The Community of God: God's Will God's Way | Titus 3:9-15

Hey there, sorry for missing Titus 3:1-8. The Sermon is not recorded anywhere, but the sermon notes are made available in the manuscript section. Feel free to check there if you want to catch up to this sermon. Otherwise, enjoy what Pastor Myers has to say here.

In this sermon, Pastor Myers discusses how being off by just a small degree over a long period can significantly impact doctrine. Therefore, we must strive to do God's will God's way. He works through the end of Titus, preaching through Titus 3:9-15 where Paul closes the letter telling Titus (1) what to spot regarding false teachers and their teaching, (2) what to do once you've spotted them, and (3) how to live as a genuine follower of Christ. If this message touches your heart, let us know by going to www.turnevangelism.com/connect and fill out the form at the bottom of the page. Also, feel free to leave us a rating and review!

Transcript

TITUS 3:1-8

Last Week we talked about God’s grace

-       How it brings salvation

-       How it enables us in our salvation

-       And how it guarantees that something better is coming

We talked about what God’s grace does

Today, we will be talking about the way grace looks when we walk in it.

-       God wants you to look and walk a certain way.

-       Ex. Dating/fighting – not what you say, it’s how you say it.

You can do all the right things the wrong way

-       Ex.: a few years ago, I bought a locket for Kylie 

o   Pictures – Kylie pregnant and me. Baby eve born

o   Engraved – Baby’s birthday 1/3/2022

o   She loved it

§  Joke: By the way, Valentine's Day is coming up – fellas, lockets work.

§  But imagine if I threw it at her.

Does God want you to stand up for the right thing?

-       Yes

-       But he wants you to do it the right way!

Remember the story of Cain and Abel in Gen. 4:1-6

-       Cain gave some of the fruits of the soil to God

-       Able gave of the first fruits of the flock, and from faith

o   God rejected Cain’s and accepted Abel’s

Psalm 51 – after David sinned against the Lord:

-       16: You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

-       17: My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

Yes, you can bring sacrifices to God that he hates

-       You might think: but isn’t this what the Lord commanded?

o   But what’s the point if on the outside you follow his rituals, but on the inside your heart is far from him.

o   And on other days of the week, you don’t walk with him.

Amos 5:21

-       Talks about how God despises disobedient Israel’s religious festivals, how their assemblies are a stench to him, how he does not accept their burnt offerings and grain offerings.

-       So, what does God want?

o   Ps. 51:17 – Your sacrifice needs to be a broken spirit, a contrite heart.

-       Or as Jesus said to the Pharisees:

o   Matt. 23:26 – First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

-       Notice – My argument is not that works don’t matter

o   But how you do them matters

o   A good work is soured by a bad attitude

So, God’s grace looks a certain way.

How does it look:

Open your Bibles with me to Titus 2:15

After talking about Grace that teaches us to say “No” and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus, Paul says…

Read Titus 2:15-3:2

15: These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

Ch. 3

1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient (God sets the authorities, and you set the example. Remember, the goal is his His Word to be honored - not for His Word to be maligned, but attractive – so be obedient to rulers and authorities), to be ready to do whatever is good (are you ready, right now?), 2 to slander no one (Slander - βλασφημεῖν from βλασφημέω - To speak evil of – to blaspheme - Derived from βλάπτω (bláptō, meaning "to harm") and φήμη (phēmē, meaning "reputation" or "report").), to be (These two words go together ) peaceable (ἀμάχους from ἄμαχος – a-  not; machos – fight [not quarrelsome]) and considerate (gentle, kind, idea of being fair – truly fair and reasonable), and always to be gentle (This word can mean gentle too – or showing humility – but is meekness – gentle strength b/c it trusts in God) toward everyone. (Your gentleness needs to be kind and God-trusting)

To reflect the grace of God properly in our lives, we must…

1.     Remember Paul’s Goal

a.     He wants people to do good, but because of the gospel 

                                               i.     Titus 1:1 – Knowledge of truth leads to godliness

                                             ii.     Titus 1:5 – Titus left in Crete to put in order the church

                                           iii.     Titus 1-2 – those who live the truth need to be contrasted in works with false teachers

                                            iv.     Titus 2 – Teach what is in accordance with sound doctrine

1.     Older men/women

2.     Younger men

3.     Slaves – the type of lives they should live

                                             v.     God’s grace makes a people eager to do what is good

                                            vi.     Ch. 3 – The good we should look like

1.     Ch. 3:14 – Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good…”

a.     Paul doesn’t want you to look like the World

                                          vii.     In Fact, God’s grace won’t let you!

