The Grace of God Bring Salvation for All People
Titus 2:1-15
1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
Before we enter into the message, we should recall why Paul wrote this letter to Titus. Titus was being sent to pastor the church in Crete. Of the problems that were in the Creten church, one of the main issues were incorrect teachings/doctrine that plagued them. This portion of the letter is to address the question that is: what is sound Christian doctrine?
Paul writes in verse 11 that the “grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people”. In Paul’s letter to Timothy he states that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:3-4).That's it.
But what does that mean? In layman's terms, our doctrine rests upon the concept that God desires to save us. Before we ask what we are being saved from, first let us look at what desire means to us and to God.
What is it that you desire? Aside from the latest fashion, good food, or a wonderful spouse, there are three general, primal, desires that humans tend to share.
1. Safety
2. Power
3. Love
Another way to view our desires is to see that:
1. Desire for safety → Fear of the future
2. Desire for power → Fear of being controlled
3. Desire for love → Fear of being rejected
We can see that our concept of desire and fear are just two sides of the same coin. Then where did these desires come from? When did these fears start? The answer lies in Genesis 3:9-10, these desires stem from and our fears started as a consequence of sin.
Now that we understand this concept, let's get rid of fear! But what happens when we try to respond to our fears? We tend to react in a few ways:
Deny it - We don’t admit we have this fear and instead we choose ignorance.
Withdraw - We hide or retreat, just like Adam did when faced with fear (Gen. 3:9-10)
Confrontation - We create other excuses or purposes to overcome our fear, anything for us to cling to power and not return to God.
It looks bleak. But remember, what did God desire? That is right, our salvation. For the definition of salvation is a means of being saved from loss/harm/danger…or for our case, fear. Meaning that God will rescue us from our fear of the future, our fear of being controlled, and our fear of being rejected. This is a revelation that Pastor Daniel said tends to be lost when speaking to VIPs. Although we Christians can tell VIPs about the penalty of sin and how Jesus died for their sins, practically, these words mean nothing to them. But again, these fears we’ve talked about are shared by all people, Christian and non-Christian alike, and any person would be open to hearing about a way to be free from all fear.
Now Pastor Daniel’s task for us through this word was to equip us with the ability to share this revelation to VIPs, as this is God’s desire (Titus 2:11-15). We must first align ourselves with God and turn from our own desire to God’s desire. As we do this, we will find people in our lives who have not been freed from fear (VIPs). Should we go out and tell them that there is an easy way to be free of fear? Not just yet, we must then:
1. Pray - We must earnestly pray for our VIPs' souls and what we can do for them.
2. Act - As we pray, we must be attentive to the conviction by the Holy Spirit and follow His guidance. If there is no conviction by the Holy Spirit, then do not do it. For example, if, after earnest prayer, you feel convicted to reach out to a VIP in the moment, then do so, for the Holy Spirit may have willed it. Instead, if you feel an emotion or are guilted into reaching out to your VIP, without prayer, then don’t do it; for you will surely fail.
3. Engage in conversation - After earnest prayer and faithful action, let’s engage VIPs in meaningful conversations about faith in Christ and understand the reasons that may make them hesitant to accept Him. Faith comes from hearing. Let’s create opportunities for them to connect with a pastor and invite them to join the RJM and Living Life Bible Study.
Now that we have identified what our desires are, where they stem from, and what God’s desire is, we can better appreciate the grace we have received. With this new perspective, let us then put this teaching to use and follow the proper guidance set before us, so that we can fulfill our part in working towards God’s desire of salvation for all.
Reflection Questions:
1. Which of the three desires/fears stands out in your life? How has God freed you from that desire/fear?
2. Is there a VIP that you are struggling to connect with? Is there something in the instruction Pastor Daniel gave that you haven’t tried?
Reflection
On reflection of this message, an image formed in my mind of a small, well minded business that found success. As the success kept coming and the business grew, slowly things were replaced until the nice homely charm of a small business changed over time to become a grayscale building, devoid of decoration but still promoting the same business. However the business it ran was less personal, and sought after ideal clients instead of being open to any customer.
This message to me splinters open the core of our mission. What is it that I am trying to sell to these VIPs? A product that I don’t even fully engage with or understand? Something I work to share, just because I am supposed to? Or have I become fully complacent and peddle out what I knew once to be good?
Not that the gospel is a commodity but I hope the allegory illustrates that I have found myself in the throes of lack of progress with VIPs or my own spiritual life, even though I am doing “what I am supposed to do”, without question. I found it comfortable to regurgitate that “Jesus is Lord” and that you should be saved since it would be bad if you weren’t. Pretty dumb when I look at it like that; no wonder not all the VIPs I’ve spoken to found an interest in God. Although I am better about it now than when I was spiritually younger, I do admit I am still not consistently diligent. I do not consistently align myself with God’s desires, I do not consistently pray for my VIPs, I do not consistently listen to the Holy Spirit’s conviction, and I do not consistently engage with my VIP’s lives. Why should I complain that my spiritual life feels stagnant when I haven’t even tried to look at what it is that God wants?
I pray that instead of trying to confront and wrangle my spiritual life on my own terms, that I would instead align with God’s desire. I know that if I can do that consistently, then my desires will become His and it will become natural to become a part of the mission that is salvation for all.
