Titus 3:1-11

Our passage today for exposition is Titus chapter

Titus 3:1–11

3, verses 1 through 11. Please follow along silently

as I read aloud. This is God's wholly inspired

and inerrant word. Remind them to be subject

to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to

be ready for every good deed, to malign no one,

to be peaceable, gentle. showing every consideration

for all men. For we also once were foolish ourselves,

disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts

and pleasures, spending our life in malice and

envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the

kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind

appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds

which we have done in righteousness, but according

to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration

and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured

out upon us richly through Jesus Christ, our

Savior, so that being justified by his grace,

we would be made heirs according to the hope

of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement.

And concerning these things I want you to speak

confidently, so that those who have believed

God will be careful to engage in good deeds.

These things are good and profitable for men.

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies

and strife and disputes about the law, for they

are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a factious

man after a first and second warning, knowing

that such a man is perverted and is sinning,

being self -condemned. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly

Father, we come to you this morning thankful

for the mercy and kindness you've shown to us

as sinners. The kindness that you've shown to

us as sinners through your Son. We praise you

that though we were once foolish and disobedient

and enslaved to sin, you did not leave us in

our corruption. Rather, you saved us according

to your great mercy. Lord Jesus, we thank you

that your gospel not only saves sinners, but

it transforms lives too. Lord, cause us to lead

lives worthy of the doctrine we profess. Make

us peaceable, gentle, humble, and ready for every

good deed. Holy Spirit, please accompany the

proclamation of your word and apply its truth

to our hearts this morning. Renew our minds.

Guard us from divisiveness and produce within

us unity, holiness, and love that reflects your

transforming power. In all of this, may Jesus

be honored, may his church be strengthened, and

may your grace be made known. These things we

ask in his holy name. Amen. Please be seated.

We are approaching the end of our study in the

book of Titus. Lord willing, next week we will

finish things up as we take care of those last

several verses at the end of this letter written

by the Apostle Paul to his true child in a common

faith, Titus, who, as we know, is serving, ministering

on the island of Crete where he is setting things

in order, appointing elders, doing the business

of the church. Titus is indeed a churchman. He

is a man who is about the business of God, who

has been commissioned, if you will, by the Apostle

Paul, and I guess we could say also by the Lord

Jesus Christ. As we come into chapter 3, Paul

is continuing the same great concern that's run

throughout this entire letter. At this point,

you probably feel like every time I say it, that

I'm beating you over the head, but it is so consistent

a theme throughout the letter that I believe

it bears repeating each time we discuss it. From

the very beginning of Paul's epistle to Titus,

he has emphasized that sound doctrine must produce

godly living. Many of you may be like me. I can't

help but think that many of you probably are

a lot like me. And repetition is probably something

helpful for you because if you are like me, you

tend to need repetition in order to learn. So

again, I say sound doctrine must produce godly

living in believers. We've noted the difficulty

of this assignment for Titus. We've noted it

multiple times. That, of course, as he's serving

these churches that are scattered in, around,

or about the island of Crete, that they were

surrounded by a corrupt and disorderly culture,

that there were false teachers who, as Paul puts

it in verse 11 of chapter 1, were upsetting whole

families. Many of them, as Paul says in verse

16, also in chapter 1, many of them profess to

know God, but by their deeds, They deny him.

They are disqualified, not necessarily because

of what they say, though certainly some of them

were saying things that obviously disqualified

them. But to drive the point home, Paul makes

sure we understand that they are disqualified

because by the way they were leading their lives,

they were denying God. Honestly, the world around

us today isn't much different. We live in a culture

marked by outrage, hostility, division, slander.

It's amazing. If you look at YouTube, what passes

as reporting nowadays? Some wild and completely,

utterly... Unsubstantiated accusations that simply

pass and we allow them to pass without any real

tangible evidence. Slander is everywhere. Arrogance

is everywhere. And selfish ambition seems to

be the motive behind most of it. People are increasingly

combative. Everything. is a fight. Many people

are angry. They are constantly offended. Or,

if they are not offended, they're in search of

the next thing about which they should be offended.

