Grace and Freedom in the Gospel

“But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.” (Titus 3:9)

Titus was one of Paul’s youngest conversions. He was a Gentile who became Paul’s “partner and fellow worker.” (2 Corinthians 8:23) Paul appointed him to work in Corinth, Crete, and Dalmatia.  For reference Dalmatia has been known as Yugoslavia and is now called Serbia and Montenegro. Nothing is known about him after he went to Dalmatia and the consensus is that he was probably martyred.

Titus was dealing with Jewish converts, their traditions and inability to leave all that behind in coming to Christ. So, Paul advises him to avoid foolish questions about the Law and Jewish traditions. The Jews have a tradition of genealogy. All that is unimportant in Jesus. It was important in Jewish tradition because of the anointed gifts and talents God gave members of a tribe and because the Messiah was to come from a certain tribe. (Exodus 31:1-11; 35:30-35; Isaiah 11:1) They were for the perfect functioning of the nation of Israel and temple worship. But in Jesus there is no difference. “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.” (Romans 10:12) And Paul further wrote in Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) Titus had accompanied Paul to Jerusalem to the Council where they debated whether Christians had to be circumcised. (Acts 15:1-21) So Titus was well aware of the difficulty with the Jewish converts.

This is a problem at the beginning of living in the Lord with all of man’s tradition in the religions we have left. There is confusion when we try to understand the Gospel through our previous religion. I was a Catholic and had some confusion about confession. To me, confession was telling your sins to a priest. But in Christianity, confession is a profession of what God has said about us. That first year, I wrote down all the Scriptures in the Bible about confession and got a clear understanding. There is a Scripture though that does speak about confessing our sins. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16) This is not actually about confessing sins but offenses toward each other. The Lord places very high importance in the love of the brethren one for another. And when we come to the Lord in prayer, we cannot have anything against our brethren. Jesus said, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

The last thing Paul tells Titus in this verse is that all these questions, genealogies, contentions and strivings about the law are unprofitable and vain, meaning useless and even idolatrous. Idolatry is putting anything before God. These Judaizers were trying to place the Law over the sacrifice of Jesus. It’s so important to know exactly what the Gospel is so that we don’t get awry with man’s doctrine. Even Peter had difficulty with this at the beginning when they met at Antioch, but Paul rebuked him. “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?” (Galatians 2:11-14) It was against the Law to eat with heathens and Peter was treating the Gentile Christians like heathens. But Paul continues in his letter to the Galatians that we are justified by faith, not by following tradition or the Law. Man’s traditions and the Law can carry us off away from the Truth of the Gospel. The Lord’s grace and freedom in salvation by faith is the opposite of man’s striving and adherence to man’s rules and rituals.

Paul’s instructions to Titus are also for us. How many churches look down on certain dress, certain hairstyles and behavior. They have made man’s tradition and rules override the grace and freedom of the Gospel. And these traditions once established seem to overtake the Gospel which is ultimately lost in churches.  God forbid we turn to man’s efforts and pat ourselves on the back for it. As for the Gospel, it’s all God initiated, God accomplished, and God glorified. And God help the man who takes any credit for what God is doing. The Law exposes our weaknesses and faults. But God’s grace and mercy takes our weaknesses and faults and gives us supernatural strength by the Holy Spirit to obey His Word.