Protecting Gospel Purity in the Church

“The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.” + Titus 3v8-11

In Titus chapter 3 Paul seeks to remind Titus to remind the Church in Crete, where Paul has sent Titus help the church by appointing elders, to be good citizens in Crete, to be honorable ambassadors for Christ, and to do good works to unbelievers in Crete. Paul reminds them that they were once just like the unbelievers in the immoral culture around them. They were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing their days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. Paul seeks to draw a compassion for the lost out of them by reminding them that they were once just as they were. That describes us too. We were once in that state. That should stir up a compassion for the lost in our lives as well.

But then, Paul, after sketching out the dark backdrop of our sin nature and sinful lives, he beautifully displays the wondrous mercy of God to save us in verses 4-7 of Titus chapter 3. Despite the fact that we were wretched sinners, when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy. This passage levels us with the mercy of God to save us and our utter inability to contribute a lick of merit to our salvation.

Paul then shows some of the specifics in our salvation, such as the work of the Holy Spirit to regenerate us – to cause to be born again of the Spirit – to experience rebirth – and in so doing we are given a new nature with new nature desires, and affections for Christ, and a new love for the things of God. This awesome miracle of conversion that we experience is a benefit of our justification in Christ Jesus – our being declared as righteous before a just and holy God because of the grace of God to remove our sin from us, and to impute the righteousness of Christ to us. From all of this we become heirs of eternal life because of our adoption into the Kingdom through Jesus Christ.

Verse 3-7 of Titus chapter 3 is perhaps one of the most glorious and rich explanations of the gospel mankind has ever known. This is groundbreaking stuff. The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is so wildly radical that it will change us. We will be changed, radically by what God has done for us in Christ.

As we move from this portion of the passage into verses 8-11, Paul begins to give specific commands and instructions. If we do not take our time to draw lines and make connections it may seem like Paul is switching gears and beginning to embark upon a new subject. If we do not read our Bibles carefully, it could seem like verses 8-11 have nothing to do with 3-7. But what Paul says in verses 8-11 is not a subject change, it is not a change of thoughts or directions. But rather, it has everything to do with the gospel that he just explored the depths of in the previous verses! Verse 8-11 is not the gospel – but it is all about the gospel! What I want to show you is that the instructions given in verses 8-11 is all about protecting gospel purity in the Church. That’s the title of the message today: Protecting gospel purity in the church. The beauty of the New Covenant is that all the commands therein are all about the gospel in some way. They either are a product of the gospel, a picture of the gospel, or in our case today, commands that protect the gospel and the purity of the gospel in the church.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is absolutely precious. It is absolutely precious – it is the one thing that we have that we have to offer to a lost and dying world! It is the one thing that we have that is worth anything! The gospel is a pearl of great price! It is a precious treasure hidden in a field! The gospel is precious because the gospel is all about Jesus; and in the gospel, we get Jesus! Jesus is the pearl of great price and the precious treasure hidden in a field. This is why we must protect the gospel – because this is how sinners get Jesus! As we’ve seen the preciousness of the gospel laid out for us in verses 3-7, the question then becomes – what do we do with it? What do we do with such a life-changing message? What do we do with the greatest news and the greatest truth in the history of the universe?!

The first thing that we see in our passage, is that we are to declare it. We are to declare the gospel – we are to proclaim the message of reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ! And of course, it makes sense that sinners who have discovered the preciousness of the gospel would be compelled to proclaim it.

Verse 8 says, “The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things…” The gospel is trustworthy, therefore, since it is trustworthy, we are to insist upon it! The trustworthiness of the gospel is a confidence in the gospel. We know we can trust the gospel because Jesus rose from the grave after three days, and we are to be confident in the trustworthy Word that has been given to us. The Gospel has been passed along to us in the authoritative, infallible Word of God.

