This particular greeting is somewhat unique in that it is one of the longest of Paul's
introductions to any of his letters.
Most of his letters include a brief opening with his name and the name of the recipients.
Paul here with Titus, though, tips his hand a little bit.
He tips his hand in these verses to reveal the main point of his letter, which is that
the gospel produces godliness and that structures must be implemented in the churches on Crete
that would preserve God's truth.
So let's refresh ourselves from last week.
What is it that is the theme of the book of Titus?
I found this helpful.
There was no reason to try to improve on it.
So from your ESV study Bibles, you'll see this as listed as the main theme.
The theme of Titus is the inseparable link between faith and practice.
Between belief and behavior.
And this truth is the basis for its critique of false teaching, as well as its instruction
in Christian living and the qualifications for church leaders.
And when we start off right here at the beginning of the letter, Paul tips his hand a little bit
and he gives us an idea, almost even a synopsis of what we can expect as we continue to study
further.
He states his call to begin.
And in stating his call, Paul not only provides the credentials for his authority, but he connects
the letter as a means by which God is accomplishing his purposes in the churches on Crete.
I know that was a mouthful, so let me just say that again.
Why is it that Paul opens up by telling them he's a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus
Christ?
Part of it does have to do with credentials.
There was some tendency in false teachers to diminish that in Paul's ministry.
And it's not unusual for him to have that purpose at the beginning of his letters, establishing
who he is and what his authority is.
But it's not just that here.
There is this idea where Paul is saying, this is who I am.
This is what God has called me to be.
Therefore, everything that's coming behind this, everything that I'm writing to you is
God's means of building you up as his people.
He's just using me as his instrument to do so.
That's an important fact as we begin to get through this.
He says he's a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
His service to God is to bring the elect to faith, understanding, and godly living.
His apostleship for Jesus is to proclaim the Christian hope, which is God's eternal plan
in salvation through Jesus Christ alone.
That's what he means by this.
And he plainly spells it out to us so that we know what follows here is not actually coming
from Paul.
That's important, isn't it?
Because how do we distinguish sometimes when we come to these New Testament letters, and
then maybe we look at some of the extra biblical letters and books, maybe the early church fathers,
and how do we distinguish that this particular book belongs in our Bible, and this particular
book, it may be helpful, but it doesn't actually belong in our Bible.
And some of that comes back to how the apostles addressed it themselves.
Paul knew as he wrote this letter that this was not just coming from him.
This was coming from God.
This was a means by which God was building up his people.
And so the content of Titus serves the very purpose for which God had saved Paul and called
Paul into the ministry.
And I think that's helpful for us to note as we start.
The beginning here is, as we just read, I'm sure you picked up on it, it is rich in gospel
theology.
Paul's testimony here serves as a helpful model to us as to how we should even think of and
evaluate our own Christian lives.
And my aim this morning is to do two things.
Using Paul's greeting, I want to encourage you through the hope that we have in Jesus, because
that is really what this greeting is about.
It's about Jesus, and it's about the gospel, and we should take great encouragement in the
words that Paul says.
I want to encourage you about that.
But I also want to challenge you, as we look at Paul's life as a model for Christian living,
to examine ourselves and ask, is the gospel impacting my life in the way that I write,
in the way that I talk, in the way that I think about others, in the way that I carry
on in my life?
Is the gospel impacting my life in the same way that it impacted Paul's life?
And if it isn't, why isn't it?
Because it's not a failure in the gospel.
It's not that the gospel was more meaningful for the apostles than it is for us.
So there must be something there.
What is it that is preventing me from actually following the pattern that Paul sets forth as
he faithfully followed Christ?
So let's dig into this greeting together.
The first thing I want to note is Paul's gospel purpose.
Paul's gospel purpose.
Look with me again at verse one.
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.
So very clearly, right off the bat, the source for Paul's authority was not a religious enterprise.
It was not a denominational council of Christian leaders.
From the opening line, he asserts that his authority came from being a servant of God
and an apostle of Jesus Christ.
And now one of the reasons we can discern that this was a public letter is that Titus
didn't need to know that.
Titus already knew that.
He had, for many years, traveled with the apostle Paul.
