I admit it: I get the AARP magazine! One of their recurring themes is, “You’re not really getting old! You’re going to live forever!” They feature some old geezer who is 85 and still surfs and jogs or some movie star who just turned 70, but is desperately trying to look like she’s 40. I have some bad news for all who buy into that mindset: You’re in denial! You’re going to die!

Since death is inevitable and since our aging bodies remind us daily that we’re not getting any younger, you would think that everyone would face the facts and prepare for the inevitable. Many try to reassure themselves that it will be okay: “If there is a God, surely He will be nice to me. After all, I’ve done the best that I could do.” But only God’s Word gives us clear, straightforward counsel on how to face the end of our lives.

Our text is one of those sections of Scripture that at first glance makes you wonder why God included it on the inspired page. As Paul concludes his final letter to his beloved son in the faith, he urges Timothy to make every effort to come to him before winter. He shares a number of personal greetings and some requests for personal items that he wants Timothy to bring. How does this relate to us?

But a more careful look at these verses reveals many practical insights into this great man of God and what made him who he was. On the one hand, he was very human. His loneliness cries out of these verses. He is wrestling with feelings of abandonment in his time of great need. He is disappointed with certain people. On the other hand, he is strong and confident in the Lord as he faces execution. He triumphantly states (4:18), “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

So the flavor of our text is not a simplistic, “follow this advice and facing death will be no problem.” The reality of disappointment with people and struggles with problems is here, but it is offset by a strong confidence in the Lord. Paul shows us how to face life’s winter in the Lord:

To face life’s winter well, establish and maintain the proper commitments.

We all make commitments, although sometimes we do so without thinking. Some people are committed to television. They spend hours watching all of their favorite programs every week, and plan their lives around those programs. Others are committed to computer games or sports or making money. In light of eternity, none of those are wise commitments and none will help as we approach death. No one on his deathbed says, “Man, life has been sweet! I’ve watched some great TV!” Our text reveals four commitments that helped Paul face life’s winter:

1. To face life’s winter well, commit yourself to the living Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the most important commitment that undergirds all of the others. Paul was first and foremost committed to the living Lord Jesus, with whom he enjoyed daily fellowship, even in that cold, dark dungeon in Rome. Verses 17, 18, and 22 all begin with, “the Lord.” These verses reveal five things about our Lord:

A. He is the sovereign Lord.

He was sovereign over Paul’s circumstances, as unpleasant as they were. If the sovereign Lord had chosen to do so, He easily could have rescued Paul from that dungeon and given him more years of effective ministry. Some commentators interpret Paul’s words in 4:18, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed,” as referring to his being rescued from personal temptation to sin. While it is true that God does that, I do not think that that fits the context here. Paul was referring to the evil deeds of wicked men. As it turned out, the Lord did not choose to deliver Paul from such evil deeds, although He did deliver Paul through them.

We see the same thing in Hebrews 11, where the author chronicles how many were delivered from great trials by faith in God. But without skipping a beat, he also tells how many suffered horrible deaths as they trusted in God (Heb. 11:35-37). In both cases, God still reigned on high. Even if evil people do terrible things to us, we can trust in the sovereign God, whose plans cannot be thwarted.

B. He is the ever-present Lord.

Paul writes (4:17), “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me….” Also (4:22), “The Lord be with your spirit.” Whether the Lord actually appeared to Paul or whether he knew in his spirit that the Lord stood with him, I don’t know. But as Hebrews 13:5 assures us, “for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?’” No matter how difficult your circumstances, if your trust is in the living Lord Jesus Christ, His promise is, “I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20).

C. He is the saving Lord.

He “will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom” (4:18). Jesus promised (John 6:39), “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me, I lose nothing; but raise it up on the last day.” If by God’s sovereign grace, you have trusted in Christ to save you from your sins, then His promise to you is sure. He won’t lose you on judgment day!

D. He is the glorious Lord.

“To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (4:18). As Paul clearly shows in 1 Corinthians 1, you had nothing to do with your salvation. It originated in God’s sovereign choice (three times in 1 Cor. 1:27, 28), “so that no man may boast before God” (1 Cor. 1:29). Since God ordained your salvation before the foundation of the world, since Christ willingly came to save all that the Father had given Him, and since He promises that He will not lose any of those, all praise and glory go unto Him!

E. He is the gracious Lord.

Paul’s final written words are, “Grace be with you.” John Stott (Guard the Gospel [IVP], p. 127) says that grace is “the word in which all Paul’s theology is distilled.” The word your in the first half of verse 22 is singular in Greek, but when Paul writes, “Grace be with you,” you is plural. This means that Paul expected us to read Timothy’s mail. God’s grace is for you! He saved you by His grace. He wants you to walk daily by His grace. Because salvation is all of grace, He gets all the glory. Concerning 4:22 and 4:18, Stott observes (ibid.), “It would be difficult to find a better summary than these two sentences of the apostle’s life and ambition. First, he received grace from Christ. Then he returned glory to Christ. ‘From Him grace; to Him glory.’ In all our Christian life and service we should desire no other philosophy than this.”

Since we all face the inevitability of death, it is crucial that you share Paul’s commitment to the living Lord Jesus Christ. If He has saved you by His grace, then death will usher you into His glorious presence, where you will glorify Him throughout all eternity!

2. To face life’s winter well, commit yourself to the cause of Christ.

In our text, we have both positive and negative examples of commitment to the cause of Christ.

A. Paul is a positive example of commitment to the cause of Christ.

If anyone ever deserved spending his final years on the golf course, it was Paul. He had been tireless in abounding in the work of the Lord. You would think that being in this dungeon would have slowed him down. But here he is, still going strong for Christ.

Note 4:11: “Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.” The NIV puts it, “he is helpful to me in my ministry.” In your ministry? Paul, don’t you ever quit? No!

Look at 4:16-17: At Paul’s preliminary hearing, none of the Roman Christians were willing to risk their necks to stand with him. If there was ever a time for a man to think about saving his own skin, this was it. Surely, Paul would not say anything to endanger his case! Yet here he is, proclaiming the gospel in the Roman court, “that all the Gentiles might hear.” Stott (p. 125) observes, “If ever there was a sermon preached ‘out of season,’ this was it!” God graciously delivered him from death at that hearing (“the lion’s mouth” is probably a general expression for death; Roman citizens were not thrown to the lions in the stadium).

We can apply this by realizing that whatever circumstances God puts us in, no matter how difficult, are an opportunity for proclaiming the gospel. As long as we are mentally able, if we end up in the hospital or a nursing home, it’s a new audience to tell about Christ. But, sadly…

B. Several are negative examples of commitment to the cause of Christ.

(1). The Roman Christians were committed but cowardly to the cause of Christ.

It was a tense time, when Nero was torturing and killing Christians. To testify in court on Paul’s behalf would have been extremely dangerous, if not deadly. So at his preliminary hearing, no one stood with him. I don’t know where Luke was; perhaps he had not yet arrived at Paul’s side. But Paul is patient with their weakness, graciously echoing the words of Jesus, “may it not be counted against them.”

I cannot honestly say that I would be willing to step forward as a martyr if I had the chance to hide. It would require God’s special grace to give me such courage. But I know that I will never take such a stand if I am unwilling to be bold for the gospel in situations of lesser consequences. If I don’t speak out for Christ just to save myself a little embarrassment, then I won’t speak out for Him when my life is on the line.

(2). Alexander was superficially committed, but in reality opposed to the cause of Christ.

Paul warns Timothy about Alexander the coppersmith, who had done him much harm. Perhaps as Timothy traveled to be with Paul, he would be passing through the city where Alexander lived. It may have been Troas, where Paul’s coat and books were left behind, perhaps when he was suddenly arrested. Alexander was a common name, so we don’t know if this is the same man that Paul had delivered over to Satan (1 Tim. 1:20). But it is likely that he had professed to be a believer, but he had turned against Paul, vigorously opposed his teaching, and had informed the Roman authorities about him, leading to his arrest.