Amen? This has become patently obvious to us.

No doubt, I would say, social media has probably

heightened our awareness of these issues. But

I will say to you that these issues have been

for sinful, fallen humanity since the beginning

of time. People seem to feel overwhelmingly that

they need to speak harshly. I confess, sometimes,

as I, I guess you would say, practice rhetorical

skills. Sometimes it seems like the more fired

up I get, the better I can hold people's attention.

You might argue that that's true. And I know

that not everyone gets as impassioned, using

careful words here, as impassioned as I do at

times, but I have noticed that the more harshly

I speak, the easier it is for me to command others'

attention. And I think this says something about

all of us. Unfortunately for you, not just me,

but all of us. We tend to enjoy controversy.

Do you catch yourself, though you might not be

in the midst of the controversy, do you catch

yourself wanting to be in the perimeter? Wanting

to make sure you know what's going on? I believe

it's the book of Proverbs that refers to those

words that are like dainty morsels that go down

to our innermost parts. We seemingly, all of

us, but certainly in the world, we seemingly

enjoy harsh speech. We enjoy seeing someone get

called out. We enjoy controversing. And this

is something that's very obvious in the public

sphere because it's basically all we do anymore.

Our politics have degraded to the point of merely

being about soundbites, about owning someone.

There's a very famous political commentator.

I think his organization is experiencing a little

bit of financial difficulty now. But he's famous

as a conservative on the right, and he's known

for owning. The libs. Yeah. That's what it seems

to get our attention because in the world today,

our goal is to be the most bombastic. And our

politics over the last, oh, let's say, 10 or

11 years have really, really degraded and proven

this out to us. And unfortunately, what has happened

is the church has become part and parcel to this.

Many people in the church, many genuine Christians,

God -fearing believers have fallen prey to this

issue, this concern. We might even argue that

it is a cultural or societal disease. We all

have the tendency, the propensity toward these

things. But I tell you, the church is not. to

imitate the spirit of this age, to borrow Paul's

language from 2 Corinthians, because the grace

of God has changed us. Not the grace of God will

change us. Certainly there is a process of sanctification

that's taking place in every one of us as the

Spirit is working within us, as we're being conformed

to the image and the likeness of our Lord Jesus

Christ. Certainly there is a progressive element

to this, but in the same breath as Christians

we must realize we have been changed by God's

grace. We are no longer the people we used to

be. We shouldn't look. and act like the world

around us anymore. And that does not mean you

have to dress like people from the Victorian

era. It doesn't mean that you have to be different

for the sake of being different, but it does

mean that as the Bible prescribes us to be different,

we should obey and honor that prescription. The

grace of God has changed us. God's grace has

changed how we think, and how we speak. It has

changed how we live. It has changed how we treat

others, how we treat others in the world, and,

mind you, how we treat one another in the church.

So here's Paul really beginning to wind down

this beautiful pastoral letter to his true child

in a common faith. And he's instructing Titus

to remind believers how the gospel of grace should

shape their lives. It's interesting. The gospel

of grace. The idea is that God does all of the

work. There is no meritorious work on our part.

None of us have done anything to achieve it.

We understand it. We know what we believe about

the doctrine of justification by faith. We know

what we believe about having faith in Jesus Christ

alone, according to God's grace, which he has

lavished upon us, his free gift. And yet when

we read through a book like Titus, which you

can do in really a matter of minutes because

it's so short, we see that grace changes us and

our lives should evidence that change. And then

we see. The fact that we are called to engage

our will and to work toward these things while

all the same time realizing it's because of God's

grace. I heard a preacher say one time, anything

good I do is because of God's grace. Anything

bad I do is because of my own sinful flesh. Seems

almost unfair, doesn't it? Wouldn't you love

to be able to take just a smidge, just a bit

of the credit? Sometimes I talk to my kids, and

I might be disciplining them in some way, or

maybe instructing or admonishing them in some

ways, and then they might try to justify themselves

by saying, well, yeah, Dad, but I did do this,

right? And I'd love to say that it's only children

who do those things, but... I'm known to do that

myself. We'll soon see, he says, that grace should

change us both publicly and privately. Grace

should change us. Grace has changed us and is

continuing to change us as we engage in the civic

arena, as we engage in our interpersonal relationships.

