The Key
For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. (Titus 3:3 NKJV)
But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4- 3:8 NKJV)
This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. (Titus 3:8 NKJV)
A disobedient person is a deceived person. This is because obedience is the key to real success and health. It also guarantees a beautiful life in heaven in the after life. Why then do most people scorn and despise obedience? The reason for this error is that most people are sincerely confused and deceived because they judge by outward appearance.
They assume that because they see a lot of successful unbelievers and disobedient people, they can conclude that obedience is not necessary for happiness and success. They therefore follow other ways and routes to health and wealth. The sad truth that they don’t know is that the devil gives wealth and health – poisonous, cancerous deceptive wealth, health, success and happiness .
The devil gives the type of wealth that leads to complete destruction of body and soul. They end up deceived because they judged by outward appearance instead of seeking the true God. Anyone who loves the light goes to the light, however it is those who love the darkness that are constantly seeking blessings without seeking the true God. That is why they end up deceived.
Every good and perfect present comes from God but the deceived do not know this. They do not know that it is God that permits the favours they receive through false worship and idols. They receive it through the forbidden way that God has cursed. God as creator has created every way and road but He has ordered a superior narrow way and has commanded man to follow the narrow way.
“Prophets or interpreters of dreams may promise a miracle or a wonder, 2 in order to lead you to worship and serve gods that you have not worshipped before. Even if what they promise comes true, do not pay any attention to them. The Lord your God is using them to test you, to see if you love the Lord with all your heart. Follow the Lord and honour him; obey him and keep his commands; worship him and be faithful to him. But put to death any interpreters of dreams or prophets that tell you to rebel against the Lord, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Such people are evil and are trying to lead you away from the life that the Lord has commanded you to live. They must be put to death, in order to rid yourselves of this evil. Deuteronomy 13: 1-5
Do not bring any of these idols into your homes, or the same curse will be on you that is on them. You must hate and despise these idols, because they are under the Lord’s curse. Deuteronomy 7:23
God hates disobedience and loves obedience but sadly, most people don’t care about obedience to God anymore. They are under the illusion that it does not matter and they point at certain committed Christians they know who are suffering various afflictions and they conclude that there is no need to worship God or obey Him. Ultimately, it is only after death that man will know his true condition.
It is possible to gain the whole world ( extraordinary blessings and favours) and loose your soul. Jesus would not have warned us if it is not a real threat or temptation. Also the devil promised to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth if only Jesus would worship him. This shows that the devil can give false blessings and the deceived have been enticed by the devil to worship him and despise God.
We were once deceived and disobedient but God chose us to be His own. We must therefore walk in obedience and maintain good works as redeemed children of God. That is the only way that we can please God and demonstrate that we are sons and daughters of grace and light.
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One of those good works we do is forgiving others – passing God’s grace on to those who need it. One of the things I love most about this section of Titus is that it SHOULD be a natural spiritual antidote to Christians becoming arrogant, prideful and judgmental. It refocuses us on the fact that we didn’t earn our own salvation – we shouldn’t try to make others earn theirs. We received grace, so we should extend grace. We were once lost, we should never look down on those who are still lost and disobedient – but rather we should take every effort to make the Gospel attractive to them (Titus 2:10). We have an uncanny ability of becoming judgmental against sinners, making the Gospel less attractive to them. Titus might be a short letter, but I’m glad took the time to write it!
Thank you so much for the insightful contribution. Of course we did not earn our salvation and must not try to make others earn theirs. No one can go to God except the father makes it possible. We must pray for the unbelieving because it is God who grants salvation. We must also preach the word because we were commanded to preach the word. I believe as we keep preaching the word with prayer, God will save because He is the only one that can save. Blessings ❤️
Thanks Laura !
❤️😊