Book of Titus - Ch. 3, vv. 8-15

We are in Titus 3 still, and while y 'all turn there, I'll just say a couple of things to get us where we're at right now. If you guys remember the past several weeks, we've been pretty much in verses 4 through 7, really kind of honing in on each one of those, one after the other.

And I'm going to read those four verses right now because leading into verse 8, Paul is going to say a particular phrase that will recall these particular verses. So he says in verse 4,. But after that, meaning all of the sin that we lived in before salvation, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

So that was the preceding context, and then you get to verse 8 and you see this immediate phrase, This is a faithful saying. So that'll be important to remember in a second, the context leading into this verse, but I'm going to go ahead and read the whole verse really quick.

This is a faithful saying, And these things, all the stuff we just read, I will that you, Titus, affirm constantly that they which believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

So let's just park on that opening phrase, this is a faithful saying, really quick. This is a faithful saying, and other similar phrases. We've seen this. We're going to see this, I should say, quite a few times as we move through the rest of the pastoral epistles.

But this is a very favorite expression for Paul to use specifically throughout the pastoral epistles. I'm sure I didn't take the time to look and see how often he uses the phrase or a similar phrase in his other epistles, but let's see here.

I counted six times from 1 Timothy through 2 Timothy through Titus where Paul uses either this phrase or one very similar. This is a faithful saying. He will talk about a doctrine, talk about a reality, talk about practical Christian living, and then follow it up, or in some cases precede it by saying, this is a faithful saying or this is a trustworthy saying, something along those lines.

And so this is Paul's way of saying that there is divine authority behind his words. He's not just making it up. He wants these things that he's saying to be memorable. And so when he finishes talking about the doctrines of salvation by grace, regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Spirit, justification, and then he wraps all of it up by saying this is a faithful saying, again, he is wanting to impress this upon the minds of his brothers and sisters where they remember it.

They don't forget it. In verse 7, when Paul tells Titus that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to eternal life, he wants us to know that this is a promise, that it's a fact.

It's going to happen. This is a faithful saying. That's his way of expressing this reality that he doesn't want us to forget. So, verse 8, this is a faithful saying, the preceding verses, and then he goes on and says, these things I will thou, talking to Titus, affirm constantly.

And when he says this, he's giving Titus a call to essentially be in contrast with all of the idol talkers that are still taking up a lot of airspace on the island of Crete. They are talking heretical doctrines, blasphemous doctrines in some cases, all of these false teachers which we'll be talking about more in just a second as we get to verse 9.

Paul is saying, look, I want you to take all of these teachings I've been giving to you and affirm them constantly. He's giving Titus a call, again, to be in direct contrast to anyone that is essentially just blabbering things that are meaningless, things that are random, things that aren't tethered to any sort of objective truth.

And so when it says Titus is to affirm these constantly, that's kind of an old English use of the word. It really means confidently. So it doesn't necessarily mean in frequency, although that would absolutely be part of it too.

He's saying he wants Titus to affirm these doctrines with confidence, utmost confidence, because they're a fact. They're not random. They're of divine authority. They're not arbitrary. It's totally unlike all of the teachings of the false teachers, of the Judaizers, and things like that, which he's already been warned about in chapter 1.

He's about to get a little rehashing of this in just a moment though. Now, what is the result of this faithful saying? These things that Paul says, this is a faithful saying, what is the result of them?

What is the effect of this faithful saying that Titus is now to affirm with total confidence? Well, the result or the effect of this proclamation of these truths with confidence is that those who are believers will devote themselves to good works.

You know, in verse 8, one more time, I will that thou affirm constantly these things that they which have believed in God, so believers, might be careful to maintain good works. So the result of Titus affirming these things with confidence and preaching them and proclaiming them is that believers will devote themselves to good works.

The outworking of justification by grace looks like Christians doing good things in their lives and for those around them. We've talked about this many times before, but justification itself isn't something that is seen by the human eye.

It is something that the Father sees. It is obviously something that the Son and the Spirit see because it's a part of the redemptive work. It is sinners being made as if they have never sinned in the eyes of the Father and being given righteousness.

That is justification. We can't necessarily see that even though it's a reality just as real as the physical realm. So how did God ordain for this justification, for this regeneration we've talked about, for all of these things?