He was well aware of Paul's apostleship.
He was well aware of Paul's calling.
He knew Paul's testimony as well as anybody else would have known Paul's testimony.
He knew he was a servant of God.
There would have been no reason for Paul to write a letter to Titus,
intending only for Titus to read it and to give this type of address at the beginning.
Clearly, Paul understood this is not just for Titus.
It's a personal letter, but it is not a private letter.
And given the tendency that the opponents of Paul had to arouse suspicion about his credentials,
it makes sense that Paul would state his authority at the beginning of a letter he intended to be a public letter.
And just a simple note like that is helpful to us.
It's also necessary to see Paul didn't view his authority arrogantly.
He didn't think of this as a means to lord over people.
That's not why he's writing them a letter.
It's not like Paul got word that,
Hey, Paul, you know, there's these churches in Crete.
They're not doing things the way you do them.
And we think you should probably say something.
Because typically, we have that type of personality sometimes, don't we?
Especially in the church world, we can be bad about this,
where we hear about this Christian over here or this church over here,
and we think they're not doing things the way that we should.
We should be the spiritual watchdogs for the churches in our town.
And we should let them know that they're wrong.
That's not what Paul's doing here.
He's not getting word that the churches on Crete are doing something,
and he just needs to correct it because he needs all these churches to look like him
and do things the way that he does it,
as far as just his personality and preferences are concerned.
No.
He described his calling in terms of service to God.
I'm writing this to you because God has instructed me for this purpose.
I serve him, not myself.
I'm not trying to tell you what to do.
I'm trying to instruct you in what God desires for you to do.
He uses the Greek word for slave here.
We translate it servant or bond servant often in modern English translations
because we're so afraid of the word slave.
It has such a negative connotation in the history of our nation
that we're afraid to use it in any sense.
But that's exactly the word that Paul uses here.
He says, I am a slave of God.
Doulos.
Doulos reminds us that he had completely, willingly given his whole self,
all of his life, all of his will, all of his desires, all of his identity,
all of his freedoms.
He had surrendered it all to serve the Lord God.
The theme of Titus, of course, is that the gospel of Jesus radically transforms
those who believe and follow him.
And is there any greater example in the New Testament of this type of transformation
than the man who was once known as Saul of Tarsus?
You can read about it in the book of Acts.
Paul had always considered himself a servant of God.
But prior to trusting Christ, the service he offered to God
had the purpose of self-righteousness.
He was trying to establish his own status before God,
trying to earn his way into God's favor, and it made him an enemy of God.
He was an enemy of Christ, going throughout the churches,
dragging people out in their worship services,
persecuting the church, consenting to the murder of leaders within the church
as we see him consenting to the martyrdom of Stephen.
That's who Paul was.
But that man is now writing to these churches on Crete,
and he's saying, no, I'm not the enemy of Christ.
I am now the servant of Christ.
I am an apostle, a messenger sent by Christ.
Just in the very fact of that identification,
we see that something dramatic and transformative
has happened in this man's life.
He was a servant of God.
He wasn't writing from a sense of entitlement.
He was writing from a sense of responsibility
to fulfill the commission that had been given to him
from the Lord Jesus Christ.
But what was the purpose of this calling?
Look again at verse 1.
Why did Jesus choose Paul?
What was really the purpose of this?
What was the plan that God had for Paul's life?
Well, Paul tells us here that God had saved him,
and Jesus had commissioned him,
quote, for the sake of God's elect.
Those God has graciously chosen to redeem as his people.
And there's three ways here that Paul identifies
that his calling was working itself out
in relation to God's elect, to God's church,
to those who believe in Christ.
First way is this.
It was for the sake of their faith.
For the sake of their faith.
Look at it again.
For the sake of the faith of God's elect.
Now, my intention is not to get into the complexities
of the biblical doctrine of election,
and I'm sure many of you will be appreciative of that.
But this verse actually can be very helpful for us,
especially those of us who struggle to reconcile
what seems to be, in the Scripture,
a contradiction between the doctrine of God's sovereign election
and Jesus' command of evangelization,
of preaching the gospel to the world around us.
