Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.  Titus 3:1, 2

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.  Titus 3:8

The believers in Crete, once much alive in enthusiasm for lifting up Jesus on the island, now, after many years, as is often the case, they found themselves tempted to shift their eyes to peripheral issues that have no importance at all.  I suppose some Judaizers raised questions about ancestry and the Law of Moses.    In any case, I have seen this happen, from a zeal to make Christ known to getting bogged down in what might look like important issues but are quite trivial and should not command our attention or, worse yet, divide us.

Paul keeps coming back to this “Do good.”  He wrote, “Be ready to do whatever is good.”  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.”  The point is, stop nitpicking – do what is good.  “Do” is the key word.  Living in Jesus is a life of doing!  We can dicker on many issues; discuss pros and cons at length, and so forth, but that gets us nowhere.  A deed of kindness is worth a book of disputes.  Our enemy wants us to digress – to take our eyes off what is of greatest importance and focus all our attention to a point of disagreement.  Lord, forgive us.

This week the chrysanthemum burst into its Fall beauty.  I find it so refreshing and promising.  All Summer it prepared for this moment.  Now, before the cold of Winter, it is a marvelous array of beauty.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 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, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 

Titus 3:4 – 7

A window into Paul’s heart and head!  He had just made the point that we, as unsaved people, lived ungodly lives.  Then, and only then, did we seek his forgiveness and salvation.

Paul uses the apt and visual expression, “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared…” It is not that we sought God but that He appeared to us.  This is a mystery. When he did appear to us, as he did to Saul, the persecutor of the church, he answered our prayers to be saved.  We had nothing to deserve this astounding blessing.  All our good works could purchase us nothing.  We were saved and given new life “because of his mercy.”  We were debtors to his mercy then and even now.

Paul goes on to explain all this. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

We were washed and reborn from above.  It was already prepared, we just needed to make salvation ours through belief and obedience.  Paul insisted that we were renewed “by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”  We were, and still are, recipients of these saving blessings because of what Jesus did, without any reference to what we may have tried to give.  What we have to give is our hearts, our faith, our all.

And then, “having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”  This statement is as shocking as it is precious to us.  We earned nothing, Jesus earned us!

All of us believers share this jaw-dropping truth, we are washed by the Blood of Jesus and renewed by the Holy Spirit.

While we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

Titus 2:13 – 15

I must admit that I assumed that Paul would lay out, as he did in many of his letters, a review of the basics of our faith.  It seems to me that he moved directly to how true believers are to behave.  However, he insists that Christian behavior must be based on “sound doctrine.”  Christianity is not a new ethic, but a new revelation of way to live with God and with the people of God who are redeemed by Jesus Christ. This produces what might be considered  new ethics.

I gather from this that sound doctrine must be practiced, not just believed, even though belief is essential.

So, Paul instructs Titus to teach that old men are to be temperate, self-controlled, “sound in faith, in love and in endurance.”  Turning to the old women, they should embody the Gospel in all their relationships. The younger men should be self-controlled.  Slaves should be virtuous and hard-working.

Concluding this section, he addresses everyone.  Here are his trustworthy words.  “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.” I feel the impact of this phrase, “to all people.” It matters not whether Jew or Greek: it is for all believers.

It is then that he reminds them of what they surely already know but need to be reminded of, “while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

Paul knows that Christ in us, by the new birth, produces life like that of Jesus Christ, as revealed by the Holy Spirit.  The way we live is the way Jesus lives – in us.  What a joy!

A new insect, new to me, is showing up on Mark and Elizabeth’s farm.  Name – Spotted Lantern Fly.  I understand they arrived from Asia somewhere and are now spreading in several counties here in eastern Pennsylvania.  At first glance, they are amazingly beautiful, even with wings folded.  When they spread their wings, as below, we see their amazing colors.  These fellows are new to me. As far as I know I never saw them. At Mark and Elizabeth’s place, they were on the wild grape vines and abundant on the silver maple in their front yard.  It appears that they have no enemies here!  Ugh!  Keep tuned.

