Titus 1 Truth of the Gospel Part 4
Titus 1:1
"Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness"
Our current society would have you believe that everyone can
have their own truth. That what you’re feeling is the most important thing,
however, Paul tells us this is not true. Right in the introduction he tells us,
“For the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to
godliness – a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life”. Paul
knows there is only one truth. There cannot be individual truths; there is only
the truth of the gospel. In Paul’s time, and still today, there were people
teaching false doctrine and people professing their faith but not allowing it
to function in their lives. Paul is telling the readers that knowing the truth
of the gospel must lead us to a life characterized by faith and good works.
There are some in life that are always learning but they never come to the
truth. There are others who have great knowledge, but it is not
life-transforming knowledge. Paul tells us the one true faith is “a faith and
knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life”. Knowledge without faith is
nothing, and faith will show itself in your actions. God’s word should cause us
to feel deeply and think properly. Practical godliness should be evident in our
lives.
Paul wants his readers to hear the truth of the gospel that
they might grow in faith and learn to work out their faith in their whole
lives. We must be guarded against false doctrine and sin, and how we do this is
by learning the gospel truth. There is only one God, one way to salvation, and
one way to eternal life. When you believe all this, it will lead to godliness;
godliness that is visible in your actions, words and deeds. Knowing something
is just not good enough, you need faith; true faith will be evident in your
life.
What is the gospel truth? Romans 1:16 tells us that, “I am
not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of
everyone who believes.” If we turn to 1 Corinthians 15: 2 – 5 we read, “By this
gospel you are saved… For what I received I passed on to you as of first
importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He
was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures and
that He appeared to Peter and then to the Twelve.” If we then turn to Ephesians
2:8 we see that “it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this is
not from yourselves, it is the gift off God.”
What do we learn from all this? Believe in the one true
gospel of God’s gift of salvation and you will be saved. If you truly believe,
this truth will affect every aspect of your life and must be evident in all you
say and do. It is by God’s grace that we are saved and what an amazing,
life-transforming truth it is!
1.
Is there more than one truth? Can people each
have their own truths?
2.
What should happen when you believe the gospel
truth?
3.
What are some of the things we know to be true?
What does the gospel tell us?
4.
Why should the gospel affect our whole lives?
5.
Why is this an important thing for Paul to put
in his introduction?
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