And what I want to point out to you here,
and for our purposes this morning,
is this, that Paul didn't view his ministry
as paradoxical to God's sovereignty.
He viewed it as completely consistent with it.
He knew that the Spirit's mysterious work in salvation
was God's business.
That was in his business to determine who is elect
and who is not elect.
His responsibility was to preach the gospel
to all people,
trusting that God would accomplish his saving purposes
as the gospel went forth.
Isn't that what Jesus had in mind in the Great Commission?
He told the apostles,
I have all authority,
therefore go, make disciples,
preach the gospel,
teach them what I've commanded you,
and then remember he followed it up with,
and lo, I am with you always.
In other words, as you go, I'm going,
and as you preach the gospel with your words,
my spirit is gonna stir the hearts of the people
that you speak to.
This is the means by which God does his saving work.
Paul understood that.
He said, God has called me.
He's commissioned me
so that people will be saved for the elect's sake.
Tim Chester said,
Paul knew there were people out there
whom God had chosen to make alive.
All they needed was someone to preach the gospel,
and he could be that person.
If he preached,
then those whom God had chosen
would put their faith in Christ.
It might be a long process,
but God would save his elect.
All Paul needed to do
was preach the gospel.
See, God's sovereignty and salvation
does not negate
the Christian's responsibility of evangelism.
It actually does the opposite.
It empowers those efforts.
It tells us that our evangelization
of our families and of our communities
and of the world
does not rest ultimately on our ability
to phrase things in just the right way
or to have just the right personality.
That burden doesn't rest with us.
God says, go, preach the gospel,
and he's gonna accomplish his work
as he sees fit to accomplish his work.
And as Charles Spurgeon said,
the same sun that melts the ice
hardens the clay.
And there's gonna be times
when we preach the gospel
where God's purpose
is a purpose of judgment,
where he hardens the clay
of someone's heart.
And there's gonna be a lot of times
where we preach the gospel
and the gospel melts
the ice of people's hearts.
That's not because we're good
at sharing the gospel.
It's because God is a faithful God.
And as we go,
he goes.
It is through the sharing of the gospel
that God draws sinners to himself.
And like Paul,
our call from Christ
is to joyfully
and faithfully
spread the good news.
He says, I'm a servant of God.
I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ.
And the first thing God intends for me to do,
the reason he's done this in my life,
is for the sake of the faith
of God's elect
so that people will be saved.
But then there's a second thing here.
It's also their knowledge of the truth,
their knowledge of the truth.
Look again at verse one.
Paul, a servant
for the sake of the faith of God's elect
and their knowledge of the truth.
So if the faith of God's elect
reflects the responsibility of evangelism,
the knowledge of the truth
might be understood
as the ongoing work of discipling.
That was also a part of
Jesus' great commission, wasn't it?
It was go,
make disciples of all nations
by baptizing them,
preaching the gospel,
and teaching them,
training them in the truth.
Paul saw his calling
as one that helped mature
believers in the truth.
And his emphasis on sound doctrine
as we go through this letter
indicates that discipling
was a vital ministry,
not only of Paul,
but he intended it to be
a vital ministry within the church.
And we do well to note that.
But I don't think that's what
he means primarily in this verse.
I think those things are true.
But Paul especially has in mind
in this moment
the full knowledge of the gospel.
The full knowledge of the gospel.
Bill Mount says this.
He's a Greek scholar.
He says,
Truth is a technical term
in the pastoral epistles
for the gospel,
emphasizing the need
to understand the content
of the preached message.
When Paul says,
My purpose
is for the sake
of the faith of God's elect
and their knowledge
of the truth.
He means their full knowledge
of the gospel.
Why would he say this?
Because there's always
a temptation
to water down the gospel
in an effort
to produce as many converts
as we possibly can.
But Paul understood
that true faith
was only possible
with a complete understanding
of the gospel of Jesus.
Not a complete understanding
of the Bible.
Not a complete understanding
of all the different
theologies
and systematics
and what's going to happen
at the end
and what does this mean
and all of that kind of stuff.
Not that.
But for a person
to be saved,
they need to actually know
the fullness
of the gospel.