-       Now you might be thinking: 

o   “Isn’t this just a bunch of good works, 

o   I thought the point you’re making is not about doing good works, but having a good heart!”

o   Don’t misunderstand – God does want good works – they are a sign from God - Fruit

o   But good works in the right way

§  And Paul addresses this here

o   Look at how many of these commands are characteristics not of the outside, but of the inside

§  v. 1. Be obedient 

·      Maybe I can do this without the right heart, but keep reading

o   readiness to do good – heart 

·      It would be a mistake to think that this obedience does not need to come from the heart, either.

§  v. 2 – slander no one – again, maybe one can do this without the right heart, but that would be a mistake!

·      Further, to be Uncontentious and kind – to show humility – 

·      These can only be done from the heart

o   You cannot be obedient to the Word of God here without the right heart.

§  The right heart matters

Think about this example

                                        viii.     Ex.: Sin as disease – how do you tell someone they have a cancer that will kill them? It matters!

-       God doesn’t just want you to do the right thing, he wants you to do it the right way, with the right heart.

o   It’s not just about what you say, it’s how you say it

o   It’s not just that you obey, it’s how you obey it.

§  Don’t be a Caine!

To reflect the grace of God properly in our lives, we must

1. Remember our goal – to do good from the heart.

And secondly, we must…

2.     Remember our God

a.     The idea of this book is that how God treated you in his grace, should result in you being kind to others, b/c Grace teaches

                                               i.     Knowing Christ changes your heart to make you eager

                                             ii.     Knowing God’s love also motivates us to love others

b.     Paul is going to go on to say that you should treat others as God treated you

Titus 2:3-5

3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. 

c.     Why do we live sacrificially toward others? Toward our enemies?

d.     Because this is how God has treated us!

                                               i.     When we were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by passions and pleasures

                                             ii.     When we lived in malice and envy

                                           iii.     Being hated and hating others

                                            iv.     God still saved us

1.     Not b/c of our works

2.     But b/c of his mercy

e.     Are you merciful? 

f.      You must constantly recall what God did for you to your own mind so you don’t slip

g.     Ex: Reminisce – stirred affections – Hillsong 

                                               i.     You must preach the gospel to yourself!

Which brings me to my last point…

To reflect the grace of God properly in our lives, we must 

-       Remember Paul’s goal – Good works with a good heart

-       Remember our God – how he treated us

3.     Remember the gospel – you’re not saved by works – this should move you to work from love

a.     You must preach the gospel to yourself daily

                                               i.     Or you’ll fall back into your default – works!

b.     You practice what you ponder – Luke 6:45

Titus 3:4

4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy (Notice – our good works don’t save us). He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior (Trinity present – God pours the Spirit through Christ – So in Christ, we have the Spirit in abondance and we know God. Do you think that will change you?), 7 so that, having been justified by his grace (in contrast to what? Our works. Praise God!), we might become heirs (sons in the Son – Children b/c of union with God’s child) having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress (take it seriously) these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good (God has given you the legs, now walk – take it seriously). These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

-       It is only when we remember the gospel that we find proper change and motivation to devote ourselves to do what is good

-       To do God’s will God’s way

o   Ex.: My life – I’ve been so forgiven by God, so loved by him, that I have to follow him.

§  I’m motivated by love

o   Think about it

§  Ex.: The difference – wife asks you to clean, and you do it – If you don’t work from love – drudgery

·      Or she asks you to clean, but you are head-over-hills in love – Cleaning becomes natural

o   Now God has done something magnificent in the gospel 

§  He worked when we couldn’t

§  When we were enemies

·      He came to make us children.

-       In view of that, mercy – offer your body as a sacrifice

o   And give God your contrite heart!

-       Remember Paul’s goal – To do good genuinely – from the heart

-       Remember our God – how he treated us

-       Remember the gospel – you’re not saved by works – this should move you to work from love

TITUS 3:9-15

 Paul Wants you to do Good based on the gospel

-       We are to live like God loved us

-       And if we listen to him,           

o   We will produce His love and Love for others

-       Paul says “stress” these things – take them seriously.

o   We need to be a church that takes God’s will, God’s way seriously

o   And that means we need to actually have standards as to what that looks like

-       And if we get off of those standards, our trajectory in the future will be way off the mark.

o   This is why churches cannot compromise, but must learn to Surrender to God, seek out godly leadership and God himself, and spot the fakes.

Ex: Trajectory

I saw this online and thought I’d share

If you're going somewhere and you're off course by just one degree, after one foot, you'll miss your target by 0.2 inches. Trivial, right? But what about as you get farther out?