and how we interact with one another in the church

herself. The grace of God should transform how

we live in society. It should change how we treat

other people. And the grace of God should change

us by causing us to be about the business of

preserving the unity of the church. Our change

lives. should demonstrate that we are citizens

of grace. So let's start with verses 1 and 2

here, where we see our conduct in society. Look

back there with me again, if you would. Chapter

3 and verse 1, Paul writes to Titus here and

says, Remind them to be subject to rulers, to

authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for

every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable,

gentle, showing every consideration for all men.

This is about grace and how it changes our conduct

in society. Paul begins with this important reminder

because Christianity does not produce... Oh,

this is a good line. Paul begins with this important

reminder because Christianity does not produce

rebellious, lawless people. Now, everyone in

this room, to my knowledge, is a law -abiding

citizen. To my knowledge. Even I am. To your

knowledge. There's more to this than just obeying

the law. Isn't there? Now, honestly, my mind

kind of goes back to the Sermon on the Mount

where Jesus is talking about these things that

they've heard they're not supposed to do, and

then he says, but I say to you, if, right? And

he gets to the intention of our heart, doesn't

he? A lot of us, and I confess to you, this is

true of me, are rebellious. We are. We may be

obeying the letter of the law, but in our hearts,

oftentimes, and even from the abundance of our

hearts, oftentimes our mouths speak and tell

us how we really feel. and demonstrate to the

world around us what we really, truly think about

authority. And mind you, the first verse here

is specifically about civic government, the civil

sphere, right? It's not to say that there aren't

times when disobeying the law is required, and

I'll talk about that in a moment, but Christians...

should be good citizens. Have you ever thought

about what that means? They used to teach civics

in the public school. I remember when I was in

grade school, we had a, I can't remember what

it was called, but we had a magazine that we

would do. I can't remember if it was once a week

or how often we did it, but we would have these

questions that were related to our duty in the

civic arena. How we were supposed to interact

as part of our social studies program when I

was in school. We'd always end it with critical

thinking questions. I loved it. I loved that

kind of stuff. And it made you think about how

you could be a good citizen. And here Paul is

giving Titus a reminder that is specifically

meant to be applied in the church setting to

help the Christians who worship together week

in and week out. who profess to know sound doctrine

that is supposed to adorn their lives, right?

To beautify this doctrine with the way they live

their lives. And he reminds them to be subject

to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient. Oh,

man. Man. Subject. Don't call me a subject. Don't

call me a subject. I have to be obedient? What

am I, a child? Right? Tell me. Don't tell me,

because we don't have time for everybody to speak,

but I get the mic today. But think for a moment.

Does that bother you? The idea of being in subjection

to another man? The idea of obeying someone else?

I'm an adult. I don't have to obey anybody. Right?

I mean, down inside, it kind of makes you a little

squirmish, doesn't it? I mean, especially in

southeastern Illinois and southwestern Indiana,

because this is an area of the world where we

are individuals, right? Rugged individualism

is the hallmark of the great American experiment,

isn't it? It is. We think of our heroes like

Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders. I see some

people shaking their head no. Politically speaking,

yeah, Teddy had a few issues. We think about

these things and it bothers us. But the fact

of the matter is we should be respectful, peaceable,

and useful citizens. You know, Our citizenship,

temporarily speaking, is here. But we have an

eternal citizenship to which we've been called.

