Monday Evening, November 4, 1974
Richmond, Virginia
Ministry by Brother Stephen Kong
We turn again to the book of Titus. We will read from Titus 1, beginning with verse 10.
For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision,
whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons.
This testimony is true. Wherefore reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,
not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.
To the pure all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.
They profess that they know God; but by their works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Titus 2, beginning with verse 11:
For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world;
looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works.
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Titus 3, beginning with verse 4:
But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and His love toward man, appeared,
not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
which He poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
that, being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Faithful is the saying, and concerning these things I desire that thou affirm confidently, to the end that they who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works.
I think we will just read this much for the time.
We mentioned this morning that the churches on the island of Crete were not new churches, as it were. By reading this letter to Titus, we might think that these were churches newly born, because their conditions seemed to be such.
And yet, when we go back to search and trace the origin of these churches, we find that they were not established by the apostle Paul. As a matter of fact, in all of Paul’s travels and missionary work, he had never touched the island of Crete.
Only when he was taken as a prisoner to Rome did his boat touch upon that island. Yet there was no mention of any church on the island. Paul had not visited any believer, nor had any believer visited Paul, for he was in bonds.
Only after Paul was released from his first Roman imprisonment do we find that he visited the island of Crete. He found there a number of churches spread throughout different cities.
Most probably, these churches came into being through some of the Cretans who were present on the day of Pentecost. In Acts 2, among those who had come from all over the world, there were Cretans. Evidently, some of them believed.
When persecution began in Jerusalem, these early believers returned to their native places. As the Cretan believers went back to the island of Crete, they began to preach the gospel, and that was how these churches came into being.
So far as time was concerned, over three decades had already passed. Yet after more than thirty years of existence, these churches were still in their infant state. Why?
Probably one reason was that they were so isolated from other believers. Geographically they were isolated because they were on an island. Yet, despite all the difficulties of travel in those days, people did travel; and especially among believers, there was much communication with one another.
Even before Paul the prisoner arrived in Rome, the believers in Rome had already heard of it. They came out thirty miles to meet him. The communication among believers was unbelievable.
Yet these believers on the island of Crete had no fellowship with anybody else. Because they were so isolated, they did not grow properly. So when Paul came to visit them, he found them as old babies. These churches were old babies.
How was Paul going to help them grow? That is what you find in the letter to Titus. First of all, we need to know: what were their problems?
The problems in the churches in Crete were twofold. One was disorder, or no order.
These believers knew the Lord, and yet there was no order among them. They were all on a democratic basis: each one on his own; everybody equal. In other words, they were not built up together.
When there is building up, there is bound to be order. But after more than thirty years, they were still like little babies—no building up and no order. On the contrary, they were full of disorder.
So Paul, as he entered into their midst, began to set the house in order. There were many things that needed to be set right, many things that needed to be placed in their proper places. Paul began to help set everything in order so that the church might grow.
But he did not have the time, especially in the matter of appointing elders. Appointing elders takes time. It is not merely a matter of going to a place and trying to appoint some elders in order to establish order. No. The Holy Spirit had to do it.
Paul had to watch and observe. It took time, but he did not have the time. So he may have helped them to set things in order in several matters, but in the matter of elders, he had to leave Titus behind to finish the unfinished work.
When the order is established, then the body is able to function properly, and there will be growth. This morning we fellowshipped on that point, so we will not go through it again.
The second problem with the churches on the island of Crete was disgrace.
We often speak of disgrace. We say, “Well, that is a shame. That is a disgrace.” Where does the word disgrace come from? Disgrace simply means that grace is still grace, but grace should be manifested in a certain way. When grace does not have its proper effect, we call it disgrace.
In the letter to Titus, this disgrace is expressed in the absence of good works—no good works.
If you read the letter to Titus, you will find that in this short letter good works are mentioned five times.
They profess that they know God; but by their works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
—Titus 1:16
Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works.
—Titus 2:14
Put them in mind to be in subjection to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready unto every good work.
—Titus 3:1
Faithful is the saying, and concerning these things I desire that thou affirm confidently, to the end that they who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works.
—Titus 3:8
And let our people also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.
—Titus 3:14
Dear brothers and sisters, when you read the letter to Titus, you may think that you are reading the letter of James.
