FOUR SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES TO REMEMBER

AS A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

The apostle Paul had many men he discipled through his ministry. Titus was one of these. Titus played an important role on the island of Crete (Titus 1:4). The area was plagued by a rise in false teaching and declining morality. Titus was told by Paul to strengthen the churches by teaching sound doctrine and good works, and by appointing elders in every city (Titus 1:5). Paul then urged Titus to join him in Nicopolis (on the west coast of Greece) for winter (Titus 3:12). Not surprisingly, Titus was remembered in church tradition as the first bishop of Crete.

 

In Titus 3:1-8 Paul instructs Titus to teach Christians to remember four areas of obedience regarding their faith. Below I want to share these with you for they are just as crucial for us to remember today as they were for first-century believers.

 

First, Paul tells Titus to challenge Christians to remember their duty. He states in Titus 3:1-2 “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.” There are seven virtues that are included in this first Christian duty that Paul shares.

 

Be subject to their rulers

To be obedient

To do whatever is good

To slander no one

To be peaceable

To be considerate

To show humility towards everyone

 

The challenge to obey the rulers and authorities of Christians in the first century was no easy task. Christians were often persecuted for their faith with an iron hand of the government. Life was hard and there was a constant threat of abuse and violence at the hands of those in authority. Paul knew it was important to live properly under the rule of the government authorities because this served to be a witness of the grace of God given to the believer. An obedient subject of a ruler stood a chance of gaining a listening ear to the gospel. Christians who set such an example also served as a role model for other citizens and therefore the surrounding society was affected by their obedience. It has to be said also that there is an underlying scriptural understanding that those in authority are place there by God. Even if they abuse their position, God allows such individuals to rule at times to carry out His sovereign will. As Christians today we also have struggles with obeying our authorities. Often there are corrupt political activities by our elected officials. Their morality is shaky at times and their decisions are not often God-honoring. Our task as Christians with this instruction is to obey our authorities unless they challenge us to go against God-ordained instructions regarding our faith.

 

Many of the other virtues shared in these first two verses mirror the gifts of the Spirit-filled Christian mentioned in Galatians 5:22. We are to be obedient; to each other, to our spouse, to our employer, to our parents, as well as the government. A Christian who is obedient towards others is demonstrating that he or she is also obedient towards their Heavenly Father.

 

We are challenged by the third virtue to do whatever is good. Often we choose to do good things because they are convenient. The challenge in this duty is to do good not because it is convenient, but because it is something that needs to be done. We also often choose to love or minister to those that are easy to love. We should be good towards all people, even ones that are difficult to deal with. As a Christian you cannot do too much good. The sin of omission is seeing something that should be done but failing to follow through with doing it. The Holy Spirit often speaks to us about such things but how often do we respond in obedience.

 

Another virtue we are called to possess is to never slander anyone. While we might not call it slander, much of our gossip and talk behind people’s backs is actually slander. We share too much and do so inappropriately. Often we need to keep our mouths shut and our thoughts to ourselves. A quick word spoken without thinking can quickly slander someone and do irreparable damage to a reputation. Once words are spoken they cannot be deleted or erased.

 

We are also called to the virtue of being at peace with all men as Christians (Mark 9:50, Romans 12:18). Therefore we are to make efforts at peacemaking with all we have contact with. In our relationships, business dealings, conversations and associations we are to work at being at peace with everyone.

 

We are challenged in these verses to be considerate of others. This is a challenge for it takes effort. To be considerate of others forces us to be thinking, not of ourselves, but of the welfare of others. This is a basic instruction we also receive in Philippians 2:3-4 and a trait that was modeled by our Savior.

 

We are instructed by Paul in this letter to Titus to demonstrate the virtue of true humility towards others. This implies that there can be false humility in our actions at times. If the Spirit leads us in our relationships, we will express true humility when dealing with others.

 

Now Paul leaves the seven virtues of Christian duty and discusses a second point of obedience that Christians should remember. Paul tells Titus to be sure to instruct other Christians to remember their former condition before being saved. In verse 3 he states, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.” Why is it necessary to remember our past lives as non-believers? I believe Paul knew his past and it reminded him of how much he had been forgiven. It drove him to appreciate how much Christ had done for him and it can remind us of this as well. Often we fail in our Christian life because we forget from what we have been saved.

 

Remembering our past sinful condition helps us no only be thankful to God for salvation, it helps us be sympathetic to those living in sin and encourage us to share the gospel with them. We should always give thanks to God that we have been saved from a life of sin.

 

Paul also instructs Titus to teach Christians to remember their salvation. In verses 4-7 Paul shares, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He 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, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” What a beautiful group of verses. They blossom with the love, mercy and grace that come from the deepest character traits of our Heavenly Father. When we remember the salvation God has given us on a continual basis we can better live out the love of God with the Holy Spirit’s help.

 

Lastly Paul summarizes the final point to remember as a Christian and it might be called the “mission of the servant of Christ.” He says in verse 8, “This 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.” We need to remember that our mission as Christians is to devote ourselves to doing what is good in all areas of our lives. We go about doing good deeds as a Disciple of Christ by reminding ourselves of our former manner of life before we were saved; to remember the salvation we were so generously given and by remembering our mission to do good as Christ did in His life. This gives us the perspective of the miracle and blessing God worked in our life when we turned from our sinful ways, confessing our sins, giving Christ dominion over our lives and dedicating ourselves to walking in grace with the power of the Holy Spirit.