So what will it be: the blue pill or the red pill? That was the choice given to Neo near the beginning of the classic movie trilogy, The Matrix. He could choose the blue pill, and if he did, we would keep living as he had always lived, continue on as normal in the way of the world around him, blissfully unaware of the lies that controlled every part of his life. Or he could choose the red pill, and thereby learn the truth that would change everything, expose the lies underneath that all the world told him, and so be set free from slavery and transformed. That is the choice that lay before him in that moment: lies or truth. Continue in the comfortable way of the world or have your world transformed. The red pill or the blue pill.
At the end of Titus 1, we seen that two paths lay before these churches on Crete. Like Neo, they had come to a fork in the road, had to decide between the red and the blue pill, between comfortable lies and transforming truth. They could take the path of error, which would ‘lead people into more and more ungodliness’ (2 Timothy 2:16). Or they could take the path of truth. Titus could appoint elders to teach sound doctrine, that would lead people into greater and greater godliness. Two destinations: more and more ungodliness or greater and greater godliness. Two ways to get there: error to deform or truth to transform.
This is not a choice that our author is ambivalent about, for Paul spends the rest of the letter pressing Titus and the churches towards the path of truth. To choosing the red pill. Having spoken about the danger of false teachers Titus 1, Paul pivots in the opening words of 2:1, ‘You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine…’. It is as if he said, "Titus I have told you about what these false teachers do, now let me tell you what you are to do." Titus is told to take the path of truth. And Paul’s spends the rest of the letter talking about this. He spends the whole of chapter 2 laying it out, for at the end in 2:15 he concludes ‘These, then, are the things you should teach.’ As we work through Titus 2, we are going to see that there are two things Titus is to teach: in 2:1-10 he is told to teach ‘what is appropriate to sound doctrine’, and in 2:11-15 he is told to teach the ‘sound doctrine’ itself. Let us consider these two halves of the chapter together: (1) The Godliness of the Gospel; and (2) The Gospel of Grace and Glory.
1. THE GODLINESS OF THE GOSPEL (2:1-10)
Some plants only grow in certain environments. They need the right amount of light. Enough but not too much rainfall. A particular kind of climate. Sufficient shelter from the wind. A specific type of soil. It is only where these different circumstances happen to come together that such plants can be found. It takes a rather unique environment for them to develop. However, other plants are entirely the opposite. They seem to grow wherever you put them. Sun or cloud. Rain or dry. Humid or hot. Wind or calm. They can survive, and even thrive, nearly anywhere. Regardless of the environment, they manage to spring up. They are able to grow in almost universal circumstances. Some plants only develop in unique environments, others are almost universal. I believe these two grouping in the botanical world, provide a good illustration for what happens in the spiritual world as well. Earlier we seen that some spiritual realities are universal. We thought a little about our sinfulness and said that sin was a problem for all of us. No matter or background or environment, sin is a weed that is found in every life, it can grow in every corner of our garden, it stains and defiles everything we do. However, we seen that sin not only has a universal existence, it also can have unique expressions. When the seed of sinfulness, found in all of us, was planted and left to develop in the cultural soil of Crete, it grew up into a particularly unique plant. The way that sinfulness had developed over the centuries on Crete had resulted in the creation of a particularly infamous character type. ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.’ In Titus 1 we seen that while ungodliness is universal, it expressed itself in a unique way on Crete. In Titus 2 we see that what is true of ungodliness, is also true of godliness: godliness should be both universal and unique.