How did He ordain for them to be seen? It is in the outworking of the Christian life. It is Christians doing good works in their lives and those around them. And then, when Paul follows it up by saying, these things are good and profitable unto men, there at the very end of verse 8, he's actually not talking about good works.

At this point, he kind of did like a bookend type thing. Look at verse 8 one more time with me, the full verse, and look at how he phrases this. He says, this is a faithful saying. All of the things he just talked about in the preceding verses, verses 4 -7, justification by grace.

This is a faithful saying. These things I will that you affirm confidently that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works, period. And then he says, these things are good and profitable unto men.

That is a callback to the same these things that he started with in the verse, which is affirming justification by grace, regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, being saved by God's mercy. That is what he is saying is good and profitable unto men at large.

It's the same things that he wanted Titus affirming confidently. Those things are profitable unto men. The doctrines of the gospel, in other words, are good and profitable all the time to all men. It kind of goes without saying, but if you live in a Christian nation, whether you are a believer or not, it is good and profitable that you live in a nation that proclaims gospel truths.

This is what Paul is kind of honing in on here. He is saying that not only should you be confident about these things, not only are they a fact, are they true, but they are good and profitable to everybody.

Now take a look at verse 9. We are going to get one last reminder of the kinds of enemies that Titus and the young elders, I say young, perhaps young in the faith, we don't know the ages, it could be a wide spectrum, but we have a lot of newly ordained, newly appointed elders, Titus at the helm.

Let's get one more reminder of the kinds of things they are having to deal with. Look at verse 9 -11. He says, But, right after saying all of these wonderful things, all of these wonderful doctrines, saying it's a faithful saying, but avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable in vain.

Notice the contrast in words here. Just a moment ago he claims that the gospel truths that he just shared.

Are profitable,.

And now he's saying that which is in verse 9 is unprofitable, in vain. In verse 10 he says, A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject, knowing that he that is such is subverted in sinneth, being condemned of himself.

We'll get back to verses 10 and 11 in just a moment. But I want you guys to remember something first. The Cretan Christians, young in the faith, having just within the last couple of decades been saved on the day of Pentecost, traveled back to Crete, started planting churches.

These are young in the faith. These Christians were exposed to a particularly high concentration of false teachers. And how do we know that? Chapter 1 of the same epistle. These were men that wanted these young Christians to believe that they were messengers of God, but they were actually, as Paul tells us in the first chapter of Titus, subverting whole houses.

Y 'all remember that phrase in chapter 1, verse 11. So they were quite literally wolves in sheep's clothing. They were false teachers. They were clouds without water that Jude talks about, that Peter talks about.

These are the types of guys that these young Christians were having to deal with and having to discern whether or not they actually were messengers of God. It's tough to discern when you're new in the faith, and so that's why Titus is there.

That's why elders are to be appointed. This is why the churches needed strong leadership with the spine to rebuke these guys sharply, which is again what Paul says in chapter 1, verse 13. Rebuke them sharply.

And so in order for...

I'm kind of jumping around a little bit here. So those are some reminders of what we dealt with in chapter 1. These are the enemies within that we've learned about already. We just saw in chapter 3, verse 8 that these Christians are to maintain good works.

But here's the problem with that. In order to maintain good works, I should say potential problem with that, in order to maintain good works, those works have to flow from pure doctrine. It's not something that can just happen.

And you pay close enough attention to the culture around us, even the church, and it becomes pretty clear. Good works don't just happen. People can't just do good works. You know, you can talk about philanthropy and humanitarian aids and things like this and people helping in all these different ways, but when it comes down to the individual and their lives, the way their lives are lived out in the continuous sense, good works don't just kind of pop up out of nowhere.

It has to flow from good doctrine. It has to start with good, pure doctrine, and then from that comes the good works. As, I mean, again, this is easily demonstrated when you look at the opposite side of it.

So if pure doctrine leads to good works, what does impure doctrine or false doctrine lead to? And it can actually be demonstrated throughout church history time and time again. Bad doctrine, false doctrine, is usually a fountainhead for immorality.

And so in order for the Christians at Crete to be maintaining good works, it has to start with the pure doctrine. We can't just let these false teachers run rampant, which is a part of this entire epistle and the importance of having elders in the first place.

And in the context, of course, Titus and these other elders, they're having to deal with the self-righteous Jewish false teachers with corrupted doctrine. We remember that Paul talks about those of the circumcision in the first chapter.

