David prays for his prayers. “Hear my cry…listen to my prayer.” David prays for his prayers! The 61st Psalm opens with a prayer that his prayer be heard. David is serious about praying. He is earnest in prayer. He does not just pray to pray. He prays to be answered. He prays prayers that must be answered. Prayer is not sky journaling, therapeutically pouring out your soul to the silent but caring counselor in the heavens. Prayer, specifically petition, is not ultimately about you praying, but God answering.
Oh how little we really pray. How little we really pray is evidenced in this—we don’t look for an answer. I don’t pray enough. I don’t even pray enough lazy prayers. So few are truly earnest. Oh how little we pray even when we do pray. We look with more anticipation for the latest Amazon package to arrive than we do for answers to our prayers. William Plumer writes, “It is a sad mistake with some to offer prayers and then care no more of them. It is not the prayer but the answer to it that brings the blessing.”
Pray, “Deliver me from this temptation!” and then look in earnest for the answer as though your life depended on it.
Pray, “Save my children!” and then look in earnest for the answer as though their life depended on it.
Pray, “Revive your church!” and then look in earnest for the answer as though our hope depended on it.
Pray, “Advance your gospel!” and then look in earnest for the answer as though their hope, the hope of the nations depended on it.
Certainly our prayers should involve more than petition, but are your petitions so petty they are forgettable? Or do you pray prayers that God must answer! Certainly there are many petitions that we may not bring before God as demands. But as you grow to know God, as you cry out with greater insight and specificity “Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9–10)—as you do so, there should be an earnestness, a desperation for God to prove Himself to be the God He has promised to be.
“Hear my cry… listen to my prayer.” I’m afraid we don’t pray for our prayers, because we know that so often, our prayers aren’t really worth listening to.
Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring, for his grace and pow'r are such, none can ever ask too much.
Perhaps we may begin by praying that we would pray prayers worth praying for?
Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things.
—Micah 7:14–15
The closing portion of Micah has been described as “prophetic liturgy.” Stephen Dempster applies that language to vv. 8–20, but I believe it appropriately describes the whole chapter. Micah 7 is “prophetic liturgy.” As such, this chapter is a profound gift. But with those two words, and combined even, you may not instantly recognize it as such. “Prophetic? Liturgy? No thank you.” Its like the grandparent telling the unknowing four year old that they’ve got him some puppy chow for a snack. He’s not intrigued.
“Prophetic liturgy,” what does that mean? For many evangelicals, “liturgy” is an alien word conjuring up images of stuffy, highly formalized worship services. At worst, it sounds Catholic, and at best, Presbyterian, with Anglican, falling somewhere in-between. But liturgy is not alien. Liturgy is inescapable. Liturgy is simply the shape our worship takes. Churches that say they have no liturgy only fool themselves. Their worship has a regular shape and routine. So the question isn’t whether or not to have a liturgy, but whether or not it is Biblical, thoughtful, intentional, purposeful, historical, and meaningful. The irony is how repetitive “non-liturgical” liturgies are. Human spontaneity defaults into the repetition of our finite minds. Whereas more liturgical services are more intentionally diverse—covering a wide sampling of Scripture and systematic theology. Where they are repetitive, they are repetitive by design with emphatic purpose.
As prophetic liturgy, this outline of worship is not only inspired, it is prescribed. It is a Divine “script” written for their future healing. There is a specific situation in the future in which Israel is to “take it” by mouth for their good.
Micah is made up of three cycles of judgment and salvation. This last promise of salvation is given to them as the proper response to both. The grace of God given to them here is a liturgy of proper response to both His judgment and salvation. How should they receive His judgment and believe His salvation? How should they worship? How should we respond in worship to the message of Yahweh’s salvation and judgment? Here is the gift then: Yahweh does not just speak of salvation and judgment—He gives us a liturgy to properly worship Him in them. His Word tells us how to receive and respond to His Word. This final proclamation of salvation shows us that God’s grace not only works outside of us to deliver us, it works inside us to transform us, so that our worship aligns with God’s heart.
Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel.
— Micah 6:1–2
The great legal drama of Micah now begins to draw to a close. Three times we have heard a summons to judgment. This final summons is in a way the grandest and most poignant. Of the three times we are called before the heavenly Judge of all the earth, this is the fullest court description.