And perhaps we should keep our eyes on it. Now,

we're not called to blind obedience. Here's the

caveat. And everybody starts to kind of, whew,

that was getting a little intense. We're not

called to blind obedience in all things. The

witness of Scripture is very clear about this

because there are times when we must, in the

words of the Apostle Peter, Acts chapter 5, where

Acts 5 · chapter mention

we must obey God rather than men. And amen to

that. Amen to that. The apostles, if you remember,

have been arrested. They've been released. They

go out as soon as they're released and they start

doing exactly what the Jewish authorities had

told them not to do, which was preaching the

name of Jesus. And so they drag him back in and

they're like, hey, guys, you're going to make

us guilty of this man's blood. You're going to

have the whole city turned against us. Quit this.

And what's Peter say? We have to obey God. We've

been commanded to tell the world about Jesus.

And in this instance, disobeying authority is

absolutely necessary. The same principle is seen

in the Old Testament. You guys can probably think

of a few examples. I can think of three that

happen in the book of Daniel. His three friends,

Daniel and his three friends, very first thing

that happens when they go into Babylonian captivity,

the king wants to what? Feed them really good,

rich food that's not healthy, and they know it's

not. And these are disciplined men who want to

honor God, even in the mundane things, such as

what they eat. And they refuse. In chapter 3

in Daniel, of course, one of the most famous

Bible stories any of us has ever heard, Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abednego. What do they refuse to

do? They refuse to bow before and worship the

image of Nebuchadnezzar, right? And of course

they face the consequences for that, don't they?

And God delivers them from those consequences

miraculously. So Daniel himself in Daniel chapter

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

6, when he was told to pray to no other name

except for the king, what does he do? He leaves

his window open and he prays. Notice carefully,

though, these acts were not rebellion for rebellion's

sake. They were not driven by political outrage.

They were not driven by personal preference.

They were not driven by pride or arrogance. These

instances occurred only when earthly authorities

directly contradicted the clear commands of God.

That's the consistent biblical principle. for

us to consider because we do have a caveat here,

yet we also have a qualification. Christians

submit to governing authority unless commanded

to do what God forbids or unless they're forbidden

from doing what God commands. Ordinarily, Christians

are to be marked by respectful submission, not...

a rebellious spirit. If people know you as a

rebel, I would venture to guess your life is

not adorning the doctrine of God. If people see

you as a rebel, as someone who will do what he

wants to do when he wants to do it, and no one

will tell him otherwise, if that is your modus

operandi, if that is your MO, you might consider

changing your ways, Christian. Now, I'm not saying

you shouldn't be individualistic, and I'm not

saying you shouldn't be self -sufficient. I'm

not even suggesting that you shouldn't be your

own man or woman. But you need to do those things

with a view toward what God has commanded in

Scripture. remembering that you are under authority.

And if you are not under the authority of your

civil government, if you are constantly stepping

out from under that authority, you must remember

also that you are stepping out from under the

authority of God because he himself ordained

civil authority. Christians should be marked,

as I said, by respectful submission and not a

rebellious spirit. Even when we disagree, Even

when rulers are flawed, we have nothing but flawed

rulers in the United States of America and in

the state of Illinois. And for those of you who

reside in Indiana, I know you think that you're

so much better because you're a red state, but

I have to tell you, your leaders are quite flawed

as well. Very flawed. Extremely flawed. Even

when the culture around us is increasingly...

hostile to biblical truth, Christians should

be marked by respectful submission. This is especially

important for us to remember in our current cultural

climate. Many people today have cultivated a

spirit of perpetual outrage and defiance. Amen?

But Christians are called to display wisdom,

humility, restraint, and trust. I love this line.

And you know, of course, it seems I would. I

wrote it. Christians are called to display wisdom,

humility, restraint, and trust. Now get this,

because most of you in this room are Calvinistic,

most of you are Reformed Baptists, and trust

in God's sovereign authority over all earthly

rulers. I confess to you there are things happening

now. at the hands of people that I voted for,

for the exact opposite reasons of what they're

doing, and it is tempting for me to sit around

and badmouth those people constantly, to remind

everybody, yeah, I voted for him, but I don't

agree with what he's doing now, right? It's easy

for us to think in those terms. It's easy for

us to operate in that way. But if we truly believe

God is sovereign, that God is in control even

of the president of the United States or the

governor of the state of Illinois, that's tough.