So in verse 9, back in chapter 3 here, we see Paul kind of continue to build upon this reality by telling Titus to simply not debate these men. When he says avoid, that's a very strong Greek term, avoid foolish questions, genealogies, contentions, etc.

He's saying avoid altogether debating these guys. He says, in fact, to avoid or to shun getting into arguments with them at all costs. We need to rebuke them. We need to refute them, yes, but don't waste your time on them.

There's a difference there. So as you see these guys going into the houses of your people, as you see these false teachers going into your places of worship or maybe outside of your places of worship trying to gain some influence, refute them, rebuke them sharply.

That was all part of the instruction in chapter 1, qualifications of the elders. Here, Paul is taking it a step further and saying, but after you have done your job there, don't go chasing after them.

Don't go looking for their dialogues, their conversations, their foolish questions and debating with them because it is quite literally a waste of your time. Don't waste your time on genealogies. That's one of the things he lists there in verse 9.

What that was is these false teachers, Judaizers specifically, they would take these really bizarre allegorical interpretations of the Old Testament at large, but even down to the historical records. So when we see genealogies in the Old Testament, we see genealogies at the opening of the New Testament in Matthew and then again in Luke.

But in the Old Testament in Genesis, you see the genealogies, the patriarchs going generation to generation and then that continues throughout various books, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles. They all have genealogies with them.

And what these guys would do is they would take those and they would read things into them. They would spend hours upon hours looking for things in the lineage of all of these different races of men in different, again, their own lines, going back to the patriarchs, and they would see if they could find stuff of value, quote-unquote, in there.

And they would develop these very strange doctrines from the genealogies alone. So Paul is saying avoid that. Don't go in there and start trying to debate them on the particulars of our historical records.

Just let them do what they're doing. You avoid it. It's wasting your time. You have more important things to do. He says to avoid contentions. So these are guys out there literally creating friction in the environment, in the culture.

They are trying to be divisive. They are trying to bring contention at every turn.

Why?

Because that is a big temptation for these men of God, these elders, these teachers. They have the know-how. They have the intellect. They even have the training to go out and engage in these things.

But ultimately it is what? A waste of their time. So avoid the genealogies. Avoid these contentions. It's not fruitful. And Paul is saying it's to be avoided.

And this is important.

I mean, when you think about this, this is a very important verse. Titus 3 .9. Especially for ministers. Especially for those that are younger in the ministry that don't have the experience of those that have been in it for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 decades.

Because these godly elders that Paul is kind of exhorting here, these are the men that would have been the most equipped to engage in contentious debates. If there was ever anyone that could go out into the streets and start kind of picking theological fights with these false teachers, it would be the elders.

And those are the specific people Paul is saying, no, you need to avoid them. You need to use your time wisely to be fruitful for God's people. Not wasting it on these tools of the devil over here. He continues on in verse 9.

He goes on to say, avoid strivings about the law. Now this is a tough one. If it already wasn't tough for, think about the young minister here, hearing the foolishness of genealogies and weird interpretations of that.

You know, friction being created. And maybe your people are kind of out hearing some of this stuff. And you're just really tempted to go out and pick these fights. You get to the strivings about the law.

And this is a really tough one. This is a really tough temptation to avoid. Because no minister of God's word ever enjoys sitting back and listening to people mishandle it. And that's what they're doing when they strive about the law.

They are taking a portion of God's actual word and mishandling it. Defacing it.

Misusing it.

Abusing it. God's law is perfect. It's part of the very scriptures that Paul will later tell us in 2 Timothy. Are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

And so for a pastor, and especially I would imagine for a young one like Titus, it is very difficult to leave someone to their strivings about the law when you can hear them defacing the word of God. You want to defend that.

All the time. And we should defend it. But God gives, and by His grace by the way, He gives us parameters for doing it. He gives us some boundaries. You defend it. And Dad has talked about this most of my life.

You defend it in the context of your people being influenced by false teaching. But you don't go looking for fights out in places where you shouldn't even be in the first place to defend it. It doesn't make any sense.

It's not fruitful. You're literally leaving the flock to go out. And it'd be like, just to use the analogy of a shepherd, a pastor, a shepherd and his flock. It'd be like leaving the sheep at night to go out into the dark woods looking for wolves to fight.