It is godliness that Titus is told to teach here in 2:1-10. Titus is to give practical instructions to different groups in the churches about how to live a godly life. Did you notice in 2:1 that Titus is not simply told to teach sound doctrine? He is told to teach ‘what is appropriate to sound doctrine’. Those things that accompany, are related, connected to it. Paul often does this in his letters to churches. For example, as seen recently from Jamie’s sermon series, Paul spends the first three chapters of Ephesians explain sound doctrine, but in chapters 4-6 he gives the Ephesians practical instructions about how to live. He gives practical instructions for the whole church before focusing on wives and husbands, children and parents, slaves and masters. Again, in Colossians 3-4, having first taught them sound doctrine, Paul turns to give particular instructions for wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters. If you go through Paul’s letters, you will see that they often weave together these two threads: sound doctrine and the sound living appropriate to it. Teaching both about the gospel and about godliness. Titus is to follow’s Paul example in this. He is to teach both about the gospel (as we will see in 2:11-15) and also about godliness (here in 2:1-10). Here in 2:1-10, Paul gives instructions for five groups: older men (2:2), older women (2:3), young women (2:4), younger men (2:6-8), including Titus himself, and slaves (2:9). We will soon see that each group is given slightly different instructions. However, before we look at those differences, I want you to notice the great big similarity. No matter who they are, what group they belonged to, Paul expected all of them to be godly. Their godliness may have unique expressions in their differing environments: whether they are old or young, male or female, free or a slave. However, all are to be godly. Godliness is to be universal.
The same is true of every church, of all Christians. Regardless of our generation or gender, role or responsibilities, we are all called to strive for the same thing: godliness. All of us are to be godly. This is a challenge, but can you see how this is also a comfort? Paul believes not only that all of us ought to be godly, but all of us can be godly. It is not just that we all should aspire to it, but we all can achieve it. Paul tells them all to live godly lives, because they were all able to live godly lives. Godliness is like that plant that grows in every type of soil. It is a flower that can flourish despite the wind or the rain, the clouds or the climate. No matter your gender, generation or your job, you can live a godly life.
You can see this from Titus 2, but you can see it just as easily by thinking through the various godly men and women in the past. Think of the different circumstances and challenges that God’s servants have been able to cultivate godliness in. See how this plant has sprouted in almost every environment: a young Esther and elderly Sarah, an aged Abraham and a youthful David, a wandering Moses and an enslaved Daniel. All of them lived very different lives, but all of them were godly. Old or young, male or female, free or slave, rich or poor, healthy or unwell. We thought about this in our seminars – whatever God gives us, we can steward it for his glory. Whatever life circumstances he places us in, we can live a life pleasing to him. Brothers and sisters, see here that we never reach a stage of life, or face a situation in life, where we cannot be godly. Every blessing we receive or suffering we face is another opportunity to grow in godliness. Godliness is to be universal. No one is exempt because of their age or afflictions, challenges or circumstances. All of us are to be godly. All of us can be godly.
Godliness is universal, and yet it is also unique. In different corners of the garden this plant will grow up in different ways. The environment will have an effect on how it expresses itself. That was true of ungodliness, in the circumstances on Crete, the human character was corrupted in a unique way. Paul tells us it is also true of godliness. A godly life looks slightly different for these various groups, because the lives of these various group is different. Many of these differences can be traced back to their environments. The circumstances and challenges of their particular stage of or situation in life.
Think of older men: as they get less and less physically sound (that is healthy), Paul expects them to be getting more and more spiritually sound. They are to be ‘sound in faith, in love and in steadfastness.’ (2:2) Older women are to resist the urge to use their tongues to slander, instead using their experience and wisdom to teach the younger women who are coming along behind them. Those younger women, in the unique environment of their stage of life, with a husband and children, are to focus on loving both. The young men are given only one thing to focus on: in all their youthful energy and zeal, they are to develop self-control. The same was true of slaves. Their relationship to their master meant they were to concentrate on pleasing them, not talking back, not stealing but showing they are trustworthy. All of these groups were to live godly lives, but because their lives were all different, their godliness was going to be displayed in different ways. Christianity does not make us clones. Just as a rainbow is more beautiful for there being seven colours, not one. Godliness is more glorious because it grows up and bursts into different flowers, bears different fruits, in our different kinds of lives.
