Titus -- The intersection of Grace and Holiness

The pendulum forever swings.

No matter how carefully people are taught, we have a history of over-correcting the problems we purpose to solve.

You've seen it:  the guy who plans to get back into shape, starts to spend 40 hours a week at the gym. The shy kid from High School, becomes the Campus Party Animal. The girl who somehow became the next Imelda Marcos when all she wanted was update her wardrobe.

It's no different with ideas.  Even 'religious' ones.

The classic example is the relationship between grace and holiness.

Let's start with a group of Christians who see their faith as a rigid system of do's and don'ts.  A preacher comes to town, and explains to people that Grace is a gift.  That God's love for us doesn't rise and fall with the moral value of our behaviour.  We come to him with the faith of a child.  Gospel!  Good news!.  A joy, freedom and relief washes over that group.

Time passes, until some socially acceptable sin, widely practiced by the group needs correcting.  They were just taught about grace.  How can this be?  And some take offense to the "legalism" of the preacher who (until recently) spoke so kindly to them.

In any group where Holiness is greatly emphasized, there is a danger of becoming morally self-reliant.  In other groups where Grace is emphasized, there is a danger of neglecting --or even rejecting-- the ethical obligations that are implicit in basic Christian living.

Paul's short letter to Titus does a great job of holding the two ideas in balance.

Are you prone to ethical self-reliance?  Paul answers this clearly.

Titus 3:4-7 (ESV)

⁴But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 There is nothing in ourselves that we can point to as an explanation for why He showed mercy to us rather than the guy next door.

Right now, this is the part that Christians really like to hear.  That is, this message does nothing to endanger our subjective, Post-modern, anti-authority culture that elevates 'Self' to the highest place in determining value, meaning and ethics.

But what happens when you mention Christian ethical obligation?  Hardly a moment goes by before they point to Galatians and Colossians, and verses that touch upon the Law.  They chafe and argue that the Law is irrelevant, that it is for freedom that we were set free, and that Christians were set free from the Law.

Without going into a breakdown of Propitiation (the meaning of Christ doing away with the Curse of the Law)  let's confine our discussion to this same little book by Paul.  The one that already affirmed salvation apart from works.

In this book, Paul teaches:

Titus1:1 -- That he is a servant of God, and that the knowledge of truth accords with godliness.
Titus 1:5-7 -- The qualifications of an elder.  There are vices which would exclude him from eligibility, and virtues whose absence would exclude him.  In short, there are ethical expectations on both the elder personally, and also (verse 9) vocationally.
Titus 1:10-11 -- Insubordination (The self-rule that defines the current generation) is condemned.  Empty talkers (people whose teaching departs from Biblical authority, in opposition to what is taught 2 Peter 1:20) are not to be entertained, embraced, or understood, but to be silenced.  In fact, it goes on to say that a sharp rebuke is necessary that their faith be sound.
Titus 1:16 -- "They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.  They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work."  Notice the weight given to the actions of these people.  They say all the right things, but are not believers, and here's how we know it, by what they do.
Titus 2:1-8 has a comprehensive list of who should exhibit positive behaviour.  Old and young.  Man and woman.  Even slaves toward their masters, have ethics that are expected of them simply because they are Christian.  The dominant theme is self-control.

What reason is given for this list?  in 2:5, it is so that the Word of God may not be reviled, in verse 8, it is to keep our opponents from having anything evil to say of us, and n verse 10, that our conduct would "adorn the doctrine of God our Savior."

What is the Christian life about?  2:11-14 "Grace has appeared, bringing salvation, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age... who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."

To drive the point home still further, he reminds us in Titus 3:3 that we were once worldly, but ought not be so any longer, but (in response to Titus 3:4, quoted above) we are admonished in no uncertain terms:

Titus 3:8 (ESV)

⁸The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

And yet, even after all these admonitions to good works, with specific godly behaviour encouraged, and specific sins condemned, he seemed to think it necessary to add one last time, in verse 3:14:

"And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need and not be unfruitful.

Is it legalistic to raise an ethical standard for Christians to follow?  Is it a rejection of the Grace Paul preached with such care?  Well, looking at the fact that this same Paul wrote the letter to Titus, and it was thick with encouragement to objectively moral behaviour, it would not seem these things need to be at odds with one another.