All right, well this morning as we come to the Word of God, we are in the book of Titus.
We're working our way through this letter from Paul to Titus, and we are now in chapter 2.
So if you have your Bible with you, you can open it up to chapter 2.
Now this second chapter of Paul's letter contains two parts.
In the first part, verses 1 to 10, Paul tells Titus what he should be teaching
various groups of people in the churches, and he divides these groups by age and gender.
There are things to teach the older men in verse 2, things to teach the older women, verses 3 to 4,
things to teach the younger men, verses 6 to 8, and things to teach slaves, verses 9 and 10.
Then in the second part of this chapter, Paul reminds Titus of the gospel, the good news of Jesus,
and how this kind of living, talked about in the first part, flows out of the gospel.
Now, normally we would cover these two parts in order, but because it's Communion Sunday today,
we're just going to jump ahead to the second part, and then we're going to go back and cover the first part next Sunday.
So let me begin by reading the chapter so that we don't miss the flow and connection of these two parts.
This is Paul writing to Titus.
Titus.
Teaching show integrity, seriousness, and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned,
so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything,
to try to please them, not to talk back to them and not to steal from them,
but to show that they can be fully trusted,
so that in every way they will make the teaching about God, our Savior, attractive.
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.
It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions
and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age
while we wait for the blessed hope,
the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness
and to purify for himself a people that are his very own,
eager to do what is good.
These then are the things you should teach.
So the first ten verses of this chapter is Paul telling Titus
to teach the people in the churches to live a certain way.
We're going to look at that more next week.
But the summary of it is that they're to live honorable,
faithful, holy, pure, self-controlled, upright lives,
fulfilling their various responsibilities within their families.
And now as we come to verse 11,
Paul's going to tell us the why.
Why this kind of life?
And he begins with this statement in verse 11.
He says,
For the grace of God has appeared
that offers salvation to all people.
So Paul starts by reminding us of the gospel.
The grace of God has appeared.
God's grace is his kindness,
his favor,
his generous giving nature.
That part of who God is has appeared.
As one pastor has put it,
God's grace has come to light
in a way that was previously unseen.
Not that he wasn't gracious before,
but that now God's grace is revealed
in a new and especially wonderful way.
Paul is alluding to the gospel.
As one commentator puts it,
he is referring to the unique historical appearance
of Jesus Christ,
the one whom God has sent
because of his grace.
Jesus coming and living among us
and all that he did
and all that he said
and all that he set in motion,
that is how the grace of God has appeared.
And Paul's just kind of summing up the whole thing here.
All that God has done
and is doing through Christ,
it's a gift of his generous kindness,
his grace.
And through this gift of grace,
salvation has been brought,
has been offered to all people.
So because God is generous and giving,
kind,
he has opened the way to be saved
and offered salvation
to all the people of the world.
And Jesus is that way of salvation.
He himself is the savior,
as Paul said back up in the introduction
of this letter.
But now all this is not Paul's main point.
It's really the prelude to his main point,
which is still coming.
For the grace of God has appeared
that offers salvation to all people.
It teaches us to say no to ungodliness
and worldly passions
and to live self-controlled, upright,
and godly lives in this present age.
This is the connection point
to all the instructions
about how we should live
that came before all this.
God's grace has appeared
and it teaches us to live a certain way
in this present age.
So the gospel leads us
to a certain kind of living.
Christ has come from God
as a gift of God's grace to us.
Not only to forgive us of our sins
and to deal with our guilt,
but also to change the way that we live.
And it's here that we come face to face
with this gospel truth.
We are not only saved from,
we are saved to.
We are not only saved from,
we are saved for.
God, because he is a gracious God,
has a purpose for saving us
that's bigger than just getting us off the hook
for our sins.
forgiveness is part of it.
But it's not the whole story.
It's not the only thing
that God is aiming to do for us
by his grace.
And sadly,
sometimes we miss this element
of the gospel message.
We are right to focus on forgiveness
and the removal of guilt.
We're right to focus on the wiping
of our slate clean.
But God aims by his grace
to do more than that with us.
He wants to transform us
inside and out.
He wants to change our very lives.
He wants to take us from living sinfully
to now living righteously.
