Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20121230.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Titus: God's Directives For Church Leaders In Deteriorating Cultures
Part VI: The Leader's Basis For Teaching Godly Personal Conduct In A Deteriorating Culture
(Titus 2:11-15)
  1. Introduction
    1. For leaders in the local church to heed Paul's Titus 2:1-10 directive (our last lesson) to teach others to live godly lives amid a deteriorating culture creates a big tension as they call men to live opposite the culture!
    2. Nevertheless, such teaching must be given, and Paul explains why this is so in Titus 2:11-15 (as follows):
  2. The Leader's Basis For Teaching Godly Personal Conduct In A Deteriorating Culture, Titus 2:11-15.
    1. Having directed Titus in Titus 2:1-10 to teach local church believers to live uprightly in personal conduct, Paul supplied the reasons for this directive beginning in Titus 2:11 with the word, "for."
    2. Those reasons are fourfold as described in Titus 2:11-14 as follows:
      1. First, God holds all men, lost and saved, accountable to believe in Christ by His grace to be saved from sin, directing Christians of all men on earth thus to live uprightly before Him, Titus 2:11:
        1. Local church leaders must teach other believers to live uprightly in personal conduct, for God's unmerited favor has appeared to all men through the Gospel of Christ, meaning God holds all men accountable to trust in Christ to be cleansed from sin and then to live righteously, Titus 2:11.
        2. If God holds all men thus accountable, including all people in the deteriorating culture itself, then the believer in Christ of all people on the earth is obliged to live apart from sin!
      2. Second, Christ's salvation saves from sin, requiring believers to part with it to live uprightly, Tit. 2:12:
        1. Believers are to "renounce" (arneomai, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 107) "impiety" (asebeia, Ibid., p. 114) and "worldly" ( kosmikos, Ibid., p. 446) lusts and live "moderately, self-controlled" (sophronos, Ibid., p. 809), righteous and "godly" (eusebos, Ibid., p. 326) lives in the present evil world amid its deteriorating culture, Titus 2:12.
        2. It thus follows that a Christian who has been saved from sin to not continue to sin, Rom. 6:1-2.
      3. Third, Christ's salvation saves one UNTO the blessed, glorious appearing of a Great Savior, Tit. 2:13:
        1. We are saved unto the blessed, glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Kingdom that will replace the current passing age of wickedness, Titus 2:13.
        2. This also implies believers will be held accountable for how they live at Christ's return, Rev. 22:12.
      4. Fourth, Christ gave Himself for believers to redeem them from all sin unto good works, Titus 2:14:
        1. Christ died to redeem us from all lawlessness (anomia, Ibid., p. 71), that is, from all sin (cf. 1 John 3:4), and to "cleanse, purify" (katharizo, Ibid., p. 388) unto Himself a "chosen" or peculiar (KJV) ( periousios, Ibid., p. 654) people who are different from those in the deteriorating culture who were also "eager, zealous" (zelotes, Ibid., p. 338) to do good works [versus the culture's sins], Titus 2:14.
        2. Accordingly, it only follows that the believer heed the will of Christ to stop sinning and be very eager to produce good works in CONTRAST to the godless world around him.
    3. Accordingly, Titus, as well as every pastor and local church leader since his era is to "speak" (laleo, Ibid., p. 464-465; U. B. S. Greek N. T., 1966, p. 741), to "urge, exhort, encourage" ( parakaleo, Ibid.; Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 622-623) and to "reprove, correct" (elegcho, Ibid., p. 248-249) with all "impressiveness" (Ibid., p. 302), or "authority" (NIV, ESV, KJV), Titus 2:15a. Indeed, every local church leader is to let no one "disregard" (periphroneo, Ibid., p. 659) or "despise" (Moulton & Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek N. T., 1972, p. 510) him in this matter of what he teaches, Titus 2:15b.
Lesson: Though for local church leaders to teach people to live OPPOSITE and thus in TENSION with the deteriorating culture, (1) since God holds all men accountable to heed His grace to trust in Christ for salvation FROM sin, (2) since God saves the believer FROM sin UNTO a godly life, (3) since God's salvation is UNTO the blessed appearing of Christ to Whom the Christian will be held accountable for how he now lives and (4) since Christ gave Himself to save the believer from sin unto an eagerness to do good works, local church leaders must strongly, authoritatively call God's flock to live righteously.

Application: May local church leaders strongly teach God's people to be eager to live godly lives!