Taught by Grace

Haggai is a little book tucked away toward the end of the Old Testament. If the pages are stuck together in your Bible, you may unknowingly skip right on by this book. Yet, this book has much to teach us about the glory of God and how His saints glorify Him.

Over the next five weeks, we are going to walk through this book and see how God used Haggai to call Israel to consider their ways, rebuild the temple, and experience God's blessing again.

This week, I introduce the book by looking at:

Titus is like a three chapter IV pumping what it means to live by the grace of God for the glory of God into our spiritual veins. 

And now we come to these concluding verses and think, “Okay, everything else makes sense why I should care, but what impact can these four salutary verses teach me?” On the surface, these verses are very much Paul’s concluding remarks to Titus. He’s finishing this letter out and has some final instructions for him. That is basically what these verses are about, but without straining at gnats and trying to swallow camels, I do believe these verses have more to offer than simply being Paul’s final concerns for Titus. 

In these final words, these verses remind us that God's work is bigger than individuals, is about far more than us, and that we are not alone in this.

We are marching toward the end of Paul’s letter to Titus and in the second to last section, Paul presses deeper into Titus' role as pastor. These four verses have a twofold purpose: 

Titus was to challenge God’s people to maintain good works and do everything necessary to guard against those things that would prevent them from doing good works.

this
ministry:

1. Emphasize maintaining good works

2. Avoid foolish talk

3. Reject willing heretics

Titus 3:1-7 describes how believers at to glorify God in an ungodly world. We are to be submissive to the government and kind to all men (1-2). Verses 3-7 answer the question of why?

Titus 3:3-7 answers this question - Why should I treat unbelievers in the way verses 1-2 describe? Paul gives us two Gospel realities to remember: 

Remember that you are saved by grace (4-7) - They need the Gospel 

We often learn how to navigate this journey by hearing from those who are a few steps further on the journey than we are. In this week's conversation episode, I interview my grandpa to discuss how he has learned the faithfulness of God through his life.

We take a journey through his life. From salvation and rededication to church to work and family to finishing well. I also ask him about what he would like for those earlier in our race to know. I hope that you will listen to this episode to learn from a faithful man about how to live for a faithful God.

How do we live like Christians in an ungodly society? Titus 3:1-2 is here to give us a pesky reminder of what it looks like. It looks like submission to the government, refusing to be furious, and showing gentleness to all men. It is living towards others knowing that you have tasted the kindness of God in the Gospel.

The grace-taught life sputters to a stop unless it is centered on the finished and continued work of Christ. 

Do you want to stop being offended when someone looks at you the wrong way?

Do you want to meditate on God’s Word day and night? 

Do you want to live in earnest hope for Christ’s return?

Titus 2:14-15 shows how Christ's person and work connects to the rest of our lives as believers. In this episode we see how Christ's work is the foundation of both our (1) Salvation and (2) Sanctification. He gave Himself to redeem and purify us.

God's grace in Jesus teaches us to be healthy Christians in how we think, what we do, and who we are. To live this way, we must embrace the two-sided coin of Titus 2:11-15 - denying ungodliness and looking for Christ's return. We examined the first side last week. This week, we see how eagerly anticipating Christ's return is necessary for every believer in Titus 2:13.

I address the way we often look to Christ's return (with indifference, inconvenience, or unbelief). We also see what our heart posture should be for His return. Finally, we will see why this is necessary for our lives as believers. Eager anticipation of Christ's return is necessary for every Christian.