We often put Paul and James in opposition. We say that Paul speaks of faith, but James speaks of good works. Paul says that we are justified by faith, but James says that we are justified by works. Often people think there is a conflict there—that Paul and James do not see eye to eye, and that they are fighting against each other.
But after you read the book of Titus, I think your theory just crumbles. Here you find Paul talking about works, about good works, just like James.
Of course, whether in the letter of James or in the letter to Titus, the work here is not that kind of work. The work here is the work of faith. James says that faith without works is dead, but the work of faith proves your faith. This is exactly what you find in the letter to Titus. Paul also talks about good works.
Does Paul contradict himself? Even in this short letter to Titus, he tells us that he has not forgotten what he has preached about grace and faith. Look at Titus 3:4.
But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and His love toward man, appeared,
not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
which He poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
that, being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Paul had not forgotten his gospel of grace. How are we justified? He says, “You are saved; you are justified because of the kindness and the love of God toward man. It is the mercy of God that has saved you. It is not because you have done some good deeds. It is not because you have good works. No, you do not have any.”
Good works are not a condition of salvation. Good works are the consequence of salvation.
We cannot be saved by doing good works, because all that we have done is but dead works. All that we have done is but filthy rags in the sight of God. They are not good enough. They do not give us enough merit to earn our salvation.
Salvation is so costly that, no matter how many good deeds we do, we cannot earn it. It is hopeless. It is the love of God, the kindness of God, and the mercy of God. The mercy of God comes to us who have no good works.
It is not because you are good that God saves you. Oftentimes, I remember that in China we had a gospel tract distributed on the streets, on buses, in train cars—everywhere. One tract said, “Good men go to hell; bad men go to heaven.” It was very striking.
When people saw that, of course they did not agree. They wanted to know why, and so they began to read the tract. Actually, this is more than a catching phrase. This is the truth—this is the truth.
In heaven you cannot find any “good” people—people who think that they are good and who try to depend upon their goodness. They think that they will go to heaven, but instead they find themselves elsewhere.
On the contrary, there are people who know they should go to hell. You do not need to tell a bad man that he should go to hell; he knows. Yet, as he knows that he is bad, he trusts the Lord Jesus, and because Christ has paid the price, he finds himself in heaven. That is true—very true.
How are we saved? Not by good works that we have done. We are saved through Jesus Christ.
There is no other name given by which we can be saved. It is through Jesus Christ that we are saved. How does He save us? By the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.
Now that is a problem: the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. What do these mean?
Dear brothers and sisters, we have to remember what Paul is talking about here. Paul is talking about practical Christian living. That is the subject. These Cretan believers were very much lacking in practical Christian living. Therefore, Paul was trying to help them in that area.
They had received grace, but they had disgraced grace. That was what was missing among them. They had started to accept false teaching that gave them a false sense of security instead of the truth.
So Paul tried to help them. In order to show them what had happened when they believed in the Lord Jesus, he used these two phrases: the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.
The washing here is like taking a bath. You are taking a bath.
The word regeneration here is a special word, used only here and in Matthew 19. Let us turn to Matthew 19. I was looking at chapter 18, so I could not find it.
And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
—Matthew 19:28
These are the only two places where this word regeneration is used. It is not the “born again” of John 3. This regeneration is a special word.
In Matthew 19, it is used to refer to a complete change of position, a completely new state of things. In other words, it points to the change from this age to the age to come. That is regeneration.
So the washing of regeneration does not mean water regeneration—that if you are baptized, the water regenerates you. No. The regeneration here means that, as you believe in the Lord Jesus, the Lord puts you into a completely new position: a change of position.
He puts you into a completely new state of things. It is almost as though you have taken a bath. All the old things have been washed away, and you are now fresh—a new creation, a new person. That is the meaning of it.
When one believes in the Lord Jesus, the Lord takes us out of our old position and puts us in a new position. The Lord Jesus washes away all the old conditions and brings us into a new state of things. We are a new creation.
Outwardly, there is the washing of regeneration. Inwardly, there is the renewing of the Holy Spirit.
As the Lord changes our position by faith, then the Holy Spirit within us renews everything so that our condition will fit with our position. That is the salvation of our Lord Jesus.
