Titus 3:1-7 The Philanthropist God

Please open your Bible in the book of Titus that is found in page 1000 of yourew Bibles. If you are visiting with us, then you need to know that we’ve been going through the book of titles for a couple of weeks. uh So far, uh Paul has been dividing he instructions to God’s people in three parts, whether we to do in church, what kind of organization the church has to have and what things to avoid, false teaching and false teachers. The second part teaches touches upon what does true and Bible preaching does with the family sphere. 
What are the consequences of hearing God’s word and how does that affect your life in the family? And the third one now we are going to find out in chapter 3 will deal with the public sphere, um our lives in the outside of the church and in the outsides of the family. So how just that in mind as we considered titles chapter 3 verses 1 through seven this morning. 
So if you are there, please stand to hear the the reading of God’s holy, infallible in their rent word. This is indeed God’s word. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy towards all people, for we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to bear a various passions and pleasures, passing or days in malice and envy, he hated by others and hating one another. but when the goodness and loving kindness of God or savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs, according to the hope of eternal life, thus far the reigning of God’s word, you may be. 
Now, the congregation of the Lord, I am sure you are familiar with the word philanthropist, but to many of you, boys and girls, this may be a new and very long word, but this have very simple work indeed. It is formed by two parts filius and anthroposilius, love, and anthropos man in that sense that philanthropist is simply a person who loves or who is a lover of mankind of humanity, and in the old Roman empire, a lover of humanankind was simply a person who, having lots and lots of money, paid for certain public spaces to be decorated with temples, with idols, and other kind of things that adorned the public space in the service of the gods and in the service of the public authorities. And in return, the philanthropist shouldpect at the gods to favor him, to bless him, and the authorities to publicly praise him for doing so, so the idea was that doing good things for the gods and the authorities will give you something in return. 
You do something, you get something in return. In short, this was a way to bribe the gods in your favor. If you wanted something from them, you simply order a new temple, a new idol to be crafted, and then, in return, the gods will bless you, the gods will love you. and that was aanthropist. 
Paul and his scriptures, however, present an entirely different picture this morning, and anth this is what we are going to consider and explore this morning under the theme, the philanthropist, God, the philanthropist, God, and we will see it in two parts what he commences to do and second, why he commences to do it, what he commences to do, and why he commands to do it, and you will find that in page six, I believe, of your bulletence. So the first part then is what God commences to do. Now hear how Paul opens verse one once again, I remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. 
Now, this verse congregation reminds us that the Christian life is not divided. I have said there several times. here it is once again, the Christian life is not divided. Christian ethics applies to all as spheres in life. 
We have already seen as I had already said how it applies to the church and to the family in chapter 2, and now Paul directs his attention to the public sphere. And actually, Paul’s ideas are very offensive to our modern evangelical American sensitivities. Why? 
Because when Paul talks about the public sphere, don’t kill me, he’s actually talking about what the Greeks considered the political sphere. In other words, for Paul’s culture in his day and in his age, everything that was not family was politics. So Christianity in that sense has a lot to say about the public arena. 
The name of Jesus Christ does belong to the public sphere. We should bring it to the fore, and we should not be ashamed of it of it. Why, because we without God in the public conversation, there is no firm basis and foundation for what is truly good. and I am closely following the scriptures here, and all reformed fathers when I am saying this in fact, what is to come is a settlement instructions that will teach God’s people how we can engage in the public sphere and be ready, by the way, because none of these things that follow include any kind of revolutionary idea. 
So first of all in this verse Paul is talking to Titus and to everyone who has been called to be a pastor after Titus, and orders at Titus to remind God’s people that they too need to be submissive, subject to every human authority. As I told you already, there is no revolution here, and because of that, this is not something that settled well with us in our DN age, is it? Paul is calling God people to submit to be subject to every kind of authority. in our modern day, this would mean to this would mean excuse me to be in subjection to police officers all the way up to the president. 
