Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Tt 1.5 and following. Indeed, we find in the epistle to Titus the subjects that occupied us in the1st to Timothy: the good order in the assembly, the healthy teaching opposed to that of the false teachers, its fruits in the conduct of believers. Paul instructed Titus to choose and establish elders in each congregation (Acts 14:19-23). We are far from the principle of so many Churches in which one man combines these functions and is moreover regularly appointed to perform them. Dignity, sobriety, hospitality, self-control, these are the moral characteristics indispensable to the supervisor. It is not flattering the portrait of the Cretan drawn by their own prophet and confirmed by the apostle. The more or less accused traits of the natural man are not erased by conversion. One remains more prone to lies, the other to laziness or pride. Each child of God must learn to know his own tendencies and then watch with the Lord’s help not to let them manifest. Thus insubmissiveness! That of children towards their parents may later show itself towards all divine teaching. And God does not recognize the works of one who does not submit to the authority of his Word.
The practice of the Christian life is inseparable from sound doctrine. Indeed, today we encounter more and more the claim to bring Christians to produce fruits according to God, despite the unhealthy doctrines that alter or ruin the often most essential truths of Christianity. The Holy Scriptures, the only and infallible collection of these truths, are discredited. By depriving the Christian life of its absolute basis, which is the inspired Word, we forget that fruits cannot be produced without the tree that bears them. By considering the fallen man capable, without Revelation, of producing fruit for God by himself, one forgets that a bad tree will never bear good fruit. By making the word of God a guide endowed with a higher morality, but written under the influence of the errors and prejudices of its various authors, one forgets that a good tree, deprived of the sap that nourishes it, by the mutilation of its bark, is unable to provide a sufficient harvest, or even any harvest.
The intimate connection between doctrine and practical life is found at every step in Scripture. Psalm 119 shows us that through the Word only the path of the righteous is traced and illuminated. Without the teaching of Scripture, the believer confesses to having been “like a perishing sheep.” Both epistles to Timothy are full of this truth. In 2 Tim 3. 16, it is the divinely inspired Scriptures that teach and instruct us in practical righteousness for all our conduct. The next chapter of our epistle alone would suffice to convince us of this important truth, and to dispense us from multiplying its examples endlessly. However, let us also remember that even the Christian who has full confidence in the absolute authority of the written Word will always see the flavor of his practical life depend on the measure on which he feeds on the Scriptures, from which he remains in contact with them and submits to their teaching. For theCretans also had, like other nations, their own prophet, poet and moralist, who in his works showed a deep contempt for his fellow citizens. This is what usually happens in the world to clairvoyant moralists who have set themselves the task of knowing men. They have them in the end, in very low esteem, but never go so far as to despise themselves, having never been before God to say like Job: “I hate me”. Epimenides, therefore, philosopher and statesman, their own prophet, in the only fragment that, if I am not mistaken, remains of him, thus judged his fellow citizens, 600 years before Christ.
“Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy bellies.” Lies, bestial wickedness and gluttony, appetites that seek to satisfy themselves without work and without difficulty, such was the portrait of the Cretans; such as perhaps, they still are. This testimony is true, says the apostle. As for the judgment of his fellow citizens, this man had spoken according to God, he “possessed the truth” (Rom 1. 18); he was a witness, recognized by God, of the corruption of the Cretans. What was to be done with respect to these men? “Takethem back sharply,”said the apostle to his faithful delegate.
It was therefore a question of using severity towards the “seducers”, with authority, a function which was not entrusted to the elders, but to Titus, appointed by the apostle, who himself had received this authority directly from the Lord. This was also what Paul had done more than once, even to Peter, an apostle like him, when faith was in danger and sound doctrine in danger. But the very reprehension, addressed to these vain discoureurs and seducers had love for motive. His goal was not to reject these cumbersome and dangerous men, but to get them to be healthy in the faith. It was necessary to deploy spiritual authority to make them recognize the truths received by faith. It goes without saying that this authority was exercised through the use of the Word, in the power of the Spirit. Judaic fables, qualified in 1 Tim 4. 7 of the “profane fables” that are only stories of old women are the product of the Eastern imagination that is exercised on the Scriptures and which, under the pretext of adorning the truth, disparages and even annihilates it. The apostle Peter calls them “ingeniously imagined fables” (2 Peter 1. 16).