The best manuscripts of 4:14 read, “the Lord will repay him according to his deeds,” not (as KJV), “may the Lord repay him.” Paul was stating a fact, not calling down a curse on him. The fact of God’s judgment of the wicked is a source of comfort and even joy for God’s persecuted people (Rev. 18:20). Calvin points out that it was not personal revenge that led Paul to say those words, but rather his love for God’s truth. Alexander had opposed Paul’s teaching, and Paul knew that such opposition to the truth would cause great spiritual damage to many people.

There are people who join the church for anticipated benefits. When the truth confronts their sinful motives, they become dangerous enemies, like Alexander, who cause much harm. Beware of a superficial commitment to the cause of Christ, when really your motive is just to get something for yourself!

(3). Demas was formerly committed, but deserted the cause of Christ for the world.

Paul was probably more disappointed over Demas than with any of the others. When he had written to Philemon (v. 24) a few years before, Paul included Demas among his “fellow workers.” He had been a part of Paul’s team (see also, Col. 4:14). But now, when identifying with the apostle may have meant death, Demas had deserted him. Rather than loving the Lord’s appearing (4:8), Demas had loved this present world. Paul was left shivering without even a warm coat, while Demas took off to pursue “the good life.” We don’t know whether Demas later came to his senses and, like Peter after his denials, repented.

I do know that the world’s enticements are strong. I live very comfortably, and yet there are times when I see how the wealthy live and I think, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have all those things!” But as you face death, having the things of this world won’t matter much anymore. If you can join with Paul in saying, “I have been committed to the cause of Jesus Christ,” you will also join him in facing life’s winter well. It’s never too late, by the way. I read of a woman who became a Christian at 100. She devoted her last three years to working with a mission, stuffing envelopes!

So to face life’s winter well, commit yourself to the living Lord and His eternal cause.

3. To face life’s winter well, commit yourself to the cause of Christ with others.

Paul was not a Lone Ranger. These verses brim with the names of Paul’s fellow-workers in the cause of Christ. Timothy is foremost, of course. But also there is Crescens (4:10). This is all that we know of him, but he was faithful enough for Paul to send him to minister in the difficult Galatian region. Titus, another faithful man, had finished his assignment on Crete and now was off to Dalmatia (the Balkan area).

Luke, ever faithful, was by Paul’s side, probably taking down this letter. Paul asks Timothy to bring Mark with him. Mark had accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, but had deserted them and returned home. Later, Barnabas, who was Mark’s cousin, wanted to give him another try, but Paul adamantly refused, leading to a split between the two great missionaries. So Barnabas had taken Mark and gone to Cyprus. His patient encouragement with Mark had paid off. Now Paul wants Mark to be with him as he faces the end.

Tychicus (4:12) probably delivered this letter to Timothy and stayed on in Ephesus as his replacement (“sent” may be translated, “am sending”). Carpus (4:13) was Paul’s host in Troas, perhaps where he had been arrested. Prisca and Aquila (4:19) were Paul’s fellow tentmakers, who often hosted the church in their homes. Paul greets the household of Onesiphorus (see 1:15-18), who either had not yet returned home after visiting Paul in Rome, or who may have lost his life ministering to the apostle in his imprisonment.

Erastus (4:20) was the city treasurer of Corinth. Trophimus (4:20) was a Gentile native of Ephesus. He was with Paul in Jerusalem, when Paul’s enemies falsely accused him of bringing a Gentile into the temple, leading to Paul’s arrest. The fact that Paul, who had the gift of healing, left Trophimus sick at Miletus, shows either that these supernatural gifts were fading or, at the very least, that it is not always God’s will to heal supernaturally.

Paul sends greetings (4:21) from Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia, along with all the brethren in Rome. Irenaeus and Eusebius mention a Linus who was the first bishop of Rome after the deaths of Paul and Peter (Stott, p. 118). Tacitus, the Roman historian, mentions a Roman noble named Pudens who married a British princess named Claudia (William Barclay, The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon [Westminster Press], rev. ed., pp. 222-223). If these are the same people, then we have here a link to British Christianity, from which American Christianity largely came.

But the point is, Paul was not a loner. He was committed to the cause of Christ with many others, and they labored together. You will be able to face life’s winter better if you are part of a body of committed believers, who uphold one another in the great cause of our Savior. But, there’s a final commitment:

4. To face life’s winter well, commit yourself to personal growth.

Spurgeon draws six lessons out of Paul’s request to bring his coat (!), but I can’t go there for lack of time. I want to consider his request to bring “the books, especially the parchments” (4:13). Spurgeon uses this to chide pastors who think that they can preach without study and preparation. He says of Paul,

He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching at least for thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books! (Spurgeon’s Expository Encyclopedia [Baker], 11:386.)

We don’t know what these books contained, although many think that the parchments, which were more valuable than ordinary papyrus scrolls, were probably his copies of the Old Testament. But his words are amazing, in that he has just acknowledged that he is facing imminent execution, yet he wants Timothy to bring his books! This suggests at least three areas for growth, even as we face life’s final winter:

A. Take care to develop your mind.

God saw fit to put His revelation in writing, which implies that we need to use our minds to read and think. First and foremost, we should read and study the Bible. But, also, we should read good books that help us grow intellectually and spiritually. I fear that many modern Christians, sitting in a dungeon awaiting death, would say, “Bring my TV set, and the videos.” Good books bring us the best thoughts of the godly men of past centuries. As long as you’re able, take care to develop your mind through reading.

B. Take care to develop your soul.

Reading books and especially reading the Bible should help us come to know God better. In other words, reading should not only help us become better Christian thinkers, but also to go deeper in our personal relationship with Christ. With Paul (Phil. 3:8-14), we should press on to know Christ more and more.

C. Take care to develop your character.

Reading the Bible and good Christian books should help us become more Christ-like, more loving, and more humble. If we are filled with pride over how much we know, we have missed the point. In fact, the more you study the Bible and read the lives of the great saints from the past, the more you realize how little you know God and how much you need to grow. Even though you are an aged saint like Paul, there is still room to grow in godly character. Reading is a major avenue for growth.

Conclusion

I read once of Dr. Charles McCoy, a Baptist pastor whose denomination insisted that he retire at age 72. He was a single man, tall (6’ 4”), with white hair. He had earned two doctorates over the years. He dreaded the thought of retirement, thinking that surely there was more that he could do for Christ. About that time, a missionary from India invited him to come there and preach. Dr. McCoy had never traveled, even in the U.S., let alone overseas. But the missionary explained that in India they would respect his age.

He tried to put the idea out of his mind, and he gave the Lord all of his excuses. He didn’t have any money. But he felt that the Lord wanted him to go, so he decided to sell his car and go. People in his church thought he was losing his mind. The church chairman asked, “What if you should die there?” Dr. McCoy said, “It’s just as close to heaven from there as it is from here.”

So he went. En route, he lost all of his belongings, including his wallet and passport. His missionary friend who invited him was not there, so he didn’t know anyone. But God opened door after door for him to give the gospel to influential groups of people in the government and military. He started a Chinese church in Calcutta. He ended up having an itinerant ministry that lasted for 16 years, until he was 88! He had preached that afternoon and he had another speaking engagement that evening, when the Lord called him home.

Dr. McCoy faced life’s winter well because he was committed to the living Lord Jesus Christ and His cause with others. He was committed to keep growing. If you will do the same, you will be able to face life’s winter well!