First we have the summons of the defendant, “Hear what the LORD says…”. The “hear” here is plural. The defendant is later identified as “his people.” Yahweh is calling his own people before him to be judged. Not just just their chief cities, nor just their corrupt rulers—but simply “his people”—all of them.
The first summons in Micah was a call to all the peoples of earth for judgment. It is a summons that hangs over the entirety of this book. “Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple” (Micah 1:2). If God calls His own people to court, will He not judge all all the peoples of the earth? Will He not judge you?
Next we have the command of the Judge for His covenant prosecutor to act. Whereas the “hear” is plural, the verbs “arise” and “plead” are singular. Micah is called on to act as God’s prosecutor, showing how Israel has violated covenant. This is the major role of the Old Testament prophet. The popular idea of the prophet is that of a future-teller. But we would do well to replace that with the idea of covenant-teller. While the prophets do foretell of God’s covenant faithfulness to redeem in the future, a substantial part of their ministry is acting as a covenant-prosecutor. When they speak of judgment to come, as much as they are foretelling, they are pronouncing the very covenant curses God promised in His law. Curses we will clearly see in this chapter.
Next we see a summons to mountains and foundations of the earth (v. 2). They are not summoned as defendants, but as witnesses. The enduring mountains and foundations have been there since the first sin. This is the creation that groans and was subjected to futility because of man’s sin (Romans 8:20–22). This is the creation that cries out for the innocent blood that stains its soil (Genesis 4:10). Such witnesses testify to the majesty of this court. Who but the Lord of heaven and earth can call such witnesses?
Finally, the Plantiff/Judge is explicitly identified. These witnesses are called on to hear “the indictment of the LORD.” It is He who “will contend with Israel.” This is Yahweh’s indictment brought by Yahweh’s prophet before Yahweh’s creation, against Yahweh’s people. Do you see how certain their condemnation is? Do you see how certain our condemnation is? There is no hope of bribing the Judge, buying the prosecutor, or manipulating the witnesses. You are known by them all and they are His servants.
Hear all peoples, if Yahweh has so faithfully judged Israel, will He not judge all the earth? We have all of us broken covenant—the covenant of creation. We owe all to our Creator, and all His creation testifies of our sin against Him. Creation speaks of His glory and testifies of His wrath against the unrighteousness of man—thorns and poison ivy, earthquakes and tornadoes, wildfires and volcanoes, floods and hurricanes, drought and disease all testify to our sinfulness.
Abraham found solace in asking, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:25). But outside of Christ this is our greatest terror, for there is none righteous, no not one. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Judge of all the earth will do what is right and we are not righteous.
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
—Micah 4:1–2
What does this mean? Should we expect Zion to literally tower over Everest and the temple to be restored? Oddly, I’ve don’t think I’ve ever heard the advocates of a “literal” interpretation argue for a Mount Zion with an elevation of 30,000 feet. Even so, when does help answer what. But when might not be when you think it is and thus we are led to a different what.
What does this mean? When is the mountain of the house of Yahweh to be established as the highest of the mountains? “In the latter days.” The LSB, NAS, CSB, and KJV all have “in the last days.” When are these last days? Acts 2:17 us that the last days have already arrived in the wake of Jesus’ resurrection. Peter explained to the crowds on Pentecost, “But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…’” (Acts 2:16–17). Joel goes on to speak of what we normally think of last days stuff—stuff like the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood (Joel 2:32). But this passage in Joel ends by telling us, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls” (Joel 2:32).
The last days have been inaugurated but not yet consummated. They are here now, but not fully here yet. The future is breaking into the present. This began with Jesus’ resurrection as the firstfruits of the harvest to come. It swells as men are born again, a new creation in Christ, strangers to this world, belonging to the world to come. This is why Hebrews opens telling us, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1).
