EMMAUS SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

The book of Titus is often thought of a book about leadership characteristics but it is much more.    Paul had left Titus behind in Crete to finish the task of appointing church elders and dealing with some false teachers but the task becomes a bit bigger when you realise exactly what the Cretans where like!   Even their own prophets and poets described them as “liars, vicious brutes and lazy gluttons”.   During the course of the letter Paul outlines many ways in which they were missing the mark – drinking, violence, slander and laziness.  However for everything he points out which is not encouraging he gives them examples of how they could be living godly, upright lives.  Paul is not one to leave people in despair over the state of their lives he is quick to point out the solution.

In fact in this letter Paul points out several times that the solution is found in Jesus’ work on the cross.  Time and again he reminds the Cretans that Jesus salvation was a free gift – nothing that they could gain from their own efforts (good thing because their efforts didn’t seem to amount to much).

In light of this amazing salvation Paul encourages the Cretans to use this to fuel lifestyles which are marked by good works and peace.   Throughout the letter Paul is contrasting how they are living, to how they could be and it is his faith in the power of salvation which leads to his conviction that these people can change.

I am reminded again today, as a believer whose life can often look more like the Cretans than Pauls, that the free gift of God’s salvation is nothing Igain by my own efforts but it doesn’t stop when I accepted Christ.  For Paul declares that

God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone! We’re being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. Titus 2:11-13 (Message)

Jesus is showing us how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, he isn’t mearly interested in a “bums on seats” approach to Christianity – filling churches, but rather he is committed to showing us, step by step, how to be people whose lives look like we are truly followers of him.

The Cretans were brutes of people, heavy drinkers, lazy gluttons and compulsive liars. They were infamous throughout the Roman empire. Among these people on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea Paul and Titus planted several churches. After the churches are started Paul takes off leaving Titus, a very able but young church leader to look after the churches. This is the letter that Paul sends to Titus giving him and the churches instructions. The Cretan believers are not much different than what they were before they believed — by the instructions Paul gives it seems as though there was still heavy drinking, laziness, fighting, and a general lacking self-control among the believers. Paul gives many noble instructions for Titus to give to the Cretans, but you can’t help but wonder, “Paul, seriously, you think that these guys are going to be able to be: ‘tempered, serious, prudent,chaste…’?” Answer: Yes.

Paul is totally serious, but I believe not unrealistic either. Paul says that Christ “gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.” A new people: Cretans no more. Paul “insists” that Titus teach on the grace of God! I would say teach them on hell and the wrath of God.. maybe they will obey then, but Paul says teach on the “goodness and loving kindness of God”. Paul teaches the grace of God “trains us to renounce impiety and worldy passions and… live lives that are self-controlled, upright and godly.” When I sin I feel guilty and distant from God, feeling that I deserve to suffer and God doesn’t want me near, but God does, He wants us to run repentantly into his arms and know his grace and mercy. This is the grace that Paul knew would teach the violent, drunken, lying Cretans to do good works instead of evil; to be free to do good.

The grace of God teaches good works.

It was cool to find how much I could get out of Titus because if you had asked me before, I don’t think I could’ve told you anything about it! A good point Scott made this morning in class was how it is cool that God put Titus in the Bible because its such a small book, anyone can read it, yet there is so much you can learn from it; especially basic truths about the gospel. He is so right. The big theme in Titus is how grace produces good works.
Paul leaves Titus in Crete to finish the job and appoint elders in the churches. The problem is that the Cretans don’t have the best reputation in the world. They are a rough bunch, and Titus has a big task on his hands. Paul lists to Titus what they need to hear, and how they need to change. He gives these full lists and I’m sure mouths dropped open, eyes got wide and hearts grew heavy. Here’s when Paul brings in the good part. He gives the message of the gospel and tells how Jesus, who IS the grace of God, appeared, saved us, and now trains us to live lives of godliness. The emphasis is on good works, not that we are saved by them, but we were saved because we didn’t have any! Jesus “gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.” How awesome is that! This must have brought such encouragement to the Cretans! Yeah they had problems, but that’s why Jesus saved them. He would purify them, and his grace would produce good works in them. All they needed to do was ‘believe in God’, and then ‘devote themselves to good works..’. What good news! And all packed into this little book!
It is also cool to apply this to my own life. Sometimes I have felt overwhelmed by all the good works I feel I need to do. The reality is, however, that I can’t produce any good fruit without Jesus. But he has saved me, to redeem me from all sin and he will purify me; his grace will train me, and make me ‘zealous for good deeds’. So I don’t need to worry about ‘becoming a better Christian’, Jesus will finish the work he started in me!! His grace will train me to live a godly life (2.11)! Imagine the things God can do through the person who chooses to believe and live by this truth.

