A COMMON CALLING OF OUR FAITH

Titus 1:1-4
Bob Bonner
November 9, 2008

As we witness, sometimes with a sense of astonishment mixed with grief, the relatively sudden changes in our country’s moral culture, we often hear the question, “How could this be happening to our Christian country?” The answer has to do with apostasy. Apostasy, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, is “the renunciation of a religious faith; the abandonment of a previous loyalty; defection.”

Apostasy does not happen overnight. Apostasy is something that gradually creeps into the church through lack of Biblical teaching and correction. Apostasy results when Christians do not know or have forgotten who they are in Christ. It is the consequence of Christians either forgetting their common calling or replacing their common calling with other pursuits such as personal happiness, convenience, or a search for pleasure and acceptance. 

This morning as we begin our study of Paul’s letter to his disciple Titus, we will see what our common calling is and discover if there is evidence that we are being faithful to that calling or if we are becoming apostate.

As usual, Paul begins his letter to Titus with comments that not only introduce himself and greet his reader but also set the tone for his emphasis in what follows. The emphasis in Paul’s salutation to Titus is on Paul's calling and the nature of his message rather than on his authority, as he often has had to emphasize in his other letters. This salutation is remarkably long (a single sentence from verse 1 through 4a) and heavy for such a short epistle. Only Paul's greeting in the book of Romans is longer. The length of Paul’s salutation suggests that he was not only intending for Titus to read this letter, but for Titus to personally read it over and over to other rebellious Cretan Christians who may have wanted to disregard Titus’ authority or leadership.

Let’s begin our study of Titus by reading all four verses and then come back to look at them more closely. Paul writes:

¹Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the

faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is

according to godliness, ²in the hope of eternal life, which God, who

cannot lie, promised long ages ago, ³but at the proper time manifested,

even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted

according to the commandment of God our Savior, ⁴To Titus, my true

child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and

Christ Jesus our Savior. 

Paul introduces himself in two ways in verse 1. First, he calls himself a bond-servant (literally “slave”) of God, and second an apostle of Jesus Christ. Then, according to the Greek grammar of the verse, Paul explains the purposeful ministries that each of these titles represented. First, as God's bond-servant he brings God's elect to a saving faith in Christ. Then, as an apostle he brings these new believers into the fuller knowledge of God's truth, the gospel.  In the end, Paul’s goal in teaching the truth about the gospel is that it would produce godly living in the believer. Let’s examine these two roles that Paul played, first as a bond servant and then as an apostle.

The thought that believers are slaves to the Lord is not new to Paul or to the New Testament. It is found throughout the Old Testament scriptures.  For a Jew, this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. The idea of slavery was used of national Israel at times (Isaiah 43:10) but was especially associated with famous Old Testament personalities such as Moses (Joshua 14:7), David (Psalm 89:3; 2 Sam 7:5, 8), and Elijah (2 Kings 10:10). Each of these believers was called a “servant (or slave) of the Lord." Probably the clearest passage that explains why Christians are God’s slaves is found in 1 Corinthians 6:20: “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

For Paul, his being a slave of Christ carried with it a specific commission. He was to reach the lost for Christ, to do the work of an evangelist.  Typically in the Greek New Testament, when the word “faith” (verse 1) is used without the word “the” or “a” preceding it, it carries the meaning of “believing faith” or “saving faith,” that is, the initial faith that leads to conversion. This faith is different from that faith which is applied to the truths gleaned from God’s Word that show saved Christians how to live.

Note that Paul describes this calling as being directed at the “chosen.” Although surrounded with mystery, the biblical teaching on divine election is a reality as it is declared throughout the New Testament. Jesus told His disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you.” (John 15:16) Earlier in John 6:44 Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” And Paul adds in Romans 8:29-30:

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become

conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn

among many brethren; ³⁰and these whom He predestined, He also

called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He

justified, He also glorified.

But does this truth of election disregard the individual’s responsibility to chose or reject Jesus Christ? No it does not. Balanced biblical theology requires that such tension remain concerning election and man’s responsibility to choose Christ. In fact, if the concept of election is so hard to understand, perhaps Paul would not have brought it up. In addition, to simply reject the clear biblical teaching of election because of one’s limited human understanding or one’s inability to put the entire theological puzzle together concerning God’s choosing and man’s responsibility to choose is dangerously shortsighted. For Romans 11:33 reminds us, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”

God’s choosing who would be saved is intended to be a practical truth that brings with it many benefits. One benefit of acknowledging the truth of God’s electing you is that it assures faithful, struggling believers that their salvation is all of God from beginning to end. Because of election, God has not left the believer’s assurance of salvation captive to changing feelings or faltering faith. Rather, it secures the believer’s salvation in the will and purposes of God Himself. 

Furthermore, election leaves no room for human pride or an “elitist” Christian mentality. Rather, it is a source of genuine humility, as believers recognize that their salvation is in reality alone God’s merciful work toward us. Once this truth about God’s having chosen you first, rather than the other way around, is grasped by the believer, election offers a foundation of comfort, security, and true worship, not uncertainty and confusion. 

As should every believer, Paul realized God’s mercy in choosing to save him, and that that left him with no other logical choice but out of gratefulness to willingly become God’s slave. From the moment of his conversion, Paul no longer had a life that he called his own--no will of his own, no purpose of his own, no plan of his own. All was rightfully subject to his Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. In every thought, breath, and effort he was under the mastery of Jesus Christ. The same is true of us.

As an Apostle, Paul’s role was to encourage and build up the saints in the “knowledge of the truth.” This word for “truth” is a title used in many parts of the Bible to refer to the Scriptures themselves.  However, in the pastoral epistles (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon) this expression, “knowledge of the truth,” is a specific designation for the gospel as it applies to those who have already trusted Christ.  It refers to those teachings of how Christ’s work on the cross impacts our everyday lives and how we view ourselves as new creations in Christ.

And this “knowledge of the truth,” that is the truth of the Gospel, when believed, will have two effects upon our lives. The first one is in the present. It will bring about “godliness” in the Christian’s life. Godliness denotes an everyday way of living or conduct that displays devotion to God.

Notice the sequence of events here. First there is saving faith. Then comes learning from the Word of God, which in turn brings about a change in the way we live, think, act, and view our world. Hence, one’s progressive growth or maturity in Christ is directly proportional to one’s knowledge of the Word of God. Right belief and right behavior are inseparable. It is the doctrine and duty combo. One’s growing in godliness is clear evidence that one is not turning away from the faith or headed toward apostasy.

But let’s try to clear up a common misunderstanding at this point. Godly conduct itself does not lead to a relationship with God. Or to put it another way, God does not refuse to love and accept us until we have gotten our lives straightened out. Rather, a relationship with God is based on Gospel faith which in turn leads to righteous actions. 

The second effect this “knowledge of the truth” will have upon our present lives is that it will give us an assurance of our future destiny. That’s what Paul has in mind in verse 2 when he writes of “the hope of eternal life.” Today, we are not experiencing what this eternal life will be like in its fullest form. There is more to be experienced of it in the future--much more. This is what Paul is referring to when he speaks about the “hope of eternal life”, which is in the future.

In everyday speech “hope” refers to something uncertain--something that we have no guarantee will happen in the future. However in the Bible, hope is always something certain because it is based on God’s unchanging character and His promises. Since God’s character never changes, and because God never lies, Biblical hope is a guaranteed fact to be realized in the future. Biblical hope results in encouragement, confidence, strength, and security for the believer as it concerns his eternal destiny.

Paul emphasizes the importance of this truth about God’s trustworthiness by stressing two points about God. First, he tells Titus and these Cretan Christians that God doesn’t lie.  Keep in mind to whom Paul is saying this--the Cretans. Not only is Paul guaranteeing the veracity of God’s promise, but he is doing so in the light of the Cretan’s history. Their worship of the pagan god Zeus (a liar, and those who followed him were liars as well) led to a chaotic Cretan culture, built on lying. To the average Cretan, lying was perfectly acceptable, because that’s what their gods did. But God does not lie. 

Secondly, Paul stresses why we can rest assured of our future destiny: it is not something new that God has promised, but this hope was promised long ago. 

Many people would agree that the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden is the single most disastrous event in human history. It made necessary a “rescue operation” whereby God in his mercy made a way to redeem the human race. This way was the sacrificial death of his Son, Jesus. Being all knowing, God had this rescue plan in place before creation and before the fall. Having promised this long ago to men like Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets, God demonstrated that He wanted to make a way for humans to have an eternal life with Him.  Jesus has been our assured hope, planned by God in ages past, before creation.

Another evidence that one is not turning away from Christ or becoming apostate is that the person lives today based on what he or she believes to be true about the future. If we believe in the Biblical eternal perspective, we will experience a growing godliness, our lives will reveal a confidence and a sense of security about our future, we will be committed to serving one another as Jesus speaks about in Matthew 25:21, and we will exhibit a willingness to endure hardship for the cause of Christ, which Paul writes about in Philippians 3:8, 10-11.

In addition to God’s past promises about our future destiny in Christ, Paul adds in verse 3, (“at the proper time Christ was manifested”) that in relatively recent New Testament times, God had revealed new information to His apostles concerning “our eternal hope.” Here, Paul moves from the Old Testament promises to the New Testament promise of the gospel. Paul tells us here and elsewhere (Acts 26:16-18; 1 Cor. 9:16) that God had commanded him to pass the Gospel on. And God has commanded us to do the same by the very words of Jesus in what’s been called “The Great Commission” found in Matthew 28:19-20.

Paul, unlike the Apostle John, does not use the Greek word “logos” to refer to Jesus Christ. “Logos” usually is translated as “the word.” Every time Paul uses the term “logos” or “word” as he does here in verse 3 and in the rest of his pastoral epistles, he uses it as a reference to the gospel. (2 Timothy 2:9, 15; 4:2, Titus 1:9, 2:5)

That “word” refers to the gospel is supported by the verb in verse 3, “proclamation,” which when used in the New Testament almost always refers to the preaching of the gospel, both evangelistically and for the ongoing edification of believers.

Now let me give you four quick notes of interest from verses 3-4. First, in verse 3, Paul’s use of the word “command” indicates several things. One is that Paul was not making up the message, but it came from God. Second, this word “command” indicates that God had given Paul authority, which Paul in turn has entrusted to Titus, so that those in Crete will respectfully honor Titus.

Secondly, in verse 4 the term “true” or “genuine” means not just your nominal believer, but one who is truly committed to the same faith and mission of evangelism and edification that Paul was. In addition, this “common faith” refers to the lived out faith that all Christians share.  Titus was not an apostle, but merely a follower of Christ, as we are. Yet he realized that he too was a slave of Christ, and thus he too took seriously Christ’s calling to make disciples. He saw it as every believer’s responsibility to be about the equipping and the encouraging of others toward spiritual maturity, as Jesus dictates in Matthew 28:19-20.

Herein lies another evidence that one is not heading away from Christ into apostasy:  we take seriously our responsibility to make disciples for Jesus Christ. We do not perceive this to be the job of the paid professional, but of every Christian. We must share Christ with the lost and encourage and build up other Christians.

Thirdly, in verse 4, Paul’s use of “grace” and “peace” remind us that these are the key ingredients for a sustained successful ministry. “Grace” refers to God’s ability to provide what one needs in ministry. It is God’s gift to enable us to live and perform as He calls us to. Paul also desires Titus to have “peace,” to have God so dwell in him as he goes about his ministry that he would feel His “protective calm,” and that others would observe both God’s grace and calm in Titus. This grace and peace of God and Christ would be the only thing that could sustain Titus in the harsh Cretan environment. They are the only things that enable anyone to remain faithful to the task as well as be supernaturally and eternally effective for Christ.

Finally, note the testimony to the deity of Christ that Paul gives by referring to both God the Father as "our Savior" in verse 3 and Christ Jesus as Savior in verse 4.

So what do we see as the true or genuine evidence that we hold the common faith held by the Apostle Paul and Titus? We should have an understanding that our lives are not our own. We are slaves to the Master, Jesus Christ. Secondly, our master has given to each of us the same responsibility He did to Titus. Although it may not be on the same scale as Titus, nonetheless, we are called to be evangelists and equippers in the faith. In addition, we must be students of the Word, which brings about godliness, and we must live today through the lens of the future, not our present convenience or pleasure.

As we come to the close of our study, I have some serious and thought-provoking questions for you. Do you see yourself as a “slave of God?” Why or why not?  (Romans 12:1, 2; 1 Corinthians 6:20)

Are Christians responsible to evangelize? If so, why? How much of a priority is evangelism to you? What is the evidence of the priority that evangelism plays in your life?

Every believer is responsible to help others grow up in their faith (Ephesians 4:16; Matthew 28:19-20).  What evidence is there in your life that you take seriously your God-given calling to be building into other Christians’ lives?

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