And when we get our eyes set
on winning
as many people as we can,
there will always
be a temptation
for us
to cheapen
the gospel message,
to shorten
the gospel message
in order to try
to persuade people
to believe.
But that's not true faith.
Churches do that this way.
They emphasize Christ.
They emphasize his love.
They don't really deal
much with sin.
If you don't deal with sin,
if you don't deal
with God's wrath,
you're not preaching
the full gospel.
I think what Paul intends
primarily,
I think the discipling part
is there.
I think that's clear
in the letter.
But I think primarily
what Paul is saying here
is that God has called me
to preach the gospel
for the sake of God's elect
and their knowledge
of the truth,
their full knowledge
of the person work
of Jesus Christ,
which is reflected
in Paul's letters
as we read through.
There's a reason
the apostles return
to the fundamental truths
of the gospel
over and over.
It's because it's tempting
to think that the gospel
is only helpful
at the moment
of conversion.
Sometimes we think,
I know that.
I don't have to keep
thinking about that.
But then you come
to your New Testament
and your Bible reading plan
and you'll find that
the apostles,
they never shut up
about it,
did they?
They just kept talking
about Jesus.
They just kept talking
about the gospel.
Why?
Because there will never
be a day in your life
that you don't need
to at least preach
to yourself
the truth of the gospel.
It's through daily reflection
on Jesus
that the Holy Spirit
shapes us,
that he fashions us
in the likeness of Christ.
And if the end result
of faith in Christ
and knowledge of the truth
is godly living
as we'll see
in just a moment,
doesn't it make sense
that every day
we think on Christ,
we think about Christ,
we think about his gospel,
because that seems
to be the way
that the Holy Spirit
comes in
and he begins
to shape our lives
to be like Christ.
Paul's call
and our call
is to preach
the whole truth
and nothing but the truth.
So help us God, right?
Well, what's his purpose?
It's the forsake
of the faith
of God's elect,
it's their knowledge
of the truth
and then it's
their godliness.
Look again at the verse.
For the sake
of the faith
of God's elect
and their knowledge
of the truth
which accords with
godliness.
It's really complicated,
isn't it?
It lays it right out
for us.
Well, what is godliness?
Godliness is the
total commitment
of one's life
to God
and it emphasizes
the practical
outworking
of one's faith.
I don't remember
which letter it was,
it might have been
to the Philippians.
Paul said,
work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling.
Do you remember that?
That doesn't mean
figure out a way
to be saved.
It means the salvation
that God has put in you,
the gospel that God
has transformed
inside of you.
Let it work itself out
in the way that you believe,
in the way that you live,
in the way that you talk,
and in the things
that you do.
Accords with,
here in this verse,
it means that godliness
is not exclusive
from faith and knowledge,
but instead it is
the inevitable result
that they bring about.
In other words,
faith and knowledge
and godliness
are not three options
and you choose
kind of independently
which one you want
to focus on.
Oh, they all three,
they work together.
They make us like Christ.
And again,
this is the main point
of the whole letter.
Paul's tipping his hand here.
He saw it as a fulfillment
of his call
to instruct godly behavior
that accords with one
who truly belongs to Christ.
It just makes sense,
doesn't it?
If we belong to Christ,
wouldn't that affect
the way we live?
And Paul opens up,
he says it just makes sense.
As you believe the gospel
and know the truth,
things are going to change
in your life.
They're going to change.
You're going to look
at the word different.
Your obedience
is going to be different.
It's going to come
with a different spirit.
Of course,
he's going to flesh that out.
Maybe we summarize
this point this way.
Paul says,
God has called me.
Jesus has commissioned me
so that his chosen
will be saved
so that they'll know
the fullness of the gospel
and display godliness
in the way that they live.
And what I'm writing
to you in this letter,
Titus and Cretans,
is the fulfillment
of my responsibility.
as God's servant.
This is what God
called me to do
and I'm doing it.
And that's how you should
receive this letter.
Not as me lording
over your life,
but as a message from God
and from our Lord
and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
And if that's how
Paul intended the Cretans
to understand it,
that's the way we need
to understand this letter
as we work our way
through it as well.
So we see Paul's purpose.
That was the longest part.