Application Questions

1. Suppose that you’re elderly and looking back over your life. How would you like to be able to sum it up in one sentence? Write down that sentence!
2. Why is it crucial to keep commitment to the person of Christ foundational and commitment to His cause secondary? How can we avoid drifting into reversing these commitments?
3. Agree/disagree: Growing Christians are reading Christians. Why/why not?
4. In what ways might the American concept of retirement be used in furthering God’s kingdom? What pitfalls must be avoided?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2007, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

I want to answer the question, “Who runs this church?” While this may be a review for some of you old timers, those who are relatively new in this church may not understand how we operate as a church government. Many people wrongly assume that as the pastor, I run the church. One time in California, when my office was at home, a woman from the national headquarters of Pioneer Girls called to ask me how the program was going in our church. Marla took the call and it took her a long time to convince this lady that I didn’t have a clue how things were going, because I didn’t oversee the Pioneer Girls program. She just assumed that the pastor ran everything in the church.

Many people also wrongly assume that our church government is patterned after the U. S. government and operates as a democracy. The pastors and the elders are the elected officers, similar to the President and Congress. At church business meetings, members can voice their opposition to whatever they don’t like and vote according to their preferences.

While that system is fine for America, at the risk of sounding un-American or anti-Baptist, I must say that democracy is not the biblical way to view church government. As shocking as it may sound, God is not an American! He didn’t set up His church as a democracy, where the most powerful factions control the purse strings. We’re not free to impose our American ideas about government onto the church, unless we find those ideas in the Bible.

Another model that has greatly influenced how American churches are governed is that of American business. Most Christians work in the business world and are used to various management and operational procedures. Most businesses have the chairman of the board at the top, with his board of directors beneath him and the stockholders as the voting members of the corporation. When that gets carried into the church, the pastor is viewed as the CEO, the elder or deacon board are the directors, and the congregation represents the stockholders, who have their annual meet­ing to vote on how the business should operate. With that model, the answer to the question of who runs the church is, “The pastor does, along with the board of directors.” But, the stockholders have a say in things, and if the company isn’t going the way that they wish, they can vote those guys out of office!

While there may be a few similarities between the business and government models and the church, the biblical picture of church government is different. One major difference is that the church is not just an organization, but also a living organism. All living organisms are highly organized, so we would be mistaken to throw out careful organization. But as an organism, the body of Christ, is not merely an organization. Webster defines an organization as “an administrative and functional structure.” He defines an organism as “an individual constituted to carry on the activities of life by means of organs separate in function but mutually dependent.” That describes the church. We are a living unity, the one body of which Jesus Christ is the head. Each member is a vital part of that body, separate in function, but mutually dependent on one another and on Christ, the head.

Thus the main idea of biblical church government is to allow Jesus Christ truly to function as the living head of His body. None of us should be seeking or voicing our will about various matters in the church, unless we are very convinced that our will coincides with God’s will as revealed in His Word. And, rather than any one man running the church, God’s way is that…

Christ runs His church through a plurality of godly men who shepherd His flock under His headship.

The situation behind our text was that Paul had left Titus in Crete to “set in order what remains and to appoint elders in every city,” as Paul had directed him. There were a number of fledgling churches scattered across the island, but they were struggling against the pagan culture. And they were plagued with false teachers with selfish motives, who were upsetting whole families (1:10-11). The letter of Titus is aimed at correcting these problems.

We don’t know much about Titus, but he must have been an unusually wise and solid young man. Years before, Paul had taken him along to Jerusalem as a test case, to demonstrate to the apostles that Gentile converts did not need to be circumcised to be saved (Gal. 2:1-3). That would have been an awkward role to play! Later, Paul had sent Titus to Corinth to deal with that rowdy bunch, and he had done well. Now, Paul trusted him to set in order (the Greek word is used of setting broken bones in place) matters in the various churches, to get them on solid footing. Calvin notes that this reveals Paul’s humility, in that he was willing for a younger man to follow up his work and bring it to maturity. He was not trying to hog any glory for himself.

It is significant that a major part of Paul’s prescription for fixing these various problems was to install godly leadership in the churches. Next week we will look at the qualifications for elders, but for now I just want to point out that churches need godly, mature leaders who can stand for the truth and refute error (1:9). Churches will be strong or weak depending on the spiritual maturity and doctrinal soundness of the leaders. Today, I want to answer three questions: (1) What is an elder? (2) What should elders do? (3) How are elders chosen?

1. What is an elder?

My definition: An elder is a spiritually mature man, knowledgeable in the Scriptures, officially recognized by the local church to work with other elders in exercising oversight and shepherding God’s flock. We will unpack that definition as we work through this message.

There are several terms used interchangeably in the New Testament to refer to church leaders: Elders, overseers, pastors, and leaders.

A. Elders

This is the word in our text (and in many other texts). Obviously, they were a clearly defined, officially recognized group of men. I use “men” because the clear teaching of the New Testament is that this office is restricted to men. Since elders are to teach and exercise authority over a local church, to have women elders would violate Paul’s clear directive that women are not to teach or exercise authority over men (1 Tim. 2:11-15).

By the way, in the New Testament, the churches are always described by the city: the church in Ephesus, Corinth, Rome, etc. As we will see, there are always multiple elders per city (as in our text). Due to size, the church in a particular city may have had to meet in several locations (usually homes) on the Lord’s Day, with one or more elders in charge of each location. But the church in each city was viewed as a unit. There were not yet the many divisions over minor (or major) doctrinal issues that exist today. I would like to see that early sense of church unity restored in our day, but frankly, I have no idea how to go about it. I do know how not to go about it, namely, holding “unity” services where we set aside major doctrinal truths in order to come together!

But to come back to our subject, the word “elder” was adapted from the commonly used Jewish term for leadership. It referred to mature men, who by virtue of their wisdom and experience provided leadership in the various communities of Israel. Applied to church leaders, “elder” emphasizes the character of the man. He must be a spiritually mature man as reflected in consistent godly character.

The Bible does not give any age requirement. When Paul told Timothy not to allow anyone to look down on his youthfulness (1 Tim. 4:12), he was probably in his mid-thirties. Also, the term may be somewhat relative to the particular church. A man may qualify as an elder in a church composed of relatively new believers, who would not qualify as an elder in a more mature church.

The New Testament frequently refers to the elders of various churches. The church in Jerusalem had elders (Acts 11:29, 20; 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4). Paul and Barnabas were quick to appoint elders in the churches that they founded on their first missionary journey (Acts 14:23). When Peter wrote to the believers scattered throughout the regions of modern Turkey, he addressed the elders among them as a fellow-elder (1 Pet. 1:1; 5:1). The Philippian church had both elders (called overseers) and deacons (Phil. 1:1). (I cannot address the topic of deacons today, but I did devote a message to that, on 1 Tim. 3:8-13.)

B. Overseers

Elder and overseer are used interchangeably to refer to the same office (Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5, 7). Overseer (Greek, episkopos) comes from the secular Greek culture, where it referred to those appointed by the emperor to lead captured or newly founded city-states (Answering the Key Questions About Elders, John MacArthur, Jr. [Word of Grace Communications], p. 9). It looks at the function of the elder, namely, to superintend, watch over, and guard the local church. Later in church history, the term came to refer to the singular bishop or overseer of a city, who was over all of the other pastors in that city. The Roman Catholic and Episcopal (or Anglican) churches have that system of church government. But in the New Testament, there is no difference between the elders and the overseers. The two words refer to the same group of men.

C. Pastors

The noun “pastor” (which means “shepherd”) occurs only once in the New Testament with reference to church leaders, where it is coupled with “teacher” (Eph. 4:11). More frequently, it is used as a verb. Paul exhorted the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:28; see v. 17), “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Note that the elders are called overseers and they are to do the work of shepherding the church.

