witness – Page 2 – Year in the Bible

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, butaccording to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:1-7

Paul urges gentleness for the believers in these churches. He does not want the Christians to be quarrelsome but rather courteous to others. By the early churches example of such humble love and service, many were impressed with the new movement of Christians.

It didn’t mean they were pushovers. Just before this section Paul exhorts them to be bold in the truth, not letting anyone disregard them. They are to teach and rebuke with authority.

In today’s church, especially as it acts more publicly, do we find such a balance? Is it courteous and nice to the extent that we disregard ourselves and our own teachings, not wanting to offend anyone? Or are we so bold about the truth that we lose all humility and kindness?

Paul wants them to be both, and the humility I think is key. He reminds Titus, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” How can we treat those who do not know Jesus Christ and his gospel when we are no better ourselves, save for the mercy of God? We should treat others well in hopes of impressing the love of Christ upon them, rather than condemn them as though we were in a position to be the judge ourselves. We all need the mercy of God, and that should be central to the message we carry to others, and to each other in the church.

As I mentioned last week in talking about 1 Peter, we ought to be able to give a reason for the hope that we have in Christ. If what we believe is important, we should be able to tell others about it. We should know the gospel.

We talked about this in a class recently and at one point I put together a review of most of the weeks. It served as a reminder to jog our memories, but it will also work as a good cheat sheet in learning some short, clear descriptions of what Jesus has done for us.

Here’s a quick summary of what is included on the attached PDF. We talked about how Christ is our sacrificial lamb (1) and our passover (2). He brings life to us, undoing the death brought about by Adam (3). While evil was done to him, like Joseph, he worked in the situation to bring life to us (4). Then lastly, in reference to Moses lifting up a bronze snake that brought healing for all who looked on it, Jesus gives eternal life for all who look upon him (5).

Each of these has a picture to help us remember. Some are more straightforward, like a sheep in the bushes reminding us of Abraham and Isaac. Others are more of the “you had to be there” variety. But again, let me summarize quickly.

We have a picture of the door with the blood placed on it as passover, then next to it the cross laid over it, showing the blood of Christ that now saves us.

The third picture is to represent how in Adam, his sin at the tree brought death to all. Then in Christ, the “Second Adam”, which you read through from left to right, but this time include the two items inserted with a carrot, went to the tree (the cross) and died for us, bring life to us.

The fourth picture represent how Joseph and Jesus both left their father’s house, suffered injustice, were thrown into a pit (the grave in Jesus case), but then through those events saved others (life preserver).

Lastly we have the snake that brought death, then the bronze snake that when looked upon brought life, just as our sin (missing the mark) brings death, but looking to Christ brings us eternal life.

Hope this helps. If you still are left scratching your head about these, let me know and maybe I can help.

Tag: witness

A Mix of Boldness and Gentleness

Aids for Knowing the Story of the Gospel