That’s when and it helps you understand what. What does it mean that the mountain of the house of Yahweh lifted up above all the hills? It is lifted up in Christ, who is Himself the temple of the LORD. In Him we most fully and may truly exclaim, “Yahweh is in the midst of us! No disaster shall come upon us.” John records that He told the Jews “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:18). And John also tells us, “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb” (Revelation 21:22). The temple was a shadow. Jesus is the substance. How is the mountain of the house lifted above all hills? It happens as that stone not cut by human hands strikes the kingdoms of this world as fine as dust so that they are carried away. It happens, Daniel tells us, as “the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:35). It happens as God highly exalts Christ and bestows on him the name that is above every name (Philippians 2:9). It happens in He who is is called Emmanuel, “God with us.”
This happens supremely in Christ, but because it happens in Christ, it happens in His people—the true Israel of God, His church. Peter tells us that we are “being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Paul asks us, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). This is true of each member of the church and it is true of the church corporately. The world cannot see it, but the church has been raised up with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). The kingdoms of this world will pass away, but the kingdom of God will endure forever and thus the gates of hell do not prevail against the church. She, as the temple of Yahweh, is exalted above all other mountains and hills—all the kingdoms of this world.
How does this happen? Don’t look for a restored temple in Jerusalem. Listen to how Hebrews says it has happened in these last days inaugurated by our Lord Jesus Christ. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22–24).
Can you see why then John Trapp would say, “These last days are Gospel-days”?
The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 3 For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. 4 And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.
—Micah 1:1–4
Micah, “Who is like Yahweh?”—that is what Micah means.
“Who is like Yahweh?” He has no rival. He is without peer. He alone is God. He is transcendent and incomprehensible—infinite in all His attributes. He is holy.
You cannot have a great God without great judgment. If there is no great judgment, then He really isn’t a great God. If sins against Him are negligible, then He is inconsequential. If you want a God who is perfect in goodness, truth, and beauty and thus the fullness of our every longing and the fountain of all delight, you cannot have Him without great judgment. To rebel against such a God is the highest of crimes worthy of eternal torment. The magnitude of hell is a testimony to the glory of God. If you want a God of whom you may exclaim, “Who is like you!” then you must be able to make that very exclamation of His judgment as well as of everything else that He is in perfection and unity.
Micah is a book of judgment. Three times we are summoned to “hear.” Three times a word of judgment follows that summons.
“Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple” (Micah 1:2).
“And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?— you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones,…” (Micah 3:1–2).
“Hear what the LORD says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel” (Micah 6:1–2).
With each summons, we move from judgment on their capital cities, to the judgment of their leaders, to the judgment of the people. And yet, at the end of each cycle of judgment, there is the hope of salvation. But always in Micah, before the promise of salvation is pronounced, we are summoned to hear of judgment. To properly receive the good news of grace, we must stop railing against God’s word of judgment. We must own our guilt if we are to receive God’s grace. We must learn to exclaim, “Who is like Yahweh?” and then we may rejoice, “Christ Jesus—my Lord, my God, my Savior!”
“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But 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, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
—Titus 3:3–7
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
He [the Father] saved us… by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” The Holy Spirit is poured out on us richly by the Father through Jesus Christ. The Spirit was purchased for us by Christ our Savior. He was so purchased that He is poured out on us “richly.” If the Spirit is special sauce of our salvation, the Father has so slathered Him on through the Son that the entree could be mistaken for a soup. How does the Father look on the work of the Son? Because of the Son, He not only pours out the Spirit, He pours Him out richly on us. He pours infinity on you, richly.
Our salvation is from the Father, through the Son, and by the Spirit. Our salvation originated in the Father, was secured by the Son, and is effected by the Spirit. The Father determined, gave and sent; the Son lived, died, and rose; and the Spirit regenerates, seals, and sanctifies.
Speaking in a strictly metaphorical way, Irenaus said that the Father has two hands, the Son and the Spirit. Our God is ambidextrous and He always uses both of His hands. God is a Tri-unity of persons. Their operations are inseparable. Where God works, all three persons work. Where you find one working, the others are working (John 5:17, 19). God creates and recreates using both hands. The Father saves you by two sendings: the sending of the Son and the sending of the Spirit. The gracious sending of the Son purchases the sending of the Spirit. The Son was sent to accomplish salvation and the Spirit was sent to apply that salvation.
