Titus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
3 But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
4 To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Yesterday we began to look at these opening remarks that God directed the apostle Paul to write. God never uses anything as a filler. These opening remarks are just as important as any other Scripture.
Verse 3 reminds us that God has revealed more details about His salvation through preaching. God was not withholding necessary truths from the Old Testament people. Faith in God is the root and the key. We live after the first coming of Jesus Christ. We have the witness of Scripture telling us that Jesus came and that He suffered and died on the cross of Calvary for our sins. We know He was taken off that cross and buried and rose again three days later. We also know He ascended back to heaven forty days later. We know He is coming back again as well. The Old Testament people knew God promised a Messiah and they knew He would be born in Bethlehem and that He would be born of a virgin. They were given some key titles regarding Who He would be. They needed to trust in the promises of God just as we do.
We see here that preaching is not story telling. Preaching is the proclamation of the truth with conviction. It is designed to convince the listener that what is being declared is of utmost importance and should be fully embraced by the hearers. God’s plan of salvation was preached faithfully.
I Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
The apostle Paul was one to whom this message was committed. Every true saint needs to preach God’s Word to every person they meet and witness to. We are not offering one of many options. We are offering them the truth. We interact with them and we answer their questions and concerns with conviction. We do not get angry with them. We do not use coercion to try to trick them into agreeing with something mentally that they are not prepared to believe from the heart. Godly preaching relies upon the Holy Spirit approving of the preaching and working in the heart of the hearer to affect the change that He sees necessary.
Notice as well that the apostle Paul speaks of “God our Saviour.” Once again we are reminded of the fact that Jesus Christ is God. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind about that. There are cults who deny the deity of Jesus Christ. Any religion that brings that fact into question is a false religion. Jesus Christ is God and that is why He can save us. If He were a mere man, He could not save us. He would have a sin nature then. A sinner cannot save sinners. Jesus Christ is not a sinner.
In verse 4 we see that the immediate recipient of this letter is Titus. Titus was another man that Paul had the privilege of mentoring. He was able to teach him and guide him along the way. That is what a faithful servant of God does with a newer convert. He takes the time to teach that person the truth. He behaves like a good father does with his son. A good father wants his son to know how to conduct himself in a profitable manner.
Notice as well that Paul acknowledged that Titus was part of the common faith. The Greek word translated as “common” is found 12 times in 10 verses. It refers to the fact that it is shared by all. No true preacher preaches any other salvation. The Jesus of the Bible is the only Saviour. The apostles all believed this and they all preached this. They all preached the same truth regarding the way of the Christian life. We talked of the N.E. movement a few days ago. They have such a mess of doctrine that a person cannot be sure of anything. Thus they do not emphasize doctrine. They just encourage people to do their best. They say we should not get too bogged down in detail because we cannot know for sure. We have men like Billy Graham who was not even sure that a person needed to know the name of Jesus Christ in order to be saved. With that type of waffling, there is no hope for anyone.
The good news is that there is no need to waffle. We can know for certain how to be saved and we can also know how to live after we are saved.
It is important to note that the false teachers are able to draw large crowds. Joel Osteen has a large following as well. Many people wrongly assume that any preacher that can draw large crowds must be blessed of God. They may acknowledge the preacher has some different teachings but still believe the person must be blessed of God in order to be able to draw such large crowds. They forget that the NHL teams can draw large crowds as do the CFL and many other secular organizations. People love entertainment. People love to feel good about themselves. Back scratchers and ear ticklers are appreciated by many. Don’t be deceived by numbers. Examine the teaching by the Word of God.
The apostle Paul wanted Titus to walk in God’s grace, His mercy and His peace. Titus would need that as much as the apostle Paul needed it. The faithful preacher needs to be well grounded in the truth and he needs to be drawing his strength from the Lord. There were times when the apostle Paul was all alone. All others had forsaken him. He was in prison and had no one to encourage him. However, he had the Lord. He knew what he had believed was true and God strengthened him with the truth.
Titus needed to operate under the mercy of God as well. God had saved him according to His mercy. Titus needed to approach his ministry under the same mandate. God’s mercy does not condone sin. It does not accept compromise. It stands firm in the truth and it seeks to help others to see the imperative of accepting the truth as well.
God’s peace is a peace that passeth all understanding. How could Paul and Silas sit in a jail, having been beaten and bloodied, and yet singing praises to God. They were not complaining about what had happened to them. When the jailor jumped into that prison, seeking spiritual help, they were ready to help him. They were not bitter.
Titus would be dealing with people that had a very bad reputation. He would need to know how to approach them with the Word of God in truth and he would need to know God’s peace in his heart as he dealt with the various responses that he would receive.
God is good and He equips His saints for the work that He calls them to. We see that this grace, mercy and peace is from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. Here Jesus Christ is declared to be “our Saviour”. This is no problem with what was declared in verse 3. Jesus Christ is God and He is our Saviour. He is also the Creator of all things. He is the Great High Priest and so much more.
Titus was being given foundational truth right from the start. He was being reminded of the authority that Paul had to write this letter. We do not read that Titus was doubting the truth. God chose to open this letter with these words to help Titus and others who would read this letter. We need to be reminded of the foundation upon which we build.
There are professing Christians who despise the apostle Paul. They believe he was far too forceful in his preaching and teaching. They believe he did not treat women properly, etc. The apostle Paul preached the Word of God. He did not contradict any other Bible writer. He was a faithful servant of God and we, like Titus, can have full confidence in what he wrote because what he wrote is the Word of God.
Pastor Bartel
