Titus 1 The Common Faith Part 8

Titus 1:4 

“To Titus, my true son in our common faith: grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.”

In the time that Paul and Titus knew each other there was a lot of tension between Jews and Gentile converts. The Jews believed that all the customs they put in place should be upheld by the Gentile converts, especially circumcision. Paul defended the Gentile converts and uses Titus to show that Gentiles could become Christians and serve God without the use of several of the Jewish customs. Titus was a close and trusted companion to Paul, but he was also more than that. Titus was a Greek, converted by Paul’s ministry, therefore, Paul calls him “my child”. Brought into the family and united in a “common faith”, Paul considers him his spiritual child. The Family of Faith extends beyond distance, time, race or color. We are part of something far bigger than ourselves. Just like children need to be taught and educated, we too, are never actually “out of school”. We are in constant need of learning and, therefore, a preacher’s work is never done. Titus may have learned a lot, and been capable of preaching and teaching, but Paul still had more to teach him, the Cretes, and ultimately us as well. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” and so we are!

Paul uses the word “common” to stress the unity of Christians, despite their different cultural backgrounds. As a result of the work of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, we are family, and thus ought to act as one.

Quite often in his letters, Paul writes about grace and peace. He uses it to bless his readers and remind them that we are privileged to have God’s amazing grace and perfect peace to guard “our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). It is by grace, through faith, that we have peace with God – He has forgiven our sins and given us eternal life.

1 Peter 2:2 says, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” Like infants we need milk to live, like children we need to continually be learning, like a family we need to grow together and help one another. So, study God’s word and be thankful for the grace and peace and family we have in Christ Jesus.

 

1.        Why does Paul call Titus “my child” and why is this important?

2.        What are some ways we can treat our fellow Christians as family?

3.        Why does the Bible compare us to children or infants?

4.        Why are grace and peace so important to us, as believers?

5.        Where else in the Bible are the church and Christians talked about like a family?

Dear God our Heavenly Father, thank you for the family I have in Christ Jesus. Help me to continually seek You in Your word that I may grow in faith. Thank-you for Your grace and peace, may it guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus and remind me of Your steadfast love. Forgive me where I fall short, not because I am worthy, but in Jesus name alone, Amen.