Study in Titus

1. Study in Titus Presentation 05

2. The Difference The Gospel Makes Chap 3v1-8 Presentation 05

3. Introduction When children are sent off to the bathroom to wash, if they return quickly they are asked, ‘Did you use soap?’ They may answer, "Why, what difference does it make?" Children are not persuaded that soap will make a big difference - parents know better! Many adults ask the same question in a variety of situations. A woman I know should have asked the question before putting diesel in her car instead of petrol. She learned to her cost that it made a big difference! Concerning the gospel people often ask, ‘What difference will it make?’ The answer is provided in our passage. When the gospel invades a person's life it impacts upon every facet of his daily living. Presentation 05

4. A Good Citizen First, the gospel makes the Christian a good citizen. On a number of occasions in the N.T. Paul encourages Christians to be subject to the powers that be e.g. Rom.13v1-7. Throughout church history some have wanted to argue that since Christians belongs to the world to come and this world is only their temporary residence they therefore do not need to take earthly rulers seriously. But the Christian has dual citizenship. He is a citizen of this world as well as the world to come and as such cannot contract out of responsibility towards earthly rulers. Presentation 05

5. A Good Citizen You will remember the occasion when the religious leaders attempted to trap Jesus by asking him if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus replied, "Give to God what is God's and to Caesar what is Caesar’s," Matt. 22v21. Jesus said, it is wrong to make this an ‘either/or’ issue. God as Creator and Redeemer has a right to your allegiance so too do human governments. You cannot expect to benefit from their administration and at the same time contract out of any responsibility you have towards them. Presentation 05

6. A Good Citizen In Romans 13 it is argued that lawfully constituted authority has been ordained by God for our good. For this reason the Christian must not be an anarchist ; in other words be a law unto himself. Nor does God’s word encourage Christians to be nonconformists simply for non-conformity’s sake. It is possible for Christians, by being habitual non-conformists to make themselves repugnant to the very world they are trying to win. We must co-operate with all that is good, provided of course that it is good. Presentation 05

7. A Good Citizen Of course there is a time when the Christian has to take his stand when his conscience is being violated and where the issue before him is clearly loyalty to God v loyalty to human powers. In that situation he says with the apostles ‘it is better to obey God than men’ Acts 5v29. As when some of the later Roman Emperors tried to force Christians to worship them as gods. The Christian’s behaviour towards temporal powers, is to be marked by “meekness and gentleness”. We are to nurture these qualities by remembering what we were like before we came to faith. We will be more patient with those, who remain unresponsive to the gospel and for whom we have a prayerful concern, if we recognise God’s patience in his dealings with us. Presentation 05

8. A New Man Many years ago Winston Churchill put his finger on the cause of society’s problems when he said, “The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart”. What ultimately changes a society for good is not the creation of better living conditions, or the establishment of a ‘classless society’, or the introduction of a better system of education. Society is improved only as its individual members are transformed. This is the second difference the gospel makes. It is foundational because all other changes rest upon it. Presentation 05

9. A New Man The gospel changes man in the very core of his being. Paul underscores the scope of this transformation by a series of before and after pictures. The phrase, "At one time…" v3 recalls the human condition prior to the invasion of the gospel of grace. First, we were ‘foolish and disobedient’. The word ‘foolish’ describes a lack of spiritual receptivity. Some people have bought TV sets only to discover they have no picture? Its not a problem with the signal –your neighbour describes the wonderful film he is watching. Black and white fuzzy lines is all you can see! Clearly your TV set needs to be tuned in - readjusted. In the spiritual realm we are, by nature, incapable of receiving clear signals from God. Presentation 05

10. A New Man We may be discouraged when we hear others talking enthusiastically about a personal God if we know that is not our experience for we are getting ‘no picture’. Why is that ? In 2 Cor. 4v4Paul tells us that we are all blinded by the god of this world [Satan] and therefore unable to receive the things of the Spirit of God. We need to be tuned into God and he alone can do that work. If we are out of tune then it follows that we are ‘disobedient’. The word describes the rebellion in the human heart which causes us to say ‘NO’ to God. Whenever we say ‘No’ to God we are defying him. ‘That’, says Paul to his Christian readership, ‘was once the regular response of our hearts’. Presentation 05

11. A New Man Next unregenerate man is described as ‘deceived and enslaved’. He is deceived by the beguiling temptation of Satan. He is hypnotised by and has a strange fascination with sin. It has enslaved him. He is not ultimately in control, he is a puppet on a string. He does not have an unbiased freewill to make free choices; instead the bias of his sinful nature drags him into patterns of behaviour that he will often regret. Thirdly, sin distorts human relationships ‘through malice and envy’. Malice wishes people what is evil, while envy begrudges them what is good. Presentation 05

