Titus 1:1-3 ESV
“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior.”
The Elect
Who are the elect? We are the chosen of God, the called out
ones, the ones called of God to his service out from the world. We were chosen
by him even before he laid the foundations of the earth, called to a holy
calling, chosen to be holy and blameless before him, and predestined to be
conformed the likeness of Jesus Christ. Jesus formed us in the wombs of our
mothers, and in God’s book were written all the days formed for us even before
any came into being. God created us for a purpose and that purpose is to serve
him.
[Psalms 139:13-16; Romans 8:29; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Ephesians
1:3-4]
Our Faith
And what is our faith? Well, faith comes from God. Jesus is
the author and the perfecter of our faith. And faith is gifted to us by God and
it is not of our own doing lest we should boast. We can’t even come to faith in
Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ, i.e. unless he
first persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness and of our sinfulness
and of our need to be delivered from our bondage to sin to walk in holiness and
righteousness in obedience to our Lord. All this comes from God.
So, if we are persuaded by God to have faith in Jesus Christ
then that faith will be according to the will of God and according to the Word
of God. And it will express itself in genuine repentance, which also is given
to us by God, and in obedience to our Lord, empowered by God, and in submission
to Jesus Christ as Lord and Master of our lives. We will prefer to walk in the
ways and the will of God for our lives, so we will forsake our lives of sin to follow
Jesus Christ in holiness and in righteousness to the glory of God.
[Jn 6:44; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; 2 Pet 1:1;
Tit 2:11-14; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6-8; Eph
4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24]
The Truth
And what is the truth? Well, the truth, biblically speaking,
accords (agrees) with godliness. And what is godliness? It is piety (devotion,
faithfulness, holiness, reverence, and respect) towards God. So if we are
believers in and followers of the truth that is in Christ Jesus, and that is
found in the Scriptures, then we are going to be people whose lives are
surrendered to Jesus Christ, who are walking in his ways and in his truth, who
have forsaken our lives of sin to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands.
So, the truth has to agree with God and with his holy
character and with his divine will and purpose for our lives. And if we want to
know the truth then we need to be students of the Scriptures who study the
Scriptures in their context and who compare Scripture with Scriptures, for many
false doctrines have stemmed from Scriptures removed from their context and twisted
to say what they don’t say. And so we also need to test everything we read and
hear against the Scriptures in their full context so we get the truth.
[Jn 8:31-32,51; Jn
14:15-24; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; Rom
6:1-23; Rom
8:1-14,24; Rom 11:17-24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; Col 1:21-23;
2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb
5:9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:1-5; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 2 Pet 2:20-22; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Matt 7:21-23; 1 Jn
2:3-6,15-17,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6; Jas 1:21-25; Eph
4:17-24]
Putting it All Together
So, Paul was called of God to be an apostle of Christ for
our sake and for the sake of the faith of us who are God’s elect and for the
sake of our knowledge of the truth which accords with godliness. In other words,
it was Paul’s responsibility before God to make certain that we who claim to be
followers of Jesus Christ have full understanding of what it means to be
followers of Christ. It was his responsibility before God to make certain that
we understand fully the gospel message and the meaning of faith, etc.
Now, I am not an apostle nor am I a prophet. I am just a
woman of God sharing with you what the Lord is teaching me from his word each
day during my times of devotions with him. But the Lord has given me a similar
task as he did Paul to make certain that the Scriptures are explained clearly
so that my readers can know what it means to believe in Jesus Christ and so
that they can have the hope of eternal life with God. For many people think
they have eternal life but they don’t because they aren’t genuinely saved.
And so that is why I have explained what faith is and what
truth is and what it means to be God’s elect because there are so many
misconceptions of these things being taught in the gatherings of what is called
“church” today. So many people are being taught, for instance, that faith is a
mere acknowledgment of who Jesus is and of what he did for us on that cross or
it is just repeating words after someone else in what is called a prayer. And they
are being taught that faith guarantees them heaven when they die.
But there is no repentance involved in that faith. There is
no turning from sin to follow Jesus as Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant).
There is no daily dying with Christ to sin and to self and daily walking with
him in holiness and righteousness to the glory and praise of God – all in the
strength and power and wisdom of God. They just tell them to believe in Jesus
and now heaven is guaranteed them when they die regardless of how they live on
this earth. So they give them freedom to keep on in their sin.
But we are called to a holy calling. We are to be holy in
all our conduct, and to be holy is to be set apart from the world and set apart
to God and to his service. We are to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ
in our character and in our actions. And repentance is required for forgiveness
of sins and salvation from our slavery (addiction) to sin. And our salvation is
not a one-time deal and then we are in for good. We are saved (past), we are
being saved (present), and we will be saved (future) provided that we continue
in Christ in faithful obedience until the very end of time.
And the truth is not something we can make up. And we are
not going to find the truth if we believe everyone who says he is telling the
truth. We have to be those who are testing everything we hear or read no matter
who it is who is saying or writing it. And we are not going to find the truth
if we are not students of the Scriptures who are testing everything we read and
hear and see against the Scriptures IN THEIR CONTEXT. Context is critical to
correct biblical interpretation. So, please take this to heart.
[Lu
9:23-26;
Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas
1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col
3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt
7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27;
Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10]
By Mark Altrogge
You are beautiful
You are beautiful
beyond description
Too marvelous for
words
Too wonderful for
comprehension
Like nothing ever
seen or heard
Who can grasp Your
infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the
depth of Your love?
You are beautiful
beyond description
Majesty, enthroned
above
And I stand, I stand
in awe of You
I stand, I stand in
awe of You
Holy God, to whom
all praise is due
I stand in awe of
You
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