• After 100 yards, you'll be off by 5.2 feet. Not huge, but noticeable.
• After a mile, you'll be off by 92.2 feet. One degree is starting to make a difference.
• After traveling from San Francisco to L.A., you'll be off by 6 miles.
• If you were trying to get from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., you'd end up on the other side of Baltimore, 42.6 miles away.
• Traveling around the globe from Washington, DC, you'd miss by 435 miles and end up in Boston.
• In a rocket going to the moon, you'd be 4,169 miles off (nearly twice the diameter of the moon).
• Going to the sun, you'd miss by over 1.6 million miles (nearly twice the diameter of the sun).
• Traveling to the nearest star, you'd be off course by over 441 billion miles (120 times the distance from the earth to Pluto, or 4,745 times the distance from Earth to the sun).

Over time, a mere one-degree error in course makes a huge difference!

https://whitehatcrew.com/blog/a-mere-one-degree-difference/

-       A little bit of compromise has deadly long-term results.

So Paul, concerned with believers living lives that actually reflect the gospel and the Word of God gives a final warning before his Fairwell 

-       First he tells Titus what to look out for (what to spot)

-       Then he tells Titus what to do with divisive people

-       Then he says Fairwell, reiterating his point – Christians must do good

-       You’ve heard me say it throughout this series, but this is important, 

-       We must do God’s will, God’s way

First, Paul tells Titus what to look out for (what to spot)

1.     What to spot

Open

9 But (contrasts with what was immediately said) avoid (go around so as to avoid, shun) [4 Errors] [First]foolish (Μωρὰς – root of the English word - Moron) controversies (Elsewhere Paul tells Timothy to correct those involved with such controversies so that “God may grant them repentance leading to knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 2:23–26); thus George Knight says, “occupation with such questions is taken to be sinful and culpable”[1]) and [Second Error] genealogies (The second error is γενεαλογίας** (see 1 Tim. 1:4), “genealogies,” i.e., speculation about the origins and descendants of persons, which are erroneously thought to have religious significance.) and [Third Error] arguments (conetention, discord, or Refers to state of conflict or rivalry) and [Fourth Error] quarrels about the law (OT Law with which false teachers are concerned), because these are unprofitable and useless. 

-       Accepting sin has long-range consequences to the effectiveness of the gospel[2]

o   Paul knew this and warned them

-       How do you know something is divisive? 

o   It produces arguments (descensions) and quarrels. 

-       The true doctrine of the gospel needs to lead to the fruit of love

So now we know

What to spot, but once we spot them, what do we do?

2.     What to do:

Titus 3:10-11

10 Warn a divisive person 

-       This adj. “divisive” is - αἱρετικὸν – hairetikon – Where we get our word heresy and heretic – In NT the noun of this word refers to sects or factions. In Gal. 5:20, we see that factions are fruits of the flesh).[3]

-       Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin, in the New American Commentary, write, 

-       “While Paul stood squarely against false teaching (1:13; 2:15), his use of the term “divisive” indicates the destructive nature of those promoting error among believers (cf. 1:11). Divisions within the church result in believers who are confused, frustrated, angry, and hurt. They become ineffective in ministering to one another and to a lost world in desperate need of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the “good works” characteristic of genuine Christians.”[4]

-       Ex: a Christian has to put Christ and his way first – loving God and loving others.

o   Thought experiment:

o   If I’m a Christian, who am I following?

o   If you’re a Christian, who are you following?

§  Notice the point of unity is Christ

§  And I don’t let anything get in the way of loving God and loving you

-       But say I do let something get in the way

o   Now I am no longer following Christ

o   Now I’m divisive  

-       Say I don’t want to do things God’s way, but my way – I may even claim to be a Christian.

o   Now, who am I following

§  And say I get others on board with my soapbox

§  Who are they following

-       Now, who is the common denominator?

o   Me

§  I have nullified the law of love for the sake of my own desires, and have gotten other people to follow me, not Christ.

§  That’s division!

·      I have just made a sect when my point of unity was supposed to be Christ and his way.

10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.

-       Ex. Great Grandad – horse - Wife

-       Note: First, rebuke them, sharpley [Titus 1:13], then have nothing to do with them[5]

-       Implies membership and an accountable community

-       Implies the church has standards for those in its care  – Standards mean biblical boundaries.

o   DON’T associate with people who claim to be Christians and proudly and consistently go against the Word of God, 

o   And if they are in here, and they don’t repent, they need to be warned to get in line with Scripture, or they need to go as well – b/c our holy God has boundaries.