The same three ideas occur in 1 Peter 5:1-3, “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder, … shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.” The elders are to shepherd the flock by exercising oversight. They have authority over those allotted to their charge, but they are not to lord it over them, but rather, to lead by example.

D. Leaders

This term is used in Hebrews 13:17 where the church is commanded, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them also do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” (See, also, Heb. 13:7, 24; 1 Thess. 5:12; Luke 22:26.)

2. What should elders do?

In a sentence, the elders should work together to exercise oversight and shepherd God’s flock in a given local church.

A. Elders should shepherd God’s flock.

The picture of the shepherd and his flock gives us many of the functions of church leaders. The shepherd led his flock to rich pasture, where they were fed. The elders must feed God’s Word to the church. While all elders must know the Scriptures well enough to be able to teach (1 Tim. 3:2), so that they can “exhort in sound doctrine” and “refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9), this does not mean that all elders must have the gift of teaching publicly. Paul indicates (1 Tim. 5:17-18) that some elders devote themselves to the work of preaching and teaching and should be compensated financially so that they can carry out that work.

Shepherding the flock also involves caring for the flock, binding up the wounds of the injured, nursing the sick back to health, and helping the young to grow in health and maturity. The elders are to pray for the physically ill (James 5:14) and for all the church (Acts 6:4). They are to disciple younger men, to train some to be future leaders (2 Tim. 2:2). They must gently exhort and encourage each one as a gentle mother or a tender father toward their children, imparting not only the gospel, but also their own lives (1 Thess. 2:7-12).

B. Elders should give oversight to the flock.

This refers to general superintendence of the life of the church. The elders must keep their fingers on the pulse of the church, making sure that it is spiritually healthy. This may involve guarding the flock from error, determining church policies, making decisions about the needs and direction of the church, overseeing church finances, coming alongside ministry leaders to give guidance or help, working to resolve conflicts between members, and many other tasks. The elders do not necessarily do all of the work that needs to be done, but they need to make sure that it gets done by delegating it to qualified workers.

C. Elders should work together to exercise oversight and shepherd God’s flock.

This is to say that the leadership of any local church should be plural. Every time the term elder is used in the New Testament with regard to a single local church, it is plural (Acts 11:30; 14:23; 15:2, 6, 22; 16:4; 20:17; 21:18; Phil. 1:1; Titus 1:5; James 5:14; 1 Pet. 5:1). While, as I said, individual house-churches may have had a single elder over them, there are no references to a one-pastor church in the New Testament. In one negative case, John calls attention to Diotrephes, who was lording it over others as the leader (3 John 9-10). Watchman Nee wrote (The Normal Christian Church Life [International Students Press], rev. ed., 1962, p. 44:

To place the responsibility in the hands of several brethren rather than in the hands of one individual, is God’s way of safeguarding His Church against the evils that result from the domination of a strong personality. God has purposed that several brothers should unitedly bear responsibility in the church, so that even in controlling its affairs they have to depend one upon the other and submit one to the other. Thus in an experimental way they will have opportunity to give practical expression to the truth of the Body of Christ. As they honor one another and trust one another to the leading of the Spirit, none taking the place of the Head but each regarding the others as fellow-members, the element of “mutuality,” which is the peculiar feature of the Church, will be preserved.

The plurality of elders does not mean that a single man should not emerge as the leader of the leaders. A variety of spiritual gifts, personalities, training, and maturity means that this usually will be the case. We see this with the twelve apostles. All were equally apostles, but Peter clearly was the leader and most frequent spokesman. In the early church in Jerusalem, James, the half-brother of our Lord, was clearly the leader. Between Paul and Barnabas, Paul took the lead. And yet, as we see at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), the leaders worked together to arrive at a unified decision about the important matters at hand.

With regard to making decisions on the local church level, the elders should strive for unanimous consensus in most cases. If four elders are in favor of a decision and three are against it, the majority should not rule. Rather, they should seek through further discussion and prayer to determine the mind of the Lord, based upon any biblical principles that apply. As Paul stipulates here (Titus 1:7), elders must not be self-willed or quick-tempered men. Working together in humility and mutual respect, the elders should seek to be of one mind in shepherding Christ’s flock under His headship.

3. How are elders chosen?

I trust that by this point you are catching the difference between the world’s ways of government and God’s way for His church. The idea of the church voting a man into leadership because he’s a popular, likeable guy or because he is a successful businessman who is willing to “serve a term on the board,” is not God’s way! In the New Testament, the apostles or their delegates (Timothy and Titus) appointed elders in the churches based on discerning (sometimes by prayer and fasting, Acts 14:23) which men met the biblical qualifications. We are not told whether they gave the churches an opportunity to recommend certain men or disapprove of others; but that is a reasonable assumption, in that it represents good leadership.

Rather than “voting” on who should be church leaders, it is better to say that the church should officially recognize men who meet the qualifications for elders, who agree to serve. We will look at those qualifications next week, but suffice it to say here that an elder must be a man of mature, godly character, summed up by the first item on the list, “above reproach.” Also, it should be obvious that such mature, godly men are not sitting around doing nothing, then get put into office and start functioning as shepherds. Rather, they are shepherds by virtue of who they are, so they have been functioning as shepherds. It is their calling from the Lord, not just a task that they agree to do for a term of office.

Our process here is that we as elders look for men who are already doing the work of shepherding and oversight. Anyone in the church is welcome to recommend such candidates to us. We examine candidates in light of the biblical qualifications, the first of which (1 Tim. 3:1) is that he desires the office. We shouldn’t have to push him into it. We try to have any prospective elders start attending our meetings, both so that he can see how we work together and to see if he fits with us. We have him fill out a lengthy questionnaire about his personal life and his doctrinal beliefs. We interview him, going over any of the matters in the questionnaire.

If we approve of him, then we recommend him to the nominating committee, which consists of all our elders and deacons. They must unanimously approve of his being qualified to serve as an elder. Then we announce his name to the church in the bulletin for at least four weeks prior to a congregational meeting. We also post part of the candidate’s questionnaire on the bulletin board (some of the questions are too personal to post publicly). If anyone has concerns about the candidate, they should contact one of the elders during this waiting period.

Then, at the church meeting, the candidate must be approved by at least two-thirds of the members present. Our elders all serve one-year terms and must be reinstated year by year. This gives the men a chance to take a break if they need to. And, it gives the church a chance to bring to our attention any elder who may not be living up to the qualifications, so that we can either help him change or urge him to step down if necessary.

The system is not foolproof, because we are all human and because men can be deceptive hypocrites. As many of you know, several years ago a man who had formerly served as an elder here was convicted and sent to prison for a serious crime that had been kept secret. But, although none of us are perfectly mature, we make every effort to insure that only qualified men are put into office. We ask you to pray and work with us to this end.

Conclusion

Like the Marines, we are looking for a few good men—not to serve as soldiers, but as shepherds of God’s flock. If you are a younger man who desires the office, let us know. We would be glad to work with you in bringing you along to that goal. We also urge you to take many of the courses offered at our Bible Institute, which are designed to help equip potential leaders. We also urge you to be involved in shepherding others, by leading a small group or by taking an active role in discipling others. To repeat: Christ runs His church through a plurality of godly men who shepherd His flock under His headship. The church will only be strong and resist the pressures to conform to this evil world when it has such strong, godly leaders. May it be so here, for the glory of our Lord!

Application Questions

1. Some say that it doesn’t matter what form of church government you have, as long as it works. Your response?
2. If the church is not a democracy, what keeps the elders from becoming a power unto themselves, accountable to no one?
3. How would you answer someone who uses Gal. 3:28 to argue that it is biblically justifiable to have women elders?
4. Why is it important to distinguish between “voting” at a church meeting versus “seeking the mind of the Lord”? Discuss the implications of this difference.