Every single one of the prerogatives that God has assigned to the state is to be respected and honored because God himself has given that authority to the government. Whether we like that or not, and by the way, that includes paying taxes, whether you like them or not. Pure martr vermigli, the famous Italian reformer affirms the following evangelical doctrine was not given to overthrow political constitutions, but rather to confirm them and to improve them, and of so we Christians are called to obey those in power, and if called to it, we too are called to serve as public servants, if called to it, and to do it, for God’s glory and for the improvement of the lives of our our neighbors, whether they are believers or unbelievers. 
But what happens if we are living under an oppressive government, though what if the new president is one that hates God and hates his people and his church? Certainly we would disobey, right? shouldn’t we race against powers? 
Listen to Calvin commenting on this passage. Now if Christians were commanded to obey and to be subject to principalities and powers at a time when those who board the sword of justice were unbelievers and enemies of God, if we were under the Turks Muslims he means under tyrants, under mortal enemies of the gospel we would est still be commanded to be subject to them. Why? 
because it pleases God, says he. So why are we commanded to be subject and to be obedient? Because it pleases God. 
Not is that there are no qualifications. It doesn’t say when the government is a Christian one. It doesn’t say when the government does what people think is right, or when you have many commodities, an economy is doing well, none of that. 
Paul is calling us to obedience because it pleases God. That’s it, and we do it in the public arena seeking to always do good. Paul wants Christians to be known for being doers of every good. 
Now remember, this doesn’t mean that we are hyper optimistic about our endeavors, nor hyper pessimistic about our our endeavors either. We are simply called to labor and to leave the results to God. A recent reformed theologian has put it quite well. 
There have been times, has he, when the people of God have been persecuted, and martyrdom has been enjoined. then nothing more is possible in history then all that is left is to endure until death yet again and again there have also been an r times of open doors, for mission, for diaconal service to the poor, and for deliberation of the oppressed. then hope turns into action, and we are already anticipate to day something of the new creation of all things which Christ will complete on his day. So this is a call for discernment to us congregation, as we are called by God in our different vocations and in our different works and in our different things that we do, our attitude to those who are empowered to my boss, to to the president, to everyone in power is that we may obey them, and the hope is that the gospel will transform our lives through words and through actions, but also when possible that we may bring some glimpses of their kingdom come in this dark world. Now it gets even better in verse tomb to speak evil of no one actually that can be translated as to not slander, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy towards all people. 
You see, aslandering is one of those a social sins that have become widely accepted. We distort the character of people, we talk against them with hushed voices so they don’t hear us, and we don’t even blink. Can you imagine how much better our public public life would be if we were to refrain from doing that? 
If we were to avoid partisanship, polarization, if even our worst enemies, we were to treat them with respect and kindness. For once, the division that we are experiencing to day would simply be diminished or disappeared altogether, but not everything is lost. Scriptures are still as speaking to us to day and calling us to live a different kind of life. in our polarized culture, we are not to be polarized, even those who are opposed to Jesus Christ are, after all, made after the image of God, and in need of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
So beware, brothers and sisters, of feeding your children with the hatred of this world. we are to feed them with the gospel, and in doing so we are to nourish them with these instructions that Paul is giving us. Now you may be saying and thinking, Christian, why should I do that? Are in these guys like evil Isn’t it true that they lack common sense and that the things that they are advocating for are evil in themselves? 
Let me read the verse three for you as an answer for we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, let us strain, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in m mallies and envy hated by others and hating one another. and I could say a lot of what is going on here, but we don’t have time for that this morning. simply put the reason we are to engage in this different kind of behavior in the public arena is because we two, at one point, we’re not worthy of anything good. Paul’s description is actually very profound and shows how deep or sinful nature riches. We are corrupt through and through from our birth, the things that we seek are evil all the time, and we don’t want anything good for others, and hate is actually what used to the pinus. think about it. 
We were not lovable, we may not have been murderers or robbers or any of those things maybe we even left a very respectable life, but even then what was going on underneath the surface can be defined as spure opposition to God in his throne and to our neighbors. H hating God, hating one another and hating ourselves because we were there, we are to have compassion as Paul, with those who are still there with those who are still hating one another, hoping, praying that at some point God himself may reach them with the gospel. and why not that God may use us to bring the message of the gospel to them? Now this moves us to the second point why God is commanding it. 