It's a hard one, isn't it? But if we believe

he is sovereign over all things, then we can

still submit so long as they're not commanding

us to do something God forbids or forbidding

us from doing something God commands. I say all

of that to you knowing that I may be the worst

offender of the bunch. Ordinarily, Christians

must live in subjection to legitimate governing

authorities because authority itself has been

established by God. We mentioned this earlier.

And of course, your mind probably goes immediately

to Romans chapter 13, right? Every person is

Romans 13 · chapter mention

to be in subjection to the governing authorities

for there is no authority except from God. And

those which exist are established by God. Therefore,

whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance

of God. and they who have opposed will receive

condemnation upon themselves. Who's going to

punish you? I mean, ultimately, who's going to

punish you for disregarding that authority? It's

actually not them. The condemnation that we'll

receive upon ourselves, it's very much implicit

here, but it's clear God is going to punish us.

We will face... We will face circumstances that

God in his sovereignty will bring about in order

to correct us. Even in a place like Crete, which

was known for disorder and moral instability,

believers were called to display godliness publicly

by obeying legitimate authority. And even today,

Christians, we must do the same. Notice also

in verse 1, Paul says believers must be ready

for every good deed. The Christian life, it is

not passive. We are not merely avoiding evil.

We must pursue that which is good. We're not

simply avoiding evil, but we're supposed to pursue

goodness and godly living. Matthew 5, 16, Jesus

said, Let your light shine before men in such

a way. that they may see your good works and

glorify your Father who is in heaven. Verse 2,

Paul addresses the Christian speech and attitude

toward others. And this really cuts directly

against the spirit of our age. The world thrives

on slander and public humiliation. It rejoices

in constant outrage and division, but the church

is supposed to be different, not weak. Not compromising

on truth. And certainly in broader evangelicalism

and in the mainline denominations, we have seen

such compromise. That has happened, right? But

we should be peaceable, gentle, and considerate

of everyone, showing consideration for all men,

as Paul words it here. Philippians 2 .14 -15,

do all things without grumbling or disputing.

That's a great one to give your kids as a very

simple memory verse if you ever want to use that

one. Do all things without grumbling or disputing

so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless

and innocent, children of God above reproach

in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation

among whom you appear as lights in the world.

Do you want to be a light in the world? I want

to be a light in the world. I do not want to

fade into the shadows. Right? I want to burn

brightly, and then one day, by God's grace, I

want to burn out. James 1, 19 through 20. This

you know, my beloved brethren, but everyone must

be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to

anger, for the anger of man does not achieve

the righteousness of God. Yelling and screaming.

even if it's just in all caps in a comment thread

on YouTube or Facebook or wherever else you kids

go, is not what God wants. That anger does not

achieve the righteousness of God. This is deeply

practical for us. Right here and right now, this

is practical for us. It applies to our lives.

How do you speak to people? Whether you're online

or you're person -to -person, face -to -face.

How do you speak to or about your co -workers?

Not just when you're with them, but when you're

talking with someone else. How do you engage

in political discourse? How do you interact with

difficult people? I don't know how many of you

have public -facing jobs. But that is one area

that can be kind of hard sometimes. And I think

about the way I have talked to and the way I've

talked about some people in the course of doing

business, and I feel pretty convicted. And I

want to set those things aside. Because what

I've noticed over time is that when I allow those

things to constantly rile me up, I'm only hurting

myself. You know what? The gospel of grace should

visibly shape the Christian's conduct. It should

fashion our conduct in society by changing how

we interact with authority. It should train us

to be at peace with those who are around us,

to be gentle with our speech and in our deeds.

I once heard someone say, Dustin, you're a kind

person. And it really actually kind of bothered

me. For one thing, I thought, you're probably

lying. You don't really feel that way. And I

thought, you know, to me, I don't want to be

a kind person. I'm a strong person. I mean, I'm

not a big guy, but I have a big personality.