Paul says that if anyone is in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation. Everything is new. Everything is new. This is what the Lord Jesus has done to us.
Because of the greatness of the salvation of the Lord, what does that salvation do to us? You have received the grace of God. You are being saved. What then will happen to you? What does He do to you?
In Titus 2:11:
For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world.
The salvation of God, the grace of God that comes to us, teaches us. It disciplines us. It instructs us in three things.
First, having denied ungodliness and worldly lusts. Once we lived in ungodliness and worldly lusts. In other words, once we lived an ungodly and unrighteous life.
We did not fear God. We were not afraid of man. We could do things according to our own pleasure. So you find that we were not only unrighteous, but also ungodly. Because we did not have a right relationship with God, we could not have a proper relationship with men. That is Romans 1. That is how we lived before.
But after we have believed in the Lord Jesus, what does the cross of Jesus Christ teach us? It teaches us that ungodliness and worldly lusts were all crucified on the cross.
Christ died for our sins. Because of our ungodliness and worldly lusts, Christ died for us. When we believe in the Lord Jesus, and when we see what the cross has accomplished for us, can we continually live in ungodliness and worldly lusts? We cannot.
The very effect of the cross makes us deny ungodliness and unrighteousness. That is what salvation has brought to us.
It is more than merely believing in the Lord Jesus so that you may go to heaven. If you know the grace of God, if you have received the salvation of God, it teaches you that you can no longer live in sin.
Why? The very fact of the cross denies you that kind of life. It makes it impossible for you to live that way.
Everyone who has received the grace of God is instructed in this sense: we cannot live our old life again. If we try to live our old life, it is a contradiction to the very grace of God and to the very meaning of salvation. We are all taught that way.
Second, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. So far as the past is concerned, it is past. Then how are we going to live in the present?
The grace of God that brings salvation teaches us that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. The word translated “world” in the original is aion, which means age. We are living in this age.
In this age there are the cares of life. In Matthew 13, it speaks of the cares of this age. This age has its evil. In Ephesians 2, we find that once we walked according to the age of this world. There is a fashion, a manner, a mode of life in this age.
How are we going to live in this present age? Are we going to follow the fashion and the mode of this age—the cosmos, the system of this age? Are we going to live as the people of this age live? Are we going to be overwhelmed by the cares of this life? How are we going to live in our present condition?
Thank God, the grace of God teaches us that we are in this age, yet we can live differently. We can live godly. We can live righteously. We can live soberly.
The word soberly actually means “with a sound mind.” God wants us to live in this age with a sound mind.
Human beings often think of themselves as rational beings. We think that we are rational beings and that the way we live on this earth is rational. But, dear brothers and sisters, of all the living creatures on this earth, human beings are the most irrational.
Think of all the things human beings are doing. They are the most irrational of all creatures. Animals are more rational than they are.
How are we going to live on this earth? We are Christians. How are we going to live? Brothers and sisters, God has saved us so that we may live on this earth rationally. We are the most rational among the irrational.
People look at Christians and say, “No, that is not reasonable. That is not rational.” They think that they are rational and that we are irrational, but it is just the opposite. Why? Because their mind is darkened through the hardness of their heart, and they are alienated from the life of God.
For people whose minds are darkened, their rationalism is irrational. But thank God, as we believe in the Lord Jesus, He has renewed our minds. We have a renewed mind, and having a renewed mind, we can know the mind of Christ. We learn to live on this earth according to Christ.
That is the most rational kind of life that a person can ever live. Do not think that we Christians are not rational. No, we are most rational. We live on this earth soberly, with a sound mind.
Then we are to live righteously. How often we look at the world and become discouraged and disappointed. Even in the place of justice, Solomon says, you find unrighteousness. This is what the world is. The world is unrighteous, and the way people live is unrighteously.
If you desire to live righteously, you have to suffer for it. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. You just try to live righteously, and you will know what happens. Why? Because this age is characterized by unrighteousness. Anyone who wants to be righteous will suffer for it.
Then there is godliness. This world does not want God; it is ungodly. Anyone who wants to live godly will be persecuted. In order to enter into the kingdom of God, we have to suffer. If we want to live godly, we will suffer.
But the grace of God teaches us to live this way. This is the way we ought to live today: soberly, righteously, and godly.