Now we'll see Paul's hope.
His gospel hope.
Look at verse 2.
In hope of eternal life,
which God who never lies
promised before the ages began
and at the proper time
manifested in his word
through the preaching
with which I have been entrusted
by the command of God,
our Savior.
Well, verse 1 shows
the purpose of Paul's letter.
Verses 2 and 3 revealed
the spirit with which he wrote it.
He did write with urgency.
We talked about that last week,
but his tone was not worrisome.
You know, when I get urgent
or stressed out,
the tone with which I speak
to Julie and the girls
is not typically hopeful.
It's typically harsh
and worrisome and fretful.
If we don't get going
on these things,
it's not going to happen
the right way
and things are going
to fall apart.
That's not the sense
that Paul has here.
He is writing with urgency
because all of this
is important,
but the spirit
with which he's writing
is actually very hopeful.
His eyes are set
on eternity
as he writes this letter.
And it is through the lens
of Christian hope
that we are to understand
the message.
So let's consider it.
Verse 2.
He says,
hope of eternal life.
And can I remind you
that in the Bible,
hope is not a wish.
Hope is a confident anticipation.
By faith,
we believe God is going to do
what God said he'd do.
That's what biblical hope is.
It's not,
I'm clinging to this
as best I can
and hopefully
it all works out.
That's not biblical hope.
Biblical hope is
God has said this,
I believe this,
and I am awaiting
with confident anticipation
the fulfillment
of all that God has said.
When Paul is writing this,
he doesn't mean to indicate
a cautious optimism.
No, he's absolutely convinced
that believers
by faith
receive eternal life.
And that comes through
Jesus Christ alone
because Jesus is our Lord
and Jesus is our Savior.
But hope with Christ
reminds us of our
hopelessness
without Christ.
So let's take a moment
and just rehearse
this truth of the gospel.
What is this hope
that Paul speaks of?
Kids are learning this
on Thursday nights.
Maybe kids,
you can help me out here.
The Bible says
that God created us
to reflect his image
and to bring him what?
Glory.
That's our purpose.
The world tells you
you have no purpose.
It will tell you
that you're here by chance.
What you do with your life
is really up to you.
So you live it the way
that you want to live it?
You live your truth
because your purpose
is whatever purpose
you want it to be.
There's no one else
indicating why you're here
or why you should be here
or why you should do
any one thing.
That's what the world tells us.
That's not what the Bible
tells us.
The Bible says
we actually have a purpose.
That God created us
for the purpose
of his glory.
Kids, what does the Bible say?
How can we glorify God?
God.
By loving him
and obeying him.
Wasn't that Adam and Eve's
purpose in the garden?
Of course, God gave them
responsibilities.
We understand that.
They were to be fruitful
and multiply,
but the ultimate purpose
of all of that
was God's glory.
And they would display
God's glory
and they would give him glory
by loving him
and their love for him
would ultimately be shown
in their obedience to him.
And God comes down
and he says,
you can have whatever you want
in the garden,
but don't eat of this tree.
Now, everything God made
was good.
There wasn't poison
in the tree.
It wasn't a bad tree.
It was just God said,
don't eat of it.
And it's God's prerogative
as creator
to tell us
what he likes
and what he doesn't like,
what he wants us to do
and what he doesn't want us to do.
And for Adam and Eve,
it was don't eat of this tree,
but they did it anyways,
didn't they?
And the problem is
that every one of us
has done the same thing.
We haven't eaten
of a forbidden tree,
but we've fallen short
of God's glory
by sinning against him,
rebelling against him.
And every one of us
are guilty.
That's Romans 3.
All have sinned
and fall short
of the glory of God.
What's the glory?
Loving and obeying him.
How do we fall short?
We sin against him.
We disobey him,
indicating that we love us
more than we love him.
Well, then the Bible
also reveals to us
that God is holy.
He can't tolerate sin.
He can't have communion
with sinners.
Therefore, he must judge
our sins.
And what does sin bring, kids?
Sin brings death.
Now, God even shows
his kindness to Adam
in even the fact that
he could have taken
their life right there
on the spot,
but he didn't.
Graciously,
they live a full life.
