Titus 3:8-15

8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. 9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned. 12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives. 15 Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.

As we wrapping up our series “Firm Foundations” in the book of Titus Paul concludes his letter to the Cretan Christians with a reminder of the importance of teaming together for the Gospel. According to God’s word we should be treasuring our team mates not trashing them. READ SCRIPTURE Titus 3:8-15. Paul starts his teaching on teaming together by telling Christians to:

1. Cultivate a Heart of Harmony

To do this he suggests we adopt 4 practices. First we need to:

1. Stress the Salvation Story – 8a

The first part of verse 8 reminds us of the importance of sharing salvation. Paul doesn’t suggest that we share the salvation story he insists. What are you stressing, what is your focal point, is it eternal things or earthly things? Many of us are living stressed lives because we are not stressing the Lord. We are getting wrapped up in the inconsequential, majoring on mole hills and minoring on the mountains. As we saw last time we were in our series in Titus we must never get tired of teaching the truth and sharing God’s gift of grace. This trustworthy saying in short is that we are sinners in need of the Savior. The word “insist” means to “affirm constantly.” We should never stop speaking about salvation. So let me ask you are you sharing the story of salvation or are you keeping silent. If you are being silent when it comes to salvation you need to ask yourself why. Has society shut you down, are you sacred, or have you just become so busy that you don’t take time to talk about the truth. Have you become blinded by the bling of this world, so caught up chasing the shiny trinkets that you have shelved the truth. Or have you become bound up, stuck in sin that wants to snuff out your light and waters down your witness. Sin will always drowns out our desire for sharing salvation while kindling our desire for depravity. When we make sharing the Saviors story our passion and priority our personal appreciation for God’s work of grace and mercy will skyrocket. If your walk with Christ seems dry and dull, it could be because you are not actively sharing your faith. Every time you tell someone about God’s grace, you will be reminded of God’s work in your own life. If you keep it to yourself, and never talk about it, the luster of your salvation can begin to tarnish. What is true personally will also spill over and show up corporately. If we as a church become selfish and inward-focused, and stop sharing Jesus we will eventually lose the joy of our salvation. Instead of being a people of praise we will begin to pick each other apart. Instead of celebrating salvation we will be critical of service. Instead of harmony in the church there will be heartache. God’s great commission gets replaced by me and my comfort. What happens when we dam up the grace of God and refuse to share His gift of salvation with the world? When there is inflow but no outflow? Look at bodies of water that have no outflow, closed drainage basins that retain water yet allow no outflow to other external bodies of water. These closed bodies of water are interestingly referred to as terminal basins. Over time evaporation causes them to become relatively saline which leads to them being devoid of life. The most famous aptly named the Dead Sea is over 8 times saltier than the ocean. Because there is no outflow it is easier for these bodies of water to become stagnant turning into marshes that become breeding ground for mosquitoes and bacteria.  Over time they start to shrinking and dry up, becoming empty and void of life. Did you know that the church is the only institution that exists for the benefit of its non-members? When we lose our external focus, internal friction will wear us down. There are a lot of churches today that are dying because they have lost their passion for the lost.

Titus 3:3-8

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.”

B.             Results

• Regeneration – A new birth and a new life. Jesus said it clearly to a religious man named Nicodemus, who came to Him at night in John 3:3: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” We’ve all been born once physically but in order to enter the kingdom of God, we must be born spiritually. No matter how religious we might be, we are dead in our sins and therefore need the regeneration that only the Redeemer can give us. If you’re born once, you die twice; if you’re born twice, you only die once.

• Made right in God’s sight – “Justification is the gracious act of God whereby He declares a believing sinner righteous because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. God puts to our account the righteousness of His Son, so that we can be condemned no more. If you are saved then when god looks at you he sees a saint not a sinner because he sees His son. 

• Riches of righteousness. Not only do we have hope but we are heirs. If you’re saved, you are in line for an incredible inheritance? We are beneficiaries of His blessings. This word in the Greek was a legal term.

In verse 3, Paul describes what believers used to be. But right now some of you are still stuck in your sins because you have not yet received the gift of eternal life. God has done everything for you but you need to respond to Him by placing your full faith and trust in Him. What side are you on? Pre-Conversion Condition or Post-Conversion Condition. Because if you are saved then Paul says you have a responsibility to:

3. Share the Savior

Are you telling and teaching the truth? What are you going to do with God’s gift of grace? Are you going to share it or be selfish and silent with it? Why are people sucking in sin and dying in depravity when we have the solution? Because instead of sharing the life giving water that can save we sit and watch while they struggle and suffocate on sin. Jesus called us to be fishers of Men. You will never love fishing until you learn to love fish. Imagine if I had a bowl of gold fish, as long as they are living in the water they have life but if I were to throw them out they would suffocate and die unless they one of you came up and saved them. Why would you sit and watch them die when you could save them? Maybe you are embarrassed, worried about how silly you would look running up to save a fish. The truth is you cared more about how you look than you do about other people’s lives. Can I share a secrete with you, spending your life saving fish is going to look foolish to the world. It’s not about how we look but about how we live. Some of you might think it’s only a fish I mean he is only worth 10 cents, you are content to sit in your comfortable chairs because you don’t think they are worth it, because Christs work is not as important as yours. Some of you might not respond because you were shocked, because we focus on the sin and not the sinner, we get frustrated by all the flailing and we just want people to stop sinning. There a fish flailing around in your schools at your work and all over this world and we are annoyed with their blatant sin but we are not moved to share the message of God’s mercy. We have become satisfied with being good instead of sharing God.