These sendings are self-sendings of our Triune God. Fred Sanders explains, “when God the Father sends the Son and the Spirit, we meet God in sendings that have an infinite depth behind them: self-sendings in which God sends God; sendings in which God is God with us.” God, though God, has given you God as the guarantee of giving you God in full and forever. The Father, through the Son, has given you the Spirit, as the guarantee of Him giving you Himself in full and forever. This is the Trinitarian shape of your salvation. The Trinity is not a distant doctrine; it is the very substance of your salvation.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people…”
—Titus 2:11
There are some things that must be taught in order for one to teach. Or, stated from the perspective of the student, there are some things you must learn in order for you to learn. If you are to learn to read, you must first learn your alphabet. If you are to learn algebra, you must first learn arithmetic. If you are to learn Christian ethics, you must first learn Christian theology. If you do not take the first course, you are certain to flunk the second.
J. Gresham Machen, throughout the early 19th century, warned that theological liberalism was not Christianity. The liberals thought they could skip theology and still pass ethics. They thought they if they got a zero in doctrine, they could still ace devotion, as though that were the only course that mattered. But without a protestant theology, the ethics of the mainline protestant denominations, have been driven about by every wind of doctrine. Doctrine determines devotion. Change the shape of the doctrine, you change the shape of the devotion. This is why consistent Christians give their lives for unbelievers and consistent Muslims take lives the lives of “unbelievers.”
Here, Paul gives the grounds for the Christian life. Why do Christians live as they do? Or, rather, why do they strive to live as they do? Because the grace of God has appeared. Build on anything else, and you build on sand. Paul’s ethical edifice has a faith foundation. Christian ethics don’t float. They are rooted, and they are rooted like a tree. If you are really rooted in the truth, drawing your life from it, you will grow towards the sky with God’s-glorifying, grace-given good works. Anything else is artificial or built on the sand.
The gospel is a prerequisite for the law. Theological liberalism tried to teach the law without the gospel, but the lesson didn’t stick. Machen explained the difference between Christianity and theological liberalism writing, “Here is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity—liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, while Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative; liberalism appeals to man’s will, while Christianity announces, first, a gracious act of God.” The law says “Do.” The gospel says “Done!” You cannot hear what God would have you do until you believe what God has done. Only after having been told what Christ has done, and believing, may you then hear what Christ would have you do. And this is because after hearing and believing, you do, not for life, but from life. The grace of God that has appeared, appears to you. It appears bringing bringing salvation and training us in righteousness.
“Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled”
—Titus 2:6
In contrast to the instructions given for older men, Paul gives only one instruction to young men. No doubt, this is not because they need less instruction, but because they need to heed this instruction all the more. If you’ve ever given directions to young men, you probably know it does little good to give them more than one direction at a time.
This is the emphatic admonition for young men—“be self-controlled.” Indeed, some have said this is the emphatic admonition of this letter. One pastor writes, “It would not be far off to call Titus the epistle of self-control.” Elders are to be self-controlled (1:8) Older men are to be self-controlled (v 2). Older women are not to be slaves to much wine (v. 3). Younger women are to be self-controlled (v. 5).
While little girls are singing, “Let it go,” men are chanting “Nothing’s gonna hold me back!” We are all being told to be ourselves and express ourselves. But the Bible teaches that all of us, young men especially, are to say “No!” to ourselves. So when Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God” (1 Thessalonians 4:3–5), you understand that we all need that word, but who especially needs it? Young men! Not because they are more sinful, but because this command gets at their sin more.
This virtue, for young men, is as a key to all the other virtues. “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls” (Proverbs 25:28). Young men, if this virtue fails, all fail.
Even godly young men are often as Paul describes Israel. “They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). Such young men are like Simeon and Levi, zealous for righteousness but reckless in pursuing it. A young man with godly zeal, but without self-control, is like a fire in the house without a fireplace.
“For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.”
—Titus 1:10
“For there are many…”, the “for takes us back.
“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you… He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. For there are many…” (vv. 5, 9–10)
Without elders, things are unfinished (“what remained”) and bent (“put… into order,” i.e., straighten). Churches without elders are like young children with an undeveloped immune system. They are vulnerable. Churches are vulnerable and false teachers are “many.”