It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. And so, but it's tempting though. And why is it? Because they're striving about God's word. They're striving about the law in this particular case. And so it can be very difficult to let that go.

But Paul says, leave it be and move on. Let them strive about the law. You don't get entangled in it. You have greater work to do. All of these things in verse 9 are unprofitable in vain. Again, in direct contrast to what Paul says is profitable in verse 8.

The gospel itself and all of the truths that flow from it. Now, because Paul understood that sometimes a person just needs some time to mature. And this is very interesting to me. He understands that there are some people, not everyone's a false teacher, not everyone that gets stuff wrong is immediately dubbed a false teacher and immediately someone that needs to be rebuked, refuted and avoided.

After the fact, Paul understands this. Sometimes people need some time to mature spiritually. And so in verse 10, he gives Titus a bit of wisdom with regard to giving second chances to some people. The door is open for a second chance, but only for so long.

He says in verse 10, a man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject. Now, we focus in on the rejection part, but we forget the part that came right before it. After the first and second admonition.

So this is a person that is being foolish. They don't know what they're talking about. Maybe they're saying some things that could lead the sheep astray, but they're not quite the same as a false teacher like those that we saw in chapter 1.

You can rebuke them, you could admonish them, give them a chance. And if they refuse to stop doing what they're doing after the second chance, then reject them. So this is wisdom from Paul. He's giving Titus some instruction here.

Now, the KJV in verse 10 translates it, a man that is an heretic. And that is a little bit confusing because an important, and this is very important to keep in mind, otherwise we'll be confused by what Paul is saying.

You read that and you think, why on earth would Paul ever want a heretic to have a second chance? Someone that is maybe coming into your church trying to teach that Christ actually wasn't God, or that the resurrection didn't actually happen, or that the second coming has already happened.

That's an ancient heresy that unfortunately is making its rounds again today. Paul's not saying if you have a person like that coming in, give them a second chance. But that's what we think of when we think of heretic, are those types of people.

And the reason why it's translated like this in the KJV is because the root word for the Greek here is where we get our English term heretic from. So that's why the translation is the way that it is. But the thing we have to keep note of here is that the sense that Paul is using the word is not the same as the sense that we use the word today.

The development of what we refer to as a heretic didn't really come about until the 2nd or 3rd century. At the time that Paul was living, this pretty common Greek term was used mainly for people that were divisive.

Now, false teaching is obviously a divisive thing, so it's kind of all-encompassing. The point is, the term he's using is more broad than just heretical teachings in the sense of denying the deity of Christ or denying the resurrection or denying the second coming.

That is more of a specific definition that we now apply to the word. When Paul used it, it was more broad, and it could be applied to anybody that was divisive in any way. So when you think about it that way, it makes sense.

Paul is saying, give those guys a first and a second admonition. Give them a chance to stop being divisive. Tell them what they're doing. Tell them the destruction that they will bring if they don't stop acting this way.

And if they still refuse after the first and second admonition, then reject them. So again, Paul's not saying give a legitimate heretic or a legitimate apostate the ways that we would think of a heretic.

Don't give those guys a second chance. He's saying admonish a divisive person a couple of times, and then avoid him if he continues to act up. So Paul is just quickly, verses 9, 10, and 11, giving Titus some final thoughts on the types of things to avoid, the types of things to watch for, the types of ways to handle it.

This is the type of man, it's interesting, if you look at verse 10 one more time, give him a first and second admonition, and then look at verse 11, knowing that he, that same person in verse 10, is, knowing that he that is such is subverted and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

And that is a very interesting thing to note, because this is the type of guy that will be condemned by his own better judgment. It's almost as if, the way Paul is wording it, is the guy understands that someone like Titus is admonishing him with authority.

It's not just a scuffle. There is true, legitimate, divine authority behind Titus. Someone like Titus or another elder, he's telling me to stop being divisive. But, and so I know better, but I'm going to do it anyway.

That is the kind of man that is to be ultimately rejected in verse 10. Excuse me, verse 11. He is subverted, he sinneth, being condemned of himself. He knows better, and he knows that he knows better.

Perhaps this is before his conscience is ultimately seared, but he's been warned by the gospel minister, and he's still rejected it. When you get a guy like that, Titus and the other elders are to reject them.

