Category Archives: witness

mission: send, support, serve

Titus 3:12-15.  Paul’s final instructions to Titus give a job description for the church and explain how each local church can continue to be involved in the mission of reaching the lost world for Jesus Christ. He instructs Titus that … Continue reading

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mission: avoid distraction

Titus 3:8b-11.   Paul instructs Titus to proclaim the gospel of justification by grace (5) and to also insist that the church devote themselves to good works (1, 8, 14).  The good works are in response to the Holy Spirit’s washing … Continue reading

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mission: insist on good works

Titus 3:1-8a.  Paul is the champion of salvation by grace, apart from works.  He teaches that in this text when he says that God “saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own … Continue reading

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mission: model a transformed community

  Titus 2.  God’s grace has appeared to all people, and has brought salvation (11).  It has appeared in the person of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness … Continue reading

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mission: facilitate order

Titus 1:5-16.  The Cretans were not known for their honesty and trustworthiness.  They were likely to fall for false teachings, and Paul warned Titus that the island had “many who are insubordinate,  empty talkers and deceivers” (10).  Titus was tasked … Continue reading

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mission: preach the faith

Titus 1:1-4.  Paul had placed Titus in Crete for the reason that Timothy had been stationed in Ephesus.  Titus was a missionary, tasked with the establishment of the newly planted churches.  Titus was a disciple of Paul – or, as … Continue reading

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mission: be devoted to discipling

2 Timothy 2.  False teaching had infested Ephesus, so Paul warned Timothy to avoid its “irreverent babble” because it would “lead people into more and more ungodliness” (16).  He instructed Timothy not to debate these teachers, because their “foolish, ignorant … Continue reading

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mission: do not be ashamed

2 Timothy 1:8-18.  Most of the leaders in the churches of Asia Minor had already stopped visiting Paul – apparently ashamed that he was still imprisoned.  In this section, Paul explains why Timothy should not join them, in deserting him … Continue reading

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mission: revive the passion

2 Timothy 1:1-7.  Paul’s final words to Timothy are recorded in this letter.  They reveal the priorities of a man who was impassioned with the gospel. He was motivated by the “promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.”  … Continue reading

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mission: manage the ministry

1 Timothy 5:1-6:2.  As a missionary, tasked with the role of developing the churches in Ephesus, Timothy had the responsibility to see to it that the various ministries were staffed.  Paul gives him instructions on how to honor those who … Continue reading

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