From living selfishly
to now living lives of authentic love.
from being full of evil deeds
to now being full of good works.
Another way to say this,
sometimes we might be tempted
to treat our salvation
as if it's kind of like
a get out of hell free card.
As if it's a fire insurance policy
and little more.
But the good news of God's grace
is that we are saved
from the penalty,
the punishment our sins deserve
and saved to a new life.
A life that's characterized
by holiness,
righteousness,
love,
good deeds.
Listen to this in verses 11 and 12.
God's grace teaches us
to say no.
Literally,
to renounce ungodliness
and worldly passions.
So there are two things
that God's grace leads us
to reject and turn away from.
First, ungodliness.
It means to live a life
that does not honor God.
To live in a way
that disregards Him.
A godless life.
God's grace,
which came through Jesus Christ,
teaches us to renounce
that kind of life.
To say no to that kind of life.
It also teaches us
to say no
to worldly passions
or worldly lusts.
This means the desires
or cravings
that our world has
that are sinful,
illicit,
perverse,
crooked.
Things like greed
and the desire to be rich
or immoral sexual desire
or the desire for revenge.
Immoderate desires for pleasure
like gluttony
or the desire for escape
like through drunkenness
and intoxication.
Desires for power
or control over others.
Desires for fame
and prestige
and popularity
or the desire to win
at all costs.
All of these
are the kinds of things
that worldly passions
refers to.
God's grace,
which came through
Jesus Christ,
teaches us to renounce
those kinds of desires,
that kind of life,
to say no
to those illicit cravings.
Think back to the teachings
of Jesus
in the Sermon on the Mount
and in his parables.
He commanded his disciples
not to be angry
or to seek revenge
or to do good things
just to be seen
and loved by others.
He taught them
not to be greedy,
not to desire
the highest places
of honor and authority.
He taught them
not to live for themselves,
but to live to please
God.
The gospel
isn't just the news
of what Christ
has done for us.
It's also the news
that Christ
has a new
and better life
for us to live.
And to enter
into this life
requires us
to repent
as Jesus declared,
to renounce
the godless life
and the worldly passions.
That word renounce
or say no
to
is also the same word
that's used
back up in chapter 1
about the false teachers.
As we heard last Sunday,
they claim to know God,
chapter 1, verse 16,
but by their actions
they deny him.
They denied God
by their living.
But here,
Paul says,
the grace of God
teaches us
to deny
godless living
and worldly passions.
So the grace of God,
the gospel of God,
Christ Jesus
who came
teaches us
not to live a life
like we've just been
talking about,
but then he flips
to the positive
side of things.
The grace of God
teaches us
to live
a life
like this.
it teaches us
to live
self-controlled,
upright,
and godly lives
in this present age.
And I think
it's helpful
to compare
the life described
here with the requirements
for the elders
back up in chapter 1,
especially in verse 8.
And we should compare
the life described
here with the way
that the Cretans
are known to live
in verse 12
of chapter 1.
Always liars,
evil brutes,
lazy gluttons.
And we should compare
the life described
here with the way
that the false teachers
are living
in verse 10
and verse 16
of chapter 1.
Do we notice
a theme here?
Even the word
self-controlled
here in verse 12
shows up
all over the place
here.
It's a qualification
for a church leader
in chapter 1,
verse 8.
It's what the Cretans
lack.
They're always
lazy gluttons.
It's the one thing
that Paul tells Titus
to teach all the groups
of people
in chapter 2,
the young
and the old,
male and female.
And now we see why.
Because this is
what it is
to be
a Christian,
to belong to Christ.
We are saved
from our sinful life
to live lives
that are
self-controlled.
Don't let
the worldly passions
rule over.
God's grace
has come
through Christ
to teach us,
to lead us,
to rule
over our desires
and our appetites
and our cravings,
to be in control
of ourselves
as we are made
to be.
Living upright,
godly lives,
good lives
devoted to Him.
Now we might be
tempted at this point
to say,
well,
God doesn't really
expect me to change
that much,
does He?
at least not
until we get
to heaven,
right?
No.
The grace
of God
teaches us
to live
this way,
this kind
of life,
in this
present age,
says Paul.
There's a good
many people
who want
the forgiveness
of God,
the grace
of God,
but not
the life
that God's
grace
teaches us
to live.
