WWUTT 761 Ready for Every Good Work?

The Bible shows us the holiness of God and the wickedness of man, and in Christ Jesus we are being made more and more into the image of Jesus.

But we cannot expect worldly people are going to bear that image when we understand the text. This is when we understand the text studying

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you Becky. Well this week we come back to Titus chapter 3 and starting off today

I'll once again be reading verses 1 -7. The Apostle Paul writes,

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others, and hating one another.

But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the

Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our

Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

So the Apostle Paul is writing to Titus, who he has left on the island of Crete to put the churches in order.

That's Titus's primary mission, and among the first instructions that he was given is to appoint elders in every church, those who are going to be the overseers of the church, who are going to be the primary caregivers when it comes to administering the

Word of God. So shepherding the flock of God with the Word of God to the glory of God, as I'm often apt to say, as being the responsibility of a pastor.

So then flowing from there into warning Titus about false teachers and the instruction that he should be giving to the pastors of those churches where he places those elders as to how they are to protect the sheep from the wolves.

And then as we continue to grow in sound doctrinal teaching, right teaching that flows from the gospel of Jesus Christ, what will that look like in the church?

How will believers live? How will they love one another? And that's what we get primarily in chapter two.

You have that establishment of mentorship, of the way that older men will mentor younger men, older women mentoring younger women and doing this in the gospel.

Even the older women are to teach what is good, as it says in chapter two, verse three, and train the young women.

Young men likewise are to be self -controlled. That's Titus himself is to be a model of good works, that he would be that kind of example to these pastors.

So they might be a good example to the rest of the flock. And even the elders in the congregation would be a good example to the youngers.

And then we have a wonderful, beautiful doctrinal presentation of the gospel that's given to us in verses 11 through 14 of chapter two, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self -controlled upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great

God and savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself, a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works.

You have in that explanation, verses 11 through 14, justification and sanctification by faith in Jesus Christ.

We're immediately justified. We have right standing with God by faith in Jesus, but we have not yet been fully sanctified, growing in this purification, being cleansed by Christ of the world and given righteous robes like the jerseys of heaven that we would be prepared as a kingdom people living in this world as his kingdom people.

And as we do that, we're being prepared for the future glory in which we will live with Christ.

Now, the reason why I bring this up again is because I want to remind you of this is as we come back into chapter three and we continue reading about this, this transformative work of the gospel, how we were, you know,

Paul gives this example of how we were once like this, but now we're like this. OK, so I bring this up again because it's important for us to remember that these instructions that we're reading are given primarily to Christians.

Paul is talking to Titus and Titus is supposed to teach these things to the people in the church.

I say that because we sometimes have a tendency to read these things and think, well, this applies to everyone.

Everyone is supposed to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, be gentle and show perfect courtesy toward all people, as we read in chapter three verses one and two.

And that's true. Everyone certainly should be that way. If they were following Jesus and they were living lives of holiness, that's what they would look like, or at least that's what they would desire.

And maybe as babes in the faith, they still look a little bit pagan.

They're working the world out of themselves to become more and more like Christ. So so we should certainly expect that of believers, but we can't expect that of unbelievers.

Yes, they should live that way. But if you were taking Titus three verses one and two and you were trying to tell an unbeliever, this is how you should behave, what you're giving them is law and they can't live according to this, even if they were following what it was you were telling them to do.

It wouldn't save them because this is just law keeping here. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities.

OK, well, I'll submit to authority. That's not going to bring a person to heaven. But a person who has been transferred from the fallen kingdom of this world that is perishing and is ultimately going to be judged by fire and they have been transferred into the the imperishable kingdom of God, the kingdom of light which endures forever, then their behavior, their lifestyle, the way that they live is going to change.

They're going to live less like someone who is of this world. And so and instead they will live like someone who is of the kingdom.

And that person will look like someone who is submissive to rulers and authorities, who is obedient and is ready for every good work.

For remember, Christ died to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

So the only people that can do that and even have a heart to want to do that, to do good works and those works specifically that God calls good, the only people who can do that are those who have been transformed by the spirit of God, which we get to here in chapter three, verse five.

God saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the

Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. So by having this transformed heart, we now want to do those works that Christ is purifying us for.

But the person who has not been called in Christ Jesus out of the world and to be his follower can't do these things in any sort of righteous way.

As Lorraine Bettner has said, they can be a volitional person, but they cannot exercise holy volition.

And that word volition means the power of using one's will. So they can will themselves to follow

God, right? They can even keep this law, this instruction that we have in Titus three, one.

They can be submissive to rulers. They can be obedient. They can be ready for every good work. A person who is not a believer can do all of that by the power of their own will.

They can do it, but they cannot do it in a holy way. They cannot do it in a way that is pleasing unto the

Lord unless they have been regenerated by the washing that comes from the

Holy Spirit of God poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God changes us to worship

God in a holy way. A person can be on their knees in church, hands in the air, repeating the words that are being sung in the songs, but it means nothing if their heart has not been transformed from darkness into light.

