Titus 2:15

Speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no one despise you. Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey and to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were once foolish and disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward men appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying. And these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

How should followers of Jesus respond when the culture rages and the authorities over us seem foolish, hateful, or wrong?

A Culture of Anger and the Question It Raises

This week it was hard not to be bombarded by the constant raucous anger of our society, especially regarding the political craziness on our southern border. Living here in San Diego County, just fifty miles away, that hits close to home—it's local news and national news at once. I'm not interested in venting all our different views on these things. In any family, and a church family is a family, there are differing opinions. We've all experienced the debates that arise at a family gathering when you disagree with uncle so-and-so.

I do hope that as we walk with Jesus, we are learning how to disagree agreeably, which seems to be a lost thing in our culture today. But the level of anger from left to right is very high—not just in this debate, but in every political debate we ever seem to have. When I see these things, it brings me to a place of reflection, especially as a pastor: how should I respond, and how should I encourage others to respond? How should we carry ourselves as Christians when we find ourselves in conflict with the policies of those in authority over us?

What should we do if we believe those things being done by our authorities are in conflict with the nature of God and the Scriptures? How should we respond if we believe the rulers in our society are acting foolishly, or with malice, or from evil desires? As is almost always the case, we happen to be at a place in the Scriptures that has something to say to that very question.

Some Truths Worth Offending Over

I find it fascinating that the apostle Paul, writing this 2,000 years ago, knew that our natural human nature would be resistant to the teaching in Titus 3. That's why he began with a word of exhortation at the end of chapter 2: "Speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no one despise you." Those words—let no one despise you—are Paul anticipating that what Titus would teach might conflict with people's human nature. Yet he must still speak it. Don't back down.

This leads us to a simple point: there are some truths worth offending over. As you read this passage and others in the New Testament, this becomes clear. In our 21st-century Western culture, about the only thing totally out of bounds is offending somebody. We live in a hypersensitive culture, tiptoeing around things, not wanting to make anyone feel bad.

Now, I don't want us to misunderstand. We should never make it our aim to purposefully offend. Some Christians think that's a prophetic gift—that I can just say whatever I want and not care what anyone thinks. That's not a spiritual gift; you might just be accused of being a jerk, and that's not a spiritual gifting. But we do need to realize there are strong truths in the Bible that can be offensive and challenging, and we still need to give them forth. Sometimes we need to exhort, and sometimes we need to rebuke—speaking against someone's perceptions, ideas, actions, or words.

Why We Will Always Speak the Word

I believe a day will come—we've already seen it to the north in Canada and in parts of Western Europe—when legislative moves will put the church in a difficult position, declaring certain passages of Scripture too offensive or discriminatory to speak. How should Christians respond? We will continue to speak forth the Word of God, even if the governing authorities say not to.

We do this because of a simple truth from 2 Timothy 3, which we'll study this fall:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

We stay committed to God's Word because it is God-breathed. Even when it conflicts with our society or our human nature, it sets the right line of doctrine, reproves us where we're wrong, corrects us, and instructs us in righteousness. Just a few sentences later, Paul writes:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables.

We're there. The hard heart of a broken society doesn't want to hear the instructive Word of God—but that doesn't mean we back down. So Paul tells Titus to speak these hard truths, exhort, call people up to a higher level of living, and if necessary, rebuke—and do this with all authority.

Be Submissive To and Obey Your Authorities

What are the hard truths Titus must speak? Look at chapter 3, verse 1: "Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, and to be ready for every good work." That same phrase—every good work—appears in both Titus and 2 Timothy. God calls us to walk in good works that glorify Him.

So how can we be ready for every good work? The Scripture instructs us, point two: be submissive to and obey the authorities that govern you. We may have a hard time with this because of our fallen nature. We know it's human nature to resist submission—just ask any parent of a two-year-old. Two-year-olds prove it is human nature to resist obeying authority. I've watched four of my own children walk through that, and in our family the two-year-old phase seems to extend into three and four.

When Scripture says we must submit to and obey those who govern us, objections flood our minds. The first: "Paul must have lived under a much better government than ours." Wrong. Paul wrote this around the mid-60s AD, and the governing authority of his day was the Roman Empire under a lunatic emperor named Nero. This was no utopian society.

The Limits of Submission: Civil Disobedience

The second objection: "We cannot obey authorities if they require us to disobey God." To that I say—yes, you're right. If the governing authorities call us to do something in opposition to the character, nature, or command of God, then as citizens of heaven and ambassadors of God's kingdom, we have the right to submit to God more than man.

We see this in Acts 4 and 5. The early followers of Jesus were commanded not to preach in His name—but Jesus had told them to go into all the world and preach the gospel. So they said, shall we obey God or man? We will obey God more than man. That's civil disobedience. But notice the boundary: we disobey only when authorities are in direct opposition to the nature, character, or command of God—not simply because we dislike them or their rules.

And we must be ready to suffer the consequences. Throughout church history, Christians who stood against authorities commanding them to violate Scripture suffered for it. Consider Jesus Himself. The crucifixion was God-ordained for our salvation, but in history and context, why was Jesus crucified? He opposed a religious structure that had gone contrary to the nature of God—remember Him driving out the money changers from the temple—and He suffered the consequences. The apostle Paul opposed the religious and political structures of his day and suffered as well.

That reality may come to the American Christian context before long. Our government may someday say we cannot preach certain passages classified as hate speech. We will continue to preach the Scriptures, but we may suffer for it. And we should understand and use our rights. Paul, as a Roman citizen, appealed to Caesar. We have the First Amendment—freedom of religion and speech—and we will use that freedom, even if it means standing before judges.

No Authority Except From God

There is a tension here, and whenever we find such tension with the Word of God, we must approach it prayerfully. Paul wrote Romans 13 to Christians living in the epicenter of the Roman Empire under Nero:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

Those words would have been tough to swallow for Christians watching Nero's atrocities. Yet Paul continues:

Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment upon themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil... For he is God's minister to you for good.

If you ever find yourself in any position of authority—in the church, the household, society, or a corporation—recognize that God wants you to be His minister there, executing justice and doing what is right. As Micah 6 says, "He has shown you, O man, what is good... to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before your God."

Paul goes on: because of this we also pay taxes, "for they who receive those taxes are God's ministers." Render to all their due—taxes, customs, fear, and honor. This is heavy, written to Christians under Nero. My fallen nature does not want to submit, but the exhortation of Scripture is to obey those in authority.

Meek, Humble Peacemakers

Paul continues with the next exhortation in Titus 3:2: "Remind them to speak evil of no one." That's challenging, because the first thing we want to do when we dislike our authorities is exactly that. "To be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men."

Point three: followers of Jesus make it their aim to be meek, humble peacemakers. It's fascinating that the early followers of Jesus began to be called Christians by those outside the church (Acts 11, in Antioch of Syria). The word Christian carries the idea of "little Christ"—imitators of Christ. People saw them and said, "These are imitators of Jesus." Hopefully that's why the term applies to you—not because you have a sticker on your car, but because people see an imitator of Jesus.

The descriptive words in Titus 3:2 describe Jesus perfectly. We're to speak evil of no one—the word is blasphemeo, from which we get "blaspheme." We're not to blaspheme anyone, even authorities we dislike. We're not to level character assassination or venture into ad hominem attacks. We may not like someone's ideas, but we often slide into attacking the person. If you want to see what that looks like, spend ten minutes on Facebook, or scroll to the comments at the bottom of a news article. Paul says: you're a follower of Jesus—don't be like that.

Instead, be peaceable. About 700 years before Jesus came, Isaiah 9:6 prophesied that the Messiah would be the Prince of Peace. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." Be gentle—mild, patient, moderate. Philippians 4:5 says, "Let your gentleness be known to all men." And show humility to all men.

Quite frankly, many Christians in our current climate are known more for being obnoxious than peaceable, gentle, and humble. Yet Jesus, even as He was led to be condemned and crucified, "opened not His mouth." This is totally against my nature—I'm one of those people who likes more of a martial arts approach to disagreement. But James says the rage of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. As you study Christian history, it's phenomenal: the oppressive Roman Empire was effectively dethroned not by obnoxious Christians but by the peaceful, gentle meekness and humility of the Christian church.

The Transforming Power of the Holy Spirit

We need to remember this. Look at verse 3. Point four: the renewing power of the Holy Spirit is meant to transform every aspect of our nature. Paul wrote elsewhere, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; all things have become new." This is the new covenant prophesied in Ezekiel 36:26:

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of you and give you a heart of flesh.

God's aim under the new covenant Jesus ushers in is to remove our broken, hard, stony heart and radically transform us from the inside out by the power and presence of His Holy Spirit—not just our internal thoughts and emotions, but our external actions and words.

And this is a covenant of grace, not something we accomplish by religious effort. Look again at verse 4: "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward men appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." This reminds us of Ephesians 2:8—"For by grace... we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works." We are not transformed by our good works; we are transformed by the abiding power of the Holy Spirit so that we can do good works and show forth the glory of God.

But we must never forget who we were. Verse 3: "For we ourselves were once foolish and disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice"—wishing harm on others—"and envy, hateful and hating one another." What changed us? "When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared... according to His mercy He saved us." Note this well: what drew you to Christ was His kindness, His love, His mercy. What do you think will draw the foolish and deceived to salvation? Your obnoxious, hurtful, heavy-handed demeanor? No—it will be the kindness, love, and mercy of God at work in and through us.

The Gospel Inspires Good Works

Verse 8: "This is a faithful saying." This good news of God's grace—Titus, I want you to affirm it constantly. Tell the church over and over: the grace of God took them from being foolish, deceived, hateful, and malicious to being heirs of eternal salvation. Tell them this constantly, "that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men."

Point five: the good news of the gospel should inspire our good works, which are good and profitable for all. When we grasp the greatness of God's mercy—that He saved us while we were deceived and malicious—that good news inspires us to live out the good works He prepared beforehand. Those good works are good and ultimately profitable for all people.

This culture in North County San Diego needs to see the body of Christ—whether at Emmanuel Faith, Mission Hills, North Coast, or here—inspired by the gospel to walk in a way that is right and good. That is the best thing for our society to see: Christians walking contrary to their fallen nature. That's why Paul strongly urged Titus to constantly affirm these things. It is the grace of God that transforms us from sons and daughters of disobedience into the recipients of His grace for eternity. Would to God that we would let our light so shine before men, that they would see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. We need God's grace.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank you for your grace that justifies us and deals with all our past sin. But your grace not only justifies us; it deals with our present condition, the fallenness of our human heart, so that we would be Christians not merely because we went to church or were baptized, but because we are identified as imitators of you—that people would see in us your character traits inherited by the Spirit abiding in us.

God, do a work in your church. Pour out your grace on us this week, so that on Monday, Tuesday, and the rest of the week, when it is our nature to respond with frustration or anger, we would respond instead with your self-control, mercy, grace, and patience. Enable us to walk in the fruit of your abiding Spirit—love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control—in the way we respond to our spouse, our children, our co-workers, those below us and those over us, that your grace would be evident.

And it may be that someone here this morning realizes you never received the grace of God and would like to receive His forgiveness today. If that's you, pray with me out loud: Dear Jesus, I know I need you. I know I can't save myself. Would you come into my life and forgive me, transform me by your grace, and help me to follow you by faith for your glory? In Jesus' name, Amen.