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2007, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

I doubt if there has ever been a time in the history of the church when the enemy has not in some way or another been attacking the Word of God. During the Middle Ages, many if not most of the priests in the Catholic Church were ignorant of the basic teachings of the Bible. Since the Bible was not translated into the common languages, only the priests could read it (in Latin) and teach it, but few of them did. The Reformation was at its heart a revival of God’s Word. Luther translated the Bible into German, so that common people could read it. Both he and Calvin preached expository sermons, explaining and applying the Bible to people’s everyday lives.

Although the Reformation spread to England, by the mid-16th century, things were in a bad way. J. I. Packer (A Quest for Godliness [Crossway Books], 1990], pp. 51-52) writes, “Many churches had not had a sermon preached in them for years.” Many of the clergy were biblically ignorant. In this spiritually bleak time, God raised up the Puritans. They believed that pastors “are responsible for rebuking heresy and defending truth, lest their flocks be misled and thereby enfeebled, if not worse. Biblical truth is nourishing, human error is killing, so spiritual shepherds must guard sound doctrine at all costs” (ibid., p. 64). Packer observes (p. 98),

Puritanism was, above all else, a Bible movement. To the Puritan the Bible was in truth the most precious possession that this world affords. His deepest conviction was that reverence for God means reverence for Scripture, and serving God means obeying Scripture. To his mind, therefore, no greater insult could be offered to the Creator than to neglect his written word; and, conversely, there could be no truer act of homage to him than to prize it and pore over it, and then to live out and give out its teaching. Intense veneration for Scripture, as the living word of the living God, and a devoted concern to know and do all that it prescribes, was Puritanism’s hallmark.

Over the years that I have been a pastor, I have seen the enemy attack God’s Word in two obvious ways. Back in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, there was an attack on the inerrancy of Scripture. Harold Lindsell, who had taught at Fuller Seminary, wrote The Battle for the Bible [Zondervan, 1976] exposing the erosion of trust in the absolute accuracy of the Bible among some of Fuller’s faculty. He also showed the same erosion in several denominations and parachurch groups. As a response to this situation, the Lord raised up the International Council of Biblical Inerrancy, which published the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, which clearly spells out what we affirm and deny regarding the authority and truthfulness of the Bible.

More recently, the enemy has subtly attacked God’s Word through the Seeker church movement and the Emerging church movement. The Seeker movement is based on a worthy goal, to reach out to unchurched seekers and bring them to faith in Christ. At the heart of the strategy is redesigning the Sunday morning service so that it is aimed primarily at this target audience. Hymns are replaced with upbeat, contemporary music. They often use drama. Services are kept short, to about an hour. Believers are discouraged from bringing their Bibles to church, because that would threaten the unchurched. Sermons are short and almost always topical self-help talks about how to succeed in life. One church growth writer stated that if you want your church to grow, you should not ever preach on anything controversial or negative. (For insightful critiques of this movement, see David Wells, No Place for Truth [1993], God in the Wasteland [1994], and Losing Our Virtue [1998], all Eerdmans.)

Now, the Emergent church finds the Seeker churches too big and glitzy and program-driven. They want to emphasize building close relationships in the church, which, of course, is a good thing. But they buy into the flawed philosophy of postmodernism, which denies absolute truth in the moral or spiritual realm. Experience is emphasized over doctrine. Tolerance and acceptance are key virtues. To have a pastor stand up each week and tell everyone how they should live (even if it is based on the Bible) is viewed as arrogant and judgmental. Doctrine is greatly de-emphasized.

I went to the web site of an Emergent church in Flagstaff. At least they had a doctrinal statement, but to get to it, you had to read a disclaimer that says that doctrine really isn’t important. At another part of their site, they say, “While we do have a brief statement of beliefs, we prefer not to ‘over theologize’ but rather allow the community of faith to interpret the Scriptures and apply its lessons to themselves.” At today’s service, for example, attenders were encouraged to “share a poem, song, picture, sculpture, dance, photo, video, etc. celebrating one of the beatitudes!” They’re saying in effect, “We’re not really into doctrine. If you’re hung up with that stuff, we feel sorry for you. If you’ll get over it, we’ll show you how can experience Jesus with us.”

All of this to introduce our text, a verse that if followed would steer the church back in the much-needed direction of the Reformers and the Puritans. Paul says (1:9) that an elder should be a man who holds “fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.” The fact is, everyone that professes to know Christ, including those in the Emergent church, holds to a theology. The question is whether they hold to a biblically sound theology. To the extent that our theology veers from Scripture, we are worshiping a false god of our own imagination.

Thus we all need to grow in understanding the Bible so that we can know God better and follow His ways more carefully. Part of the role of elders is to know Scripture well enough that they are able to keep the church in the truth in the face of Satan’s repeated attempts to introduce error. Thus Paul says,

Elders must be godly men who hold firmly to and boldly teach God’s Word of truth.

Paul gives five requirements for faithful elders with regard to God’s Word:

1. Elders must be men of biblical understanding.

As I did last week, I must differ from John MacArthur, whom I greatly respect. He argues that every elder is called primarily to the ministry of the Word and therefore must have the gift of teaching (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Titus {E-4 Group CD). But in my judgment, he misinterprets 1 Timothy 5:17, “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” Because elders must be “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2) and, as our text states, be “able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict,” he concludes that the elders who did not work hard at preaching and teaching were being negligent.

But it seems to me that Paul is recognizing that some elders are so gifted that they focus on the ministry of teaching the Word and thus (as 1 Tim. 5:18 implies), they are worthy of financial support. Other elders, while capable of teaching, focus on other areas of oversight and shepherding the flock because they are not gifted in teaching. So I would not agree that every elder must be gifted to teach (in a large group setting). But every elder must be knowledgeable enough in Scripture that he could help instruct a younger believer and correct doctrinal error when he encounters it.

But even though preaching or teaching may not be an elder’s spiritual gift, every elder must be studying and growing in his understanding of God’s Word. To hold fast the faithful word (ESV & NIV = “trustworthy word”), you must understand it. To understand it, you must study it. And studying it is a lifelong endeavor. Thus I would say that if a man does not have a desire to study God’s Word diligently and to read books that help him understand sound doctrine, he should not be an elder.

2. Elders must be men of biblical conviction.

“Holding fast” means to cling to or be devoted to. John Calvin (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], on Titus 1:9, p. 295) brings out the meaning by saying, “In a pastor there is demanded not only learning, but such zeal for pure doctrine as never to depart from it.” Such strong convictions flow out of the first quality. The more you study the great doctrines of the faith, the more you appreciate God’s grace as shown to you in Christ. The more you study, the more you understand why these doctrines are essential. You begin to see how the enemy has subtly introduced destructive heresies. As you study church history, you learn how these errors have damaged people’s lives and their eternal destinies. You see men who have been willing to die tortuous deaths rather than deny these truths. All of this strengthens your own convictions to hold firmly to the truth, even in the face of strong pressure to compromise.

My recent reading has included stories of many that paid the ultimate price because of their convictions. I read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, which in places is gruesome as it describes the torture and execution (often by burning alive) of men, women, and children who refused to deny the gospel. John Bunyan spent 12 years in jail because he refused to agree to quit preaching without the required license. He had a blind daughter, and he said that going to prison and not being able to care for this daughter was like pulling his flesh off with pincers. But he could not be silenced from proclaiming the truth of God’s Word.

John Piper’s Contending for Our All [Crossway, 2006] tells the stories of three stalwarts of the faith: Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen. Athanasius stood strongly against the Arian heresy, which denied the deity of Jesus Christ. At times, it seemed as it if were Athanasius against the whole world. He was forced into exile seven different times, but he stood firmly for the truth. Humanly speaking, we have Athanasius to thank for preserving the vital truth of Christ’s deity (although modern cults still deny it).