And that is a power that that is only done by God. Only God changes the person from being wicked to pursuing righteousness.

Now you might think to yourself as I'm explaining that, well, how can I know that? How can I know that I'm not the wicked person anymore and that I am pursuing righteousness?

Well, first, let me say that only you can know that. I can't dictate that for you. I can't say, well, based on everything that I'm looking at, hey, hey,

Stan, looks like you're a righteous person, man. You know, I can't do that. And what you're even asking me for, if you're expecting me to give you that affirmation, is some sort of popish declaration, because this is what the

Catholic Church does. You go to your priest, you confess something to your priest, your priest tells you go say however many our fathers and Hail Marys, and then boom,

I popishly declare you clean. Okay, that's that's a Catholic Church practice, but it is not something that I can give you.

Now, the Bible does say that you can know. And in fact, the Apostle John even says when we were going through 1st

John, he says in verse five, I've written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life.

So God, your loving father does want you to know he loves you and that you are his child.

You are no longer a child of wrath, but you are a child of his kingdom. He wants you to know that.

But that is something, again, that only you can know in your relationship with God. Only you can know that.

Now, when it comes to the way that I will judge another person,

I'm going to base my judgments on the fruit that you produce. And that's a godly thing to do.

Jesus himself said, you will know them by your fruit. So if you tell me that you're a believer, amen.

I hear that confession come from your mouth. So that's one of the things that we must be able to do.

Confess Christ. That's Romans 10, nine, that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is

Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Jesus said out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

So if you tell me you believe Jesus Christ is Lord and I worship him, amen, brother.

And I have no reason to doubt you. But now that you've made that confession, I can hold you to the standard that we've been given in the

Bible. So you say that I'm I'm a believer in Christ. I follow him. Therefore, I'm going to assume that you are among those whom he has redeemed from all lawlessness and is purified to be zealous for good works.

And so then I'm going to look at your life. And if you're not submissive to rulers and authorities, then maybe even as let's just put this in the context of saying that I am your pastor.

So I'm shepherding you. I am. You are under my care as part of my flock.

Then I'm going to look at your behavior and I'm going to say, you're you're a rather rebellious person.

You don't obey your boss. You're not obedient to governing authorities. So I'm kind of concerned about how submissive you're going to be, even to the authority here within the church.

The Bible tells us to be submissive to rulers and authorities. And so if you are a follower of Christ, you know,

Romans 13, that there is no governing authority that has not been established by God. And so you must be submissive to those authorities.

So see now recognizing that you are a confessing believer of Christ, I can hold you to this particular standard when it comes to sharing the gospel with those who are unbelievers.

You might use something like this. You might say, well, the Bible says to be submissive to rulers and authorities. Do you do that?

And a person who sees the perfect law of God recognizes, no, I'm I'm actually a rather disobedient and rebellious person.

Now, we might not come to Titus three one. You might use something like the Ten Commandments, because that's the standard of God's law that's summarized in those commandments.

So you might say something. Have you ever told a lie before? And a person says, well, yeah, I lie all the time.

So do you. We're all liars. OK, well, OK, you just admitted to me that you are a liar.

And what does the Bible say about that? What is what does the Ten Commandments say? You've heard the Ten Commandments before. You know, it's it's easy for me in Junction City, Kansas.

When I go down to a park, there's kind of a park in town that I'll go to and I'll share the gospel with people that I encounter in this park.

And the city building is not, you know, like a block and a half from where we are.

And the Ten Commandments are right there in front of that building. And so I'm able to point down that way.

I can I can even point there's a part in the park where you can see the Ten Commandments from where we are.

I can say, you see that monument right there? Do you know what's on that monument? And it's funny that the majority of people that I'll talk to will say,

I didn't even know that was over there. The Ten Commandments right there on the on the big stone monument in front of the city building.

So we'll talk about those commandments. Have you ever heard the Ten Commandments? Well, sure, I've heard of them. Don't murder.

Don't lie. That's about the only two that they can name. And so using the law of God, I will show them that they have rebelled against God and that they have sinned so that hopefully they'll recognize that they need a savior to make them right before God, lest they stand before him in judgment and be cast from his presence forever.

And only Jesus Christ as our advocate can stand in that place and say, my blood has been shed for this person and I've redeemed them from the lawlessness that they have committed against God.

So we can't hold unbelievers to this same standard, expect them to behave this way.

They're rebellious against God. So they're going to be rebellious against pretty much anything that the Bible has to say when it comes to explaining what a person or the way a person should be living when it comes to living a holy life.

And I was reminded of this again, I'm actually involved in something right now that puts me around more folks in the city than usual.

Like most of the time, my environment is I'm around believers. I'm I'm working with other churches in town.

I'm working with members of my own congregation or in the most interaction that I'll have with unbelievers is when

I go pay my bills or something like that, or I go to the grocery store or I go down to the park and evangelize or over to the community college campus.