I have a loud voice. I don't want to be kind.

I want to be forceful. I want to be dynamic.

Right? I can tell you, I look back on that. And

that was the wrong attitude. To some extent,

we should be kind. We should be generous with

our attitude and our disposition toward others.

We should show consideration for everyone. Some

of us may not struggle with these things like

others do. So to keep us from becoming self -righteous,

In hearing these commands, Paul immediately reminds

us who we once were. And he does so by describing

our former condition in verse 3. Again, our former

condition in verse 3. Look there with me again.

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient,

deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures,

spending our life in malice and envy, hateful,

hating one another. There are a lot of people

in this room who have grown up in church their

entire lives who have really never tasted the

sinful, debauched lifestyle that some others

in this room have. And I think that that is,

number one, glorious and wonderful. And in the

same breath, I think there's a danger to it because

the tendency among people... who have never really

dealt with truly sinful behavior in their lives,

have a tendency to think that they've never really

been sinful people. And that's why I think this

is so helpful right here in the middle of this,

what are we in, the last 15 verses of the letter

that Paul brings it up. In case you're tempted,

To think that you are somehow better. Let me

remind you, Titus, and share this with your congregation.

Paul is writing under the inspiration of the

Holy Spirit. And I love the humility he shows.

Because he doesn't say, you were once. He says,

for we... also wants worth. For we also wants

worth. It kills pride. It destroys spiritual

arrogance and spiritual pride. Spiritual pride

is a very real thing. Christians must never look

at unbelievers as though we are naturally superior,

and we must never compare ourselves to one another.

He writes, we were. What's he say? What were

we? Well, we were foolish. Boy, that hurts. Thanks.

We were disobedient. We were deceived. Nobody

deceives me. Right? We were enslaved to various

lusts and pleasures. We were spending our lives

in malice and envy. We were hateful and hating

one another. This is the natural condition of

fallen humanity. This is what sin has done to

the human race. And apart from God's grace, we

would still... Be like them. Paul writes in Ephesians

2, 1 through 3, And you were dead in your trespasses

and sins, in which you formerly walked according

to the course of this world, according to the

prince of the power of the air, of the spirit

that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts

of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh

and of the mind, and were by nature children

of wrath. even as the rest. Here's what you were,

even if you've grown up in church, even if you've

never tasted alcohol or smoked a cigarette or

rolled a joint or whatever you want to say, you've

never looked at perverted content on the internet,

whatever. Pick your poison. You may never have

done any of those things, but you, too, were

once like them. 1 Corinthians 6 .11, we're reminded,

Such were some of you, but you were washed, but

you were sanctified, but you were justified in

the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the

Spirit of our God. Christian, never forget where

God found you. Never forget where God found you.

I may have shared this story, but it's probably

been long enough ago you don't remember it. I

heard a story of two young men who had been adopted

into two separate families. And one of these

young men was pretty proud and boastful, and

it was in the midst of a class. I don't know

if it was a college level or high school or what

it was, but he stood up and he started bad -mouthing

his parents who had adopted him. And the other

young man sat there and listened to him, waited

for him to finish, and then he stood up and said,

You know, my parents aren't perfect. But I know

where they came to get me. I know what they saved

me from. And so I will honor them. Perhaps you

should do the same. Don't forget where you were

when God found you. Don't forget the condition

you were in when God saved you. We... We're not

saved because we were wiser. You and I were not

saved because we were morally superior. You and

I were not saved because we were more deserving.

We were saved by the grace of God alone. And

that really leads Paul directly into the theological

essence, if you will, of this passage. It's in

verses 4 -7 where he describes our gracious salvation.

