Titus Series - What does the Lord ask of Me?
What does the Lord ask of Me?
Titus 2:11-15
Paul would have remembered his Old Testament in describing how God expects all true believers in God should act because of their faith. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
For God has always been compassionate, loving, and merciful which are the traits of His grace for those who obey his word and will through faith. For this is the essence of true godliness. These required traits are evident in the New Testament believers as they walk according to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. With this understanding and insight, Paul now leads Titus and really all believers into how a believer acts in grace and humility. Let’s look at the first portion of the text, “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,
God’s unmerited favor, grace, through faith in the Son of God, who had appeared and offered the grace we receive upon faith. The apostles and Paul all taught that salvation by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ is offered to all people who will believe upon Him for salvation. There were those who falsely claimed that all people will be saved because of God’s grace, but as Paul had stated throughout his letters, Salvation is only through faith in Jesus Christ, as Jesus taught the disciples, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
We aren’t saved by our works, good deeds, and forthrightness (Eph.2:8-9) but by grace through faith. Works are the evidence of salvation and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. Paul and James weren’t contradicting themselves on the doctrine of justification, for both Paul and James believed in salvation through grace in Jesus alone. James reproved the false believers by their claims of salvation without any evidence of producing any of the fruits of true repentance (Matt. 8:3). “It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”
Application - In a world that only ten percent of those who call themselves believers in Christ read the Bible daily.
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/frequency-of-reading-scripture/
Then I have to ask myself how can a man or woman who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior not read the Word of God everyday for wisdom, understanding, discernment, and instruction from the Lord Jesus Christ? I know my own life with Jesus Christ needs to be directed by His Word and the Holy Spirit daily. For you can’t have just one or the other, they work in unity together to unite us as one with them, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” (John 17:11b), that is why Jesus asked the Father to give us the Holy Spirit, so that he could guide us in all truth and protect us. The Holy Spirit inhabits the believer who yields to God and submits himself to God's Word.
It is through the Holy Spirit that the fruit of our works is evident to others. We can say “NO!” to ungodliness and the passion of this world that ensnare people and allure them away from a spirit-led life. We are to be yielded to His will not ours, and as we live self-controlled lives we will be actively engaged in the reading and adhering ourselves to His Word.
Last, Paul exhorts Titus to continue to teach in the eager expectation of the blessed hope of the appearing the return of Lord Jesus Christ for His bride, the church.
Let’s read the last portion of the text, “…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. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.”
Throughout Asia minor, where Paul, Barnabus, and Silas had proclaimed the gospel and churches began, Paul had taught the doctrine of the imminent appearing and the glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ for the church. Titus was to teach and reinforce the believers in Crete that Jesus Christ had not left them but would return for all those he had redeemed by grace through faith in Him. He would not leave them to the depravity of all the wickedness in the world. For He had purified those who believed through the Word of God, “...as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph. 5:25-27; Col. 3;16-17; 1 Thes. 5:23) and through His blood shed upon the cross. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 Jn. 1:7)
Last Titus was to encourage and exhort the believers in Crete to be eager not only for the gathering to Jesus in heaven, but to the good work of God through the Holy Spirit’s leading. For it is God who was working through them, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” (Phil. 2:12-17)
Application - As the old hymn of the church reads, “The signs around the earth and air, or painted on the star-lit sky, God’s faithful witnesses declare that the coming of the Savior draweth nigh. He is coming soon, he is coming soon. We will welcome His return.”
Oh that I wished that the church today was ready to be welcomed into the gathering of the believers in the rapture of the church. For this is our blessed Hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ in the sky. For there are many signs foretold of Jesus’ second coming happening today, but the rapture has no signs, it is just imminent. Jesus will redeem all those who have believed in Him for salvation and sanctification.
Yes, indeed we live in a wicked and sin-filled world. But we have hope and peace because Jesus has purified us so as to be blameless, a regenerated people that are His, redeemed for himself. We should be eager for His coming yet while we are still here, we need to be at His work proclaiming the Good News of salvation and the coming kingdom of God. Like Titus and Paul, we should be encouraging others, sharing our testimony of his saving grace and teaching them the Word of God.
The question to be asked is, Are we eager to do what he asks of us, to do what is good and right in the eyes of our Lord God? I would regretfully say that looking at the statistics, the majority who call themselves believers in Christ today don’t know what the good work is and aren’t eager. God is full of grace, compassionate, and merciful, but he is also seeking people who are obedient and faithful, seeking to do his will and word. Today is a great day to give ourselves 100 percent to Him who saved us by His grace and eagerly expect His coming to gather us to Himself in Heaven.
In closing, I would like to ask everyone to pray for wisdom, understanding, discernment, and instruction from God in standing fast in the Truth of God Word and in the power of the Holy Spirit that lives in us.
I’m again including the ABC’s of salvation (JD Farag). Please, Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.
First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,
B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third,
C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."
Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.
If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com
Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis
I have revised my webpage on Spiritual warfare. Please give it a look. I’m adding answers each week to questions that pertain to our time today. Thank you http://uss-warfare3.web node.com
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