They live the life
of a thousand people
in the years that they lived.
That's because of God's grace.
But in that moment,
they died in a different way.
Spiritually, they died.
They could no longer
have fellowship with God
the way they had enjoyed before.
And they never would
apart from God's intervening
in their lives.
The same is true for us.
Sin makes us
the enemy of God.
And our only hope
of peace with God
is if he forgives our sins.
But that's the problem,
isn't it?
God is holy.
How can a holy God
forgive our sins?
Because he wouldn't be holy
and just
if he just pretended
like our sins never happened.
That's not the gospel.
The gospel isn't
if you do these things
that the Bible says to do
that God will turn a blind eye
to all the things
you've done in your past
and he'll give you
a free pass into heaven.
That's not the gospel.
If that's what you think
the gospel is,
you are not a Christian.
And your home
in eternity
is not heaven.
That's a lie.
God can't turn a blind eye
to our sin.
He must judge sin.
That's why Jesus is a gift.
Because God sends his only son,
his perfect son,
his sinless son,
because only a sinless sacrifice
could atone for our sins.
And when we come to Christ in faith,
it's not that God the Father
looks at us
and turns a blind eye
to the things that we've done.
No, he takes our sin
and he pours out his wrath
that's meant for us
on his perfectly sinless son.
That's why atonement
is made at the cross.
Christ, through the cross,
bears the wrath of God
that's intended for sinners.
And because he's absolutely sinless,
it's a sufficient sacrifice.
And God proved
that it was a sufficient sacrifice
by raising him from the dead
three days later.
That was the purpose
of his resurrection.
Yes, indeed.
Death has no claim on him
because he had no sin.
Yes, he has the power
over life and death
because he's the Lord
and creator of the universe.
Jesus, the second person
of the Trinity,
the Son of God.
But it was also to show us
that God received his atonement
as sufficient for us.
Why does Paul write with hope?
Because Paul knows
that it worked,
that we actually have forgiveness.
This is the hope
with which he's writing.
And he means that
because of Jesus,
the sinless Son of God,
eternal life,
is a certainty for him
as a believer.
Two things I want to point out quickly.
Here's the first one.
The foundation of hope
is God's righteousness.
The foundation of hope
is God's righteousness.
Look again at verse two.
in hope of eternal life,
which God,
who never lies,
promised before the ages began
and at the proper time
manifested in his word.
What is Paul basing his hope on?
It's not on his own reasoning.
He wasn't sitting back one day
and just as a genius,
and I think Paul was actually a genius.
I don't think he was sitting back one day
and thinking,
you know,
I'm going to examine
all that I know about world history
from the very beginning.
And he didn't start to piece together
and think,
you know,
here is a method
that I think maybe
we can work our way back to God.
And there's this guy, Jesus.
And I think maybe
there's the stories of him.
That's not what Paul was doing.
His hope wasn't based
in his own reasoning.
His hope was based
in God's righteousness.
His hope was based
in God's word.
Now this phrase,
before the ages began,
it might refer
to God's plan in eternity
to bring about our salvation.
That truth that
even before he created us,
God promised
our ultimate redemption in Christ.
Now that doctrine is true.
Paul talks about it
in other places.
Ephesians chapter one
is the one that comes to mind
most frequently
where Paul says,
even as he has chosen us in him
before the foundation
of the world.
So clearly,
God's plan of salvation
is an eternal plan,
not just eternal future,
but also an eternity past.
This is always God's plan.
But I don't think
that's what Paul means right here
in this text.
I don't think that's what he means.
While that is true,
the context suggests
that what was promised
before the ages began
are the promises of God
shown to us
in the Old Testament.
And what is listed as
at the proper time
was manifested in his word
refers to the gospel of Jesus
in the New Testament.
Now it's very much
like the way Paul opened
his book of Romans.
Would you just flip there quickly?
Let's read it together.
Romans chapter one.
Romans chapter one,
verse one.
Listen to how similar this is.
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus,
called to be an apostle,
set apart for the gospel of God.
Now look at this in verse two,
which he promised beforehand
through his prophets
in the Holy Scriptures.
And what were the promises
referring to?