This is perhaps most striking in the lives of the final group: slaves. Though elsewhere Paul lays the theological foundations that will eventually bring the institution of slavery to its knees, here he simply explains to these slaves how they can live godly lives in the midst of their circumstances, even if they suffer injustice. It is remarkable when you look back over God’s servants in the past, that some of the godliest have been enslaved or in service. Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, Esther and Nehemiah in Persia. You will struggle to find examples of these believers sinning in the Bible. Even in the midst of their suffering and slavery, they were models of godliness. They all pleased their masters were submissive in everything that was not sinful. Despite being betrayed by or forcibly taken from their families, surrounded by idolatry and made slaves in a foreign land, they all lived lives of holiness.
Surely from this we see so clearly that godliness can spring up even in the darkest and most difficult environments. Which of us can be excused from cultivating godliness in our lives, when slaves are instructed to do so in theirs? If brutal slavery did not stop these believers from growing in godliness, how can we think even the most difficult circumstances or colleagues in work can hold back our holiness? All of us are to be godly. And all of us can be godly. Every stage of life, every situation in our life, even the darkest and most difficult ones, is an opportunity for our godliness to grow.
Notice also that these different plants springing up in the garden of godliness are not disconnected and distant from each other. As if the flower over in that corner is entirely independent from the shrub springing up over here. First of all, we see they are all receiving this teaching and truth from Titus. He was to be instructing all of these different groups on Crete. Just as we all, as one church, older men and young woman, young men and older women, employed and retired, all sit under God’s Word, feeding from the sermons and teaching in our local church together, they did the same in Crete. As Jamie keeps preaching through Ezra-Nehemiah on a Sunday morning, or as another elder delivers a communion address to us on a Sunday afternoon to help us contemplate Christ’s cross, or as we work through the Gospel of Matthew together on a Sunday evening, we are all receiving teaching in the truth together.
However, notice in Titus 2 that teaching is not limited to these formal gathered settings, but took place between members, as brothers and sisters came alongside each other in more informal and individual ways to help each other grow in godliness, to keep following Jesus. This is what we mean when we talk about discipleship: helping another Christian to follow Jesus. From Titus 2 we see this was to happen both across and within generations. For example, in 2:4 the older women were to help train the younger woman. In the same way, in 2:7, Titus, likely considered to be a young man, is to set an example to the other young men.
Brothers and sisters, all of us are to be godly. All of us can be godly. So let all of us help each other grow in godliness. A great way to do this is meet up and study the Bible 1-on-1 or to pray together. You could read through a Christian book at the same time as another member and meet up every few chapters to chat over what you are learning and questions you have. Regardless how busy our lives are, we should all aim and be able to have a relationship with another brother or sister where we regularly meet up to help each other follow Jesus! Brothers and sisters, are you doing that? If right now you can’t read a book or study the Bible together, why not just talk about a sermon you heard the previous Sunday and open up your Bibles to that passage for a few minutes together? Maybe even just try to have one meaningful conversation with someone after the Sunday morning service about the sermon you just heard.
Do you realise that there is enough of us in this room, right now, we could enter into a pact, promise together, that we will not think you to be a wierdo if after a service, in conversation and catch up, you ask us what we learnt from the sermon that morning. Or ask if you can share what you learnt from it. Those are the kinds of conversations we should be cultivating as a church. This morning I asked, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we were the kind of church where the normal, unremarkable thing, was members growing in godliness, maturing in faith?’ That would be great! But how do you think we become like that? Is it not by making it an ordinary thing to talk about and teach truth to one another. Friends, if it is truth that transforms, let us get talking about it! Start sharing Scripture with each other! If we don’t, we may say that we are a church, but we are acting merely as a sanctified social club that listens to sermons together!