For the future, the grace of God teaches us to wait:
Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
—Titus 2:13
We have a blessed hope. People of this world, when they look forward, cannot believe. It is pitch dark. When they look into the future, they are without hope. But we are here waiting for the blessed hope.
What is our blessed hope? The appearing of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will come back in glory, and when He comes back in glory, He will take us into glory. Think of that.
This is what the grace of God, the gospel, and salvation have done to us. Everyone who is saved is supposed to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly, and to wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
This is what the gospel has done to us. This is what the grace of God has done to us.
If grace does not produce that effect upon us, it is a disgrace.
The Greek word for grace carries within it the thought of beauty and pleasure. Grace, in the first place, tells us of the beauty, the pleasantness, and the attractiveness that are in that person.
When we look at Christ Jesus, He is full of grace. He gives us a feeling of pleasure because He is so attractive. He is full of beauty. That is inherent in Him.
Second, out of that attractiveness which is in Him, He gives to us freely and universally, without any cause in us. That is the second phase of grace.
The third phase of grace used in the Bible is this: when we have received the grace of God in Christ Jesus, then the grace of God makes us gracious. It produces its effect upon us and is reproduced in our lives.
Sometimes we say, “Let us say grace” before we eat. Why do we use the word grace? We mean, “Let us give thanks to the Lord.” After you have received the grace of God, it produces within you a thankfulness, and you return that thanks to the One who gives you grace. So we call it gratitude.
When we receive the grace of our Lord Jesus, it should produce and reproduce within us that which is of Christ. If it does not come out that way, it is a disgrace. In other words, you have wasted the grace of God.
Look at the Cretans. The Cretans, naturally, were a very poor specimen of mankind. Even a prophet among themselves said:
Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons.
—Titus 1:12
Think of that. Those people on that island were characterized by lying. They would always lie. They never told the truth. Everything was false, pretended, hypocritical.
Not only was there a white lie and a black lie; they were just liars. It was their life. It was their habit. It was their national characteristic—always liars.
Not only lying: they were evil beasts. They were like wild beasts—no control, no reason, and evil too.
Furthermore, they were lazy—not just lazy persons, but lazy gluttons. On one side, they were very lazy; on the other side, they were very greedy.
Now we would say that if a person is greedy, he has to be diligent; otherwise, how can he satisfy his greediness? But human nature is such that these two can go together: lazy persons, but full of many kinds of greed.
When the grace of God came to these people and they were saved, they ought to have been the best specimens of the grace of God.
If you have good material and make the material into something good, that does not show the skill of the artisan. But if you have very poor material and can make that poor material into a good vessel, that is good. It gives more glory to the artisan.
God would take the bad, and He always does. He would take up all these bad materials that even the devil would throw away. The Lord will pick them up, and the Lord is able to make them into the finest specimens of grace.
Then we show the beauty of our Saviour Jesus Christ. It gives glory to God. That is what God can do, and that is what God will do.
God took up these poorest materials. The grace of God came to them. They ought to have been the best specimens of the grace of God. But unfortunately, they were not.
That is disgrace. They disgraced grace because they did not allow grace to do its complete work. They received grace to a certain degree, but did not allow grace to work its perfect work.
They ought to have been saints, and yet they were not saintly. They were saved, but they were not transformed.
It was not because the grace of God did not have the power to transform them. It was because they did not allow grace to complete its work.
Brothers and sisters, when a person comes to the Lord, it is more than merely a mental giving of faith—much more.
What God intends to do in that person is to completely transform that person, to conform him to the image of His Son. God has the strength and the power to do it.
If this does not happen, something hinders God’s work. Something in us hinders God.
That was the situation with the believers in Crete. No wonder that, individually, they were such that there was little or no transformation. How could you expect the churches to be proper? It was impossible.
Now, how was the situation to be corrected? Through truth.
Paul told Titus different things, and notice how he used them. In Titus 1:13:
This testimony is true. Wherefore reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.
—Titus 1:13
Then, in Titus 2:15:
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
—Titus 2:15
To rebuke is a strong word. Paul exhorted Titus to rebuke these Cretan believers.
You know, dear brothers and sisters, that is very difficult. We all want to be popular, friendly, and welcome. Sometimes you see certain things that are not right before God, but we love ourselves too much. We do not love our brothers and sisters enough.
