1. LIVING OUT THE TRUTH -- THE EPISTLE TO TITUS
IN this Letter to Titus we find one of the loveliest passages in the New Testament: "For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men, educating us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live sobermindedly and righteously and with true spirituality in this present age, looking forward to that blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all lawlessness, and make clean for himself a people for his personal possession, zealous of good works" (2:11-14).
I begin by asking, How do secrets get out? The Letter opens with what must have been a secret transaction between Paul and the Lord. The writer calls himself "A servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ" (1:1), and in doing so refers to the secret intuitions which he had about himself and his place in the purposes of God. Knowing, as we do, the background to these claims, we remember that those who were with him on the road to Damascus "saw the light but did not hear the voice" (Acts 22:9). They knew that something was going on but for all they knew Paul had been struck by lightning or had fallen down with [104/105] sunstroke. They did not hear the explanatory voice; they did not know what he knew, that he was being drawn to the Saviour. They knew nothing of his being shown the Lord Jesus and being constituted an apostle of Christ and of His Church. What is more, Paul himself made something of a secret of God's dealings with him, for he said: "I did not consult with flesh and blood. I went off to Arabia." (Galatians 1:15-17).
In the first place, then, his position was a secret matter between him and his Lord. But it became public property. And that is why I ask how it is that the secret realities of being a Christian are made known publicly. Paul himself goes on to answer this question by explaining that it is by listening and looking. First of all it is a matter of doctrine. Listen to this! "Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect". He appeals here to a reality to which we will return again and again in this brief series on Truth and Life. We come back again and again to New Testament truth, and note that the Church already possesses the truth. Paul was willing to be tested by that truth which is deposited among the people of God. "The faith of God's elect" involves all that they hold and believe as God's divine truth coming, as it does, from "God who cannot lie" (1:2). It is as though the apostle advises Titus not to accept what he says about his personal secret life with God as true just because he says so, but because he is seen to be walking along the line of established truth which is possessed by and believed by the people of God.
Then Paul says, 'Watch what I do'. The second test to which he subjects himself is a moral or practical one. "Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to ... the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness" or, as it is given in the helpful interpretation of the N.I.V., "the knowledge of that truth which leads to godliness." My apostleship is vouched for not only by the fact that in my teaching I concur with the deposit of truth laid down by the truthful God among His people, but if you watch my life you will find in me that living moral practice which is the counterpart of the truth. The truth leads out into godliness, it finds its natural counterpart in holy living. Broadly speaking I think that the word here translated 'godliness' refers to what we would call spirituality -- the evidence in life of a sincere and deep walk with God.
It is thus that Paul makes his claims. He does not say that things must be accepted just because he says them but should be subject to a doctrinal and a practical test. Brothers and sisters, what Paul was prepared to use as a test of reality in his own case, he also insists must be the test of reality for every believer in all situations. There is never any concession; we never admit exceptional circumstances, special conditions or exceptive clauses in this particular matter. It applies to all Christians in all situations. How is a Christian known? First because he professes a true belief, and second because a matching godliness is evident in his life.
Paul stresses that this double emphasis on doctrine and life applies to leaders: "Appoint elders in every city as I gave you charge. If any man is unblameable, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, who are not accused of profligacy or insubordination. For an overseer must be unblameable. He is the steward of God, not autocratic, nor quick tempered, not given to overmuch wine, not pugnacious, not greedy of money, but given to hospitality, a lover of good, soberminded, just, holy, a controlled person, holding the faithful word which is according to the teaching" (1:6-9). If we ask how one can know if a person is fit for leadership, you must look at his life and listen to his words. These are the marks of being a genuine article.
The apostle says the same about Titus himself. He does not claim that Titus is in the apostolic succession -- not a bit of it! He can be known as a man of spiritual authority only if he speaks "the things which match (or befit) wholesome doctrine" (2:1). Once again the apostle says to him, "In all things showing yourself an example of good works" (2:7). Paul himself is ready to submit to the test and insists that Titus must do the same. [105/106]
The next to be described are called "the aged men" and the "aged women" (2:2-3). This, I imagine, does not refer to their actual age but rather to those who may be described as more adult and mature believers. Concerning the men we are told that they should be 'temperate' and seriously minded. The word which is translated 'soberminded', appears several times in this letter and it describes a person who has all his faculties integrated, who is controlled and who knows who he is. The word is first used in the New Testament in Mark 5:15, in connection with the man who was possessed by a legion of demons. When asked his name by the Lord Jesus he replied, "My name is Legion", confessing that he was not one person but a multiplication of persons, all in confusion, who himself did not know what he was going to do next. When Jesus had cast out the demon the people came and found that he was "in his right mind", which is the same word, 'soberminded'. In other words they found that he was now one whole person, in full control of all his faculties. Paul goes on to say that the mature man must be sound, or wholesome, "in faith, in love, in endurance". This, then, is the mark of a true mature believer -- he is sound in doctrine and he is exemplary in the way he lives.