Verse 4, but when the kindness of God our Savior

and His love for mankind appeared, we just heard

that word appeared in the previous study, He

saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have

done in righteousness, but according to His mercy

by the washing of regeneration and renewing by

the Holy Spirit whom He poured out upon us richly

through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being

justified by His grace, we would be made heirs

according to the hope of eternal life. Verse

4 gives us one of the most... Beautiful contrasts

in Scripture. That word, but. But, when the kindness

of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

what a glorious interruption indeed. We were

lost in sin, dead in rebellion, enslaved and

corrupted, but God intervened by saving us. And

notice what motivated Him to save us. It was

the kindness of God. Certainly, it's for His

glory. But he's motivated by his kindness and

by his love. Verse 5, we see the very heart of

the gospel. He saved us not on the basis of deeds,

which we've done in righteousness, but according

to his mercy. Salvation is not earned. It is

not deserved. Salvation is not achieved through

human effort. Paul writes in Ephesians 2, 8 and

9, we know this because we talk about it all

the time. For by grace you have been saved through

faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift

of God, not as a result of works, so that no

one may boast. We're saved by grace, by grace,

not by works, not by works. There is no boasting

in your salvation because you did not do it.

There is no boasting because God alone, has done

the work of saving you. He goes on in the remainder

of verse 5 to describe salvation as being accomplished

by the washing of regeneration and renewing by

the Holy Spirit. He speaks of being born again,

spiritual rebirth. Think of John chapter 3. God

John 3 · chapter mention

does not merely improve people. Right? This is

not a home improvement project. This is demo.

and starting over with a brand new foundation

and building up the whole house. He makes us

new. 2 Corinthians 5, 17, Therefore, if anyone

is in Christ, he is a new creature, right? The

old things passed away, but behold, new things

have come. By God's grace, the Holy Spirit renews

the sinner from within, changing desires and

affections, and He changes our behavior too.

And you notice that there is a Trinitarian work

that's taking place here, which is also beautiful

to see and helps build up our faith. Oftentimes

people struggle to defend the doctrine of the

Trinity, but here it is clearly displayed. God

the Father saves, the Holy Spirit regenerates

and renews, and salvation comes through Jesus

Christ our Savior and through Him alone. Verse

6 makes that absolutely clear when he writes,

whom he poured out upon us, that's referring

back to the Spirit, richly through Jesus Christ,

our Savior. Next, Paul brings us to the result

of our salvation, that being justified by his

grace, we would be made heirs according to the

hope of eternal life. Verse 7, this is who we

are now. This is our position. It is our standing

in Christ. We are justified, forgiven, we've

been adopted, and now we are hope. filled heirs

of eternal life. It's precisely why Christians

live differently from the world around them,

isn't it? At the very least, it's why we should.

Because our conduct flows from this grace. Holiness

is not the cause of salvation. We know this.

We know this. Holiness is not the cause of salvation.

But it is the fruit. of our glorious salvation.

And it was brought about by the sovereign triune

God. The gospel of grace creates a new people

whose conduct adorns the doctrine of God, a new

people whose lives are marked by godliness. So

Paul finishes this section by pointing to our

need for unity in the church in verses 8 through

11. Very quickly, this is a trustworthy statement

concerning these things. I want you to speak

confidently so that those who have believed God

will be careful to engage in good deeds. These

things are good and profitable for men, but avoid

foolish controversies and genealogies and strife

and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable

and worthless. Reject a factious man after a

first and second warning, knowing that such a

man is perverted and is sinning, being self -condemned.

Verse 8 says that it's a trustworthy statement,

and he tells Titus to speak. confidently about

these things. Clearly, Paul expects Titus and

us by extension to preach these truths boldly,

consistently, and with authority. Why? So that

those who believe God will be careful to engage

in good deeds. There are a lot of Christians

in a lot of churches around this country who

are not engaging in good deeds and who are in

a very real sense withering on the vine because

their preachers don't speak the truth of God

boldly and confidently. A lot of Christians are

emaciated. They are withering because their preachers

don't preach the truth. Doctrine and godliness

belong together. We've seen it over and over.