You have here not only a contrast between true and false teachers, but a clash between them—a clash that must be. “There are many.” The immune system is weak and the viruses are many. The church must train, test, affirm, and send, because the world is full of false teachers and the church is lacking in faithful teachers.
John Stott exhorts, “When false teachers increase, the most appropriate long-term strategy is to multiply the number of true teachers, who are equipped to rebut and refute error. We need to be convinced that this is possible.” Pastors and churches need to be convinced that not only is the church sufficient to raise up elders, but that she should do it and she must do it. No other institution has the authority of God to do so. Seminaries are not necessary. They may help, but they are not necessary. The church is necessary and it is necessary that the church do so. “There are many.”
Paul told the Corinthians, “…a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9). He told the Philippians “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:18). John too tells us not only that there are many, but the worst kind of many “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 7). There are not only many false teachers. There are many heretics. It’s not simply the common cold that is so common, but Ebola. The call for elders to combat false teaching is no Covid 19 conspiracy. It is a true epidemic. “There are many.”
Elders act not only as antibodies fighting off false teaching, they act as vitamins, promoting healthy doctrine and devotion. The teacher of sound doctrine cannot produce antibodies for every virus in every membe. What he can do is ground the flock in sound doctrine so that they recognize a wolf when they hear one. “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (v. 9).
John Newton said, “My principal method of defeating heresy, is, by establishing truth. One proposes to fill a bushel with tares: now, if I can fill it first with wheat, I shall defy his attempts.” Elders not only act as the immune system of the whole church body, they build the immune system of each member of the body. And that health is found by preaching Christ so that each member abides in the Vine. Feed the flock the Bread of life, and their appetites will be satisfied and their immune system strengthened.
“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”
—Titus 1:5–9
Unless you’re some kind of 9Marks junkie, you probably don’t get excited when “church polity” is the focal point of the sermon or your Bible reading. The atonement of Christ, regeneration, union with Christ, assurance of salvation, holiness, even eschatology may whet your spiritual appetite, but the qualifications for an elder? Yes, you may realize it is important, but you don’t turn the page of your devotional on tiptoe, hoping the next reading will address church polity. But consider this, where you go to church and thus who you entrust the oversight of your soul to, is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. As a disciple of Christ, you should zealously seek to be in covenant membership with a local body of believers, and as you do so, you should ask yourself two questions: What does this church believe? Who teaches what they believe? The weightiness of this can be felt in Paul’s instructions to Titus here.
Albert Mohler has introduced the idea of theological triage, calling us to properly access truths according to theological urgency. First order doctrines are those that are essential to the Christian faith, such as the trinity and the gospel. Second order doctrines are those in which we may disagree, but they require us to be in separate churches, such as baptism or church polity. Third order doctrines are those in which we may disagree but remain in the same church, such as eschatology.
Church polity is a second order doctrine, but we must understand that nonessential does not mean unimportant. As Jonathan Leeman points out, church polity is not the gospel, but it is for the protecting of the gospel. You see that here, “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (v. 9).
Church polity is not the gospel, but it is for the gospel. To truly feel the full weight of Biblical church governance then, we must feel the weight of the gospel itself—the truth of God, sound doctrine, apostolic teaching, the trustworthy word. What is this trustworthy word? Listen to how Paul unfolds it for Titus in two towering passages from this little letter.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you” (Titus 2:11–14).
“But 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, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 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” (Titus 3:4–8).
The gospel of God, that I declare to you now as a shepherd of Christ’s church, with the authority of His apostles’ word is this: We are everyone of us completely disqualified in every way before the holy God of heaven deserving nothing but His eternal wrath and condemnation. But the Father gave His Son to live righteously and die cursedly in the place of sinners so that they might be qualified—justified by faith and reconciled to God. Sinner, by this trustworthy word, Christ is set before you, the Savior of sinners. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
The doctrine of church polity is nowhere near as weighty as this gospel, but it is heavy with grave importance because of this gospel. It is for this reason that one of the biggest decisions you will ever make is where you will go to church and thus who you entrust the oversight of your soul to. This is why it is critical that you ask of a church, “What does she believe?” and “Who teaches what they believe?” Of first and essential importance is what she believes about the gospel. Of secondary and vital impotence for the health of the church and your souls is who teaches the gospel.