The pastoral letter from Paul to Titus is an instructional letter concerning the Church plant in Crete–an island in the Mediterranean.  The Cretans were a nasty people and described as “liars, violent brutes, lazy gluttons” (2:12) and drunks (2:3).  Not so different from what I once was!

The letter is short and sweet and to the point. In the first section (1-2:10) Paul tells Titus what he is supposed to do –appoint Elders and Bishops, rebuke the legalistic Jews, and he is to teach and model good works.

The second part of the letter (2:11-3:15) is focused on the reason behind the instructions–the gospel message!

“For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.” (2:11-14)

This is the central theme behind this book, and also behind Christianity. Notice that the Grace of God is training us to live lives that are zealous for good deeds. The Grace of God, being Jesus, came to this earth to save us! “not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy” (3:5)…” so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (3:7).

The Grace of God has saved us! But that is not the end of it. The Grace and goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior has appeared to teach us how to live a self-controlled, upright, and godly life.

I have heard the gospel message over and over again growing up, and I have also heard the ‘Grace’ message taught on a number of times. I may have been the only one, but I don’t think that I am alone when I thought that ‘Grace’ message meant that God’s Grace saved us and now we are going to heaven because we believe. But that is missing a vital part!

I think chapter 3 verse 8b puts it well when Paul says “I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone.”

The devotion to good works is not a legalistic thing, but a lifestyle. One that is motivated behind the reality that we were once foolish and despicable, but we have been saved by the Grace of God and therefore owe our lives to him. The Holy Spirit then takes it from there and will train us to live lives devoted to pleasing God.

Titus… a tiny book of the Bible that I have never looked twice at before… until this past week. And how much I’ve learned! Like I was with Philemon, I am amazed at how much God has revealed to me through such a small book! It makes me even more excited for digging into the rest of the Bible.

This book was written by Paul to Titus and the churches in Crete. Crete is an island in the Mediterranean Sea- and back then (estimated written around the late 50s or early 60s AD) the Cretans were not the most amicable group. Their own prophet described them as “always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons”! As you can see, they weren’t the most pleasant to be around.

Paul had been in Crete, but he continued on his journey. He left Titus there though to put in order what remained to be done and to appoint elders in every town– a big task considering the candidates! This letter to Titus was much a reference letter for Titus to the church, considering that Titus was probably pretty young himself, and it gave him credibility with the people of Crete. It was also probably very encouraging to the Cretans themselves- for Paul didn’t just tell them how terrible they were or just give rules, but he gave much hope to the Cretans with his words.

One main truth that I really hit me from this book was that the grace of God is a PERSON- Jesus Christ. We don’t usually refer to Christ as the Grace of God- but looking at it that way really hits different chords. This gives substance to Grace- for I feel that I can easily gloss over it. But the fact that Paul refers to Jesus as the Grace of God gives me new eyes to see what the Grace of God is. Everything that Jesus is, the Grace of God is. Looking through my Bible, Grace really takes on new meaning. And it’s not always so soft and pleasing, for it is the Grace of God that rebukes sharply in order to become sound in the faith, teachs so that the word of God is not discredited, and many other things.

Looking at 2:11-12, it says that the Grace of God saves us and trains us, meaning that JESUS saves us AND trains us- not one or the other- but BOTH. I never really thought about it this way- I never realized the training part was a vital element to Grace. For Jesus is not finished with us once we gain salvation, but He stays with us to disciple us, to train us, to purify us, to make us more godly. He meets us where we are (like He does with the Cretans), and He is with us every day training us to become more like him.

Another element of this revelation is that we are not to do “good works” because we are simply looking forward to heaven, but we are to display the character of God so that when people see us, they see Him. Until now, I have missed the essential part in the middle- we are saved, we are trained, and we spend eternal life with Him. I need to strive to learn to be a light for Him as a response to His mercy and love for me. I do not do good works in order to make myself righteous in His eyes- for I could never do that on my own! It is ONLY because of Him that I am saved… and for that I am eternally grateful. This has really changed my perspective on how to live my every day life- to honor and glorify Him, to thank Him, to shine His light to others, to reflect His character to the world. And I am so thankful for the book of Titus to show me this Truth.