They are inseparable. Right belief produces right

practice. Proper understanding brings about proper

living. And Paul gives a warning to Titus in

verse 9, but avoid foolish controversies and

genealogies and strifes and disputes about the

law. Now, I could really go off on a tangent,

but I won't. And you're all like, thank you.

I could go off on a tangent right here. Many

of you guys in particular know exactly where

that tangent would be headed because we talk

about these things a lot. Avoid foolish controversies.

and genealogies and strife and disputes about

the law. These things destroy churches. Let me

tell you something. Not every argument is profitable.

That's a fact. That is a stone -cold fact. Not

every argument, though it might be disguised

as genuine concern, right? Though it may have

the flavor, a robust theological discussion.

Not every one of those arguments, not every one

of those debates is a good thing. Because sometimes

those arguments, especially when they're about

foolish things, do nothing but hinder our unity

as a church. Not every debate is good. Not every

debate is godly. Some people simply love conflict.

So they will argue about anything. Paul says

these things are unprofitable and worthless.

Then comes the difficult but necessary instruction

in verse 10. Reject a factious man after a first

and second warning. A divisive person is dangerous

to the church. Division destroys fellowship,

it destroys trust, and division destroys unity.

Notice, however, that patience and grace are

built into this command. First, there is a first

warning. Then there is a second warning because

the goal is restoration, much like Matthew 18,

right? The goal is repentance and peace. But

if someone persists in divisiveness, Paul says

they must eventually be rejected or removed from

the church, knowing that such a man, as Paul

words it in verse 11, is perverted and is sinning,

being self -condemned. Not because the church

is harsh, not because the church is unkind, but

because the church is worth protecting. The church

is worth defending. So eventually, that patience,

that grace, that rope that you're lending them,

it runs out. And they have to be corrected. They

have to be, in some cases, removed. Paul also

wrote of this in Romans 16. Now I urge you, brethren,

keep your eye on those who cause dissensions

and hindrances, contrary to the teaching which

you learned, and turn away from them. We might

be tempted to think such a step is unloving,

but Scripture clearly teaches the necessity of

protecting the church from those who seek to

divide us. You know, when we look at... Titus

Titus 3:1–11

chapter 3, verses 1 through 11, a beautiful picture

of the fruit of the gospel emerges. We can see

how the grace of God changes Christians and causes

us to live rightly in society. We become peaceable,

gentle, submissive. We become ready for good

works. We're humbled by the grace of God because

we're reminded of who and what we once were.

We see that the grace of God saves us entirely

by His mercy, not by our works or some righteousness

of our own, but through Christ alone. And we

can see that the grace of God produces a unified

and godly, ordered church of people who are devoted

to good works, of people committed to truth,

of people who protect the peace, unity, and purity

of Christ's body, lest we forget. We are the

bride of Christ. I know many of you men can identify

with this sentiment. I feel very strongly about

my wife. And I will defend her purity against

anyone. If I feel that way about my own wife,

how should I feel about the church? Church, The

world should see something different in us. We

get to do this one more week. I've enjoyed this

immensely. It has been sanctifying for me. I

hope it's been beneficial for you and we'll wrap

up next week. But the world should see something

different in us. I think if you could just kind

of... Make it all fit in one phrase. I think

that's what I would say. It's simple. It's poignant.

It's in common language. The world should see

us differently. When we interact with them individually

in our daily lives, we should be different. They

should say to themselves when they get done talking

to us, when they deal with us in a business transaction,

when they see us at school. When we go and work

on the assembly line or when we're talking to

another farmer while we're waiting in the line

at the elevator, whatever it is, those people

should walk away from a conversation with you

and they should say, wow, something is different

about them. And when they see the witness, the

corporate witness of our church, they should

feel the same. We should be different. We should

live in such a way that our conduct conforms

to and confirms the doctrine we profess. May

our lives bear witness to the transforming power

of the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ our Savior.

May we become citizens of grace who reflect the

beauty, glory, and majesty of our great God and

Savior, not only in our individual lives, but

also here in His church.