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.”

After reminding us of the importance of having right relationships at home, in the church and in the work place, Paul now reminds us of the importance of having a right relationship with God and a right response to the world. 

Paul starts with reminding us of both our past and our problem as he tells us about the seriousness and sickness of:

1. Sin – problem

In Titus 3:3, Paul leaves no room for misunderstanding in regards to our crippling condition before conversion: “Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other.” It’s here that Paul talks about both our response to sin as well as the results of sin.  

1. Response

We were:

• FOOLISH” – 

A foolish person lacks understanding, Sin makes us senseless. Ephesians 4:18 describes the life of a lost person: “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.” No matter how smart someone is, if they are not alive spiritually and forgiven they will follow what is foolish. 

• DISOBEDIENT

A person apart from Christ is by nature rebellious, willfully disregarding God’s laws and authority. 

• DECEIVED 

This Greek word describes a wandering and is the root for our word “planet.” We are all prone to wander, 1 Peter 2:25 says that before we are saved, we were “like sheep going astray…” The Devil is the ultimate deceiver, who works to keep people in the dark as stated in 2 Corinthians 4:4: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

• DEPRAVED

Sin wants to make you a slave, and hold you hostage, a prisoner to all kinds of passions and pleasures. Like the country of Crete, our culture is filled with “all kinds” of passions and pleasures, and these sins will enslave. The phrase, “many” reminds us of the diversity of depravity. Sin comes in many sizes, but no matter what you pick its all poison. The word “Pleasure” here is from the root word that is translated “hedonism,” which is the belief that indulgence is the chief end of life. We hear this all the time, don’t we? People say things like, “I just want to be happy” or “I deserve to have fun” or “I just gotta be me!” Those who want freedom to do whatever they want but instead of finding freedom they eventually end up in the prison of what they are pursuing. It’s the story of the prodigal son who went in search of pleasure and found the pig pen. When we aligning our conduct with that which was false, we became entangled and ensnared by passion and pleasure.

Titus 2:9-3:2 

“Slaves must always obey their masters and do their best to please them. They must not talk back or steal, but must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good. Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. You must teach these things and encourage the believers to do them. You have the authority to correct them when necessary, so don’t let anyone disregard what you say.” “Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.”

3.         Respecting the Rulers

Paul begins with the word “remind” here because we all tend to forget, and the tense indicates that Titus is to “go on reminding continuously.” Isn’t it amazing how much of what we read in the Bible is really just a reminder of what we already know. While we may discover new insights, which is good, often what we really need is to be reminded to put into practice what we already know but may have forgotten. Paul is reminding us to respond rightly to those who rule. It’s here that Paul tells us how to live as saved saints in a Sodom-like society as he reminds us of our work, our words and our walk

1. Work

·       Attitude – Be Subject –

Paul in Romans 13 teaches us that the authorities that exist have been established by God. Submission focuses not on personality but on position. Authority is an instrument in the hand of God. What attitude do you have when it comes to authority? When it comes to government do you have a worldly whinning attitude or one that is based in the Word? Many of us are exhibiting a carnal complaining attitude instead of a Christ like one. Your attitude will affect your actions, and its here that Paul reminds us that not only should we have an attitude of submission but our actions should be one of:  

·       Actions – Be Obedient

Submission starts with our attitude and obedience is the outward expression of that attitude. Cretans were notoriously rebellious and so Christian citizens needed to be reminded to be different. Now there are times when we must follow God instead of government, as Peter stated in Acts 5:29: “We must obey God rather than men!” Like when Daniel and his buddies refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3. But more often than not our refusal to obey is not based on biblical reasons but rather our politics and personal preferences. What about you are basing your respect of rules on righteous reasons or rebellious ones? 

·       Be ready to do Good

Unfortunately most Christians today have settled for being good instead of doing good. Acts of kindness are the best sermons, because acts of kindness reveal to a watching world that Christ cares. Notice it says be ready to do good, in order to be poised to do good you have to be prepared. Are you preparing by positioning yourself to do good and paying attention for opportunities to do good? Paul is talking about living an intentional life, being proactive instead of reactive. This requires an outward focus, unfortunately most of us have become so inward focused that we have positioned ourselves for selfishness not service. Are you making the goal getting or giving? Paul now reminds us of the importance of our:

2. Words

·       Don’t slander

This means to speak evil of others. Are you using your words to win people or wound people?  Your words can be a weapon that turns people away from the truth or they can be a witness that turns people to the truth. Our words should be backed up by our:

3. Walk

·       Be peaceable

Unfortunately instead of being known for being caring many Christians are known for being contentious. Instead of being peaceful people who are defined by who we are for, Christ, we have become angry followers who are defined by what we are against, culture. As a result we run around trying to police everyone instead of present them with god’s peace.

·       Be gentle & humble

Instead of being proud people we should be peaceful people. Gentle here does not mean weak but rather power under control and means to be free from harshness. Christians should be known as compassionate not careless. Pride puffs up and causes us to put others down, but humility helps us to put other people first. What about you do you have a hard heart or a humble heart? The kind of life that we live will either make the message of grace beautiful and believable or bitter and unsavory. Is your life seasoning or souring are you challenging and changing the culture or conforming to it?