This verse hearkens back to verse 15 of Titus chapter 2, which says, “Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” Because of the trustworthiness and the confidence that we have in the gospel, we are to declare the gospel with a certain authority! Whether it is in the pulpit, or in conversations with our family, friends, or strangers. We confidently preach it. There are too many preachers in pulpits who get up and say “I think this,” and “I think that.” The phrase, “I think” shouldn’t be in a preacher’s vocabulary! Where’s the confidence in the gospel? I’m not talking about a macho-man-beat-your-chest self-confidence. That’s pride. I’m talking about a people who are confident that the gospel is the power of God to save and so they declare it with all they’ve got, knowing they have no power or ability to save. It is a confidence in God’s Words, not ours.

Many times when we proclaim the gospel; whether it is in evangelism or in the pulpit, there is a temptation to soften the Word of God or to shy away from certain words or things in Scripture out of a fear of man. We are afraid how people might negatively respond to the full force of God’s Word. A confidence in the trustworthy gospel eradicates a fear of man – at least to the point of fearing God more than man. Confidence in the gospel eradicates fear of man because we know that the gospel is the power of God to save and God works powerfully through His preached Word to resurrect dead men to life –and so we can be confident to declare all of God’s Word – even the parts we think might offend our hearers – we believe that God can cause them to believe through His offensive Word. God’s offensive gospel is a saving gospel. A regenerate heart loves every Word God has spoken.

When Paul was in chains or on trial for the sake of the gospel, I don’t ever recall him saying, “Hey guys, why don’t we just have a conversation.” I don’t ever recall him saying, “Guys, this is what I think, but I could be wrong, you can believe whatever you want to believe, but this is my truth.” No, no, no. Paul boldly proclaimed the gospel and called men to repentance, because he had a confidence in the trustworthy word of God!

Paul says that we are to “insist” upon the gospel. Insist on these things that he has written for us – God’s Word. In the Church, there comes times when people want to stray away from the gospel; or go beyond the gospel. There are times when people get tired of gospel-centeredness. But Paul says to Titus and to us today, insist on the gospel. Do not go this way or that; regardless of how many ears might be itching for something else, continue to insist on the gospel. Persist in gospel ministry.

Why are we to insist on the gospel? Paul says, “…so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.” So why do we insist on the gospel? For the sake of fruit. For the sake of the sanctification of believers. The gospel is not simply a door that we walk through. We don’t get saved by the gospel and then we don’t really need it anymore. The gospel is more like a house that we live in. We walk through it for salvation, yes. But we don’t leave it, we stay in the gospel. We grow in the gospel. The gospel not only saves us, but it sanctifies us. The gospel produces the fruit of good works in the lives of those who have believed it. So if we want to see fruit, and sanctification in our lives, we must insist on the gospel. Paul is saying that insisting on the gospel causes believers to continue to be devoted to good works.

We don’t separate good works away from the gospel. When we talk about good works, we must talk about the gospel, because good works is a gospel issue. If a believer is living selfishly and inconsiderate of others and isn’t producing good works, then if we understand the gospel we should go to them and say, “Hey brother, Hey sister, remember the gospel. Remember what Christ as done for you.” Insistence on the gospel causes believers to continue in their devotion to good works. If we understand that God has given us everything in Christ we become devoted to displaying that by giving generously to others in whatever ways we can.

The gospel is the most precious thing that we have – therefore we must insist on the gospel. So what do we do with the gospel – the best news in all the world? We declare it, and as we see at the end of verse 8, we are to live our lives according to the gospel. The mercy of God has appeared to us in the person of Jesus Christ and He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy; therefore we live our lives accordingly. As a people who have received the gospel, and who strive to insist on the gospel, the command for us is to be devoted to good works, because of the gospel. The better that we understand the gospel, and the better we become at connecting the gospel to our everyday lives, the more gospel motivation we will see, and have, to be devoted to good works.

This devotion to good works reminds me of verse 1 of chapter 3 which says, “…to be ready for every good work…” We are to be devoted and ready for every good work opportunity that comes our way.

Our good works are not the basis of our salvation – they do not save us. So what then is the point of our good works? I think it was Martin Luther he used to say something like, “Our good works are not for God; our good works are for our neighbors.” That’s the Joshua Jenkins paraphrase, anyway. Our good works are not for our justification; but rather our good works are for the good of our neighbors. They don’t benefit us in terms of justifying us before God; although we certainly can benefit from doing good in other ways such as receiving joy and gaining reward in heaven, among other things. But the primary practical beneficiary of our good works is our neighbor – the ones to whom we do good to. We see this at the end of verse 8, “These things are excellent and profitable for people.” Not only are they profitable for unbelievers outside the church, but they are profitable for building up the body within the church.

