Titus 03.01-08
02. Reminder: What Jesus Saved Us From (Titus
03.03-07)
Paul is saying that our past sins & the grace that has
been & is continuously shown to us (Titus 02.11-15) should cause us to be gracious
to those who sin against us.
When Paul says “we”
there in Titus
03.03, he is speaking of those who are followers of Christ.
“3 For we also once were foolish ourselves…”
“3 foolish” G453. anohtov anoetos an-o’-ay-tos; from 1 (as a negative particle) & a derivative of 3539; unintelligent; by implication,
sensual:-- fool(-ish), unwise.
The way that this is written in the original Greek is that
this is a fact; we were once completely foolish & ignorant before we
acknowledged Jesus as our LORD (Romans 10.09-17)!
Paul brought up this topic in
some of his other letters that we all have sinned greatly & we are only
forgiven because of the grace of God (Romans 03.09-31; 1Corinthians 06.09-11; Ephesians 02.01-03;
Colossians
01.21-23; Colossians 03.01-17; 1Peter 04.01-03).
“3 disobedient” G545. apeiyhv apeithes ap-i-thace’; from 1 (as a negative particle) & 3982; unpersuadable, i.e. contumacious:-- disobedient.
This is speaking of being
disobedient to God. When we are disobedient to God, we naturally will be
disobedient to laws of the land.
“3 deceived” G4105. planaw planao plan-ah’-o; from 4106; to (properly, cause to) roam
(from safety, truth, or virtue):-- go astray, deceive, err, seduce, wander, be
out of the way.
Before coming to the
acknowledgement of Jesus as our LORD & Savior (Romans 10.09-17), we were led
astray from the truth of God either on our own or from others.
“3 …enslaved to various lusts & pleasures”
Paul is saying that we once were in bondage to various lusts & pleasures
that were not pleasing to God.
“3 & pleasures” G2237. hdonh hedone hay-don-ay’; from andanw handano (to please);
sensual delight; by implication, desire:-- lust, pleasure.
Where we get the modern word for “hedonism”.
Jesus said that if you commit a sin you are a slave of sin (John 08.34).
Paul agreed w/what Jesus said (Romans 06.17;
Romans 06.22).
“3 spending our life in malice & envy, hateful, hating
one another.
Paul is basically saying that they
once spent their lives provoking the hatred of others by desiring to hurt one
another w/their hateful character & behavior, & in turn hating each
other.
Titus 03.04
“4 the kindness of God” reveals His grace through “4 God our Savior & His
love for mankind appeared”
by God becoming a man (Philippians 02.05-08).
“4 appeared” G2014. epifainw epiphaino ep-ee-fah’-ee-no;
from 1909
& 5316; to shine upon, i.e. become (literally) visible or (figuratively)
known:-- appear, give light.
Titus 03.05
Paul explains how we were saved (G4982.
swzw sozo to
rescue from danger or destruction) not based on how righteous we are, or
what we have done, but by His mercy.
Paul writes about this
throughout his letters as well (Romans 03.20; Romans 11.06; Galatians 02.16;
Ephesians
02.04-09; 2Timothy 01.09).
Titus 03.06
Paul said that the Holy Spirit was abundantly poured out on
all who believed in Jesus after He ascended into Heaven (Acts 01-02.47).
The Holy Spirit first came in Acts 02.33, promised by Jesus
(called the Helper, Greek G3875. paraklhtov parakletos par-ak'-lay-tos)
in John 14.16,
John 15.26
& in John
16.07.
Titus 03.07
“7 being justified by” G1344.
dikaiow dikaioo dik-ah-yo’-o;
from 1342;
to render (i.e. show or regard as) just or innocent:-- free, justify(-ier), be
righteous.
Thayer-Especially
is it so used, in the technical phraseology of Paul, respecting God who judges
& declares such men as put faith in Christ to be righteous & acceptable
to him, & according fit to receive the pardon of their sins & eternal
life
This word in the original Greek is written in the Past
Tense, meaning its been done!
The Bible teaches that we are saved by grace through faith
& we are declared (notice past tense) righteous by trusting in Christ for
the forgiveness of our sins.
How does God declare us righteous? It is known
as imputed righteousness, which we see in Isaiah 53.01-11.
When we say that Jesus died for our sins, what we are saying
is that God placed on Christ, or imputed to Him our sinfulness. So then when we
are brought to repentance, faith & trust in Christ for the forgiveness of
our sins, God imputes Christ’s righteousness to us & it’s given to our
account, so that we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ & we do not
have a righteousness of our own (Galatians 03.27; 2Corinthians 05.17-21).
Justification is the Divine verdict of not guilty, meaning
we are now fully righteous. It is the reversal of God’s attitude toward the
sinner. Where as formerly God condemned the sinner to Hell, He now vindicates.
Although the sinner once lived under God’s wrath, as a believer they are now
under God’s blessing.
Justification is more than simple pardon. Pardon alone will
leave the sinner w/o merit before God. So when God justifies, He imputes Divine
righteousness to the sinner (Romans 04.22-25).
Christ’s own infinite merit thus
becomes the ground that the believer now stands before God (Romans 05.19; 1Corinthians 01.30; Philippians
03.09).