The book of Titus is really the gospel in the nutshell- Paul repeats the theme ‘the Grace of God appeared to save us and to train us in good works’ four times throughout the short book. Paul does give many detailed instructions to Titus and the churches on how to live life- but Paul makes sure to get the reason for living life that way across. The Cretans (and us) are not to just live good lives because we believe in Christ, but Paul makes it clear that the reason is that Jesus sacrificed His life in order that they (and us) may be saved from all iniquity and that Jesus wants to walk with them (and us) through their salvation AND transformation. Jesus wants to disciple them (and us) all the way through. What an awesome Savior we have!

This is the second book we have completed so far in one and a half weeks. I have enjoyed getting to know every one of the students and staff. It is a blessing to have great fellow students as well as sincere and personable staff/teachers. I am still learning much about the method of study that we are using, and in some ways feel like I am limping along through the scriptures — maybe better put like a child needing his father to tie his shoes for a walk. We are just leaving the door step!

I have heard it said that you only scrape the surface during the SBS. I am beginning to understand the reason people say that. Whoever thought up the idea that you could study the bible in 9 months? I feel that we need more time (maybe a life time).

Philippians, I have learned this week is packed with teaching on humility. At first glance I thought Paul had some very nice paragraphs on the subject of humility but that it was not pervasive throughout the book. Turns out even the details that Paul gives about his own situation in Rome were chosen specifically so that he could give examples of how to be humble. The same is true about the details about Timothy and Epaphrodites mentioned in the letter. Paul teaches that we should be like Christ as he willfully chose to humble himself despite his status as equal with God. In the same way we should humble ourselves in service to others as though they were more important than us, but remembering the high value that Christ sees in us.

Disagreements and arguments are unavoidable, even in the Church. The early Church was dealing with it then (as we can infer from Chapter 4 in Philippians),  and the Church today is still dealing with disagreements. –except today disagreements end up with splitting the Church and starting a new one down the street, but that is a whole new subject and I will leave that for a different blog.

Humility is the ultimate method to defusing any argument and instilling unity. If we are appropriately gentle, merciful, tolerant, and humble I doubt that we encounter many arguments. But this does not mean to be pushovers to incorrect doctrine.  Paul urges this Church (and I believe it is still applicable today) to “stand firm in the LORD” (4:1) and he encourages them to “be of the same mind” (2:2) .

The book of Philippians is a news/support/instructional letter written by Paul, from prison, to the Church in Philippi. The underlying theme of the letter is to be humble like Paul, Timothy , Epaphroditus, and (most importantly) JESUS were humble. The passage from Phil 2:6-11 shows how JESUS (The Savior and God of the Universe) “humbled himself  and became obedient to the point of death–even death on a cross” (2:8). WOW! The LORD and RULER of the Universe took the form of a slave and suffered the lowliest death one could suffer, and therefore GOD highly exalted him to the point that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD.  This is such a backwards idea, not only to the original readers, but also to the American culture. We are called as imitators of Christ to act in this counter cultural way by humbling ourselves in obedience.

Humility means the “esteeming of ourselves small, inasmuch we are so, and the correct estimate (evaluate) of ourselves.” If we correctly evaluate ourselves then we can all know that we have fallen short of the glory of GOD. We are unworthy, but Christ has given us forgiveness, mercy, and grace. So too, must we be humble and consider others better then ourselves by showing others grace, mercy, and forgiveness even if they don’t ‘deserve it.

Although Philippians is a short book comparatively, it has so much worth within its pages. I have never studied the book so much, yet I have never felt more like I have so much I still want to study in it. I have only scratched the surface!

Philippians is a book that Paul wrote to the Philippians that expresses his love for them yet also challenges them in many ways. Philippi, at the time the letter was written, was a “mini-Rome”.. a place of much patriotism and pride for being citizens of Rome. I believe that the Philippians were prided for being ambitious and moving higher in society, and to do that- thinking of themselves was necessary. But Paul writes this letter to the church- with the main point being to become unified for Christ through humility. I’m sure the church was thinking– Humility? What’s that?? And is that supposed to be a good thing?! But Paul gives example after example of humilty- using himself and some friends as examples, and giving Christ as the ultimate example. He calls the church to be of one mind, be in full accord, and letting the same mind be in them that was in Christ Jesus. These examples and call to change their lifestyles seem backward to the Philippians- but that’s just what Paul is aiming for. Jesus is a King like no other… Caesar may have climbed to the top by pushing everyone out of his way, but Jesus WAS on top, yet he emptied himself- thinking of us over himself- in order to save us. What an awesome King we have on our side!

