Titus 2

There is a life to be lived in accord with sound Christian teaching. This is such a relief to hear. It tells us that the Christian faith is not just a mind game for people who enjoy spiritual brain teasers. Biblical wisdom has always been expressed through obedient living. It is also a great relief to know that our eternal destiny is not simply to be in a place where we are sure that we have all the correct ideas. In heaven we will live in the glory of perfect motivation and behavior.

One further exciting feature of living as a Christian in this age is that we do not have to wait until we get to heaven to experience the joy of doing things God's way. Nor do we have to consider ourselves as those who are hopelessly stuck in habits of heart and life that are displeasing to God, harmful both to ourselves and others. Each of us can consider our current life situation and take joy in learning more about heaven's ways not merely by thinking about what God loves, but by also doing what He loves as we pursue the life that God has for us today.

This will look somewhat different for different Christians. Paul urges Titus to encourage people in the ways of heaven with an awareness of who they are. For instance, the challenges that older men face are not normally the same dangers that are more obvious for young men, though there is a certain amount of overlap between these two groups. We should expect that older men would live with an awareness of the example that they are setting for others in the congregation. They need to seek the same virtues that God requires in the elders and deacons of the church.

Older woman in the faith have an additional responsibility. The younger women must be able to look to them for guidance as role models. How is a young lady supposed to behave in a new marital relationship? What if she has children? How can she deal with the special strains that come upon new wives and mothers? Surely the more mature Christian women should be able to help these younger women in areas where even the most godly men may lack some credibility. We all need to learn how to love like Jesus. People who have faced the same kinds of struggles that we have should be able to help us in growing in the love of God.

Everyone needs to understand that self-expression is not the highest Christian virtue. Especially young men would do well to have good role models of godly restraint for their imitation. That's why a man like Titus will need to understand that his own way of life will be such an important testimony in the church. The work of the ministry is not merely excellence in finding out what is wrong and criticizing it. People in Crete will need to see what it means to be a Christian man. If they cannot get that from Titus, Paul's authorized representative on the island, where will they find someone they can safely imitate? The teaching of a man like Titus must be sound, but there is something else that must also be sound about him: his integrity, his dignity, and his good works. Attending to these matters are not a distraction from his teaching and preaching. They are a part of the fullness of who he must be as a minister of the Word.

There are certain facts of life and truths about God and man that cut across all group boundaries. They are what they are for for young and old, for women and men, for slaves and free. All of us need to adorn the teaching of God our Savior with a life that fits that teaching. All of us need to know that the grace of God that brought us the cross is the same grace of God that brings us the fullness of heavenly sanctification. All of us need to know that we don't have to wait for heaven to experience more of that grace of sanctification.

The grace of God trains us now. What a wonderful message! It is grace that trains us to renounce ungodliness. The word “trains” implies some progress. It is grace that is increasingly able to see a worldly passion for what it is, to see that it is not pleasing to the Lord, and to eventually, perhaps over a number of years, to renounce it. It is grace that allows us to finally discover the self-control that may have always eluded us. It is grace that empowers a person to love righteousness, and especially to love the righteous One, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, but it is also grace that moves those who are in Christ to live an increasingly upright and godly life.

It is also the grace of God that makes us eager for heaven and for the appearance of the Lord from that place of perfected righteous life. Jesus is our great God and Savior not only because we have come to believe that He is the Son of God who saved us. His gracious work of redemption is expressed the first time that we truly say, “I believe,” but that is not the last expression of the redemption that is ours through the blood of Christ. We have been redeemed from a lawless life, and we have been redeemed for a life of heavenly purity. That is why the church is to be zealous for works that are truly and quietly good. This is a message that no one who calls on the Name of the Lord should be allowed to disregard. It is news that is far too good for any of us to disregard.