So justification elevates the believer to a realm of full
acceptance & divine privilege in Jesus Christ. Therefore, because of
justification, believers not only are perfectly free of any charge of guilt as
Paul says in Romans
08.33, but also have the full merit of
Christ reckoned to their account (Romans 05.17).
What is Sanctification?
Sanctification, (because we are justified) means that we
have now been set apart
(original Greek word for sanctification G38. agiasmov hagiasmos hag-ee-as-mos’;
from G37. agiazw hagiazo hag-ee-ad’-zo; from
G40;
to make holy; G40. agiov hagios hag’-ee-os; from agov hagos (an awful thing) [compare G53, G2282]; sacred
(physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially,
consecrated):-- (most) holy (one, thing), saint.), its the purification process over our lifetime
from the time that we are regenerated, born again, declared righteous in Jesus
Christ to the time when we take our last breath. That progress that we make in
combating our sin using the Holy Spirit & God’s Word (Romans 08.13;
Colossians
03.05) over the process of time we become more & more like
Jesus. Now this process is never complete until we no longer have the sinful
nature to contend with, which means when we get to Heaven.
This means that we do not allow sin to rule & reign over
us.
Justification does not make the sinner righteous, for God
declares that person is righteous (Romans 03.28; Galatians 02.16).
Justification imputes righteousness to the sinners account (Romans 04.11).
Sanctification imparts righteousness to the sinner
personally & practically (Romans 06.01-07; Romans 08.11-14).
Justification takes place outside sinners & changes
their standing (Romans
05.01-02).
Sanctification is internal &
changes the believers’ state (Romans 06.19).
To put it simply: Justification is
an event; Sanctification is a process.
The Roman Catholic Church’s view
of justification is that grace is infused to you as a believer. When a person
is baptized as a Roman Catholic, their original sin is washed away. Than its up
to them at that point to avail themselves of the Mass, Sacraments, say the
Rosary, do good works of penance etc. in order to increase their justification.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches
that it’s something that you earn over a lifetime of doing.
If you’re not full of
justification, than you go to purgatory to burn off all your bad deeds &
sins so that you can be purified before you go into the Kingdom of God.
There seems to be a popular teaching that to redefine the
doctrine of justification by faith.
One of the leading voices in this is an Anglican Bishop by
the name of N.T. Wright.
N.T. Wright is a popular author, (was the Bishop of Durham
in the Anglican Church from 2003 until his retirement in 2010. He is currently
Research Professor of New Testament & Early Christianity at St Mary’s
College, University of St Andrews in Scotland) whose books are now being used
in many Seminaries, & has come out in favor of ordaining women as
pastors.
N.T. Wright makes adjustments to the doctrine of
justification by faith. He is not comfortable w/the terms of penal substitution
& propitiation.
Penal substitution is that Christ steps in our place to
suffer the just wrath of God that we were due to suffer (Isaiah 53.05).
He is being punished for our sins even though He committed
no sin (2Corinthians
05.21).
Propitiation is the work that Jesus did on the cross that deflects
the wrath off of you & onto Him.
N.T. Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, p158,
published 1997
The doctrine of justification, in other words, is not
merely a doctrine in which Catholic & Protestant might just be able to
agree on, as a result of hard ecumenical endeavour. It is itself the ecumenical
doctrine, the doctrine that rebukes all our petty & often culture-bound
church groupings, & which declares that all who believe in Jesus belong
together in the one family...The doctrine of justification is in fact the great
ecumenical doctrine.
So in Wright’s assessment, justification is an ecumenical &
ecclesiological (the theological study of the Christian Church)
issue, not a soteriological (study of salvation) based one.
What N.T. Wright is teaching is followed by many of the
“thinking Christians” of today, people who go to seminaries (not saying that’s
necessarily bad), who want to go “deeper” & follow the Social Gospel of Tim
Keller, Rick Warren, & some of the emergent leaders.
In 2003, in a lecture in Edinburgh, N.T. Wright talking
about Roman Catholics…
I’m as Protestant as the next person, & for good
Pauline reasons. Justification by faith tells me that my Roman Catholic
neighbor believes that Jesus is Lord & God raised Him from the dead, than
he or she is my brother or sister, however much I believe them to be muddled,
even dangerously so on other matters.
So in his own words, he says that those in the Roman
Catholic Church are our brothers & sisters in Jesus Christ. The only way
that he can get to that conclusion is by redefining what justification by faith
means.
N.T. Wright is attempting to bridge the Protestants w/the
Roman Catholics, & many young seminarians learn his definition of
justification.
What is the Gospel according to the Bible? All
we have to do is look at what Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
wrote in 1Corinthians
15.01-08.
The Gospel is that Christ died for our sins, was buried
& rose on the 3rd Day! The Good News is that the work of
salvation was accomplished by Jesus dying on the cross & then raising from
the dead so that we are saved by grace & not by works (Acts 15.11; 2Corinthians 08.09; Romans 05.15;
Galatians
01.06; Ephesians 02.04-09).
By the grace of God, not only have we been justified, but
also “we would
be made heirs according to the hope
of eternal life.” Titus 03.07.
Paul explained this so clearly in his letter to the church
at Rome in Romans
08.16-17.
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