I learned many timeless truths through this book (yet there are so many more!). One main truth I learned is that I need to constantly remind myself to live my life with an eternal perspective- which will change my worldview completely. We are to live with confidence in Christ, not put our confidence in things of this world, for those are “rubbish”. To be a follower of Christ is not all rainbows and sunshine– it can be hard. Remember- Paul was in prison as he was writing this! As Paul found contentment in all situations through Christ, I can as well. God desires to teach us contentment- not give us everything we want. He never promises to remove all of the hardships from us. His desire is to walk through our struggles with us, as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling. What a loving God we have.

I’ve also taken to heart that we, as Christians, are to shine like stars in the world! Within our crooked and perverse generation, we are called to a higher standard. Our citizenship is in HEAVEN. That is why we are to live differently than those around us. (The Philippians were called to put down their pride in being a Roman citizen and to live differently than them- to do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit- but in humility regard others as better than thenselves!) As a believer, I am called to lay down my own selfish desires, my own agenda, and my own “rights” for others, for my life in Christ is to benefit others. I need to humble myself to consider others as better than myself- always. Jesus humbled Himself to the form of a slave and death on a cross- the biggest example of humility in all of history. Yet though he became obedient to even death, God exalted him above every name. What an example He is to us. We owe Him everything! And this book of Philippians has opened my eyes to see more about His love for us and how I can better serve Him through my life.

In many countries people who work in Government positions are called public servants or civil servants.  This idea is actually something that was inspired by biblical truth.  As believers we are encouraged to do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit but in humility to regard others as better than ourselves.(Philippians 2:3).   When the systems of Government were established in many nations influenced by Christianity the role of the public servant was just that, to consider what was most benneficial for the people for the nation they were serving and implement it.  It was also considered a position that was offering a service to the people of the nation.  Somehow it seems we have lost this perspective as we become people who are focused on a particular agenda, cause or even personal advancement.

In Africa where I have lived for the past few years many countries are ruled by dictators and tyrants – serving their own interests – building wealth at the expense of others, promoting family and tribe over the general population.

What would our nations look like if the people in positions of authority truely considered themselves public servants?  In our western nations we are blessed with the freedom to vote and influence our governments.  Are we willing to chose people to govern our nations who will make decisions in the best interests of the people and not simply people who are looking to serve their own interests, the interests of a particular group or gain wealth or fame?

The major theme in Philippians was humility, and Paul points this out in a number of different ways. He uses different people as examples of humility and encourages the Philippians to follow their examples. As we dug into these demonstrations of humility, I was amazed at their sacrifice. It made me realize how far away I am from doing the same and challenged me. I am challenged to lay down my life for others, to make love an action, and to serve others. I want to choose to humble myself especially in forgiving others and serving others, considering others as more important than myself. I feel like this is barely scratching the surface because there is so much more that I learned and that I could dig up! Wow. What a good book!

We want to take the opportunity to introduce this coming year’s of bloggers on the ESBS Blog.  We have 5 new students this year who will be blogging as they study through each book, and you’ll get a window into what is going on in their lives as the Word of God and the Spirit of God mesh to bring challenge and change.  It is exciting!  I hope the Lord ministers to you as the reader, and that you too are challenged by what the Lord is teaching you, and that the Lord might minister to you in the same way.

So, here is a list of the students:

• Luke Nakatsukasa – Luke has called Hawaii home, but has lived anywhere from Kauai to Fiji to Thailand to Indiana, and now in North Carolina.  He is a student and his wife Brooke, is a new staff member, who will be blogging as well.  He just graduated from Notre Dame, and has been called of God to spend a year in the Bible before moving into the business world.
• Luke & Kristy Fears – This couple is newly married, and have chosen to spend their first year of marriage soaking in the Word of God and being inspired by the Holy Spirit.  What a great thing to do in their first year of marriage as they navigate through bringing two lives together.  What better way to sort through your mess and struggles of merging two lives, than being in the Word, learning from the Lord, and applying His Word to their lives, and consequentially, to their marriage.
• Michele Bailey – Michelle comes form Virginia after her sister Julie spent the year in ESBS last year.  What Julie was learning inspired Michele to learn from the Bible as Julie had done.  Some of the revelations Julie had last year inspired Michele to want to dig for herself from the word, and learn from the Lord in the same way.  As a 20 year old, Michele has chosen to know the Lord, which speaks well of her priorities and maturity at a young age.
• Sarah Murphy – She has come all the way from New Zealand to study with us.  As a full time missionary in South Africa, Sarah has been challenged to really know the Word, since she is ministering to people on a full time basis.  A very wise move!