Verse three,
concerning his son
who was descended from David
according to the flesh
and was declared
to be the son of God
in power
according to the spirit
of holiness
by his resurrection
from the dead,
Jesus Christ,
our Lord.
I think this is what Paul means
in Titus chapter one.
He's not necessarily referring
to the eternal truth
of salvation.
He's saying,
my hope rests,
not on my own reasoning,
my hope rests on the fact
that God gave us his word
and God never lies
because God is absolutely perfect
and holy
in all that he does.
And I can prove
that he didn't lie here
because if you go over here
and you look at the person
of Jesus Christ,
he fulfilled every prophecy
about the Messiah,
every one of them,
not one is lacking.
And all the power
that was displayed
in his life,
all the power
that we see ultimately
in the resurrection
of Jesus Christ,
Paul says,
my hope is founded
on nothing less
than Jesus' blood
and righteousness.
My hope is not
on what I think,
my hope is on the word of God
and God doesn't lie.
What a wonderful hope this is.
This is real hope
based on God's truth.
Listen,
hope can only be certain
if it's founded
on something
that's perfectly trustworthy.
And the only thing
that fits that description
is the righteous character
of God and his word.
And if your belief system
is founded on anything
other than God's truth,
it's faulty.
And you need to abandon it
before it leads you to hell.
There's hope in Christ alone.
And it's certain
because it's founded
on God himself.
So, hope is founded
on God's righteousness.
Secondly,
the preaching of hope
is a necessary stewardship.
The preaching of hope
is a necessary stewardship.
Look at verse 3.
through the preaching,
this is how it was made manifest,
through the preaching
with which I have been entrusted
by the command of God,
our Savior.
So, the hope of the gospel
is revealed to people
through the proclamation
of God's truth.
Paul said this preaching
of the gospel
was entrusted to him.
It was entrusted to him
by the command of God,
our Savior.
This means that God's purpose
in saving sinners
is accomplished ultimately
through the obedience
of his people
to share the gospel.
Because we know and believe,
we have a stewardship,
a responsibility
to preach the good news
to others.
Paul understood this.
It's true for us too.
He actually uses this word stewardship
in 1 Corinthians.
In 1 Corinthians 9.16,
he says,
necessity is laid upon me.
Woe to me
if I do not preach the gospel.
For if I do this
of my own will,
I have a reward.
But if not of my own will,
I'm still entrusted
with a stewardship.
In other words,
Paul says,
even if I don't want
to preach the gospel,
it doesn't matter
because I have a responsibility,
a stewardship
given to me
by God the Savior
to preach the gospel.
And this stewardship
belongs to us as well.
I know only God can save,
but it is unmistakable
in this text
that he accomplishes
his saving work
when we preach the gospel.
And the stewardship
of the gospel,
it wasn't just given
to the apostles.
apostles,
Jesus commissioned
all of us to go,
all of us to go
with his authority,
all of us to go
and make disciples
of all nations.
And the question is,
are you faithfully
tending to your stewardship,
to the responsibility
you have?
Are you being obedient
to the Lord?
Because it is through
that obedience
that we see
the fruitfulness
of God
come forth
in our lives.
If we don't tell
the people around us,
who will tell them?
Isn't that Paul's point
in Romans 10?
Everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord
will be saved.
What a wonderful assertion.
How then will they call
on him
if they haven't believed?
How can they believe
in him
whom they have never heard?
How are they to hear
without someone preaching?
And how are they to preach
unless they're sent?
For faith comes by hearing
and hearing comes
by the word of God.
In other words,
Paul says,
look,
I know salvation
belongs to God,
but it's our responsibility
to obey his command
to preach the truth.
And if we have a burden
for the lost around us,
we're going to do that.
We're going to share
the gospel.
Even if we don't have
a burden for the lost
around us,
we're going to do it
out of obedience
to the Lord
and a desire for him
to show fruitfulness
in our lives.
Well,
that's the gospel hope.
Finally,
let's look at
Paul's gospel greeting.
Paul's gospel greeting,
verse four,
to Titus,
my true child
in a common faith,
grace and peace
from God the Father
and Christ Jesus
our Savior.