But I'm not in like everyday scenarios where I'm regularly interacting with unbelievers in casual relationships.

Like if I'm interacting with an unbeliever, it might be because I'm confronting you to share the gospel with you.

It's not because we both have a shared work effort that we're trying to accomplish together, you know, because I don't work in a secular environment.

And so I'm in a position right now in which I am around a lot of folks in the city, in my own community who mostly are not believers.

And so I am having to, in this present scenario, apply these things in ways that I don't typically have to think about doing this.

So when Paul says, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, there's a way in which that instruction applies right now, because we as a church are interacting with the city on a particular project, not really a project on our part.

It's a project on the city's part, but our church is involved in this. And so we're interacting with a lot of city officials.

And I have to remember, these are elected officials and God has put them in those positions.

So if I'm going to disagree with something that they want to do or the way they want to spend our tax dollars or something like that,

I am showing respectful disagreement and I'm being submissive to the fact that they have been appointed to these positions to make these kinds of decisions for our city.

So I'm even in that position right now of having to remember this exercise and how I am engaging with these authorities within our city and being even obedient to them.

But even there's another context, another way in which I'm interacting with folks in our city.

And then I have to remember the rest of these instructions. Be ready for every good work, speak evil of no one, avoid quarreling, be gentle and show perfect courtesy toward all people.

So again, in the environment that I'm usually in, I'm mostly around believers. And when a believer says something or behaves in such a way that I know is not characteristic of Christ, I can go to that person and I can say, look,

I heard you say this or I heard you say this about this person. Don't you know that the

Bible says that we shouldn't speak in such ways? And I hope that as somebody who is filled with the

Holy Spirit, that they will receive that correction with joy. Thank you, brother. I did not know that that's the way

I sounded when I was saying that sort of thing. I'm glad that you're holding me to the standard of holiness.

But as I'm around a lot more unbelievers right now, I can't approach them with that same thing.

I can't say, you know, the Bible says you're supposed to talk like this and I heard you saying this. Well, they're not even followers of Christ.

They hate the Bible. They hate God's word. What difference does it make to them if the

Bible says don't talk like that? They are not being held to that particular standard.

So there's going to be a different approach if the opportunity presents itself for me to be able to talk to that person about the way that they behave or what it is that they say.

But ultimately, what I'm out to share with them is the gospel. I might use the words that they say to show even by your words, you are speaking rebellion against God so that I can share the gospel with them and say, the only way that you can have right standing with God now is if you repent of this sin and follow

Jesus Christ and he will give you his spirit that will fill up your heart.

And from the overflow of your heart, you will have a rain over your tongue. You will you will not say some of the things that you are saying now.

Instead, you will want to speak words that are pleasing to God that give grace to the hearer and that in your heart or comes from a heart that desires to please and obey

God to conform to him and his attributes. And so these instructions for me,

I'm coming back to this again today because Paul is giving instructions primarily on how we are to interact with one another who is outside the body of faith.

And so these instructions right now are doing well for me. And so I felt it necessary even to come back again to this today as we're moving on from this, as we continue to study this particular section in Titus chapter three, we're going to be looking at verse three tomorrow.

And again, as Paul has been setting this as the way that we conduct ourselves among unbelievers.

Chapter two was primarily about how the church is supposed to care for one another in the body of faith.

But then we get to chapter three and it's about how we are to conduct ourselves amongst unbelievers, speaking evil of no one, avoiding quarreling, being gentle, showing perfect courtesy to all people.

Paul then gets to verse three, and here's what we're going to talk about tomorrow, showing us that we were just like them at one point, but we're not to be like them anymore because the

Holy Spirit has been poured into our hearts and has given us a new heart to behave in a new way, a way that is more like Christ and less like the world.

But in the ways that we interact with the world, we still must show perfect courtesy toward all people.

And very simply, courtesy is just being polite, having polite speech and actions whenever we are interacting with even those who are outside the faith.

We don't scorn them. We don't look down our noses at them. We don't think of ourselves as being better than them because we once were like them.

And it is only by the grace of God that we are being changed into something different.

And so as God has shown this grace to us, so we must show that grace also to unbelievers as we hold out the word of life that they might listen to us and hear the gospel and so be saved.

Let's conclude with a quick prayer. Our God, we thank you for these instructions, and I pray that we would have hearts that desire to follow them and obey you and conform to your image and want to be like Christ.

And I pray that you continue to show us what that means. In the meantime, help us today to speak evil of nobody, not to quarrel with anyone.

We're of different minds. The world is of one mind. The people of God are of another mind, but help us that in our differences in directions that we not be quarrelsome with one another, but we know how to show grace to those who do not have any and that we are gentle with one another and that we are polite and courteous and show proper respect to a fellow image bearer of God, for we were once evil and destined for destruction, but it is by your grace that we've been rescued from that route, turned in the direction of Christ, and made a part of his kingdom.

So may we live as kingdom people in this world today for your glory.

In Jesus' name, amen. Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas.