LOOKING FOR FRUIT
I send greetings in the name of Jesus:
One of the books of the New Testament which is not visited very often in our church services is the book of Titus. Once again Paul is the author of this book written to Titus as Paul gives advice on the responsibility of supervising the churches on the island of Crete.
This scripture is important to us because it lays out three different areas of responsibility:
1. Leadership in the church. 2. Right living in the church. 3. Right living in society. I think that each one of us as Christians have a sense of responsibility in the idea of right living, and what it takes to bring ourselves into line with the Holy Spirit, but as a society in general it is important for us to keep in mind those things that tend to be divisive among us. It is this kind of teaching that we so easily take for granted as having understood and known personally. It begins to be things like living a good life, or putting to work what it means to have the good news of salvation through the mercy of God alone instead of trying to use our own goodness to work our way toward salvation. The gospel is meant to literally transform people's lives, so that they eventually performed good deeds. Those deeds however are a byproduct of our relationship with Christ and is not something that we generate on our own. Our service won't save us, but we are saved to serve.
Just as equal is the responsibility for us as Christians to appoint and to look for the right leadership within the church to give his organization and discipline. In the book of Titus pull lists the qualities needed for Eldership and for leadership. These things didn't just include their abilities to lead men but it became their contact that was revealed in their homes, and in their personal lives that showed the fruit of the spirit in them. It is time that we realized that it is not enough to be educated or to have a loyal following to be the right kind of leader in the church. As we are transformed through the power of God's Holy Spirit we must have self-control, spiritual and moral fitness, and Christian character. In other words you are is just as important as what you can do.
What is missed so much in the book of Titus for our churches is that Christ's teachings must relate to various different groups within the church. Older Christians were to teach and be examples to younger men and women. People of every age group have a lesson to learn and a different role to play within the church. The whole idea for all of us is that we have a right living, and a right relationship that goes along with a right doctrine. That being said we need to treat relationships with one another just as we would treat the outgrowth of our faith in Christ. All we have to do is look around us to see the many different kinds of teachings within the church, and we have to be very active and alert to take action on anything that divides Christians from one another. In the book of Titus Paul wrote warnings to be on the lookout for people who teach wrong doctrines and lead others into an error of belief. This doesn't mean that some false teachers always understand what they are teaching. Some people are confused, they speak their misguided opinions without checking them against the Bible. For all of us that have searched Scripture and grown over a period of time we have found ourselves in a situation where we have run up against the teaching that we have held, but which is not supported by Scripture. In the case of this letter written to Titus by Paul there was a teaching that had become very popular among the Jews about circumcision as a part of accepting Christ for the Gentiles. Paul had written several churches to help them understand the Gentile believers did not have to become Jews first in order to be Christians; God accepts anyone who comes to him in faith.
Down through history there have been many different teachings that have cropped up to be used as conditions for accepting faith in Christ. Many of these doctrinal issues are held on to very tightly, and they have become very legalistic in their view of what is referred to from God's word is the free gift of salvation to all who believe in Christ. Many of these doctrines are formed around acts of baptism, and no matter if it is infant baptism or the requirement of baptism in conjunction with accepting Christ as your personal savior; or if speaking in tongues is to be the only sign that one has the gift of the Spirit of God in their life these teachings attacked the foundations of truth and the integrity upon which the Christian faith is built. It isn't hard to recognize false teachers because they tend to do three things: 1. They tend to focus more on attention to self than on attention to Christ; 2. They tend to ask us to do something that will compromise or dilute our faith in Christ alone; 3. They tend to deemphasize the divine nature of Christ or the inspiration of the Bible, or the urge believers to make decisions based more on human judgment than on prayer and biblical background. As I said once before not all of these people realize what they are doing, many are ignorant of what the Scripture actually says, but it is our responsibility to look for fruit. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
One of the books of the New Testament which is not visited very often in our church services is the book of Titus. Once again Paul is the author of this book written to Titus as Paul gives advice on the responsibility of supervising the churches on the island of Crete.
This scripture is important to us because it lays out three different areas of responsibility:
1. Leadership in the church. 2. Right living in the church. 3. Right living in society. I think that each one of us as Christians have a sense of responsibility in the idea of right living, and what it takes to bring ourselves into line with the Holy Spirit, but as a society in general it is important for us to keep in mind those things that tend to be divisive among us. It is this kind of teaching that we so easily take for granted as having understood and known personally. It begins to be things like living a good life, or putting to work what it means to have the good news of salvation through the mercy of God alone instead of trying to use our own goodness to work our way toward salvation. The gospel is meant to literally transform people's lives, so that they eventually performed good deeds. Those deeds however are a byproduct of our relationship with Christ and is not something that we generate on our own. Our service won't save us, but we are saved to serve.
Just as equal is the responsibility for us as Christians to appoint and to look for the right leadership within the church to give his organization and discipline. In the book of Titus pull lists the qualities needed for Eldership and for leadership. These things didn't just include their abilities to lead men but it became their contact that was revealed in their homes, and in their personal lives that showed the fruit of the spirit in them. It is time that we realized that it is not enough to be educated or to have a loyal following to be the right kind of leader in the church. As we are transformed through the power of God's Holy Spirit we must have self-control, spiritual and moral fitness, and Christian character. In other words you are is just as important as what you can do.
What is missed so much in the book of Titus for our churches is that Christ's teachings must relate to various different groups within the church. Older Christians were to teach and be examples to younger men and women. People of every age group have a lesson to learn and a different role to play within the church. The whole idea for all of us is that we have a right living, and a right relationship that goes along with a right doctrine. That being said we need to treat relationships with one another just as we would treat the outgrowth of our faith in Christ. All we have to do is look around us to see the many different kinds of teachings within the church, and we have to be very active and alert to take action on anything that divides Christians from one another. In the book of Titus Paul wrote warnings to be on the lookout for people who teach wrong doctrines and lead others into an error of belief. This doesn't mean that some false teachers always understand what they are teaching. Some people are confused, they speak their misguided opinions without checking them against the Bible. For all of us that have searched Scripture and grown over a period of time we have found ourselves in a situation where we have run up against the teaching that we have held, but which is not supported by Scripture. In the case of this letter written to Titus by Paul there was a teaching that had become very popular among the Jews about circumcision as a part of accepting Christ for the Gentiles. Paul had written several churches to help them understand the Gentile believers did not have to become Jews first in order to be Christians; God accepts anyone who comes to him in faith.
Down through history there have been many different teachings that have cropped up to be used as conditions for accepting faith in Christ. Many of these doctrinal issues are held on to very tightly, and they have become very legalistic in their view of what is referred to from God's word is the free gift of salvation to all who believe in Christ. Many of these doctrines are formed around acts of baptism, and no matter if it is infant baptism or the requirement of baptism in conjunction with accepting Christ as your personal savior; or if speaking in tongues is to be the only sign that one has the gift of the Spirit of God in their life these teachings attacked the foundations of truth and the integrity upon which the Christian faith is built. It isn't hard to recognize false teachers because they tend to do three things: 1. They tend to focus more on attention to self than on attention to Christ; 2. They tend to ask us to do something that will compromise or dilute our faith in Christ alone; 3. They tend to deemphasize the divine nature of Christ or the inspiration of the Bible, or the urge believers to make decisions based more on human judgment than on prayer and biblical background. As I said once before not all of these people realize what they are doing, many are ignorant of what the Scripture actually says, but it is our responsibility to look for fruit. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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