Jesus did on the cross, there is now no sin that can have any further dominion over us. We are free to say goodbye to the sins that have held us in the grip of slavery, and can now be free! As Jesus Himself has said,
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
But Jesus didn’t die on the cross only in order to redeem us from our bad works—and then simply leave it at that! Paul goes on to say that He also died in order to “purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works”. He washes us clean so that we can now serve Him for His good purposes; and He calls us to bless the world around us. As Paul put it for himself personally in Galatians 2:20;
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20).
And as he put it in Ephesians 2:10, for all of us as the church of the redeemed;
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).
So; can you see how vital it is that we keep the whole life of Jesus ever before us?—His advent into this world as our Savior, His promised return in power and glory, and His sacrifice on the cross for us as our Redeemer?
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I hope you can appreciate now how important that word “for” is. It truly is the pivotal word of that whole passage. It, in fact, is a word that—if we rightly understand it—can transform our church and our individual lives. It shows us that a truly life-transforming church of godly people is an “effect”—and that the whole life of Jesus is the “cause”.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; let’s grow to let the whole life of Jesus be the great focus of our church—and the ever-present, continual motivation for all that we are and do. Let’s learn more and more of Him, and trust Him, and love Him, and share Him, and even become completely enamored with Him! Everything about Him is our everything! He is our all in all!
We truly will be a life-changing church—so long as we keep the whole life of Jesus before us.