Titus 2:11-15

Today we're continuing a journey through the book of Titus in Titus 2:11-15. This section opens with a statement about grace's ability to bring salvation to all people. Remember that salvation includes both justification and sanctification. In other words, the salvation that has been given to us offer us forgiveness, and it sanctifies us. It changes us into the people God created us to be.

 

For the last 2000 years, Christians have gone back and forth arguing about what grace accomplishes for us. We swing the pendulum back and forth between what Frank Viola calls libertinism and what is commonly called legalism. Libertinism is flawed because it fails to recognizes the severity of sin. Instead, it focuses on the liberty that grace gives us. Libertine Christians usually end up focusing on social justice and talk very little about removing sinful behavior from our lives. Then there's the other extreme, legalism. Legalism overemphasizes the negative affects of sin and overemphasizes the rewards for good behavior. Neither of these extremes properly represent the grace that God gives.

 

Since we're studying the book of Titus, let me tell you a story about MY SON Titus. Not long after he turned 2 he learned how to use a light switch, and he loves turning the lights on and off. The problem is that requires us to constantly lift him up so we can turn the lights on and off, but the other day he decided he was going to try to do it on his own. So he started looking for something to stand on so he could reach the light switch. He ran to the sink, grabbed a wet washcloth, put it on the ground, and stepped on it, hoping it would make him tall enough to reach the light switch. He was so confused when he still couldn't reach the switch so he tried flattening the cloth, straightening it out. That's legalism. It's based in the hope that we can reach something that is out of our reach.

 

There’s an awesome passage in Jeremiah 12 & 13, old covenant, where the prophet Jeremiah is complaining to God about the prosperity of sinful people. Jeremiah said, “Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy?” ‭‭(Jeremiah‬ ‭12:1‬) ‭But it’s God’s response that is so hilariously awesome. God says, don’t worry. I’ll make sure the evil people are punished. Here, I have an illustration for you. Go buy a loincloth, a jockstrap, and put it on. Wear it, and don’t wash it…Jeremiah’s probably thinking "uhh God, why do you want me walking around in a stinky jockstrap?…Oh I get it. You’re saying those sinful people are like a jockstrap. Haha good one God." Then God tells him to go down to the Euphrates River and hide the jockstrap in a hole in the rocks. Jeremiah’s probably thinking "Oh I get it God. This is an illustration of how you’re going to punish my enemies. I’m supposed to take this jockstrap to the border so all the evil people and our nation’s enemies have to smell it when they try to come into Israel. So Jeremiah put it in the hole. A while later God told Jeremiah to get the jockstrap, and when he did, he realized it was all rotted and full of holes. It was now completely useless...unless you feel like wearing a jockstrap that can’t do it’s job and is full of holes. Then God said, “This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.” (‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭13:9‬)‬‬…Ohhh. God just dropped the mic. Jeremiah, the loin cloth isn’t for your enemies. It represents you. You and your pride are the stinky, rotting loin cloth. God said, “As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.” (‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭13:11‬) They're not my pride and glory. They're a jockstrap.‬‬ When we don’t listen to God, when we don’t obey His commands, we become less and less useful to him…and more stinky. This is how we think about evil in our world. We’re so quick to see it in other people, but we’re really bad at seeing it in ourselves. We elevate the sins of other people, and justify and decrease the severity of our sins. We think, “God, I’m a good guy. So why does everyone else have more money.” God’s like, “no, you’re not a good guy. You need my forgiveness as much as your enemies do.” God’s standard is perfection, and until we are in Heaven, we’re probably not going to reach it. We need God’s Grace as much as the person we are most tempted to judge.

 

Both libertinism and legalism are fueled by the same motivation as the first sin of Adam and Eve, pride. It all goes back to the garden. When we sin, we minimize our sins and emphasize the sins other people. The only solution to our pride is the gospel, bad news that leads to good news. The bad news is that you are naturally sinful, and you cannot save yourself. The good news is that God can. It's an invitation put your hope in God instead of in yourself. The book of Titus is a book of hope. Paul is teaching Titus how to teach people to put their hope in Jesus and in His return. He says, "We look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed." In a sense, Christ's glory was revealed to us when He came to Earth, but the resurrected body of Christ is not like it was before, and next time He comes, He's not going to come as a baby in a barn. When He returns, everyone will see Him in His full glory. We can't get to Him. So He came to us, and He's coming again.

 

OK we've talked a lot about legalism, but the fact that legalism is wrong does not mean we shouldn't try to do everything we can to become more and more like Christ, to become the people God created us to be. We can't swing the pendulum the other way. Sanctification, the second gift of grace, is just that, a gift. We can't earn it, but we sure can receive it. We sure can allow it to change us.

 

It's not enough to know how to cook. You have to actually cook for your cooking knowledge to make a difference. It's not enough to know how to exercise. You have to actually do it. It's not enough to know what Jesus teaches. We have to apply His teachings to our lives. His teachings should changes us, make us who we were created to be.

 

It's easy for us to just keep living like we did before we were saved and blame the satan for everything bad that happens in the world, but if God's grace doesn't change us, we have to eventually point the finger at ourselves. Our choices and actions cause the pain we hate so much. Our pride, anger, and self-centeredness cause our pain. Satan probably doesn't even know my name. Satan is a finite being.  He can only be in one place at a time, and he's probably in Afghanistan right now. You on the other hand pose a major threat to your life. Jesus makes our lives better, and He makes us better at life...unless we don't let Him.

 

Then Paul concludes Titus 2 with an encouragement for his disciple. He says to Titus, "You must teach these things and encourage the believers to do them. You have the authority to correct them when necessary, so don’t let anyone disregard what you say." When the apostle Paul says you have authority, you have authority.  Paul was a leading Pharisee, a Roman citizen, and a respected teacher who was leading a rapidly growing movement, and Paul was ordaining Titus.

 

We pastors go through this same process. Elders in our tribe determine who is and who isn't ready for leadership in a church. When they determine that someone has the unique skillset, knowledge, morality, and wisdom to lead a church, they ordain that person in order to give him or her authority to teach, to lead, and even to discipline. That is what Paul is doing for Titus in this letter.

 

And that concludes the second chapter of the book of Titus.

 

If you're getting together with a group to discuss this episode, we've include some discussion questions in the show notes, and if you have time, spend a few moments in prayer before your gathering. Ask God to use these passage to form you into the person He created you to be.

 

Thank you for joining me for this episode of On The Way. Next week we’re going to go through Titus 3:1-11. Here are the discussion question for this episode: