Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. This is the seventh lesson in a series of lessons on the book of Titus. In this lesson I’m going to look at chapter two and talk about our reputation with those outside the church.
As you know, the Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament time period God established the nation of Israel. He gave them a law code. The idea was they were supposed to obey those laws, be identified as the people of Yahweh, and make Yahweh look good. However, they failed to do that. They actually made Yahweh look bad.
In the New Testament time period God established the church. He gave us a law code and has the same expectation. He wants us to obey His laws, be people of God, and make Him look good.
That leads to a question. How are we doing? Are we adorning God or are we profaning God?
Watch the video or scroll down to read a transcript.
Transcript:
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. This is the seventh lesson in a series of lessons on the book of Titus. In this lesson I’m going to look at chapter two and talk about our reputation with those outside the church.
As you know, the Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament time period God established the nation of Israel. He gave them a law code. The idea was they were supposed to obey those laws, be identified as the people of Yahweh, and make Yahweh look good. However, they failed to do that. They actually made Yahweh look bad.
In the New Testament time period God established the church. He gave us a law code and has the same expectation. He wants us to obey His laws, be people of God, and make Him look good.
That leads to a question. How are we doing? Are we adorning God or are we profaning God? Let’s take a closer look at all of this.
As you know, in the beginning God created the universe and everything in it. He created Adam and Eve and gave them a couple commands. They disobeyed and brought sin into the world. By 2500 BC mankind had become so sinful that God punished them with the flood.
Around 2000 BC God established the nation of Israel and then around 1500 BC he took the Israelites to Mount Sinai and gave them the Mosaic law. They were supposed to obey the law, and through obeying it, be recognized as the people of Yahweh. They were supposed to be different from all the nations around them, and bring honor and glory to the name of Yahweh.
Overall, they failed. They failed both individually and as a nation. One example of failing individually is King David. David became king of Israel around 1000 BC. For the most part, David was a good king, but he committed a very grievous sin with Bathsheba. He committed adultery with her. Then he had her husband murdered in order to cover up his adultery.
Yahweh was not pleased with David and sent Nathan the prophet to confront David. David confessed he was wrong. However, even though he confessed he was wrong, there were still consequences for his sin. We read some of the consequences in 2 Samuel 12 starting at verse 13. Notice what Nathan said about the enemies of Yahweh.
2Sam. 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. 14 “However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.”
How did David’s sins of adultery and murder give occasion to the enemies of Yahweh to blaspheme? The Israelites were known as the people of Yahweh. They were supposed to live holy, righteous lives, but David committed adultery and murder. Within the human race, there’s debate over what is right and wrong, but I think for the most part humans recognize that adultery and murder are wrong.
When the enemies of Yahweh saw the king of Israel commit adultery and murder, that made Yahweh look bad because that was clearly wrong. It gave the enemies of Yahweh occasion to say that the people of Yahweh were no better than anyone else. In doing that, they were blaspheming.
As I said, David lived around 1000 BC. Over the next 400 years the nation of Israel split into two and there was a series of kings who ruled over those kingdoms. Over time, the Israelites became more and more sinful. Throughout that time period Yahweh sent prophets to confront the Israelites to try and get them to repent. For the most part the Israelites did not listen to the prophets.
One of those Prophets was Ezekiel. He lived in the 500s BC. He delivered the following message to the Israelites. Notice what Ezekiel said to the Israelites about how they were profaning God’s name among the nations.
Ezek. 36:16 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. 18 “Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 “Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20 “When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD; yet they have come out of His land.’ 21 “But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. 22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.’”
This was a very clear condemnation of the Israelites because they had profaned the holy name of Yahweh among the nations. Their disobedience profaned His holy name.
Jesus came to earth around 0 AD. After His ministry on earth He started the church. He had various men write the books of the New Testament. The New Testament contains a law code we need to live by today. We see in the New Testament that God is also concerned about how we in the church age represent Him to the world.
We see this in the book of Titus. Paul wrote this letter to Titus to give him instructions on what he was supposed to do in Crete. In chapter one Paul told Titus to appoint elders and Paul listed the qualifications for elders. In chapter two Paul told Titus to speak what is fitting for sound teaching, and then he listed commands Titus was supposed to teach.
Let’s read the beginning of chapter two. As I read this, notice what Paul wrote about why we’re supposed to obey these commands.
Titus 2:1 But you, speak what is fitting for sound teaching. 2 Elderly men are to be sober, serious, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and endurance. 3 Likewise, elderly women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not enslaved to much wine, but a teacher of good, 4 in order that they might train the younger women to be loving their husbands, loving their children, 5 self-controlled, pure, workers at home, kind, and submitted to their own husbands, in order that the word of God might not be blasphemed.
Titus 2:6 Likewise, urge the young to be in a right mind, 7 in everything presenting yourself as an example of good deeds and being in sound teaching, serious, 8 and healthy in speech that cannot be condemned, in order that the opponent might be ashamed, having nothing evil to say about us.
Titus 2:9 Urge slaves to be submissive to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not speaking against, 10 and not pilfering; rather, exhibiting all good faith so that they might adorn the doctrine of our Savior and God in everything.
In verse five, after giving some commands that Titus was supposed to teach, Paul wrote “in order that the word of God might not be blasphemed”. After some more commands, he wrote in verse eight, “in order that the opponent might be ashamed, having nothing evil to say about us.” Then he gave more commands and wrote in verse 10 “so that they might adorn the doctrine of our Savior and God in everything”.
Part of the reason we are supposed to obey God is so that the word of God is not blasphemed. Obeying God is also a way to adorn the doctrine of God.
Let me give you something to think about. As you look at your church and the universal church, what are some things we’re doing that adorn the doctrine of God? Are we doing anything like that, or are we actually profaning the name of God?
When we look at the specifics of this passage, we see a list of things we need to focus on in order to represent God well. Are elderly Christian men sober and self-controlled? Are elderly Christian women reverent or are they slanderers? Are young Christian women workers at home and submitted to their husbands? Are we examples of good deeds? At work, do we submit to those in authority? Are we honest with our employers, or are we stealing from our employers?
All of these are commands that, if we obey them, we can bring glory and honor to the name of Jesus. However, if we don’t obey them, then we end up profaning Jesus and damaging his reputation.
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