Listen to verses 4 5, but when the goodness and loving kindness of God’s savior appeared not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the holy Spirit. Here we find the most striking and amazing description of the gospel by Paul so far. These two verses are one single sentence in the Greek, and I actually read it in the Greek order for Yume. 
We couldn’t do anything, says Paul. without the gospel. Let me put it in the following way, boys and girls. Paul is saying that in ourselves there was nothing good, that there was no virtue, no value, no good reason for God to save us. 
We were in fact impossible to love messy, dirty, stinky people who were under the wrath of God. and then immediately after, Paul addsbut and let me make a dramatic pause right there. because this little word, but makes a world of difference unlovable yes, but despeakable yes, but and what they said that this word is signifying and showing us next, the goodness of God and yes, the Greek actually reads the philanthropy of God. The love of God for humanankind. Do you want to know who is the foremost philanthropist in the world voice and girls? 
God himself, and not as once again the little word appeared we have seen it three times already here in the text the goodness of God, the love for humanity of God has appeared has has been displayed and made manifest how when where in Jesus Christ, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh manifests to the world the love of God for you, not as how different this is while the religions of the world tell you that you need to do something in order to gain the favor of the gods. Do you want the gods to love you? then you need to do something for them so that you need to become lovable for them. 
You need to be good so they so the gods are well disposed towards you. The gospel of Jesus Christ tell you that all that you were doing, all that you were was running away from God and hating him, and that even then without you doing anything good God loved you and he loved you so much that his love was manifested in the flesh in Jesus Christ coming to rescue you from your sins. You don’t have to earn God’s favor. 
You don’t have to be good in order to be forgiven. You don’t have to clean your life before you come to God. It is actually that God sought you when you were dirty, messy, broken in your sense in order to cleanse you because he and already loved you. 
This is the whole of what Paul is saying. He rescued you, not because you deserved to be rescued. He loved you, not because you deserved to be loved. 
God’s love, God’s grace, God’s forgiveness in Jesus all of it. is totally undeserved unmerited. God’s favor is with you because he wanted to shine upon you, because he wanted to love you, because he wanted to make you his song. Now, isn’t that amazing? 
as a Gerhardaos puts it, the proof that God will never stop loving you the proof that God will never stop loving you is that he never began to do it, meaning that God’s love for you brothers and sisters voice and girls is eternal, and because it is eternal, it never begun. It has always been there. It will never stop so apply this truth to your heart congregation this morning and draw comfort from it before you even existed before you even were real in this world, he loved you with an eternal, unbroken, unchangeable, never stopping love, and he manifested his loving history by becoming flesh and dying upon that cross for you. 
Now here verses 6 and seven by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ or savior, so that being justified by his grace, we might become errs according to the hope of life eternal. So these verses are so deep and so filled with the gospel that it is difficult for me to even start the explanation, so let me try to do my best. First, salvation, says Paul, has happened to us in the work and by the work of the lord Jesus Christ, and the application of that work is done to us by the Holy Spirit, not as the clearer statement, it is God the Holy Spirit who washes us, who makes us pure, and and washing is in fact this very graphic word. 
It brings to mind what happens when we wash our dirty hands, or or it brings to mind the ritual cleansings of the Old Testament, and rebirth like the one the Israelites experienced when they were coming out of his slavery in Egypt, crossed the waters, and became a new creature. The holy Spirit, then, takes the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and with it washes us, makes us new, cleanses our sins, the work of the holespirit also makes a right what is crooked. He gives a new inclination to our hearts. 
He puts new desires in us, restores her wills. He takes what is dead and makes it alive, and I have said this before, but please bear with me for a second. The work of the holy spirit takes the hardened heart and makes it soft, takes the dead heart and makes it alive. 
It takes your will and gives a new inclinations, new desires, a new purpose, as if as if were for the first time truly new creatures in a short sentence to be a Christian is to be a true human being. God’s grace restores our nature, and God is not a stingy, by the way with his holy Spirit. He actually pours him out in abundance, says Paul, so he overflows and fills you entirely. so no area of your life will be lacking of the presence of the Holy Spirit. 
