Titus 2:1-2
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Paul, however, is not largely focused on these great theological doctrines of God the Father, Christ and salvation, but on how these truths play themselves out in our day-to-day lives.
As he says in verse 16, “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed” (Titus 1:16). It is evident that what we do becomes clear evidence for each of us to get a picture of our what we believer. What we do reveals who we really are. It is here we get a glimpse into what we really believe.
Millions of people call themselves a Christian. But the question is whether they follow Christ. Paul is concerned with those whose profession and deeds do not match. This is interesting for it is exactly what problem we see with many of those who ‘go to church’ today. They profess Christ. They would say they have a personal relationship with God through Christ. But their lives are anything but consistent with God’s standards. It is like Paul says, “By their deeds they deny Him.”
He warns us against false prophets. So what is a false prophet? Is it a pastor who denies Christ’s physical resurrection? Or a pastor which, though married, thinks homosexuality is okay? Or a pastor, who though professes Christ, would not pay attention to those in authority around him? We would have to include all of them. Each has not learned to restrain his thoughts, words and behavior to conform to God’s holy standards. This is what makes this age so difficult.
Paul was concerned with building up the church there in Crete. A church can only get strong when the individual believers get strong.
So we must ask ourselves, are we only a spectator? Are we so involved in the sidelines of following Christ that we think we are actual players of the game? Let us look more closely at what the apostle is calling us to examine in our lives.
At this point, hopefully you are thinking, “What should we be doing?” Paul, in this second chapter of Titus elaborates on what things God’s people should be involved in. Interestingly, the apostle has things to instruct us on here. We seem to miss the obvious, but they come right to the front of his teaching. Early on in chapter two we will see four categories: Older men, older women, young women and young men. This includes all of the believers. Each has a special description for their stage in life. This confirms again that God wants everyone involved in what He is doing.
In this message, we will only focus on the one group: the older men, but each group has their own sphere of life in which they are involved. Each has their own temptations and challenges. Paul’s exhortations will help each group focus on how to do well despite these challenges. Let’s now look at the first of these groups: the older men. => Next
Examining the cults and false teaching inside and outside the church.
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Inductive Bible Study Questions: Introduction | Book study
Study Questions: Titus 1:1-4 | Titus 1:5-9 | Titus 1:10-16
Titus 2:1-10 | Titus 2:11-15 | Titus 3:1-8 | Titus 3:9-15