Post by Cindy on Jun 7, 2019 11:11:38 GMT -5
Titus 3: 1-15
Be Ready for Every Good Work
1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,
2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
3 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.
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.
9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.
10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him,
11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Final Instructions and Greetings
12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.
13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing.
14 And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.
15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with you all.
Paul tells Titus to remind the believers to obey authorities. I think because we are always fighting the 'old man or woman in us, the way we were before being born again'.
Sin in us, wants to rebel, it seems to whisper in our ear:
why should I have to listen and obey that person that is not nearly as nice or smart etc etc as I am?
Or we grumble about a corrupt government and thus excuse ourselves,
but no....
we are to obey...... unless it goes against God.
Gossip is to be included in 'not to speak evil of anyone'.
It's often best to say nothing, and certainly we are never to take pleasure in it ( as some do when telling a juicy bit of gossip).
We are to avoid being a quarrelsome person, as quarreling generally arouses hostility especially of unbelievers.
Rather we are to be gentle and courteous.....
Because we were once
foolish ( not truly knowing or caring how sinful and evil we were)
and thus we were disobedient and rebellious ( even thinking we were special, unique, etc as a 'rebel' ) and our hearts were hard
as children of the devil we were lead astray by lies and deception
and we were 'slaves' to all manner of sins
hateful and hating ( self centered, envy and pride as ruling us)
Without Jesus we all would have gone to Hell, but Jesus in His kindness, left His throne in Heaven and came to earth, and saved us.
He did not do this because we were such good and deserving people, because we were not, we were ( and still are sinners) wretched sinners.
He did so because of His great mercy and love.
Our guilt was removed ( Christ took my/our place) so that we/I might become God's children and heirs ( to receive what we did not merit)....eternal life.
That Jesus saves is absolute truth, a trustworthy statement and therefore Christians should devote themselves to service and good works.
A godly, sacrificial life is excellent and profitable.
We are to also avoid foolish controversies
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I had finished and was copying ( so I would not lose it when posting...
when I saw that I had not put in the verse numbers in the beginning sooooo
and while blue copied
I put in the verses in
but..
lost everything from this point on arrgghhhh)
Anyway a quick recap of what I wrote...
more
or...
less...
because I am tired now
and that was disappointing as it usually is when that happens....
at least it was not the whole thing this time!!!!
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genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless
The have no spiritual value and or any good for eternity.
Then about false teachers or those who stir up strife and dissension in the church, they are to be warned, corrected etc. 2 times but if they continue after that they are to be put out of the church...
because they are sinful, warped and self condemned.
Then it was some personal matters like sending Artemas or Tychicus to Titus so he could spend the winter with Paul.
For the 2nd verse, you used the word "gossip". but it's actually translated in a couple of different ways, but none are "gossip": “to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.” (Titus 3:2) About half of the 25 translations I have, translate it this way. The other half use: "To speak evil of no man,". Both are very good translations of the word in the original language, as "speaking evil of someone" is "slander". It can be gossip too, but not necessarily. The reason for that is that gossip is often about rumors or "I head that so and so said that she heard that ..." Here's what i wrote about the difference in my notes:
Gossip is light talk about a person that may or may not be true but is often public knowledge, most often about celebrities, neighbors, and coworkers. It's usually done secretly in that the person gossiping doesn't want the person they're gossiping about to know they said it. Slander is outright lies about a persons actions or character and can harm their reputation. It can be said as gossip, but is often said publicly. Either way, if the person finds out they can sue the ones who said it for defamation of character or libel.
Even Christians have no problem "speaking evil" about evil people like child molesters, or people like Hitler, and yet God tells us, "To speak evil of no man,". I know that really made me sit up and pay attention and ask forgiveness for all the times I've done just that too. It's amazing when you start to pay attention to your thoughts (which become words and actions) and see just how many of them must be taken captive and replaced with truth.
But then, that just reminds us of just how badly corrupted our minds and hearts have been. It also tends to make us more determined to take thoughts captive and replace them with truth, and cause us to really look forward to the day when we will have no more sin nature and will finally have a pure incorruptible body and mind! Praise God!!!! “so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:7) This is an amazing sentence. We haven't just been saved from hell. This tells us that the life Jesus lived has been put on our account, and ours has been put on His! In other words, God actually sees us as having lived the life Jesus did, not the horribly sinful life we actually lived! People think that's like a fantasy, but they forget that God doesn't dwell in time. To God, we're already perfect; we already have our new incorruptible bodies and minds and we have no sin nature. We no longer sin or even consider it! So that's what God sees when He thinks of us or looks at us; not what we did in what for us was the past. This is something that's amazing to reflect on during the day!
This verse is also interesting: “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.” (Titus 3:14)
The term that was translated "unproductive" is linked to evangelism. Paul was saying that if the people aren't telling others about the gospel then his efforts at starting that church was in vain! This reminds me of another verse that really made me sit up and take notice: “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” (Philemon 6) The words in the original language of this verse give it a kind of double meaning. First, that as we share Christ with others, we'll learn more and be able to understand all we have in Christ better. Secondly, the more we learn about Christ and all we have in Him, the more we'll want to tell others about Him! I know I've found both to be quite true in my own life. More truth to chew on!
I will start with Amos
and then go onto Obadiah
I don't think I have thanked you recently, for hanging in with me all these years do Bible Studies....
so If I haven't I do now or do so again!!
Thank you sooooooooooooooooo much!!! :-)
I've really enjoyed it too, so thank you for hanging in there with me too!
Ok, I started a new thread for us for Amos and Obadiah here:
fresh-hope.com/thread/4774/study-amos-obadiah
!!