Listen,
Christ did not
come
to wipe
the slate
clean
so that
you could
fill it up
again
with more sins.
Christ didn't
come to suffer
and die
and atone
for your sins
so that you
could keep
doing them
more and more.
God in
His grace
has provided
atonement
and forgiveness,
but are we
going to try
and take
that gift
and then
willfully
do more
of the stuff
that He
died to
forgive,
transgress
more,
sin more?
May it
never be.
For the grace
of God
has appeared
that offers
salvation
to all people
and it
teaches us
to say
no
to
ungodliness
and worldly
passions
and to
live
self-controlled,
upright,
and godly
lives
in this
present
age.
In the
midst of
this,
Paul reminds
us of
something
which helps
to motivate
us here
because,
you know,
we might
read this
and think,
oh man,
you mean as
a Christian
I have to
keep turning
away from
all this
stuff?
I have
to live
a self-controlled
life?
upright
and godly?
That sounds
hard.
That sounds
unpleasant.
But Paul
reminds us
of what's
coming
to encourage
us here.
Listen,
he says,
we are
waiting
for the
blessed
hope
that's
coming.
Verse
13.
It teaches
us to live
this way
while we
wait for
the blessed
hope,
the appearing
of the
glory of
our great
God and
Savior,
Jesus
Christ.
There's a
wonderful
certain
future ahead.
The grace
of God
appeared the
first time
when Jesus
came,
and it's
going to
appear again
when he
returns
in his
glory.
This is
a blessed,
happy
certainty
that we
can set
our hope
on.
Until we
are to
live this
way,
renouncing
ungodliness
and worldly
passions,
and now
living
self-controlled,
upright,
and godly
lives in
anticipation
of that
blessed and
happy day
that's coming
when our
King and
our Savior
appears
again,
Jesus.
Now,
just in
case we
didn't get
it the
first time
through,
Paul's
going to
take us
through it
all one
more time.
Here in
verse 14,
we're waiting
for the
appearing
of Jesus
Christ,
verse 14,
who gave
himself for
us to
redeem us
from all
wickedness
and to
purify for
himself a
people that
are his
very own,
eager to
do what
is good.
let's just
go through
this quickly.
Jesus gave
himself for
us.
He gave
his life
for us
when he
died on
the cross.
Why?
Paul says
in order
to redeem
us.
He gave
himself for
us to
redeem us.
To redeem
means to
set us
free.
So,
his
suffering
and death
was a
price paid
on our
behalf
to set
us free.
Free
from what?
He gave
himself for
us to
redeem us
from
all
wickedness,
quite
literally,
from every
lawless
deed.
And that
word lawless
is powerful.
What are the
inhabitants of
this island
of Crete
known for?
This place
is a place
of lawlessness.
The people
all around
them are
lying,
cheating,
stealing,
swindling.
They're not
working.
They're given
to gluttony
and drunkenness.
And Paul's
saying Jesus
gave himself
for us to
redeem us
from that.
All of it.
From that
kind of
lawless
life and
the punishment
that we
deserve because
of it.
That's why
you must
teach the
people there
in the
churches on
Crete to
live good,
upright,
self-controlled
lives.
The very
gospel itself
is that Jesus
wants to
redeem us
from that.
He gave
himself for
us not
only to
redeem us
from all
wickedness,
but also
to purify
for himself
people that
are his
very own.
And there
are two
wonderful truths
here.
First,
that Jesus
died for
us to
purify us,
to cleanse
us of
that which
defiles us
and makes
us dirty.
Sin does
that.
It defiles
us.
It makes
us dirty.
And Jesus
died to
remedy that.
He died to
wash us
clean.
So now
that we've
been cleansed
by him,
should we
keep going
back to
jump in
the mud
of sin,
living
godlessly,
living to
scratch the
itch of
worldly
lusts?
That kind
of living
doesn't fit
with what
Jesus has
done for
us.
He suffered
an agonizing,
death.
He took
our punishment,
God's wrath
upon himself
in order to
purify us.
And so we
must now
seek to
live pure
lives.
The second
truth here is
that Jesus
gave himself
for us.
He died
for us
to make
us his
special
people.
