Introduction

I thank God for the Christian pastors across America who love the Lord and preach His word. We will need your prayers for courage as we continue to preach the Word of God in season, out of season as well as the whole council of God. There is a new movement that includes a law that blatantly describes biblical morality as a “myth.”

It is Bill C-4, adopted by Canadian lawmakers and establishes a legal ban on “conversation therapy.” The law took effect a week ago, however, an initiative by the Liberty Coalition of Canada was promoted last week by Pastor Dr. John MacArthur – and more than 4,000 Christian pastors protested the law and signed petitions.

The law openly defies biblical history and teaching, denouncing those teachings as “fiction,” and imposing a potential five-year jail sentence for failing to align counseling events with the politically correct LGBT agenda. “Dr. John MacArthur stated that he believes, “widespread sexual immorality is evidence of divine judgment on our culture (Romans 1) and predicted increased efforts to silence those who speak out against it”.

We must be faithful to the Bible,” Laws are being made against doing what God commanded us to do in Scripture. This is what we discussed last week and I believe if we do not get pro-active in our churches these laws are coming here too. We know that our nation was founded upon the biblical Judeo-Christian principles that were fused to the idea of our self-government by our God fearing fore-fathers. However, those principles work only when a significant portion of the population is voluntarily obeying the law because they are aware of being subject to a higher authority as mentioned in verse one.

In our changing times we see after-School Satan Clubs popping up across the country, one at Jane Addams Elementary School in Moline, Illinois. The school district says it does not discriminate against groups that wants to rent its facilities and that it must provide equal access to all groups. The Satanic Temple admits the clubs are meant to counter Christian groups.

When the percentage of the population is voluntarily (Hupotasso) obeying the law drops below a certain level, then a self-governing democracy doesn’t work. Our second president John Adams was acutely aware of this and one who labored diligently to secure our Constitution wrote the following in 1798: “We have no government armed in power capable of contending in human passions unbridled from morality and religion. Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other kind…”

Do you ever wonder how Christians will make it in this ungodly world? We are living in a world that is disregarding their creator, God. Why is it so hard for people to accept the authoritative Word of God? Part of the problem in the church today is we’ve got people who say they believe in God, who say they’re Christians, who are in the church, and they don’t take God’s Word seriously. But they’re passed off as Christians, and that’s part of the confusion in the society. Many claim to be ministers and clergy knowing God yet disregard Him in their daily lives; their behavior and language says otherwise. Paul writes to the Pastor Titus with some instructions for our behavior that can make a different in our culture and our community.

I. Revitalize with Obedient Lives.
1. In verse 2 Paul finishes his list of seven virtues, “To speak evil of no man” Not even one
person is the idea that includes gossip… It’s the verb blasphēmeō from which we get the word blaspheme. It means “to slander” or “to treat with contempt.” We must confront sin and call sinners to repentance, but we do not demean with slander, cursing or speaking scornfully of people. Paul says to Titus that Christians are “to be uncontentious,” “not fighting.” We’re to be peaceful, friendly, don’t quarrel with government, don’t fight leaders. We’re not to be combative. It is easy to be contentious and hostile and angry about what happens in the pagan culture in which we live, and especially if it raises our taxes or affects our neighborhood or our culture – we get angry about that. He concludes that we must employ Christian kindness, from knowing who we are and emulating Jesus. Remember your evil past.

II. Reflect on Your Pass Lives vv.3

1. Look at verse 3, Paul states, “For we ourselves also were foolish…” he gives a list of seven vices. Seven virtues were in verses 1 and 2 that we should implement and seven vices are listed here in verse 3 that we must avoid. Paul is saying don’t be too critical of your neighbor, remember what you were before God saved you. To have a proper response in a pagan culture you must remember your former depraved condition.

Reflection upon our former condition makes it easier for us to be kind and compassionate toward others. The picture drawn here of our old selves is as humbling as it is accurate. The unsaved may seem hopeless but Christ makes all the difference, he did in your lives.

2. Listen, before you get malicious, “did you forget that you were like that and you couldn’t do anything about it? You and I can become hostile to all of the wickedness in this world but we got to stop and realize that the people doing this evil are doing it in utter ignorance. They lacked understanding. They are completely foolish that is ignorant, a ni oē tos, “without knowledge or understanding.” They don’t know what they’re doing.*Satan has blinded them. Before you eagerly rush to mistreat the pagans who offend you and who are destroying all vestiges of Christian influence, consider your own depravity. They are depraved and so were you before you were saved, and you were no different than them. Even now we can digest.
Application: * 2 Corinthians 4:4

Do you recall the ‘Boiling Frog’ syndrome? It is based on an urban legend describing a frog being slowly boiled alive in a Bunsen burner beacon in a school lab. The premise is simple: if a frog is suddenly put into a pot of hot water, it will jump out and save itself from impending death. But, if the frog is put in lukewarm water and the Bunsen burner temperature is set at the lowest degree it will perceive no danger to itself and will be cooked to death. It’s a distressing illustration of how we too stand in danger of being consumed by our own lusts and the worldliness about us. Most of us become so comfortable and used to our current situation (the lukewarm water) that we don’t even recognize the need to escape from it. So what do you expect of unsaved people.
III. Reaffirm the Salvation of your Lives vv.4-7

1. In verse 4, Paul states, “After the kindness and love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared.” The initiative is with God. He came into the world showing His kindness and His love in the incarnation in Christ. He saved us. He renewed us through the Holy Spirit; He poured out His Spirit on us through Christ; He justified us by His grace; He made us heirs; and He gave us the hope of eternal life. It’s all from Him. What made the Christian life possible was an event in history when the kindness and love of God was manifested in the appearance of Christ our savior. Salvation was initiated by God; it provides the reason for this transition.

2. People are saved because a sovereign God redeems them upon the hearing and responding to the gospel. That’s how salvation works. Paul is saying the way you reach the world is to demonstrate what a saved person looks like. Have compassion and work to save others. If Jesus could sit and look over at the city of Jerusalem and weep for their apostasy, can we look over our nation and weep? Remember your duty, he says, and remember your former condition. Many churches today have stop evangelism they think that the way you reach the world in music, schemes, programs and the like.

So, he says to Titus, in verse 5, it was not anything we did! We didn’t deserve our salvation. We didn’t deserve our transformation it was not our good works. Our deliverance from sin and death and hell was purely on God’s love and God’s kindness alone. “He saved us.” That takes us to the cross and resurrection. He did it “not on the basis of deeds which we’d done. We were move from a life full of sin to one where we are led by God’s Holy Spirit.

3. Verse 6 confirms that the key to our salvation is richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,”
The preposition through indicates that it was Jesus and His work that made the gift of the Holy Spirit possible. We made no contribution to His plan.

4. In verse 7 it states that our justification was an act of grace. “that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Justification is by grace. Justification is salvation looked at from a legal or forensic perspective. It’s the judge’s declaration of the sentence being terminated. Verse 7 says, and we became joint-heirs with Christ in “the hope of eternal life.”

All of that is simply to say the only reason you’re different than the corrupt society around you is because God saved you! It’s the judge’s declaration of the sentence being terminated. The reason is not innocence but because the account has been paid by another, in this case Christ, so it is a matter of grace.

Conclusion:
Are you saved do you obey? Does your life exhibit the difference that comes from trusting Christ as Savior? If not, submit to Him today. You will be changed. Jesus can change the wickedest sinner into a child of God. “God expects us to be salt in the world but let’s do it in the context of God’s redeeming love for all men and women.