Move on from them, and focus on the flock. Focus on God's people. So, verses 9 -11, we get just a brief rehashing of the types of false teachers that we had to learn about in chapter 1 in a little bit more detail.

But now, as we end the letter, we move on to a group of saints that have been along this journey with Paul and Titus all the way. These are men that stand in direct contrast with the demonic false teachers that Titus has been warning about.

Titus 3:12-15 — Paul’s Travel Plans, Gospel Coworkers, and the Call to Fruitful Good Works

So look at verse 12. And this is refreshing. And you have to imagine how refreshing this was to Titus as well, as he's reading this letter for the first time. Verse 12 says, These are the types of things where you think, man, God wrote the Bible in such a different way than we would have.

We would not have included some of these details. If we were trying to construct a scripture like Joseph Smith or something, these aren't the kinds of details that you include. But God, through the Spirit, moving these men as they wrote all of these words, included just the real life that they were living, the friendships they had, the relationships they had.

And some of the instructions that we see Paul giving here, for example, why is it important for us to understand that Titus needs to be diligent to get to Paul and Nicopolis? Well, these are the types of things that the Lord puts in there specifically for our encouragement, and we'll see why.

Much earlier in this study, we mentioned the fact that Titus wouldn't have that much time to complete the work set before him in this letter. Y 'all probably don't remember that because it was a year and a half ago.

But when we were introducing this letter, we briefly talked about how he's got a lot ahead of him, he's got a lot of work to do, and he's pushing the clock. And the reason why we know that is because Paul is saying, I am sending Artemis or Tychicus, one of the two, and we don't know which one ultimately went, but I'm sending one of these two guys to you.

When they get there, you come to me. So Titus's time was short. He had a lot of work to do, and it was important, but there wasn't that much time to do it. And so here is what's happening. He's pushing the clock before he receives either Artemis or Tychicus.

Once they're there, they will relieve Titus so that he can meet the Apostle Paul in Nicopolis. Now, we don't know anything about this guy named Artemis. This is the only place in Scripture that he is referenced, other than he must be a pretty solid guy.

He must be strong in the faith in order to be considered for replacement for Titus. So we know that Titus was a formidable young minister of the gospel in order to receive this letter in the first place, and Artemis apparently was a worthy replacement so that he could be relieved.

We don't know anything about Artemis other than he must have been a great guy, really solid in the faith, really strong in the faith. Now, Tychicus does show up throughout the New Testament, though. He actually traveled with Paul during a mission trip in Acts 20, and he was the man that would ultimately deliver the letters of Ephesians and Colossians to their respective churches.

Imagine being the bearer of these original autographs, these original letters, directly from the hand of Paul, and you're responsible for taking them from Paul to these churches that would then be transmitted throughout church history when we're reading them 2 ,000 years later.

Tychicus was one of those bearers or messengers bringing those letters. It's also indicated that he would end up replacing Timothy in Ephesus at one point. And so think about that for a second. In 2 Timothy, we learn about that.

He is at least on the short list for Paul, between him or Artemis, to go replace Titus. If he was ultimately the one that replaced Titus and relieved him of his work on Crete, it means that Tychicus here would have been Paul's choice to replace both Timothy and Titus, two of the preeminent successors of Paul.

And so that says a lot about who Tychicus was, the kind of guy he was. These are really, really solid guys. He wants Titus to, after they show up, one of the two of them show up and relieve him, he then wants Titus to come to him in Nicopolis.

And why is that? Well, Paul knew that his time was coming short. His time left on earth was coming to an end. And he wanted Titus to come and spend more time with him and share with Titus more things that he would need to know in order to carry the torch after Paul was gone.

And so we learn a little bit about Paul's heart here, about his desire for discipleship, about how much he cared about these young men that would be taking his place, not in the sense of an apostle, but in the sense of proclaiming the gospel, building the church, and, of course, passing on the apostolic teachings that Paul is giving them here.

So Paul wanted to spend more time with Titus. He wanted to disciple him more. He wanted to instruct him more. He wanted to fellowship with him more. So he says, come to me in Nicopolis. I'm going to be here for winter.

In verse 13, he says, Bring Zenos, the lawyer, and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them. Now, Zenos is another guy that we don't know anything about, other than the fact that he is the only Christian lawyer that we ever learn about in Scripture.