To purify
for himself
a people
that are
his very
own.
sin.
So this
is not
just about
eradicating
our sin.
It's about
bringing us
into a
special
relationship
with him
where we
are his
special
treasured
possession.
Listen,
God doesn't
just want to
fix what's
broken with
you and
in you.
He wants
you.
He loves
you.
He wants
a relationship
with you
to the
extent that
he came
down from
heaven,
became
one of
us,
and died
in our
place
to make
it possible.
Paul brings
this long
sentence to
a close
with one
more reminder
that yes,
the gospel
does lead
us,
teach us
to live a
holy life.
We see it at
the end of
verse 14
there.
He gave
himself for
us to
redeem us
and to
purify us
so that
we would
be a
people that
are his
very own
eager to
do what
is good.
There it
is again.
Not just
saved from,
redeemed from,
washed pure,
but saved
to,
redeemed and
washed to
be a
people who
do what
is good.
The life
that Christ
commands us
to live,
self-controlled,
upright,
devoted to
God,
it's what we
were made
for.
It's what
we were
saved for.
And notice,
Jesus' aim in
all this was
not to
have his
people live
this way
begrudgingly,
but eagerly,
eager to
do what is
good,
which means
that Christ
died even
to change
our hearts,
our desires,
and our
loves to
fit this
kind of
living.
This is
the good
news of
Jesus.
Have you
embraced this
offer of
salvation,
this call of
Christ on
your life
to renounce
ungodliness and
worldly passions
and to live
upright,
godly,
self-controlled
lives?
If you
haven't yet
done this,
I want to
urge you,
do it
today.
And if
you have
done this,
let me
encourage you
to let
these words
sink in
deep and
give you
the courage
and help
to continue
living the
kind of
life that
God's grace
has saved
us for.
Let's not
give up,
even though
it's hard.
God,
the other
night at
youth,
we were
talking about
the prayer
that Jesus
taught his
disciples to
pray.
And it's
the kind
of prayer
that we're
to pray
every day.
Give us
this day
our daily
bread.
We're also
in that
prayer that
Jesus taught
us to
pray and ask
God to
forgive us
our
transgressions.
Again,
literally,
our lawless
deeds.
Forgive us
again of
those things
that we
have done
and lead
us not
into temptation
but deliver
us from
evil.
Living this
way isn't
easy.
It's hard
enough for
us that
Christ taught
us to pray
daily and
ask for
God's help
with it.
And so
may we do
that.
And may we
not lose
heart in our
struggle.
Each one
of us for
personal
holiness to
the Lord.
And as we
come to the
Lord's table
this morning,
here's the
good news.
Even though
we will
fall short
and fail
and at
times give
in to
temptation
and sin,
even though
sometimes we
will entertain
and even act
on worldly
passions like
we used to
do all the
time,
as we
look again
to our
heavenly
father each
day and
as we
pray and
ask,
forgive us
our debts,
forgive us
our transgressions.
His grace
abounds to
us through
what Jesus
did on the
cross for
us.
He is
faithful to
forgive us
when we
confess and
to cleanse
us of
all
unrighteousness.
1 John 1
verse 9.
By God's
grace,
we are
saved from
our sin
and guilt
and we
are saved
to a
new,
upright
life of
devotion to
God.
And,
by God's
grace,
we are
carried from
the start
of this
new life
all the
way through
to the
ultimate
attainment
of it
when Jesus
Christ
returns
in glory.
And this
grace
that we
need,
it came
to us
by Christ
and His
death on
the cross.
So as we
go to the
Lord's table
this morning,
the bread
that we
partake of,
it represents
Jesus'
body,
which was
broken for
us.
And the
cup
represents
His blood,
which was
shed for
us.
We do
this in
remembrance
of Him.
in remembrance
of His
grace.
So if you
have embraced
Jesus Christ
as your
Savior and
as your
Lord,
then please
eat and
drink with
us.
If not,
please refrain
until you
have given
yourself to
Him.
We'll take a
few minutes
to pray
quietly and
reflect now.
and the
elders will
come forward
and serve
the bread
and the
cup.
And then
we'll give
thanks and
we'll eat
and drink
all together
in unison.
voy voy
voy
!
voy
!
voy