§  The gospel does preach “come as you are,”

§  But a false gospel preaches, “Stay as you are.”

-       a church with boundaries is a church with standards [and they need to be God’s standards]

-       If there are no boundaries, if there is not a line that you can cross that is too far, there are no standards – and God’s church has turned into a country club and ceased to be his church

o   Would you let a pedophile solicit your children here? – So you already have boundaries

o   Would you bring on a pastor who believed in ordaining active LGBTQ members to the clergy?

§  If a pastor shifted that way, would you keep him

§  You already have boundaries as a church

§  Now, do all of your boundaries line up with God’s way?

§  Straiten that out!

·      What I just mentioned above may line up with obvious cultural talking points.

·      But our boundaries need to be more than the hot topics of culture,

§  Some Christians are more committed to the views of their political party than to the life God’s Word tells us to live

·      We need to actually be in line with all of Scripture

·      We need to take God’s way seriously

o   If someone’s teaching isn’t in line with the gospel, warn them once, then twice.

§  If you aren’t in line with the gospel, get in line

-       Notice what it says now if people don’t heed the warnings: “Have nothing to do with them.”

-       It literally means, “reject him.”

o   Implement that final stage of discipline and take God’s standards seriously – Stress them.

o   Good stewardship demands it

§  If this person isn’t receiving correction, he has proved himself not to be visibly a Christian.

·      If the person wants to act like an unbeliever who is out of step with the fellowship of Christ,

·      Put him out of the fellowship

o   If they won’t avoid the sin, then you need to avoid them. 

o   If they won’t reject or dismiss the sin, then you need to dismiss them. 

o   Why, because you are a steward of something that isn’t yours: the church is Christ’s, and he’s called us to be holy – to be a pure bride

§  You don’t get to set the standards of holiness.

o   If, after being warned, you throw away the teachings of God, that’s not on the church; it’s on you.

10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them

 11 You may be sure that such people are warped (has been off track, and remains of track) and sinful (Literally: continues to sin); they are self-condemned.

-       Self-condemned

o   Since this man did not listen to biblical correction, 

§  This person is responsible – Don’t shift responsibility – it is not the church’s fault, it is his – self-condemned

-   Self-condemned- you gave him a chance, that is your ground to stand on. 

-   He brought this on himself. 

-   Don’t let people blame shift when they are responsible for themselves.

-       It is not the church’s fault when somebody wants the benefits of grace without repentance, when somebody stays in sin, 

o   It’s that person’s fault

o   The gospel does not let you stay as you are

§  And if you have believed that, you have believed a false gospel.

-       The church will not be blamed for keeping itself holy, but it will be blamed if it doesn’t

-       The divisive false teaching, factious person does not get to have their cake and eat it too – We follow God’s standards

George Knight writes: “One can take the radical action of dismissing such a person from the Christian community because the refusal of a “heretical person” to respond to two admonitions gives the grounds for such action and indicates the necessity for it.”[6]

-       That person has moved away from the apostolic message by choice, and that, according to this passage, is on them.

So we know what to spot, and what to do when we spot them. All this is because we are supposed to live a certain way:

Which brings me to my last point:

3.     How to Live

And so we come to the end of Paul’s letter

Titus 3:12-15

12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.

15 Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.                   Grace be with you all.

-       Notice what Paul is doing – in his final greetings, he is urging them on to do good works

o   This is the theme of this letter

-       Paul is practicing what he preaches

o   He is encouraging Titus to provide for the needs of others, and 

o   expresses his heart to have a people who devote themselves to good

§  So that they can provide for urgent needs and live productively

o   Are you devoted to doing good God’s way?

To reflect the grace of God properly in our lives, we must remember:

-       Our Gospel must lead to good works – loving God and loving others

-       So, what do we need to spot and avoid? – False teaching

-       What do we do with those pushing it? – Warn them, then leave them

-       Why? Because we are to live like God wants, God’s way,

o   So that his Word will not be maligned

o   So that those who oppose us won’t be able to say anything bad about us

o   And So that God’s gospel would be made attractive

Will you commit to doing God’s will God’s way?

[1] George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1992), 353.

Here Knight quotes (G. Bertram, TDNT IV, 845; cf. also what Paul says about μωρολογία in Eph. 5:4–7)
[2] Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, vol. 34, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 327.
[3] Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, vol. 34, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 328.
[4] Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, vol. 34, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 328.
[5] Thomas D. Lea and Hayne P. Griffin, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, vol. 34, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 327.
[6] George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1992), 355.