A doctrine that does not lead to good works is not “sound doctrine” and this point is of great importance to consider. There is no practical activity pleasing to God, if it is not based on the “healthy teaching” of the Word. The first epistle to Timothy, which tells us about maintaining “sound doctrine” in the house of God, tells us just as often about good works (2:10; 3:1; 5:10, 25; 6:18). In a crucial passage, the second epistle to Timothy shows us (2:21) that to withdraw from evil into the house of God is to be “prepared for every good work.” But this truth is very little understood by God’s dear children. They speak in every way of good works without ever having done what alone can prepare them for it: to purify themselves from the vessels of dishonor. Good works have the character of being the product of holiness and love. Jesus, the “holy servant of God” who had been “anointed with the Holy Spirit,” passed from place to place doing good (Acts 10:38).
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Elders and propagators of false teachings:
- The righteous cultivate the love of peace
Rom 12:18 If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Tt 1.6 if there is some blameless man, husband of one wife, having faithful children, who are neither accused of debauchery nor rebels. Hb 12:14 Seek peace with all, and sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord. James 3:17 Wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceful, moderate, conciliatory, full of mercy and good fruit, free from duplicity, hypocrisy.
- Truths to Remember About Stewardship of Life
-the diversity of gifts Mt 25:14-15 He will be like a man who, leaving for a journey, called his servants, and gave them his possessions.15 He gave five talents to one, two to the other, and one to the third, to each according to his ability, and he left.
-men are stewards, not owners Lk 19:13 He called ten of His servants, gave them ten mines, and said to them, ‘Make them claim until I return.
-the required fidelity 1 Cor 4:2 Moreover, what is asked of the dispensers is that everyone be found faithful.
-the value of life 1 Cor 6.20 Because you have been redeemed at a great price. So glorify God in your body and mind, which belong to God.
-a hidden treasure that must be kept 1 Tim 6:20 O Timothy, guards the deposit, avoiding vain and profane speeches,
-a ministry of stewardship 1 Pet 4:10 As good dispensers of god’s various graces, may each of you put at the service of others the gift he has received,
- False shepherds, features
-insensitive and loving pleasure Isaiah 56:10-12 the guardians are all blind, without intelligence; They are all dumb dogs, unable to bark; They have daydreams, lie down, love to sleep.11 And they are voracious, insatiable dogs; They are shepherds who know nothing to understand; All follow their own path, Each according to his interest, until the last: -12 Come, I will look for wine, And we will drink strong liquors! We will do the same tomorrow, and much more! –
-scatter the flock Jer 23:2 That is why the Lord, the God of Israel, speaks on the shepherds who graze my people: You have scattered my sheep, you have cast them out, You have not taken care of them; Behold, I will chastise you because of the wickedness of your actions, says the Lord.
-the mercenaries abandon the sheep Jn 10:12 But the mercenary, who is not the shepherd, and to whom the sheep do not belong, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep, and flees; and the wolf delights and disperses them.
- False profession
Ps 78:35-36 They remembered that God was their rock, that the Most High God was their liberator. 36 But they deceived him with their mouths, and they lied to him with their tongues; Ezekiel 33:31-32 And they go in crowds to you, and my people sit before you; they listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice, for their mouths make them a subject of mockery, and their hearts indulge in greed. 32 Behold, you are to them like a pleasant singer, possessing a beautiful voice, and skilled in music. They listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. Mt 7:21 Those who say to me, Lord, Lord! will not all enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one alone who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Tit 1:16 They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works, being abominable, rebellious, and incapable of any good work.
From all of the above, we note that good works, prepared by God and not by us, have the character of being done in the name of Christ (Acts 4. 9-10). They are meant to be made toward Christ (Mark 14:6), to the saints (Acts 9:36), and to all men (Gal. 6:10), but always to be made for Christ. The world cannot understand anything about the good works done for Christ, fornot only does it not know theLord, but He is His enemy. Mary’s perfume is madness in his eyes; the divine love that carries the heart of the believer, to the saints on one side, to the world on the other, is a dead letter for the natural man. Opposed to good works, bad works have evil as their origin and purpose. A Christian, even the most eminent, is in danger on this side and needs to be delivered from every evil work (2 Tim. 4:18). Evil works usually characterize God’s enemies. (Col. 1:21). Dead works are the opposite of living works. They do not originate in the divine life. They are not called “evil works,” but they have no value to God, and since they have sinful nature as a starting point, one must be cleansed from them (Heb. 6:1; 9:14). As well as evil works, they will be the object of the judgment pronounced on men before the great white throne. When it comes to good order in the house of God, it is recognized by the good works of those who are part of that house, not by their profession. The profession did not prevent the people mentioned in verse 16, from being “abominable and reprobate”. May the Lord Jesus sustain you all to follow the right path of faith.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the duties of elderly siblings.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.