I have been reminded of this over the past several weeks as there has been some people who have done some very kind and much needed things for my wife and I. As these things were done for us, it built me up, because it reminded of grace of God. These good works that I was on the receiving end of greatly encouraged me, not just practically, but spiritually because they reminded me of the gospel. It reminded me of how God has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ and graciously saved us – apart from our working, or earning, or deserving, or meriting, or asking for. God just saved and decided to save us because He wanted to. He showers grace upon us in Christ because He wants to. That’s what our good works should be to others – a giving of grace, not out of a compulsion, but because we want to reflect, in a small way, the grace of God in our own lives.

One of the themes throughout the New Testament is that of building of the body. Our good works do that for one another. Our good works are not meant to point to ourselves and how generous we are. When we do good works to others out of a response to the good work that Christ has done for us, we become a window in which people look through us to Christ. Our good works are not about the things that we do, and they are not about us; our good works are all about the gospel. Our good works are all about Jesus! This is the distinctively Christian motivation behind charity and doing good to our neighbor. Our good works shouldn’t point to the person doing good works as a hero, but rather they should point us to God, who graciously provides for His children, many times through His people and the good works of others. Martin Luther taught this – that God provides for us through the good works of others. He said that, “God is milking the cows through the vocation of the milkmaid.” Imgaine that someone provides a week of meals for you, when you are sick, or just had a baby, or something. Well, God provided that through the farmer who did his part in producing the food, and through the grocery store owner to buy that food, and through the person who had the money from their job that God provided to buy that food and cook it for you. All the good that we receive from another, is meant to point us to God who is the ultimate provider. When we do good works to others, it is God doing good to others through us. Do you want God to work through you? Then do good works to others. Do you want to be used by God? Then do good to others.

A church that is full of good works, is very likely a church that is full of the gospel. A church that is full of good works, is likely a church of people that are empty of themselves and full of Jesus. If we find ourselves to be stingy, or self-centered, or apathetic toward doing good to others; what we must do is go to the cross. We must ask God to show us the depths of grace and goodness that He has poured out on us in Christ. We must ask God to fill our hearts with a greater sense of the gospel, so much so, that we become zealous for good works. When we don’t desire to do good to others, we must beg God to give us that gospel desire to do good.

You may hear people say things like, “We must preach the gospel with our lives.” That’s not really a true statement. The only way to preach the gospel is with our words. However, with our lives, we can give pictures of the gospel. With our good works we can point people to the gospel. We can show that we have experienced the gospel.

Verse 9-11 says, “But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.” So what do we do with the greatest news in all the world, that Christ saves sinners? We declare it, we live our lives accordingly by doing good works to others, and we live our lives accordingly by avoiding foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law. Why are we to avoid these things? Because they are unprofitable and worthless! In verse 8 we saw that good works motivated by the gospel are profitable for people; these foolish controversies are not profitable. They are not beneficial and helpful to building up the body. They are worthless.

What are these things in verse 9? They are doctrinal distractions. They are gospel hindrances. Instead of getting into endless, silly debates about obscure controversies we are to insist upon the gospel. So we reject doctrinal distractions.

There are many people, and many of us have run into them, and some of us might struggle with this at times, who just want to debate and go on and on about silly controversies. There are many who are far too into decoding an end times map or timetable from the Bible that just isn’t there. And quarrels about the law are still so prevalent and endless today. These things are worthless and unprofitable, for they cause division; and unnecessary division at that!

I want you to see that this command to avoid such foolishness is a command that is all about the gospel. Endless debates about these things are a distraction from the gospel! In an effort to protect gospel purity and gospel unity within the church, Paul commands us to avoid these things! Instead, focus on the gospel and doing good things that actually build up the body and are profitable for people.