So take that for what it's worth. This is the only time a Christian is ever called a lawyer. We don't know what kind of lawyer he was exactly. Could have been a lawyer. So his name, it's Zenos, which literally means gift of Zeus.

So he could have been a Greek, but it was also common for Jews to have a second Greek name. So, for example, Saul, Paul, Saul was the Hebrew name that Paul had, and then Paul was like the Greek equivalent of that.

And so Zenos could have been a Jew that had this Greek name given to him, or he could have been Greek. We just don't know. But what we do know is he was a Christian lawyer, and the only Christian lawyer that we ever know about in Scripture.

But we're not given any more information than that. Now, Apollos, on the other hand, this is an interesting guy. He's very well known. He was an incredible teacher and speaker, and he was well liked by everyone around him.

In Acts chapter 18, it tells us that he was mighty in the Scriptures. So Apollos was an awesome guy. When it says mighty in the Scriptures, that's referring to the entirety of the Old Testament. The New Testament hadn't been written yet.

And he knew about the disciples of John the Baptist. And so he was aware of the forerunner of the Messiah. He was mighty in the Old Testament Scriptures, but he didn't yet fully grasp the gospel of Jesus yet.

And as we know, he was later discipled by Aquila and Priscilla in their house. So Priscilla and Aquila together, husband and wife, discipled Apollos, even though he was already mighty in the Scriptures, sharing him the things they knew about the person of Jesus Christ, and just illuminating all of the truths that they at that point understood.

Apollos would then go be a preacher at the church of Corinth. In fact, he was such a good preacher that Paul tells us at some point there were factions in the church starting. Some wanted to follow Apollos, some Paul.

And think about that for a second. You have some people making the willful choice to be a follower of Apollos over Paul. So Apollos must have been a pretty awesome guy. Now, of course, Apollos and Paul hated that, and they rebuked the factions.

And they said, all of us are followers of Jesus, so stop doing that. But Apollos was a really formidable guy himself. And by the way, Zenos, Apollos, it's very likely that these were the guys that delivered this letter to Titus.

Come on in.

How are you guys doing?

So they would have probably delivered the letter to Titus themselves, and then afterward Paul tells us that Titus is to take care of them, make sure that they're not lacking anything. So when he says at the end of verse 13 there, diligently that nothing be wanting of them, he wants Titus to be very hospitable to these two guys, Zenos and Apollos.

Now, look at verse 14. He says, and let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they may not be unfruitful. Now this is fascinating, because yet again we see this idea of maintaining good works.

Right in the middle of the salutation, Paul is wrapping things up. He's literally about to end the letter, and one more call to sanctification is found. So before his final word, Paul returns to this common refrain that we've seen throughout the whole book.

Maintain good works. One last word, again on sanctification. And really this has been the emphasis of the whole epistle. Paul has been emphasizing good behavior, good works, all built upon the foundation of God's mercy and grace.

In chapter 1, verse 3, he says, In due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior.

Let's see here.

Oh, verse 8? No, that's not quite right. I think I got the verse wrong in my notes. Oh gosh, I lost the verse in chapter 1. But we saw in chapter 1 that basically good works would flow from the work of the elder.

And then you get down to verse 12 of chapter 2, and we're talking about teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, so there's behavior once again. In verse 14, he says, Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.

So we see it twice in chapter 1, twice in chapter 2, and then twice in chapter 3. In verse 8, maintain good works. Excuse me, verse 14. Maintain good works for necessary uses that they may not be unfruitful.

And so, again, this is the emphasis of the whole book. Behavior, godly character. When he says for necessary uses, he means literally to basically tend to the urgent needs of those around you. So maintain good works so that you can tend to the urgent needs of those in your church family.

Things that your church family needs badly. Focusing on the urgent needs rather than every small matter that could distract you from your own family, from your own ministry, perhaps. That is how a Christian can be fruitful in their work and not just busy all the time.

So in order to be fruitful while at the same time being there for your church family, for your congregation, for those in your community, your neighbors, your family, all of these, you have to focus on the necessary use, the urgent matters at hand.

If you fill your time kind of basically being like helicopter mom, but for everybody in your congregation, making sure every little thing is just perfect for everyone, that will distract you from your own calling.

That'll distract you from your own family that needs you the most. That is your priority, not everybody else. Save your time and your energy for the urgent needs when they need you the most. And that is what Paul is saying here.