The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 

Titus 1:5

As I read Paul’s words of counsel to Titus, I am reminded that Titus is a Greek and that Paul is undoubtedly a Jew, and the situation that is being discussed is on the Greek island, Crete, where some Jews obviously settled as traders and where small Jewish communities were established.  I note that Paul did not visit the island himself until his last trip, some think his fifth, before he was killed.  So, the churches there on the island were on their own, so to speak, for thirty or more years.  We have no record of any apostles visiting Crete during that time.

This is not the first mention of Crete in the New Testament.  Some Cretans were in Jerusalem at the Feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell with power on the believing group in Jerusalem. Acts 2.  When the Cretans who believed in Jesus returned home they probably started fellowships.

It was on his final trip around the Mediterranean before his final imprisonment that led to his death that Paul visited Crete together with his partner in mission, Titus.

Stepping back, we are amazed that the churches pushed on in the island for years, probably on their own. That is most commendable.  But Paul sought to help them by encouraging Titus to help them to work on their core beliefs and on leadership issues.  Titus was not a Cretan, he was from Asia Minor, but he, in some way or other, maybe through the leadership of Paul, found himself as a key person in the development of the churches on Crete.

We gather from all this that the churches on the island suffered some from the lack of good leadership through the years.  Paul wanted to be of some help so he encouraged Titus to spend some time helping the churches on the island as he was compelled to return to Rome, his final trip.

I am amazed at two things, first that the churches started and grew there with very little assistance from the apostles for an amazing 30 or so years, and that Paul, in his final trip, did the work of an apostle by assuring the Cretan churches that they are a part of the growing body of believers in the world – that they had a place.

This is the background that will help us to understand more fully the context of this wonderful, rather short, letter that Paul wrote to Titus.

Seven monarch butterflies descended on our butterfly bush outside our kitchen window.  These should soon be on their way south, maybe have one more cycle on the way.  They or their offspring will hopefully make it to Mexico where they will spend the Winter.  They will live for about five months before heading north again.

I understand that last year’s migration was great.  These butterflies know how to survive.  They consume very little nectar during their stay south of our border.  They will return in March or April. The first thing they will do is find milkweed in Texas or further north where they will lay their eggs and then, after a few weeks, die.  The eggs will produce the next generation.  The children of that generation will get up to our area.  What stamina and determination!

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Titus 1:1-4

The way Paul describes himself to Titus if full of meaning, for both of them.

He is a servant of God.   Servants serve.  God’s servants serve Him.  Paul delights in the fact that he is accepted by God himself, as a happy servant.  This is how Paul saw himself.  I think all believers are at the same point on this, we see serving God as privilege and a joy.

He is an apostle of Jesus Christ.  The word, apostle, is full of meaning.   It implies being chosen for a purpose and then acting on it.  Paul knew without a doubt that God called him – Paul, once Saul, the Pharisee – for a specific assignment to encourage those whom God has called, to establish them in the truth, a truth that produces godliness and hope.

An apostle is sent to declare, in the name of God, that through faith in Christ one is ushered into eternal life.  Time is not a factor in that.  God promised eternal life before time began as far as our earth is concerned, and those who embrace the Gospel experience life eternal.

Paul is an apostle, now appointed to bring to light the offer of Christ, the Savior.  Paul is commanded by God to do this.

That is a long and profound introduction, but it spells out who Paul is, not in himself, but as one caught up by the Lord to be transformed to preach the Gospel of salvation, open to all.

Paul is a Jew; Titus is a Gentile. They are now brothers in the Body of Jesus Christ on the earth.  This is shocking at first, but upon reflection, it is exactly what is happening and what will continue to happen until the end of time.  We do not choose our brothers and sisters in Jesus, He does that.  Then he gives us grace to blend with all believers in all ages, in all cultures in our world.  That is not only good news, it is life-changing news.