The command is to avoid these things. Avoid them. We aren’t to jump into these debates to try and prove people wrong, because that just adds to the division. Instead we are to avoid them altogether. What we have is the gospel of Jesus Christ – the greatest and most valuable news on the face of the earth; why in the world would we want to get caught up and distracted by worthless controversies? We should be so caught up and preoccupied with the magnificence of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have no time for such foolishness.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most fascinating and thrilling thing that it will continue to thrill our hearts for all of eternity. We should never become bored, or used to the gospel. That should never happen. If that happens, what we need is more gospel! The gospel should be so attractive to our regenerate eyes, that these foolish controversies should be repelling and rubbish to us. These quarrels about the law should be boring to us. When a church gets caught up in these debates, it muddies the gospel – worse, it distracts from the gospel. These things are not profitable to our sanctification. They bring no value to anyone’s life.

Paul warns Titus against these things because Crete was a place that was infected with false teachers. This is the kind of stuff that false teachers are all about. They distract from the gospel by getting into this foolishness. To protect gospel purity and gospel unity in the Church from false teaching, we avoid these things. These controversies don’t save anyone, and they don’t sanctifying anyone, they don’t glorify God, or stir our hearts with affections for Jesus; they stir up division. The Church is all about Jesus, the one who saves, sanctifies, and builds up His bride. This is all about the gospel.

What do we do with the valuable treasure that we have found in Christ? We preach it, we live our lives accordingly, and we protect. We protect the gospel. We protect it’s purity, and we fight for unity in it.

In verse 10, Paul gives us more specific instructions on what we are to do to protect gospel purity and unity in the church. “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.” What are we to do to protect gospel purity and unity within the church? We are to practice church discipline when necessary. That’s what this is. Church discipline. Paul here is echoing Jesus’ instruction for church discipline in Matthew 18. The goal of church discipline is to protect the purity of the gospel in the church. Church discipline is all about the gospel. The goal of church discipline is all about gospel unity in the church.

There is a Christian rapper named KB, and one of his lyrics says, “The church is the church when the word is where we stand at.” If we do not obey scripture that commands us to protect the purity of the gospel, we cease to stand on the word of God, and sooner or later, without the word, and without a pure gospel, we would cease to be a church. Church discipline is all about the gospel. This gospel is precious, and we must protect it! That’s what you do with something that is precious. Those who invest in or buy precious metals like gold and silver – what do they do with those things? They protect them. Why? Because they are precious. The gospel is precious, therefore, we must protect it. And if we see and know the gospel as precious, we will protect it and defend it.

It is strong language that Paul uses to describe a person who is persistent in these foolish controversies: “such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.” That person’s actions show himself to be condemned already. As Christians, we are to insist on the gospel at all times, and when instead, we insist on foolish controversies and quarrels of the law, we have ceased to insist and the gospel and show ourselves to be warped and sinful; self-condemned.

These people that Paul describes in verses 9-11, who continue on their sin unrepentantly, these people are not interested in the gospel. They aren’t. They’ve been caught up and they’ve become fascinated with things other than the gospel. They have become occupied by other things than Christ! This is why they are “self-condemned” – because they have rejected the gospel. And a rejection of the gospel is a rejection of Jesus! A commitment to shenanigans is a rejection of the gospel.

The church is not a town hall. The church is not a town hall where everyone’s opinions are equal and valid. Opinions and controversies on the law and foolish things are not to be treated with respect as if they are a valid thing to be believed. The only valid opinion in the church is the opinion of God. So we reject doctrinal distractions that have nothing to do with the gospel. We do not entertain them.

Christ died for His bride, the church. On the last day, Christ will present his bride pure and spotless without any blemish, spot, wrinkle, defect, or impurity. We must be about gospel purity because Jesus is all about gospel purity. We must be about gospel purity because Jesus is pure and spotless – entirely Holy and set apart. As a Church of Jesus, we must strive to reflect the purity and holiness of our God. Both in our doctrine and in our lives. It all starts with gospel purity.

So what do we do with this precious gospel and our precious Jesus? We preach it, we live our lives accordingly, and we protect it. This reflects what Jesus has done for us. Jesus came and preached the gospel. He accomplished the mission of the gospel – God’s glory in our salvation. He lived His life in perfect gospel purity. He ever lives to protect His church and her purity.