We need to temper this point about holding to biblical convictions with two cautions. First, we need to be firm and unwavering on the essentials of the faith, but we need wisdom and discernment about where and when to contend for the faith. There are some doctrines that you must hold to and defend because if you deny them, you are no longer a Christian in the biblical sense of the word. This is not an exhaustive list, but these truths include the trinitarian nature of God; the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ; His substitutionary atonement on the cross; salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone; the inspiration, authority, and veracity of Scripture; the bodily resurrection of Jesus; His ascension into heaven; His bodily second coming to judge the earth; and, the eternal reward of believers in heaven and the eternal punishment of unbelievers in hell.

As I said, that list is not exhaustive, because there are many other errors which, if you buy into them, lead to a denial of fundamental truths. For example, the current “open theism” denies the sovereignty and omniscience of God. That has huge implications for your view of God, how you understand and endure trials, and God’s ability to fulfill His promises.

Another area that causes a lot of heated arguments and division in the body is so-called Calvinism versus Arminianism. While I would not label most Arminians as heretics, their errors have major consequences with regard to how you view God, how you view man as a sinner, and how you understand and preach the gospel. Because the Arminian error robs God of the glory that is due to His name, it is very serious. Many church historians and theologians point out that when the church embraces Arminian theology, it often leads to the rise of liberal theology, because both errors exalt human reason above the revelation of God’s Word. These things are worth contending for.

Second, we need to contend for the truth in love. We must not love controversy or love the feeling of winning a debate, but rather, we must love God and His truth above all and we must love people, including those who are in error. False teaching is cruel because it damages people. John Piper, (Contending for Our All, p. 168), concludes with an appeal for holding to the truth in love. He makes a helpful observation:

For the sake of unity and peace, therefore, Paul labors to set the churches straight on numerous issues—including quite a few that do not in themselves involve heresy. He does not exclude controversy from his pastoral writing. And he does not limit his engagement in controversy to first-order doctrines, where heresy threatens. He is like a parent to his churches. Parents do not correct and discipline their children only for felonies. Good parents long for their children to grow up into all the kindness and courtesy of mature adulthood. And since the fabric of truth is seamless, Paul knows that letting minor strands go on unraveling can eventually rend the whole garment.

Thus, elders must be men of biblical understanding and biblical conviction.

3. Elders must be men of biblical obedience.

It would be sheer hypocrisy, which the Bible strongly condemns, to exhort people to follow God’s Word, yet not to follow it yourself. Paul goes on to expose the false teachers (1:16): “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” As John Calvin said of pastors (Sermons on the Ten Commandments, ed. and trans. by Benjamin Farley [Baker], p. 126), “For it would be better if they broke their necks while mounting the pulpit than to be unwilling to be the first to walk after God and to live peaceably with their neighbors, demonstrating that they are the sheep of our Lord Jesus Christ’s flock.”

Of course, no one lives in a state of sinless perfection. But, as we saw in verses 6 & 7, an elder must be “above reproach.” He cannot have secret sins or be living a double life. He cannot be a nice, loving man at church and an angry, abusive man at home.

I’ve shared with you before a shocking thing that happened to Marla and me. We had just checked in to a pastor’s conference and were settling into our room when we heard the couple in the next room yelling at one another. He was calling her horrible names and she responded in kind. Marla and I looked at one another in wide-eyed disbelief. Then I said, “I know, I’ll bet they’re practicing for a skit for the meeting tonight.” Sadly, there was no skit. We had just heard a pastor, who should not have been in the ministry, and his wife disobeying God’s Word in a terrible way.

4. Elders should be men of biblical exhortation.

They must be able “to exhort in sound doctrine.” The word “sound” means healthy (our word “hygienic” comes from it). Sound doctrine aims at and results in spiritual health. It does not focus on “Jewish myths and the commandments of men” (1:14). It does not get enamored with speculations about biblical prophecy that do not help people become more obedient to Christ. Rather, godly elders aim their teaching at building up people in the knowledge of God and in practical holy living.

“Doctrine” means “teaching,” and includes both the doctrinal and more directly practical parts of Scripture. Some people do not like the doctrinal portions of the Word. They say, “Just give me what I need to know to have a happy marriage, rear my children, and succeed in my business. Let the theologians delve into doctrine, but just give me the practical stuff.”

But, Paul’s normal pattern in his epistles is to lay out the doctrine in the first half before he moves on to the practical in the second half. Keep in mind that he was writing to many who were illiterate slaves and to the common people who made up the early churches. Yet he thought that the believers in Rome needed to know Romans 1-11 for their spiritual health before he “got practical” in chapter 12. The fact is, the great doctrines of the Bible are immensely practical. Without them, you are building your Christian life with no foundation. Again I will say that you do have a theology. The question is, to what extent is your theology biblical?

“Exhort” may mean either to urge to obedience and change, or to encourage or comfort. It can have the flavor of imploring, appealing to, or entreating. Paul uses the same word in 2 Timothy 4:2, where after urging Timothy to preach the word, he adds, “reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” It implies that our hearts must be in our teaching, so that people sense the urgency of these important truths.

Thus elders must be men of biblical understanding, conviction, obedience, and exhortation.

5. Elders must be men of biblical courage to confront error.

Calvin (p. 296) says, “The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both….” Some think that we should always be positive and focus on the positive. But to teach positively is not enough. Paul says that we must also refute false teaching. We must not be purposely offensive, but neither should we be so nice and polite that we end up watering down or compromising the truth.

The apostles sometimes named the names of false teachers or dangerous men (1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Tim. 2:17; 4:14; 3 John 9). I find that if I talk in general terms, people don’t get it. They go out and buy the books of false teachers. So I have to get specific at times.

When Paul confronted the Galatian heresy, he did not say, “The Judaizers are good brothers and we agree on so much. Can’t we just set aside the few areas where we disagree and come together on the basis of what we share in common?” Rather, he denounced them as preaching a false gospel and pronounced anathema on them (Gal. 1:6-9). John Piper tells the story of J. Gresham Machen, who stood strongly for the truth when the Presbyterian Church was being infested with liberalism. Machen said,

Men tell us that our preaching should be positive and not negative, that we can preach the truth without attacking error. But if we follow that advice we shall have to close our Bible and desert its teachings. The New Testament is a polemic book almost from beginning to end…. Every really great Christian utterance, it may almost be said, is born in controversy. It is when men have felt compelled to take a stand against error that they have risen to the really great heights in the celebration of truth (Contending for Our All, p. 146).

Conclusion

The great reformer, Martin Luther, did not like controversy, but he came to see both from Scripture and history that it is necessary. He wrote,

When Christians are not doing battle with the devil, or him who bites the heel, that is not a good sign, for it means that he who bites the heel is at peace and has his own way. But when he who bites the heel rages and has no peace, it is a sign that he, being under attack, shall be conquered, for it is Christ who is attacking his house. Therefore whoever desires to see the Christian Church existing in quiet peace, entirely without crosses, without heresy, and without factions, will never see it thus, or else he must view the false church of the devil as the real church (from Luther’s Works 34:215, cited by Eric Gritsch, Martin—God’s Court Jester [Fortress Press, 1983], p. 178).

Thus elders must be godly men who hold firmly to and boldly teach God’s Word of truth. You can easily find churches that will give you nice, uplifting, positive messages about how to succeed in life. But such messages will expose you to the many winds of false doctrine that are blowing in our day. To be strong in the Lord, you must be in a church that exhorts in sound doctrine and refutes those who contradict. May all of our elders be men of God’s Word!

