Freed to Serve
Titus 1:1-4
The background of the book of Titus is as follows. Titus was a pastor on the island of Crete, though he did accompany Paul on more than one occasion in missionary work. Albert Barnes states that Titus spent quite some time at Ephesus. Titus was a gentile that was saved under the ministry of Paul. Titus in turn spread the gospel of Christ to those who have never heard. Even as Titus was a pastor who started churches, Paul wrote this letter to help instruct Titus in how a church should be setup on how it should operate.
Verse 1. Notice that Paul though he was saved from sin and set free from the bondage of sin, that Paul was a bond-servant of Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the price for our sins. When we repent of our sins and accept His free gift of salvation, then we are saved. After salvation we are not our own. We belong to God. Before salvation, we are held captive in the slave market of sin. After we are saved, we are set free from sin, but we still are a servant. Instead of serving sin now we serve God. The person who does the buying owns the item that is purchased. If I were to buy a new car, then I would own the new car. The same idea is true of our purchase by God. Jesus bought us with His own blood, so now we belong to Him. I Corinthians 6:20, I Peter 1:18, 19 Since, Jesus bought us with His own blood we belong to Him and thus we are His servants. As Pastor Rick Warren is noted for saying, “We are saved to serve.” Salvation is free to all who put their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. John 3:16 Even though Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, His blood is only efficient for those who accept Him as their own personal Lord and Savior.
Paul who wrote the book of Titus was a bond servant of Christ even as we who are saved are. Paul was commissioned to spread the Gospel to those who were lost. We as Christians have the duty to witness and tell others about Jesus. Being a Christian and not telling others about Christ is like having the cure for a deadly disease and keeping it a secret. When we don’t tell others about Jesus and His free gift of salvation, we are through our silence telling others to go to hell. Witnessing and sharing Christ is more important than life or death, it is a matter of heaven and hell. Our witness for Christ or lack thereof has eternal consequences for those around us. We need to follow the example of Paul and Titus and share Christ with this lost and dying world.
Paul preached the knowledge of the truth. The truth is that Jesus Christ is both God and man incarnate in one flesh; that He died on the cross for our sins; that He was buried and on the third day rose again from the dead on His own power; that He ascended into heaven and not rules and reigns there, and that someday He is coming back to take home those who have placed their faith in Him. The truth Paul preached is still as true today as it was 2000 years ago. We have the responsibility to share Christ with the world. God’s sovereignty does not negate man’s responsibility.
Since, Paul was an apostle, he was an authority and able to give Titus instruction on how to do things. Many people will give another person instruction on how to do something, but only those who have authority and knowledge should be listened to. For example, if I were to give a NASA engineer instruction on how to make a part for the fuel system of the space shuttle, the NASA scientist would be crazy to listen. Why? Because, I am no authority on Aeronautical Engineering. Now if Charles Spurgeon were alive and he was to give instruction to those of us in the ministry, we would be smart to pay attention. The same is true here, Paul was an authority on the Word of God and commissioned by Jesus Christ, so Titus was smart to pay attention to the instruction. Not only is this instruction coming through Paul, a great man of God, this instruction is inspired by God. The instruction in the Bible is infallible.
Verse 2. With Salvation comes eternal life. When we are saved we are saved eternally. John 3:16 Everlasting lasts forever. I love the next part of verse 2, the promise of eternal life is made by God Who cannot lie! People can promise you things, but their promises aren’t certain because they may lie. But God cannot lie, so His promises are yes and amen! It is impossible for God to go against His own nature. II Timothy 2:11-13 God is faithful and won’t deny Himself. When we trust something we need to see what the backing is. When we put our money in the bank we do with certainty, because our money is insured by the FDIC. If a bank said just trust us, then I don’t think we would put our money there, because there is not any backing. With God He is perfect, all powerful, and cannot ever lie. He backs the promise of eternal life, so we know that when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, that we will have eternal life. God cannot lie. Hebrews 6:18 It is impossible for God to lie. Since, God cannot lie we can trust Him completely.
The promise of salvation was made a long time ago. Ephesians 1:4 Before the foundation of the world, God had the plan of salvation in place. He knew that man would sin and would need a savior. Out of love He offered His only begotten Son for our sins. He loved us enough to give the very best of heaven for us. Before we were ever born, Jesus loved us and died on the cross for our sins. His gift of salvation is free to all who will accept Him as Lord and Savior. Ephesians 2:8,9.
Verse 3. Jesus paid the price for our sins at the proper time. I Timothy 3:7 God has everything under His control and God has everything set at His appointed time. Jesus didn’t die before He was supposed to or die late, but at the proper time. Every aspect of the plan of salvation is orchestrated by God.
We are to preach the message of Salvation. We are entrusted with His Word. We are responsible for sharing the message of Jesus Christ to this lost and dying world. Even as a banker is entrusted with people’s money, we are entrusted with something more valuable than any item, we have been entrusted with the gift that gives life. We have been entrusted with Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Verse 4. Titus was saved under the ministry of Paul. Paul who shared Christ with everyone he came in contact with saw Titus come to know the Lord. Titus is in turn to the message of Jesus Christ and spread it to everyone he met. We as Christians have the duty to share Christ to all whom we come in contact with.
Paul mentions a common faith. Every believer has something in common, we all believe in the same Lord Jesus Christ. Whether someone is a Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, etc. if they are truely saved we have something in common with them. Everyone who is saved has the faith of Jesus Christ in common and we will spend eternity together in heaven. Also, since we have the common faith of Jesus Christ, we also know that there is only one will of God. As we all seek it, we as a body of believers will be unified. We have no need to quarrel over minor doctrines, because such quarrels are unprofitable and tear down the work of Christ. Instead we are to edify one another and work together to build the kingdom of God. We don’t have to agree on everything to fellowship with each other. “We can agree to disagree agreeably” as my father was fond of saying. We need to work together to reach this lost and dying world for Christ.
The only way we can reach others for Christ is if first we have been saved ourselves. We need to make our calling and election sure. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your own personal Lord and Savior why not bow your head and ask Jesus into you heart today. Everyone, please bow your heads and close your eyes. Right now, in the quietness of your heart you can tell God that you are sorry for your sins and that you want to be saved. You can tell God that you are accepting that Jesus died on the cross for you sins and that you believe that He rose again. You can tell God that you believe He died for you and paid the penalty for your sins and ask God to forgive you of your sins and that you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. When you pray to God and ask Him to save you He will. Salvation is free for the asking. God knows the thoughts and intents of our heart. He knows if you believe in Him. So accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior right where you are now.
If you are a believer and have not been sharing Christ like you should, then ask God to forgive you. You can do that where you sit or you can come to the altar for prayer, which ever you feel God leading you to do. Whatever God is speaking to your heart about, talk to Him right now in prayer and turn your life over to God. God is just a prayer away.
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