2. THE GOSPEL OF GRACE AND GLORY (2:11-15)
Remember the main point of Titus is to teach us that truth transforms, that the truths of the gospel transform us into godly people. The way that Titus 2 is structure shows us this. Having told Titus to ‘teach what accords with sound doctrine’, and outlined what that is in 2:1-10, Paul turns in 2:11 to the sound doctrine itself. If 2:1-10 speaks of the conduct, here in 2:11-15 we see the cause. Why are older men and younger women to behave in this way? What would cause a suffering slave to be submissive to their cruel master? What would hold back an older women from slandering others? In short, what is it that generates such godliness? Creates change? Paul shows 2:11-15 answer such questions by beginning with the connection word, ‘For the grace of God has appeared...’. As we shall see, here Paul makes it clear the Gospel is the cause of all this godliness. The Gospel produces godliness, it is the truth that transforms us.
These verses contain one of the most beautiful statements of the gospel in all of Scripture. We could stay in these sentences for the rest of the weekend and would still only have scratched the surface of all Paul is saying. The Puritan Thomas Manton preached a series of 22 sermons on these verses! However, I hope that we can get a sense of them by noticing two distinctive details Paul draws out for us here. There are two features that Paul pulls to the forefront of his paragraph. Here he shows us that at the core of Christianity is a Gospel of Grace and Glory. Did you notice how everything in our verses is connected to one of these two themes? Paul starts off in 2:11 by stating ‘the grace of God has appeared…’ before then telling us in 2:13 of ‘the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour…’. Everything else Paul describes is associated with one of these two appearings. Let us consider them together.
A. The Appearing of the Grace of God (2:11-12)
The decades of the 1920s and 1930s were packed full of significant moments. During this period a manufacturing boom created an economic boost, which was then undermined by the Great Depression, perhaps the most famous credit crunch in history. Other important historical events also occurred. Many empires that had dominated regions for centuries, like that of the Ottomans or the Austro-Hungarians, were dismantled during this period. There were also political changes that continue to have ramifications today. New ideologies infiltrated nations: communism in the Soviet Union and China and fascism in Italy and Germany. All these events were incredibly significant. And yet when we think about this period, it is hard not to see all of them overshadowed by the even greater one that marked its beginning.
The First World War ended in 1918 and dictated and dominated world events throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The war was so significant, that its ripple effect lasted for decades. Every single event I have mentioned from this period was in some way connected to or caused by the war. Global economic changes were largely a result of the increased production and new technologies developed during the war. The Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires were dismantled because they were defeated in the war. Both the revolution in Russia and the rise of fascism in Europe were reactions to the cost and consequences of the war. WWI was so great, its consequences so widespread, that its ripple effects lasted for years. After the war, it seemed the world was never the same again.
In an even greater way, Paul tells us of an event of such magnitude, that all of creation was never the same again. More than WWI, or even a global pandemic, there is one event Paul sees overshadowing all others. There is one event that has had an impact not just for years or decades, but right into eternity. What event could have such an impact? In 2:11 Paul tells us it was when, ‘...the grace of God appeared…’.
What is this appearance? Well perhaps surprisingly, Paul doesn’t dwell too much on it. Unlike when he speaks of the appearance of the goodness of God in 3:4-7, where he specifically mentions it is the work of the Spirit and the Son, Paul doesn’t explicitly say anything about what happened when grace appeared! However, from what Paul says elsewhere (e.g. 2 Timothy 1:9-10), it is clear that this appearance of grace is the coming of Jesus. The appearing of the Son of God was the appearing of the grace of God. If you remember, that is how John starts his gospel. He told us, ‘from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.’ (John 1:14–17) As Brain Tabb puts it, here we see ‘grace has a face, and that face is Jesus’. He is the personification, manifestation, revelation of the grace of God. That is God’s ‘undeserving favour’. When Jesus appeared, grace appeared.
HOWEVER, INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON THE REALITY OF THIS APPEARANCE, PAUL DRAWS OUR ATTENTION TO ITS RESULT. HE HIGHLIGHTS TWO RESULTS TO US: IT‘…OFFERS SALVATION FOR ALL PEOPLE...[AND] TEACHES US…’. THE FIRST IS ONLY BRIEFLY MENTIONED, AND THAT IS THE SCOPE OF GRACE. THE APPEARANCE OF THIS GRACE ‘OFFERS SALVATION TO ALL PEOPLE’. DOES THIS NOT QUICKLY SUMMARISE WHAT PAUL HAS JUST TOLD TITUS? HE HAS JUST WENT THROUGH ALL THE DIFFERENT GROUPS IN THE CHURCHES ON CRETE (OLDER AND YOUNGER, MEN AND WOMEN) AND SAID THAT SALVATION WAS TO BE SEEN IN EVERY SINGLE LIFE. THERE WAS NOBODY EXCLUDED OR EXEMPT FROM THIS SALVATION. BECAUSE OF GOD’S GRACE, ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE, HAD RESPONDED BY FAITH IN THE GOSPEL AND WERE EMPOWERED TO LIVE GODLY LIVES. HERE WE SEE THAT THERE IS NO GROUP IN OUR SOCIETY, NO TRIBE, TONGUE, PEOPLE OR NATION IN OUR WORLD, TO WHOM THE GRACE OF GOD DOES NOT OFFER SALVATION. THIS IS A GRACE IS FOR ALL GENERATIONS AND GENDERS. THIS IS A SALVATION THAT IS EVEN FOR SLAVES. CHRISTIAN, YOU WILL NEVER MEET ANOTHER HUMAN BEING WHOM THE GRACE OF GOD CANNOT SAVE.
However, having referenced the scope of grace, Paul turns to focus on the school of grace. In 2:12 he tells us ‘It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.…’. Paul tells us the grace of God puts us on a training programme, it enrols us in a school. And there seem to be two subjects taught at this school, the first is learning to say no to ungodliness and the second is to live out godliness. These are two things that should characterise the life of every Christian, all those who have been saved by God’s grace. They should both struggle against sin and grow in godliness.
In theological terms, this is the school of sanctification, our progressive increasing in holiness. These two lessons are, in theological terms, mortification and vivification. Mortification - putting ungodliness to death. Vivification – bringing godliness to life. In this school of God’s grace, we are trained to stamp out the smouldering sparks of the flesh and fan the flickering flame of the Spirit. We seen this earlier in 1:6-8, as elders were to both avoid vices and possess virtues. I wonder do you think about holiness in this way? As an equal combination of both avoiding sin and accomplishing good? In your own life do you tend to concentrate on one rather than the other? Overlook one if you are doing well in the other? We should be praying and aiming for the whole of holiness. To both struggle against sin and grow in our godliness.
Earlier we seen how ungodliness had grown up and manifested itself in a particular way in Crete. Back in 1:12, we heard: ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons’. They could not control their speech, and so were liars, did not control their senses, and so acted as brutes, failed to control their stomachs, and so were gluttons. Rather than controlling their worldly passions, they were controlled by them. As Paul tells us in 3:3, they were ‘enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures’. But then the grace of God appeared and began training them to not say no the things they had a reputation for.
At grace’s school they learnt to say no to their greatest sins, these worldy passions in 2:12, an also learn the very opposite virtue. Did you notice in 2:1-10, that there is one virtue that is commanded of every group regardless of their gender or generation. What did Paul want to characterise these Cretans perhaps above all else? This society that could not control its speech, senses or stomach? Paul tells them that at this school they will all learn self-control. It is commanded of older men, women and younger men. Here in 2:12 it is the first quality that Paul says they will learn I. The school of grace.
What a difference the grace of God makes. See what a transformation the truth of the gospel brings. Here we see those controlled by worldly passions learn self-control. It is the same with each of us. Proud become humble. Sensual become chaste. Brothers and sisters, it doesn’t matter what unique way sin has twisted you: there is training at this school to undo all of Satan’s tricks. No sin can stain you so badly, that it cannot be removed by grace. No pattern of life is so entrenched, that you cannot learn to live another. Now God’s grace has appeared, no chains are unbreakable. All can be godly. All can be made whole.
B. The Appearing of the Glory of God (2:13-14)
As we have seen, despite many great events occurring throughout the 1920s and 30s, they are all overshadowed by the greater event that began the period: WWI. However, there is another shadow that lurks over this same period. Not from the great event at its beginning, but from the great event at its end. We have seen how so many of the key events in these years were the result of the WWI. However, the very same events were also the road to the WWII in 1939. The economic problems brought about by the Great Depression, the confiscation of large areas of territory and the growth of political ideologies like fascism. These all ultimately collided and caused the world to descend into conflict again. This period of the 1920s and 1930s can only be understood when it is seen in light of those two great events which sit like bookends around it. Every significant moment in these years can be seen either as a result of WWI or the road to WWII. So great are these two events, everything connects back and looks forward to them.
Paul wants us to think of this present age in the same way. We have already seen how that great event of the past, the appearing of the grace of God, shapes us, causes our growth in godliness. However, in 2:13-14 Paul explains how a great future event can do that as well. We are to live, ‘in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior…’. We are to spend our present lives not only looking back to what God has done in the past, the appearing of grace, but forward to what he will do in the future, the appearing of glory. This time, Paul leaves in no doubt about what this appearance is. It is the appearing of ‘the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…’.
Friends, do you see the hope that these verses bring? Take a step back for a moment with Paul and plot your life on this timeline he tells us about. The appearing of grace – this present age – the appearing of glory. Do you see that you live in a passing present, an interim age, an intervening moment of time between two bookends of history? Are you doing what Paul speak of here, waiting for this appearing of glory, this ‘blessed hope’? That is what Paul calls it, but it could equally be translated ‘happy confidence’. Is that how you think about the future? Are you waiting in happy confidence? Or are you worrying in downcast uncertainty? If it is the latter, if it is anxiety and fear that fills you, you need to look further forward. Look beyond the deadlines and pressures of next week, the uncertainty of next month, the unknown of next year. Paul tells us that our perspective is much longer than that. Sometimes we need to take a step back, pull our heads out of the sand of this present age and look to what is waiting for all of us who have been saved by God’s grace at its end.
If looking to the future doesn’t fill you with ‘blessed hope’ this evening, pray over that this week. Struggle and strive to see things this way. It is this happy confidence, faith about the future, waiting for God’s glory to appear, that fuels so much of Christian faithfulness, helps to generate our godliness. This is why Christians can be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Can have nothing, yet possess everything. For we know this winter season will soon pass and eternal summer will come. Christians have been able to sing on their way to the scaffold, hum hymns lying in hospital, smile when they feel scared, all because they know their current light momentary afflictions cannot be compared with the eternal glory that will appear.
See here in 2:14, Paul not only highlights the certainty of this glory, but also the cost of this glory. How is it that these corrupt Cretans will be made into a pure people? How can you and I, those who are by nature ungodly, become godly? It is because ‘…our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ...gave himself for us.’ God gave himself. Christ was crucified. Why such a sacrifice? What could possibly require a price of this magnitude? Paul tells us it achieved two things ‘to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.’ To redeem from wickedness and to purify us for good works.
Do you see that these two consequences match the two classes at the school of grace? Brothers and sisters, we can say no to ungodliness and worldly passions because Jesus has redeemed us from all wickedness. We are able to live self-controlled upright and godly lives, because he died to purify for himself a people for his possession. The school of grace may be free to us, free to all who turn from their sin and trust in Christ, but it is only free to us because Jesus has already picked up the fee. Friends, this is the good news at the core of Christianity. The Gospel of Grace and Glory. This is the truth that transforms. Turns us from ungodly way of destruction we are naturally on and towards godliness and life. For as Charles Spurgeon summarises so well: ‘[Christ] gave himself for you that you might give yourselves for him.’
ALEXANDER ARRELL