Scripture Reading: Titus 3:1-8
When Paul was writing the Epistle of Titus, there were certain basic concepts within him. These concepts were the factors, the elements, of the composition of this book. In writing chapter one of Titus, Paul was deeply concerned for the church. Hence, in this chapter he takes care of the proper order in the church and speaks of establishing the eldership for the administration of a local church, of the termination of the various isms, and of holding to the healthy teaching of the apostles. Paul goes on in chapter two to speak of an orderly human life, which is primarily related to the family life. Then, as we have seen in the foregoing message, he speaks of society, or of the social system. In 3:1-8 Paul speaks of the rulers, that is, the government.
To have an orderly life, we need to take care of four units: the church, the family, the social system, and the government. If we care for these units properly, we shall have an orderly life in every way. When Paul was writing the book of Titus, he had within him a concern for these four units. Unbelievers, of course, care only for family, society, and government. Even the philosophers and thoughtful people throughout the centuries have considered only these three units among mankind. But among us in the Lord’s recovery the most important unit is the church. For us, the church is first. We give the church preeminence in our consideration, for the church is the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. Furthermore, the church is the great mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh. Paul covered the matter of the church first in this Epistle, and we follow him to give the church the first place among the four basic units covered in this book.
After the church, the most important unit is the family. Some opposers have tried to defame us by spreading the devilish lie that we do not care for the family life. Next to the church, the family is the most important unit in society. Without a proper family life, how could we have a healthy society or country? A nation is constituted of families as the basic factors. We fully realize that without a proper family life it is difficult to have an orderly church life. But we also realize that without a proper church life it is difficult to have a normal and proper family life. We are here for the church and also for the family. Furthermore, we care for society. We respect others, we honor our neighbors, and we care for the existing social system. We are not here as social reformers, and it is not our intention to change the social system. In the Lord’s recovery we are here to present to others healthy teachings concerning the all-inclusive Christ and the church as the Body of Christ.
In this message we are concerned with Paul’s charge to the saints to maintain a good relationship with the government. According to the healthy teaching in the New Testament, we must respect the government.
In 3:1 and 2 Paul says, “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready unto every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be uncontentious, forbearing, showing all meekness toward all men.” To be subject to rulers is to recognize God’s authority and respect His government over men (Rom. 13:1-2). To be uncontentious (v. 2) is to be peaceable, not quarrelsome.
Before Paul could teach the saints to respect the government, he himself had to experience a certain amount of transformation. When he was Saul of Tarsus, he was a patriotic Jew and wanted to be free from the yoke of the Roman imperialists. But here he instructs the saints to subject themselves to rulers and to authorities. According to his word in Romans 13, government officials have been appointed by God. Paul recognized that even those officials appointed by Caesar are rulers appointed by God, His deputy authority. If Paul had not been transformed from a natural person into a spiritual person with spiritual understanding, it would have been difficult for him to give such instructions.
To care for the church life, the family life, the social system, and the government, we need a specific supply. In speaking of these four units, Paul also tells us of the divine supply. We have seen that in chapter one Paul speaks concerning the church life. The supply for the church life consists of the faith of God’s chosen ones, the full knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, and the hope of eternal life (1:1-2). Eternal life in particular is the supply which enables us to have the church life. The word of proclamation (1:3) is another aspect of the supply for the proper church life.
Just as there is a supply for the church life, there is also a supply for the family life. The supply for the proper family life includes healthy teaching (2:1), healthy speech (2:8), and being healthy in faith, in love, and in endurance (2:2). For the family unit we need the supply of healthy teaching and healthy speech. The word speech in 2:8 refers to our ordinary daily conversation, such as conversation at the dinner table. If our speech is healthy, it will supply us that we may have a proper family life.
We have seen that in 2:9-15 Paul charges the slaves to behave well in the social system of slavery. This indicates that we need to have the proper attitude toward society. But what is the supply for living in the existing social system? This supply is the grace of God which has appeared, bringing salvation to all men and training us to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age as we await the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior, Christ Jesus (2:11-13). By means of this supply we can adorn the teaching of our Savior God in all things.
The supply which enables us to keep a good relationship with the government is wonderful. Paul speaks of this supply in 3:4-7. Prior to this, he says in verse 3, “For we also were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving as slaves various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” We should remember that in nature we were once the same as others, living in the fallen condition; therefore, we should sympathize with their pitiful life and pray for their salvation (1 Tim. 2:1, 4). We also once served as slaves various lusts, various desires and gratifications. But now we have a marvelous supply to have a good relationship with the government.
Verse 4 says, “But when the kindness and love to man of our Savior God appeared.” It is the kindness and love of our Savior God that has saved us and made us different from others.
In verse 5 Paul continues, “Not by works in righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy, He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Titus 2:11 says that the grace of God brings salvation to man, and 3:7 says that we have been justified by the grace of the Lord. But verse 5 says that according to His mercy He saved us. God’s mercy reaches farther than His grace. Our pitiful condition created a wide gap between us and God’s grace. It was God’s mercy that has bridged this gap and brought us to His salvation of grace.
