I’m trying something new.  My pastor posts a daily devotional thoughts most every day on the passages of scripture he is reading.  I follow along by reading the same passage in the morning and some time later catching up with his thoughts.  Today we start Titus and so I thought I would post along.  The catch is that I don’t know what aspects of the passage he is going to flesh out.  Hopefully this will be complimentary to his blog post.

God Cannot Lie, but People Can.

There are a few things that God cannot do.  The list is short, but on the list is “lying” (Titus 1:2b).  God has a clear record.  He Doesn’t lie.  People, however, don’t always tell the truth (Titus 1:10-13).  And worse they don’t always tell the truth about God.

So how do we hold on to truth and discern lies?

Preaching (Titus 1:3) – I know it seems outdated.  Especially in the days of television.  But then again we just witnessed the final episode of LOST and it seems like no one really knows what that show is about.  Sometimes we need someone to point to the very words of God and say, “this is what God said and this is how we should respond.”  Maybe it doesn’t have the same kind of feel good approach, but it certainly clears things up.

I forget where I got this story, but imagine back when they first found out that we could create an electric spark.  People were trying to figure out how to get the spark from point A to Point B.  I’m sure that a metal wire looked cold and lifeless and didn’t appear as a viable option for carrying electric current (after all the spark was lively and vibrant, metal just looks dead).  So they experimented with prisms.  Prisms sparkled and carried light.  The initial thought was that they could carry electric current.  Of course today we houses that are “wired” and prisms are relegated to the neat little things you can look at in science class, but carry no practical value for conducting electric current.  So it is with preaching.  Though other forms of communication may be more flashy, God has chosen the simple method of preaching to carry the profound word of Life.

Pastors also known as Elders (Titus 1:5) – These guys are qualified by living out the principles in God’s word.  Its not that they live to a higher standard than God’s word.  They model how we all should live.  Read Titus 1:5-9… are there any traits in that passage that we shouldn’t all be living up too?  They not only preach the message, but they should live the message.

If they are following the Truth, they have the ability and calling to confront those who are in error and leading others astray (Titus 1:9).  Its not that they are superhero’s or anything, but that they are called to preserve the truth.  The fact is that people lie (Titus 1:12).  Pastors are to hold false teachers accountable for their false teaching.  Not only does false teaching lead others astray (Titus 1:10-11), but it perverts the gospel.

In the book of Titus the issue was relying on some work of the flesh like circumcision to save in addition to the work of Christ. These people needed to be confronted and reminded that God is not pleased with the circumcision of the flesh as much as he is the circumcision of the heart (Titus 1:15).  The heart is the issue.  If you are working out of a heart that loves God and is following him, it doesn’t matter what has taken place in your flesh.  Marking your body doesn’t save or sanctify you, Jesus Christ saves and the Holy Spirit works in us for our own sanctification.  But these false leaders showed by their actions that their heart wasn’t right.  They weren’t believing God and worse they were telling lies about God.

Application: God cannot lie, but people Can… are you obedient to God?  Are you entrusting yourself to sound biblical teaching?  Are you found where you can hear from God (in the bible, in prayer,  in fellowship with other believers, in a Bible believing and teaching church) ?  Are you quick to judge people on appearance rather than their heart (tattoos, smoking, dress)? Most importantly do you believe God (He never lies) and following Him in a way that produces genuine Christlike character in your life?

What is the hardest part about trusting God for you?

What were your thoughts on Titus 1?

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