Titus 3 & Philemon 1
Titus 3
4-5 – We Were Saved Because Of His Mercy
4But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,
5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
Notes: We were delivered out of our miserable sinful condition only because of the mercy and free grace of God, the merit and sufferings of Christ, and the working of His Spirit. We perform good works, but our good works or any other effort of our own does not save us. There are people who pretend they want to go to heaven, but they don’t want holiness in their lives currently. They want to have the ending, without the beginning.
8 – Devote Yourself To Doing Good
8This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
Notes: Justification, in the gospel sense, is the free forgiveness of a sinner; accepting Him as righteous and living in the righteousness of Christ received by faith. Because of our justification we mortify sin, perform duty, and walk in God’s ways. All of the workings of the Divine life and fruits of righteousness in us are given to us through the Holy Spirit.
10-11 –Warn A Divisive Person
10Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.
11You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Notes: If a believer continues to live by their own rules that are contrary to the Lord’s teaching after they have been publicly admonished twice by the order of the church, then; we should reject them, have nothing to do with them, have no fellowship with them, and eject them from church communion. It’s interesting that the emerging church in our society never seems to admonish anyone.
14 – Doing Good Provides For Daily Life
14Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.
Note: We “must learn to do good works” to glorify God, to show our subjection to Him and our gratitude for His mercy. We do good works to show our faith to men and to profess that our lives reflect the doctrines of Christ.
Philemon 1
6 – Share Our Faith
6I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Notes: Sharing our faith with others can’t save them, but the communication of our faith and of Godly issues can be an example to show them how we have benefited from faith.
9 – We Are Prisoners Of Christ
9yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—
Notes: We should be detained by Christ as a prisoner of hope at our conversion.
20 – Pray For Our Hearts To Be Refreshed
20I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ
Notes: The Lord’s refreshment can bring us inward pleasure and can refresh our spirit.
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