Application Questions

1. How can you know whether or not an issue is worth contending for? What guidelines should govern?
2. Where is the line between contending for the truth versus being contentious? How can we do the former without the latter?
3. Since unity in the church is important, how can we take a stand for biblical truth and yet preserve unity? (See Eph. 4:1-6, 13.)
4. Why must sound doctrine be the foundation for practical Christian living?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2007, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

Our subject for today, the grace of God and how it works in our lives, is arguably the most important concept for you to understand and live by in the battle to be godly. Because it is so important, the enemy of our souls has created much confusion and controversy on this topic. But if you can fight your way clear in understanding and applying God’s grace, you will experience a close relationship with God and consistent victory over sin (Rom. 6:14).

God’s grace permeated Paul’s thinking. One scholar writes, “Paul could not think of Christian truth and conduct apart from God’s grace” (D. Edmond Hiebert, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. by Frank Gaebelein [Zondervan], 11:439). Another writes, “The expression, the grace of God, may fairly be said to be the key word of Paul’s theology…. He cannot think of Christian salvation apart from the grace of God…” (Donald Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Eerdmans], p. 198, italics his).

The classic definition is the best: God’s grace is His unmerited favor. Grace means that God showered favor and blessing on those who did not in any way deserve or earn it. They deserved His judgment and wrath. But He showed them favor.

God’s pure grace gets polluted from two sides. On the one side, grace runs counter to the way the world works, so it’s difficult for us to grasp it and get used to it. The world works on the merit system. If you do well in school, you get good grades and win awards. If you do well in sports, you make the team and get a lot of applause. If you get into college, the merit system continues to reward excellence. This carries over into the business world after college. Exceptional performance earns promotions and raises. Sloppy performance will get you fired.

In the spiritual realm, all of the world’s religions, except for biblical Christianity, work on the merit system. Even the major branches of Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, teach a system of merit-salvation, where you have to add your works to what Christ did on the cross in order to go to heaven. Most believers who die go to purgatory, where after suffering for a while, eventually you will have enough of your sins purged away and enough merit to qualify for heaven. This merit system of salvation permeates the public mind. Ask anyone on the street his opinion of how a person gets into heaven and you will hear something about being a good person. It was at the heart of pharisaic, legalistic religion in the times of Jesus and Paul.

But God’s grace also gets distorted from another side, which mistakes the grace of God for licentiousness (Jude 4). Many professing Christians wrongly think that God’s grace means that He gives out free passes that allow us to sin, with no consequences for disobedience. If you emphasize the need to obey God’s commandments or do good works, they call you a legalist. If you warn them that their sloppy view of sin will result in God’s discipline, they don’t want to hear it. Their mantra is, “I’m not into your rules kind of religion. I’m under grace, not law.” For them, grace means permission for sloppy living.

Our text corrects both of these serious misconceptions of God’s grace. Paul shows that…

God’s grace first saves and then trains His people
for godliness and good deeds.

The word “for” that opens verse 11 links these verses to what he has just said. In 2:1-10, Paul has shown that various groups of believers should beautify their lives with godliness and good deeds so as to attract others to the Savior. Paul’s mention of “God our Savior” (2:10) causes him to elaborate on the theological basis for our salvation and how understanding that inevitably leads to a life of godliness and good deeds. At the heart of everything is this crucial concept of God’s grace.

1. God’s grace brings salvation to all people (2:11).

When Paul writes, “For the grace of God has appeared,” he is referring to the embodiment of grace in the person of Jesus Christ, who was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). It is not that God’s grace is missing from the Old Testament. No one was saved in the Old Testament apart from God’s grace. But as John 1:17 states the contrast, “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” God rightly could have sent His Son to condemn us and judge us. But instead (John 3:17), “For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

Zecharias uses the verb appear to refer to the coming of Messiah, whom he calls the Sunrise from on high, who will “shine [appear] upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79). The coming of Jesus Christ was the light of the grace of God’s salvation dawning upon this sin-darkened world.

Paul says that the appearance of God’s grace brought “salvation to all men.” The KJV and the NIV err by translating that God’s grace has appeared to all men. That never has been true, in that there have always been many that have never heard of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.

Rather, Paul means that God’s grace that appeared in the person of Christ offers salvation to all that hear of it. In the context, Paul has just spoken of various groups: older men, older women, younger women, younger men, and slaves. So when he goes on to say that God’s grace brings salvation to all men, he means, “to all types of people, including those whom the world despises, even to slaves.” No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace.

This does not mean that all people are saved or will be saved. The Bible is uniformly clear that there are two separate, final destinations for all people. Those who by God’s grace believe in Jesus Christ as Savior will go to heaven. Those who do not believe in Christ will pay the penalty of eternal separation from God in hell.

But the good news of God’s grace is that no sinner is beyond the reach of God’s grace. The apostle Paul was a persecutor of the church. He called himself the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:13, 15). But he experienced God’s grace through the cross. If the chief of sinners found mercy, so can you!

But, there is a major hindrance that will keep you from experiencing God’s grace in salvation, namely, your propensity to self-righteousness. Paul says that God’s grace brings salvation to all people. You don’t need salvation unless you are lost and you know that you’re lost. If you think that you’re doing just fine on your own or that you’re going to be able to make it on your own with a little more effort, you won’t cry out for a Savior to deliver you. As Jesus said (Luke 5:32), “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” By “the righteous,” Jesus meant, “the self-righteous.” The self-righteous Pharisees did not see their need for a Savior. Those who knew that they were sinners did.

Suppose that you were standing in a long line at the bank, waiting to deposit your paycheck. Suddenly, I grab you by the arm, jerk you out of line, and forcibly drag you out of the building. You probably wouldn’t be very happy with me. You’d say, “What do you think you’re doing? You hurt my arm, you tore my shirt, you made me lose my place in line, and you made me look like a fool in front of everyone in the bank!”

But, one simple fact would change your attitude to one of complete gratitude for the rest of your life: the bank had just been taken over by terrorists that threatened to kill everyone inside. In the first scenario, you didn’t yet know the danger that you were in. In the second scenario, you had become aware of the danger and you knew that you were doomed unless someone rescued you.

Before you can appreciate God’s grace, you need to know that you are justly under His wrath and condemnation. You are headed for eternal judgment unless someone intervenes. To use Spurgeon’s phrase, you know that the rope is around your neck. God’s grace cuts the rope, even though you are guilty as charged and deserve to die. Have you experienced God’s grace that brings salvation? If so, you are a changed person. How?

2. God’s grace trains us who are saved in godliness (2:12-14a).

The word “instructing” means, “child-training.” It includes teaching, but also, correcting and disciplining. It is a process that begins at salvation and continues until we stand before the Lord. But, note that grace does not mean, “hang loose and live as sloppily as you please.” Rather, grace trains, disciplines, and instructs us in godly living. Paul mentions three ways that grace trains us:

A. Grace trains us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires (2:12a).

When you experience God’s unmerited favor in Jesus Christ, it motivates you to want to please Him in everything that you do. As you read God’s Word, you begin to realize that there is much in your life that displeases the Lord, who gave Himself on the cross to save you from God’s judgment. So, you begin walking on the path that Jesus described as denying yourself daily, taking up your cross, and following Him (Luke 9:23).

This includes saying no to ungodliness. This refers to a person who does not reverence God and thus lives by ignoring God. It obviously refers to the person who is openly immoral or evil, but it also includes the outwardly nice person who simply has no place for God in his life. His everyday life is organized, motivated, and run by self, with no place for God. The person who has tasted God’s grace will say no to such godless living.

Also, you must say no to worldly desires. This refers to desires that are characteristic of this world system that is opposed to God. John describes them as “the lust of the flesh,” “the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life” (1 John 2:16). They include selfishness, pride, seeking after status and power, greed, lust, and living for sinful pleasure rather than finding pleasure in God above all else. Grace trains you to say no to these things, because God and His grace are far sweeter than anything the world can offer.