Not as flashy
as the other parts,
but it's good
because it's a model.
This became a standard greeting
in the early church.
You'll see it often
all throughout
the New Testament,
this phrase,
grace and peace
from God,
grace and peace
from God to you.
It was a blessing
that Christians
gave to one another
in recognition
of the hope
that they had.
Some of you do this
when you email me
and you text me
and I love it.
I've tried to do it myself
because of some
of your example
that when I write a note
to not just end
with your friend
or whatever,
but something like
grace and peace
from God
or in Christ Jesus
our Lord
or whatever it is.
I love this
because it shows
that Paul was so consumed
with the truth
of the gospel
that it pervaded
all of his thoughts.
It pervaded
all of his interactions.
Even his personal
greetings to others
were shaped
by his understanding
and the impact
of the gospel
on his life.
Grace to you,
he says.
Peace from God
to you.
It was only because
of Jesus
that Paul,
a Jew,
could refer to Titus,
a Gentile,
as a true child
in a common faith.
For him,
Titus wasn't merely
a friend and colleague.
He viewed his relationship
to Titus
through the lens
of his unity
with Titus
in Christ.
I think this is the way
we should view one another.
We talked about it
in our partnership class
for a little while yesterday.
We view one another
not through the lens
of what we hope
each other will do for us.
We view each other
through the lens
of what Christ
has done for us.
We love each other
that way.
We forgive each other
that way.
We see each other
as brother,
sister,
child in the faith.
Paul was so impacted
by the grace of God
that he used it
as a language
with which he greeted believers.
And I won't belabor
the point.
I just want you
to see what it looks like
when a believer
allows the gospel
to saturate their hearts
and minds.
What does that look like?
It looks like
the first four verses
of Titus.
That's what it looks like.
And if you're here
this morning
and you don't have
a lot of confidence
about your eternal
standing with God,
can I just remind you
that true hope
can only be found
in Jesus?
You'll never be good enough.
You may be good enough
for me
and for most people,
but you can never
reach God's standard.
And you need not even try.
You'll never make it.
You'll fall short
every time.
Jesus is everything
that you need him to be.
He suffered God's wrath
for sinners.
And if you will repent
and believe,
you'll know
that he suffered
God's wrath
for your sin.
This faith and repentance,
it's the only path
to forgiveness.
It's the only path
to peace with God.
It's the only path
to eternal life.
And if you hear
his voice today,
not with your ear,
but with your heart,
you don't need a delay
in responding.
You need to come to him
and you'll find him
to be everything
and more
than what you ever thought.
For those of us
who know Christ,
I think we need
to recognize
that Paul's purpose
and Paul's hope
is not different
than ours.
He had a unique calling
as an apostle,
but his purpose
was the same.
We're here.
Christ has saved us.
He's left us here.
He's commissioned us
for the sake
of the faith
of God's elect,
for their knowledge
of the truth,
and for their godliness.
We owe that
to the community around us.
We owe it
to one another.
It's our cause,
our purpose.
Live out that purpose
to the glory of God
and with great joy.
Maybe today
you need to repent
of a lethargy
in regards to evangelism
or a lethargy
and your commitment
to study the gospel
regularly
and be faithful to it.
Maybe you need
to refresh yourself
on the beauty
of the gospel
so that you'll
once again reflect it
in the way that you live
and in the things
that you do
and the way that you think.
Maybe you'd do well
to evaluate
the extent
of the gospel's
impact on your life,
the extent
of the gospel's
impact on your routines.
Are you with Christ
day by day?
Are you in the word
day by day?
How has the gospel
impacted the way
that you live,
the way that you speak,
the way that you pray,
the way that you regard
the people around you,
the way that you think
about that guy
that cut you off
this morning
or your husband
when he refuses
to make the bed?
The gospel impacts us
in all of those ways.
It really does.
You're going cold
or callous to this?
Oh, I know.
I know if you come
to the Lord today
repenting of those things
and trusting in Him,
He will give you
the grace that you need
to make the change
necessary in your life
because that's the hope
we have in the gospel.
It's not just a hope
we have at conversion.
It's a hope that is good
and sufficient
every single day.
It's good to takeNING
to take