12. A New Man Finally, before becoming Christians says Paul we were ‘the objects of hatred and we ourselves hated others’.We lived in an atmosphere of bitter resentment. Now of course this great catalogue of behaviour may not be true of all individuals to the same degree and in every detail but it is certainly a picture of human nature in general. And but for the restraints of common grace would cause humanity to spiral uncontrolled and unrestrained degeneracy. If this restraining grace were withdrawn there would be no depths to which we would not sink. Presentation 05

13. A New Man Over against this black and ugly backcloth Paul introduces a tiny word "BUT" v4 . Grammatically it may be no more than a connecting particle, but what a glorious connection it makes. It links the plight of man with the power of God, the degradation and helplessness of man with the compassion and mercy of God. God’s intervention is unpacked in two words “kindness” and “love”. ‘Kindness’ describes the pervading and penetrating nature of grace the word was used to describe a wine which mellows with age. Presentation 05

14. A New Man This is precisely what God's grace does in a person’s life. It takes what is raw, sharp and abrasive and begins a process that is designed to sweeten and mellow it. Remember that the apostle John and his brother James had been nicknamed “the sons of thunder” such was their unrestrained tempers. John later became known as ‘the apostle of love’. What a transformation. One of the tremendously thrilling things about being in the company of those who have submitted themselves to the school of God's grace over the years is that they are a delight to be with. Just being in their presence does you good! Do you know people like that? Are you one of them? If not then pray that God will make you so! Presentation 05

15. A New Man The second word Paul uses to describe God's intervention is ‘love’. It is not the usual N.T. word for God’s love, ['agape‘] but the word "philanthropia" that is used. This word focuses upon God’s love for man in his distress and describes his heartfelt pity for those in trouble. What is it that causes God to respond to the misery of men and to act in kindness and love? Is it because God sees the potential of our lives? Is it something man has done, merited or earned? No! The cause is not found in man but in God. It is the sheer mercy of God that lies behind the whole process of transformation in the Christian’s life. It is God who deserves all the credit for changed lives. Presentation 05

16. A New Hope These verses make it quite clear that the only contribution that a man can make towards his salvation is the sin that makes it necessary. Man cannot justify himself or make himself acceptable before God. In other words, apart from Christ, there is no ground on which a man can stand and make a convincing case that will secure God's pardon, smile and acceptance! This was the point the hymn-writer drove home in the words; ‘On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand’. Presentation 05

17. A New Hope If, as we have said, it is only God’s grace that can transform a person then it is also true to say that his only ground for doing so lies in Christ's death on the cross. The focus of the gospel lies in the great exchange that took place on the cross of Calvary where Christ's 'acceptableness' was made over to men and women of faith and their ‘sin and unacceptableness’, was made over to Christ. What a gloriously, gracious transaction Presentation 05

18. A New Hope Paul makes it clear that the process of transformation which has its source in God’s grace and mercy and which is made possible through the death of Christ is accomplished in our lives through the ‘washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit’. The sacrament of baptism does not confer salvation but it confirms faith. It is an affirmation of our trust that ‘God can do what no man can do either for another or for himself – spiritual soul surgery’. The work of regeneration is God’s alone. God alone can tune the spiritual perception of men’s hearts and bring them to faith in himself. Presentation 05

19. A New Hope We look to God to deal with the sinful bias that exists in our fallen human natures by performing a work of spiritual renewal. We trust God to increasingly open our eyes to spiritual truth to persuade us that there is nothing we can do to earn salvation. He alone can impress upon us the need to place our trust exclusively in Jesus who died on the cross so that we might be accepted in God’s sight. We trust God to do this because he is a God of ‘grace and mercy’. There can be no experience of grace without the Holy Spirit, who brings all the benefits of God's salvation and applies them to our hearts. Presentation 05

20. Conclusion These glorious truths find a fitting climax in v8. The motivation to good citizenship for God's people here on earth is the glorious realisation that we are heirs of the hope of eternal life. Good citizenship which springs from lives transformed by the gospel of Grace can alone make an impact upon the unbelieving world. When the world asks the question of the Christian gospel, ‘What difference does it make?’ The answer God gives is that of a transformed life. He wants us to be ‘living epistles known and read by all men’! If the gospel is not seen to work in our lives then the world will treat it as irrelevant. Do our lives make a real and significant difference for God’s kingdom? Presentation 05