B. Grace trains us to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present age (2:12b).

It is not enough to say no to ungodliness and worldly desires. You must also say yes to sensible, righteous, godly living. In the present age emphasizes that we do not need to isolate ourselves from this evil world in monasteries or Christian communes. Rather, in the midst of this present evil age, we are to live sensible, righteous, godly lives, so that those in the world will be drawn to our Savior. Many commentators have pointed out that sensibly refers to how you are to control yourself; righteously has reference to your relationships with others; and, godly refers to your relationship toward God.

(1). Grace trains us to live sensibly.

This is the word that we have repeatedly encountered in Titus (1:8; 2:2, 4, 5, 6), which means, living in a self-controlled manner, not yielding to various passions and impulses. It is synonymous with the last of the fruits of the Spirit, which is self control.

(2). Grace trains us to live righteously.

This refers to a life of integrity and uprightness in your dealings with others. It means conforming to God’s standards of conduct, as revealed in the commandments of His Word.

(3). Grace trains us to live godly.

This refers to holiness and devotion to God, beginning on the heart level. It means to live a God-ward life, knowing that He examines your heart. You confess sinful thoughts to Him and live in the love and fear of God. As Paul expressed his concern (2 Cor. 11:3), “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

If you live in the way that Paul describes in our text, denying ungodliness and worldly desires and living sensibly, righteously, and godly in the midst of this corrupt age, other Christians will call you a legalist. Many in the world will think that you’re weird because you don’t strive for the same things that they seek. But you will experience the joy of close fellowship with the God who rescued you from sin and judgment. His grace motivates you to live differently than the world, and differently than those who profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him (Titus 1:16). But there’s a third way that grace trains us:

C. Grace trains us to live in godliness by looking ahead and behind (2:13-14a).

The forward look is toward the second coming of Jesus Christ. The backward look is toward the cross and its implications on our lives.

(1). Look ahead to the blessed hope of Christ’s second coming (2:13).

God’s grace instructs us to look “for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” (Some Greek manuscripts read, “Jesus Christ.”) Christ’s first appearing was in grace, bringing salvation. During His first coming, His glory was mostly veiled. But His second appearing will be in glory, bringing salvation to His people, but terrifying judgment to those who have not believed in Him. His second coming is a “blessed hope” for those who know Him, because then we will fully experience all of the blessings of His salvation.

If your focus is set on the hope of Christ’s return, you will purify your life from every known sin (1 John 3:2-3). During his time in the White House, President Carter did something that no other President (that I know of) has done: on several occasions, he stayed in the homes of common Americans. I don’t know how he picked them, but he wanted to convey that he was in tune with the needs of average Americans.

If you got a call this week from the White House, announcing that the President would like to stay in your home sometime next month (meaning that your living room and kitchen would be on national television), I predict that you would do some housecleaning! Your home would sparkle because you knew that the President was coming.

Someone far greater than the President is coming! Paul calls Him, “our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” Scholars debate whether this refers to both the Father and the Son (as in the KJV), or to the Son alone (NASB). Either view affirms Jesus’ deity, in that He could not reveal the greatness of God’s glory if He were not God. But the Greek grammar, has one article governing both God and Savior, which is best understood to refer to one person, not to two. Also, every other time the New Testament refers to “the appearing,” it refers to Christ, not to God the Father. The adjective “great” is often applied to God in the Old Testament, but it is reserved for the Son in the New Testament (Luke 1:32; Heb. 10:21; 13:20). So this verse is a strong statement of Christ’s deity.

“Looking for” implies eager anticipation. Just as a young bride whose husband is away in the military eagerly looks forward to his return, so believers who have tasted God’s grace look forward to the coming of our Bridegroom. That hope motivates us to clean house on any sins in our lives.

(2). Look back to the supreme demonstration of His love, which redeemed us from sin and made us His own possession (2:14a).

“Who” refers back to “our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” None other than He “gave Himself for us”! If that thought doesn’t grip your heart, you’re in deep spiritual trouble. Paul shows that this past grace that was shown to us produces godliness in us.

First, Christ “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed” (2:14a). The word redeem would have gotten the attention of any slaves. It was the word used of buying a slave out of the market so as to give him his freedom. Before we met Christ, we all were slaves of sin. He paid the redemption price in His own blood to free us from bondage to sin. How, then, can a believer go back into slavery to sin?

Second, Christ gave Himself for us that He might “purify for Himself a people for His own possession.” Verse 12 focused on our need to purify ourselves, but verse 14 focuses on Christ’s purifying us through His blood. He bought us from the slave market of sin and washed off our filth. Now we belong to Him as His personal possession. He prizes us more than anyone prizes a valuable treasure, because He paid for us with His blood. Again, what a motivation to live to please Him!

One reason that we partake often of the Lord’s Supper is that it reminds us of these precious truths. Before we partake, we are to examine ourselves and confess any known sins. As we think on the great sacrifice that our God and Savior made by giving Himself for us, it will draw our hearts toward Him in love and devotion. It will make us long for the day of His appearing in glory, when we will be caught up to be with Him forever.

Thus God’s grace in Christ brings salvation to us. Then it trains us to live in godliness. Finally,

3. God’s grace trains us who are saved to be zealous for good deeds (2:14b).

“Good deeds” refer to deeds that are done out of sincere love for God and others in obedience to His Word. “Zealous” is a word that Paul used to describe his fanatical zeal for Judaism prior to his conversion (Gal. 1:14). It was also used to describe the fanatical Jewish sect that was devoted to ridding Israel of Roman domination. The Zealots were totally devoted to their cause, even to the point of risking their own lives to achieve their goals. You would not call them lukewarm!

Could you rightly describe yourself as a fanatic for good deeds? It seems to me that the vast majority of Christians dabble at good deeds when it is convenient, when they don’t have anything else that they’d rather do. But if we have been bought out of the slave market of sin by the blood of our great God and Savior, we should be fanatics for good deeds. We ought to be totally devoted to serving our new Master.

Conclusion

A book that has often convicted me of my own lack of love for the Lord and zeal for His work is Elisabeth Elliot’s, Shadow of the Almighty [Zondervan], subtitled, “The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot.” My copy is falling apart because I have thumbed back through it so many times. Elisabeth’s husband, Jim, was only 28 when he and four other young men were speared to death in their attempt to take the gospel to the fierce Auca Indians of Ecuador.

Here are some quotes from his diary that show how he exemplified our text. God’s grace motivated him. At age 22, he wrote (p. 110), “I see clearly now that anything, whatever it is, if it be not on the principle of grace, it is not of God.” Regarding living in light of the second coming, at age 20 he wrote to his 15-year-old sister (p. 53), “Fix your eyes on the rising Morning Star…. Live every day as if the Son of Man were at the door, and gear your thinking to the fleeting moment…. Walk as if the next step would carry you across the threshold of Heaven.”

Or, again at 22 (p. 115), “How poorly will appear anything but a consuming operative faith in the person of Christ when He comes. How lost, alas, a life lived in any other light!” His entire life portrayed intense zeal for the Lord and His work. He wrote (Through Gates of Splendor [Spire Books], pp. 19-20), “Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”

That’s how God’s grace works. It saves us and then it trains and motivates us to be godly people in this present age, zealous for good deeds, as we look for the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us.

Application Questions

1. Which is the greater problem in Christian circles today: Legalism or licentiousness? How can we avoid both errors?
2. Is it legalistic to go against your feelings in order to deny ungodly impulses? How do you obey from the heart if your heart is tugging you toward sin?
3. God’s grace in salvation is completely unmerited and we are to live by grace. But blessing in the Christian life is contingent on obedience. How do you reconcile these principles?
4. How can a believer who has lost his zeal for the Lord and His work rekindle it?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2007, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation