Titus

Lesson 3 w/AnswersPaul’s Epistle to Titus: Part 3

This lesson concludes our study of Titus by examining Paul’s instructions regarding behavior and motives to the young and old men and women, as well as the husbands and wives within the church. Paul also instructs Titus how to handle a divisive person within the church—instructions we can also apply today.

Titus the Apostle

In addition, Paul identifies our purpose as Christians in this life is and how we are to live it, thereby fulfilling our purpose as followers of Christ. Just as he commanded the people do in Corinth, we will note a similar commandment here. In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul was very clear in his description of the behavior that he, and God, expect from anyone who follows Christ. In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul writes "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

In Titus 1:2, Paul tells us that God promised us eternal life "before the beginning of time." What does that mean? How can Paul say that God promised this before time began, before he created the heavens and the earth? Now read 2 Timothy 1:9. In both texts, we see that, before God created anything, He already had a plan for us, a purpose, and an eternal home for those who overcome this world. Our future depends on the truth, the good news, the Gospel, that Jesus is and always has been—the real and true Messiah. Through him, we have forgiveness of sins; we are passed from judgment and will live and reign with Him eternally. That is the Good News! All of this was promised before God created anything!

Paul then turns to purpose of every believer, and he wants Titus to emphasize this at the church in Crete. As we read in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

What a powerful statement! We were born and created with a purpose: to serve God and to accomplish good works which God himself prepared for each of us before any of us were created. How awesome is that!

Have you ever considered this? What is the work God personally created for you to do, and are you actively at work accomplishing it? We are not saved just to sit and wait around for heaven. God himself created a purpose, a work, for each one of us in advance of our birth; we have a real purpose in this world, and as we learn from Paul’s letter to Titus, that purpose is to do good works.

Now read Titus 2:11 through 3:8 answer the following:

  1. Write down what the instruction is that Titus is given—and what the role of grace is in accomplishing it.
    1. ANSWER: Titus is to teach the church at Crete the importance of doing good works in the name of Jesus, and that God’s grace is an important component in doing those good works.
  2. In these verses, Paul also addresses behaviors that separate believers from the world around them. List below both the bad behavior that believers are to avoid and the good behavior that they are to adopt.
    1. ANSWER 1: We are to say "no" to "ungodliness and worldly passions."
    2. ANSWER 2: We are to live upright and godly lives.
    3. ANSWER 3: We are to "be subject to rulers and authorities."
    4. ANSWER 4: We are to be obedient.
    5. ANSWER 5: We are to be ready to do "whatever is good."
    6. ANSWER 6: We are not to slander anyone.
    7. ANSWER 7: We are to be "peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone."
    8. ANSWER 8: We are to devote ourselves to "doing what is good."
  3. Paul had much he wanted Titus to focus on, including specific instructions for "older men," "older women," "younger women," "younger men," and "slaves." List each instruction below:
    1. Older men (Titus 2:2)
      1. ANSWER: "...be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance."
    2. Older women (Titus 2:3)
      1. ANSWER: "...be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good...urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self–controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."
    3. Younger women (Titus 2:4-5)
      1. ANSWER: "...love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."
    4. Younger men (Titus 2:6-8)
      1. ANSWER: "...be self-controlled." Set a good example for those around them "by doing what is good."
    5. Slaves (Titus 2:9-10)
      1. ANSWER: "...be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from then, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."

In Titus Chapter 3, Paul then concludes his letter to Titus with a commandment that not only applies to those at Crete but as well to us today. What are we as Christians commanded to do as Christians in today’s world? Let’s review these powerful verses and make sure that we are carrying out his command in the name of Christ.

In Titus 3:1-2, Paul commands us to be subject to rulers and authorities. We are to be "ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, and to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone."

Further, in Titus 3:9, we are instructed to "avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law because these are unprofitable and useless."

Back in Titus 3:3-8, Paul reminds Titus that both he and Titus too were lost, caught up in mankind’s world and its desires, and he points out that Jesus saved us from this world, through his great grace and not of our own doing. We should bear this in mind when we are trying to help a lost person come to Christ, and when we pull alongside a new believer to help them in their walk. Remember that we are saved by grace, and so are they—not by the things that we did or said, but only by grace; and we were saved by that grace to do good works, "providing for urgent needs and not living an unproductive life."

Paul’s final instruction can be found in Titus 3:10-11, what to do when the church is confronted with a divisive person.

  1. Read Titus 3:10-11 and note what Paul tells Titus, and the church, regarding how to deal with a divisive person.
    1. ANSWER: "Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned."

In closing, as followers of Christ, we are to exemplify what it means to live a "holy" life: to think and act differently than the world around us, and to conduct ourselves always in glory to God. We are to do everything to honor God’s name and His glory. As well, we are to be very selective in appointing leaders within the local church, because choosing anyone less–than–qualified is self–defeating and likely divisive within the church body. We must have good, sound, Christ–led leaders if we are to succeed in accomplishing the Great Commission.

In Christ,

Wes

[2020]

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