Notice that in 3:4-5 Paul does not speak of grace, but speaks of kindness, love, and mercy. Love is the source of grace. In the heart of God the Father there is love. But when this love is expressed through the Son, it becomes grace. For this reason, 2 Corinthians 13:14 speaks of the grace of Christ and the love of the Father. In John 1:16 and 17 we have grace; however, in 1 John we touch the love of God the Father as the source of this grace.
What, then, are mercy and kindness? We have pointed out that mercy always reaches farther than grace. When we are in a proper situation, God’s love will come to us as grace. However, we were all in a pitiful situation and may still be in such a situation today. Therefore, we need God’s mercy to reach us. The mercy of God can come to us even in our pitiful situation.
Kindness is God’s attitude in giving grace to us. It is possible to give a gift to a person without having a proper attitude. For example, I may give a valuable gift to a brother but give it in a rather crude, insensitive manner. On the other hand, I may give him a gift in a way that expresses an attitude of kindness. God’s attitude in giving us grace is the attitude of kindness.
When we have mercy, love, and kindness, we automatically have grace. Our God and Father has shown us love, mercy, and kindness. It is by this that He saves us.
According to verse 5, God’s salvation is also through a certain action: the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. In Greek, the word for regeneration in verse 5 is different from that for born again (1 Pet. 1:23). The only other place this word is used is in Matthew 19:28 for the restoration in the millennium. Here it refers to a change from one state of things to another. To be born again is the beginning of this change. The washing of regeneration begins with our being born again and continues with the renewing of the Holy Spirit as the process of God’s new creation to make us a new man. It is a kind of reconditioning, remaking, remodeling with life. Baptism (Rom. 6:3-5), the putting off of the old man, the putting on of the new man (Eph. 4:22, 24; Col. 3:9-11), and transformation by the renewing of the mind (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23) are all related to this wonderful process. The washing of regeneration purges away all the things of the old nature of our old man, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit imparts something new — the divine essence of the new man — into our being. In this is a passage from the old state we were in into a wholly new one, from the old creation into the status of a new creation. Hence, both the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit are a continual working in us throughout our whole life until the completion of the new creation.
In 1 Timothy the church is stressed (3:15-16), in 2 Timothy the Scripture (3:15-16), and in Titus the Holy Spirit. The church is the house of the living God, expressing God in the flesh, and the pillar and base of the truth, the divine reality of the great mystery — God manifested in the flesh. The Scripture is the breath of God, containing and conveying His divine essence for our nourishment and equipment to make us perfect and complete for His use. The Holy Spirit is the divine Person, washing and renewing us in the divine element to make us a new creation with the divine nature to be heirs of God in His eternal life, inheriting all the riches of the Triune God.
Verse 6 says that the Holy Spirit has been “poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” The Holy Spirit, Who is the Triune God reaching man, has not only been given to us, but poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Savior, to bring all the divine riches in Christ to us, including the eternal life of God and His divine nature, for our eternal portion.
In verse 7 Paul goes on to say, “That, having been justified by the grace of that One, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” This speaks forth the issue and goal of God’s salvation (v. 5) and justification, including the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. The issue and goal is to make us heirs of God according to the hope of eternal life.
According to verse 7, the believers are not only sons, but also heirs who are qualified to inherit the Father’s estate (Rom. 4:14; 8:17; Gal. 3:29; 4:7). We are born of God (John 1:12-13) with His eternal life (John 3:16). This eternal life is for us not only to live and enjoy God in this age, but also to inherit all the riches of what He is to us in the coming age and in eternity. Hence, there is the hope of eternal life. God’s eternal life is our enjoyment today and our hope tomorrow. According to this hope we become heirs of God to inherit all His riches for eternity. This is the climax as the eternal goal of His eternal salvation with His eternal life given to us by grace in Christ.
In verse 8 Paul concludes this section of Titus: “Faithful is the word, and concerning these things I desire you to affirm confidently, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.” The faithful word here is given in verses 3 through 7, and these things are the things mentioned in verses 1 through 7. To affirm confidently is to affirm consistently, steadfastly, positively, with persistence and thoroughness. It is the same word used in 1 Timothy 1:7.
In speaking concerning the church life, the family life, the social system, and the government, Paul does not give empty instructions. Along with the instructions, he points us to the source of the supply. For the church life, we have the faith of God’s chosen ones, the full knowledge of the truth, eternal life with its hope, and the word of proclamation which causes eternal life to be manifested. For the family life, we have healthy words, healthy teaching, and healthy speech. For the social system, we have the grace of God which has saved us and which is now training us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. For a good relationship with the government, we have the marvelous supply described in 3:1-8. Therefore, we have the divine supply for a proper church life, family life, social life, and relationship with the government. We have a proper relationship with all these units not by ethical teachings, philosophical instruction, or our natural life and ability. On the contrary, we have a heavenly, divine, and spiritual supply for the church, family, society, and government.