Paul told Titus to rebuke with all authority. Think of that. How could Titus do that unless Titus himself was a disciplined person?
Paul had done so much work in Titus that when he rebuked these Cretan believers, there was authority. Of course, there was such love in Titus. He was rebuking in the spirit of love—yes, love.
Sometimes you find that our Lord Jesus rebukes, not because of a lack of love, but because of love: to bring to attention, to awaken, to convict, and to bring people to repentance.
The Cretan believers needed to see, “Well, that is what should not be.” Yet they were in such a situation that they needed to be convicted.
Positively, you find in Titus 3:8:
Faithful is the saying, and concerning these things I desire that thou affirm confidently, to the end that they who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works.
—Titus 3:8
On the one hand, rebuke that which is not of God. On the other hand, positively insist on the things of God and present before them what is sound and true.
Of course, no amount of rebuking or insisting will do any work unless the Holy Spirit does it. Titus was only a channel. As he rebuked and as he insisted, the Holy Spirit began to work, to convict, and to convince.
When the Holy Spirit begins to do His work among God’s people, you find that people repent, return to God, and open themselves to the work of the Holy Spirit. Then transformation begins. That is the way to help them out of disgrace and bring them into good works.
Dear brothers and sisters, we as Christians, and as those who have received the grace of God, are prepared to do every good work that God has prepared for us.
It is true that we are saved by grace. It is not of works. Works are not a condition for salvation, but after you are saved by faith, what are you saved for? We are saved to do those works.
Now, what are these good works? Good works are doing the will of God in all our activity. There is nothing good that is not in the will of God. Good work is doing the will of God in all things.
In our personal life, in our family life, in our social life, in our church life, and in all our relationships, good work is doing the will of God—doing what God wants us to do.
It is more than merely doing something. It refers to our whole life as carrying out the will of God. That is good.
In Titus 2, Paul exhorted Titus to teach sound doctrine. What are the good works? The aged men are to be temperate, grave, sober-minded, sound in faith, in love, and in patience. That is good work.
The older men are to have a sound mind—grave, not light or frivolous; discreet; sober; sound in faith, in love, and in patience.
The word sound can also be translated healthy. Let older people be healthy and sound in every area—in faith and in love. Not because you are old should you let yourself go.
When we are getting old, not only do our muscles begin to relax, but even our self-control begins to lose its strength.
If we do not learn self-control when we are young—and by self-control I mean Spirit-control, because in Galatians 5 the last fruit of the Spirit is self-control—then when we become old, our willpower is not as strong as it was before. You will find that all these things begin to get loose.
But here you find that older people are to be sober, restrained, and controlled—still under the control of the Holy Spirit.
The older women, even in the way they dress, are to give an example to the younger ones. They ought to be teachers of young women, teaching young women to love their husbands, love their children, and do their housework as unto the Lord.
Young men are likewise to be sober-minded. You find that God wants us to be sound—healthy. The grace of God produces in our lives all this healthiness, spiritual health.
Even servants, because in those days there were many slaves, were to manifest Christ in their slavery. In civil government, because it was during the Roman Empire, believers were taught to obey authorities.
In other words, in every area of our lives, grace should produce a graciousness that brings glory to God.
This was the very thing that the churches in Crete needed, and Paul left Titus to help redeem that situation.
Dear brothers and sisters, even though the letter to Titus was written in the first century, toward the end of the first century, I think that we who are living at the end of the twentieth century need these words.
We need to be delivered from disorder into order, that life may grow. We need to be delivered from disgrace into good works, that the name of Christ may be exalted.
This is what you find in the letter to Titus.
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee because Thy word is so practical. How we praise and thank Thee that the grace of God is practical.
We do praise and thank Thee that it does produce in us that which answers to Thy nature and to Thy character. O Lord, may this be so.
If there be anything lacking in us, Lord, rebuke us and present to us what Thou dost expect of us. May Thy Holy Spirit convict and convince, and may Thy Holy Spirit transform.
Lord, we are open to Thee. We do want Thee to complete Thy work of salvation in our lives, that Thy church truly may be a pillar of truth and a testimony of Jesus.
We do commit one another into Thy love, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.