Now now here’s the thing there seems to be in Paul’s mind an allusion to baptism. since the Holy Spirit’s work is inviscible, God has given us visible times of his actions. think about it. His embaptism done with warner and doesn’t water washes away the dirt of our bodies and it’s in baptism, the sil and seal of gods promises of arose in baptism, God promises his covenant people that he is tied, bound up with them in a covenant. and this is the promise of the gospel. You can find it in two places, Acts two and Genes. 17 that God will be our god, and the god of our children, and of all of those who are far off and hear the gospel and their children as well. 
So when we baptized her children here, we are in a Presbyterian church after all, we are visively administering the same and seal of that covenant or children, the sign of this external water use reminds us that the work of the holy Spirit consists in washing away our sins, just as the water washes away our dirt from our bodies. Now, I’m not saying baptism saves. but baptism does signify and seals that reality, salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, just as circumcision in the Old Testament was the sign of the commant to Abraham and to his descendants, so in the new testament, Baptism is the sign of the covenant to us, and to our children. And in time, at some point, God the holy Spirit himself through the ping of the word, through teaching our children about God, through our prayers, through his mysterious and invisible action, will touch their hearts, will transform them, will wash them anew, and will make them his own. 
So from the beginning of it to the end of it, salvation consists in nothing of what we do. It is not because of good works. It is not because we are such an important people. 
It is not because God couldn’t live without us and is not because we had faith, as if faith was a good work, not at all salvation is not by works is through faith in Christ alone, and this is not because of our good works. and that is why this text becomes an allusion to baptism. Think about this. In the baptism of a defenseless baby or child, we recognize in more than one way that this baby is unable to walk, unable to talk, unable to sustain himself, yes, even unable to save himself. 
It is wholly dependent on Jesus Christ, his mercy, his love, his good pleasure. In any case, there is also something else going on here. This salvation pulses is once and for all is not something that you can lose, is not something that you can fall away from, is once and for all. 
In fact, the word justified here is actually the translation in in our Bibles. It is past tens, done, deal, a judicial punctilar declaration on God’s part that you are forgiven forever, and this declaration will never change. It has been made because Jesus died in your place because Jesus paid and ready for your sins. 
It is made to you because you have a received at the work of the Holy Spirit upon you. Everything that Jesus has acquired for you has been given to you by the Holy Spirit. Again, it is at once and for all action, but again, this justification, this forgiveness of sense, is not something static, it doesn’t estate there. 
It has a beginning, and it also has an end. The beginning is God’s eternal love for you. The end is life everlasting with God through all eternity. so the Christian life has lived in a different way because its beginning is God. 
It’s ru that in God’s love for you, and the goal of this life is not right here and right now. It’s eternity. seeing God as he is forever, and because God is the foremost lover of humanity, he has rescued you in Jesus Christ, even when you didn’t deserve to be rescued, and because he has rescued you in Jesus Christ, he has given you the holy Spirit to live in you, and because he has given you the holyirit in you, he commands you now to live in a different way, so you will shine God’s glory in this dark world, and as you live for his glory, you do it because you don’t belong to this world, but because you have eternity running through your veins. In other words, and think about it. 
God has made you a citizen of his heavenly kingdom. That’s what it means. You have a new passport congregation. 
It’s crisome red because it was acquired with the blood of the lord Jesus Christ, and on it your name is engraved, and it belongs to you, and now as we await for the entering into this better country, scriptures are simply calling us to live us citizens of that eternal, better kingdom right here and right now, so this is what this text means, so whether are we to do then? We are to pray to the Lord or God, by our savior Jesus Christ help us to live this kind of life, a life of transformation in the power of the holy Spirit, and all of it for his eternal glory may the Lord help us to do so let’s bring Heavenly Father, we thank you for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for what he has done for us unready and en us, and Lord as we think about how great this is, we also pray that you move our hearts to live in um a way that shines your glory in the world, not only at church, not only in our families, but also in the public arena help us to love our neighbors and help us to love you over all in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.