The letter goes on to speak of the senior women, the mature women of the congregation, saying that in their way of life they should be reverent, or, according to the Greek, that they should live like holy priestesses (2:3). They should not be slanderers, literally 'like Satan', anxious to take away the character of other people, but "teachers of that which is lovely", for that is the implication of the word 'good'. Furthermore, they are to inculcate a true personality in the younger women, for again we have the word 'soberminded', to be in full control of their faculties. Once again there is this double emphasis, the mature Christian woman is known by what she says and by what she does.
The same is applied even to slaves (2:9), confirming what I have said at the beginning, that there are no excusatory circumstances. No-one can avoid the issue by saying, 'I am only a slave. I have to do what I am told, I have no choice in the matter.' "Exhort slaves to be subordinate to their own masters, and to be well pleasing to them in all things; not answering back, not pilfering ...". You have a choice in the way in which you do things. Moreover you have the privilege of being called to "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things". Adorn the doctrine -- is not that a splendid thought? If you think of the doctrine as a person, then the life of the believer can be like a precious jewel around that person's neck. It is as though they make the doctrine of God to sparkle. So what is true for the apostle and for the leader, is also true for even the lowliest of believers.
By the Letter to Titus the Lord is speaking to all of us. These are tests which we must face. I would like to give you two reasons why we should pay attention to this matter of reality in what we believe and say and in what we do and show in our lives.
i. Because God is our Saviour
As we move along in this letter we note how it alternates between calling the Father our Saviour and calling the Lord Jesus our Saviour. The references are 1:3, 1:4, 2:10, 2:13, 3:4 and 3:6, and then there is that which is one of the great Trinitarian passages of the Bible: "According to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour" (3:5-6). We have the initiative of the Father, the mediation of the Son, and the applicatory work of the Holy Spirit. The whole Trinity Himself is seen to be concentrating on our salvation!
There are three dimensions of salvation; there is the past, the future and the present. As to the past, we are told that he "gave himself" on our behalf (2:14) and that "When the kindness of God our Saviour and his philanthropy (his love for man) appeared, according to his mercy he saved us" (3:4-5). He saved us. He performed a work of salvation of which we were the recipients. That lies in the past. The ultimate of salvation lies in the future: "... that blessed hope; the appearing of the glory of our great God" (2:13). We are justified by His grace that "we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (3:7). So salvation looks back to what God has done and looks forward to what He will do when Christ comes to usher His own into eternal glory. [106/107]
But what about the present of salvation? The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, "instructing us ..." (2:12). Here is the educative work of divine grace. The grace which reached back to save us and will reach forward to bring us home, that same grace is now present to educate us. And if we ask what that education consists of, the answer is: "To the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously ...", that is, as integrated persons with true spirituality in a godly fashion. I have the feeling that 'sobermindedly' refers to the person viewed inwardly in relation to all the capacities which lie within his personality and which are often at war with one another. As to 'righteously', I think that this means in conformity with the righteous law of God, and has to do with what other people see happening in our lives. This, then, is true spirituality, a sincere and genuine regard for God which resides in our hearts and issues in our lives.
"He gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity (or lawlessness) and to make clean for himself a people for his very own personal possession, who are zealots of good works" (2:14). When Jesus chose the apostles, He chose one, "Simon the zealot" or Simon the fanatic. Christians are to be fanatical about good works. Further we are reminded of "the washing of regeneration" (3:5) -- the washing that speaks of everything being set to rights -- and "the renewing activity of the Holy Spirit." We see, then, that to possess salvation means that grace educates, that Christians are to be fanatically committed and that the Holy Spirit energises; it is therefore pointless to claim to be saved unless people can see in our lives that God is our Saviour.
ii. Because the world is our responsibility
This is the way in which our testimony must be given to the world around us. When the Lord Jesus cleansed a leper, He said to him: "See thou say nothing to any man; but go thy way, show thyself ..." (Mark 1:44). I think that this is a marvellous piece of advice to give to new converts who, of course, have got to come out with their testimony. But talking is not the first thing, especially for young people. I beg you not to say to a young person who is just converted 'Now go home and tell your parents.' They probably don't know enough to tell their parents and the parents may get worried that their child has religious mania so that what started as a testimony meeting can end as a family slanging match. Don't do it! Be advised by the Lord and say to them: 'See that you tell nobody but go and show yourself to them. As soon as they discover that you begin making your own bed and keeping your room tidy and perhaps cleaning your father's shoes for him, it will not be a case of telling them that you have found the Saviour; it will be a case of their asking you what has changed you. That will be the time to speak.'
How true it is that the most efficacious testimony is that of a transformed life. "Teach the young women to be real persons, pure, homemakers, full of kindness ... that the word of God be not blasphemed" (2:5). Keep the Christian cause free of criticism. "In all things showing yourself as a headline example of lovely works; in your teaching, integrity, wholesome words that cannot be condemned, that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having nothing discreditable to say of us" (2:7-8). Do we want to impress the world? Well, it is true that the world is our responsibility, so we should confront it with matching teaching and life.
Perhaps as you read Titus you will find that all the things spoken about by way of moral virtues and values are very ordinary. Long, long ago, the servants of Naaman said to him: "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, when he tells you to wash and be clean!" It is when the jewels of ordinary conduct shine with a supernatural light in our lives that the word will take notice.
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