Read with Me
Titus 2:11-15 (HCSB)
For the grace of God has appeared with salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, while we wait for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a people for His own possession, eager to do good works.
Say these things, and encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
Listen with Me
Paul moves from specific instructions given to specific groups within the Church and turns to more general principles. Key among these is that with Jesus’ death and resurrection now a reality, and with His ascension into heaven and His pouring out of the Holy Spirit into the hearts of all who trust in Him for salvation (Acts 2:37-39), it is now possible for all Christians to avoid being ensnared and enmeshed in the sin that surrounded them on every side, and to live genuinely holy lives.
The indwelling Holy Spirit helps every believer to identify temptation at its first appearance, and to simply turn away from it. We are not to wrestle with temptation. That is where so many fail. We are simply to say “No!” and turn away, even run away (1 Corinthian 6:18; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22).
Many Christians also believe that there is no real escape from sin until Jesus returns and transforms our earthly bodies into heavenly ones. But Paul rejected that idea outright. Instead, he urges Titus to show the believers in Crete how it was not only possible but necessary for them to reject sin and godlessness and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present while waiting for Jesus return.
The real possibility of living godly lives is not something that was or is reserved for a special subset of “saints” within the Church. It is instead the birthright of every believer in Jesus who came not just to provide forgiveness, but to actually bring purity of heart to all who believe – a purity that enables and empowers genuinely holy and righteous lives.
These teachings are not to be relegated to special occasions or simply mentioned in sermons, theology classes, and new member classes. They are to be constantly taught and emphasized with strong encouragement and, when necessary, equally strong rebuke of those who refuse to accept them and live them out. The reality of genuine holiness in normal men, women, and children is the strongest testimony of the reality of salvation that can be imagined.
Pray with Me
Father, this is a crucial reminder for us today. Too often, when someone says yes to Jesus, they are given some Scriptures to read and are then simply sent back to their old lives and their old environments, often surrounded by the same temptations and snares that so often trapped them before. We don’t usually tell them that with Jesus in their hearts, they now have the power to say no to temptation. Nor do we instruct them to simply flee temptation when it does occur, instead of trying to wrestle it into submission. I’m afraid that we don’t teach these things because they really aren’t an active part of our theology. We seem to actually believe that the normal Christian life is to be forgiven, but to still be subject to a pattern of struggle, failure, and forgiveness that will be repeated until Jesus comes, the very theology so roundly rejected not only by Paul, but by ALL the New Testament writers. Forgive us, Lord, for believing and teaching this hopeless, false doctrine. Help us instead to live in Your power, Your strength, Your victory every day, so that we can teach others to do the same. Amen.