Titus 3:1-11 Repentance

Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. This is the ninth lesson in a series of lessons on the book of Titus. In this lesson we'll look at chapter three and talk about repentance.

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Transcript:

Hi, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. This is the ninth lesson in a series of lessons on the book of Titus. In this lesson we'll look at chapter three and talk about repentance. 

The word repent appears 24 times in the New Testament in the NASB. Many times the authors of the New Testament wrote about repentance without explaining what it means. It means to change direction. It means to stop doing one thing and start doing something else. 

As I said, for the most part the New Testament writers assumed people understood what repentance means. However, there are some verses in Titus chapter three that give specifics on what it looks like to repent.

I’m going to start by looking at some of the calls to repentance we see throughout the New Testament. Then I’ll examine the specifics of repentance as listed in Titus 3. At the end I’ll talk about whether there is evidence of repentance in our lives.

Jesus and John the Baptist were born roughly 0 AD. In the mid 30s AD they did their public ministry. John the Baptist came first. Let’s read from Matthew chapter three starting at verse one. 

Matt. 3:1   Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

We see here that John the Baptist very clearly called people to repent. A little bit later, Jesus started His ministry and He did the same thing. Let’s read Matthew 4:17. 

Matt. 4:17   From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

As you know, Jesus went on to have a ministry that spanned several years. Then He was crucified. He died and rose again. When He went back to heaven, He left behind His apostles who started preaching the gospel. They use the word repent. We see this very early in the book of Acts. Let’s look at Acts chapter two. This is right after the day of Pentecost. Peter preached to a large crowd and then he said the following. We’ll start reading in verse 38.

Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Peter told people to repent. Later in the book of Acts we see that Paul did the same thing. Let's go to chapter 17. Paul was speaking in the Areopagus in Athens. Paul was telling the Athenians about God and Jesus and then he said this, starting in verse 30.

Acts 17:30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

Paul told the Athenians to repent. Not only that, Paul said that God declared that all people everywhere need to repent. 

As I said earlier, the word repent appears 24 times in the New Testament in the NASB. This is a concept that appears frequently in the Bible. Now let's go to Titus and see specifics on what repentance looks like. 

In Chapter One Paul told Titus to appoint elders in every city and he listed the qualifications of elders. In chapter two Paul told Titus to speak what is fitting for sound teaching and then he had instructions for elderly men and women, young women and young men, and slaves. Then in chapter three Paul continued his instructions on what Titus was supposed to teach. Let's start reading chapter three at verse one 

Titus 3:1  Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2 to verbally abuse no one, to be not a brawler but forbearing, and exhibiting every gentleness to all men. 3 For we also had been at one time foolish, disobedient, being deceived, serving as a slave to lusts and many pleasures, spending life in evil and envy, hated, and hating one another. 

Titus 3:4  But when the kindness and the love for mankind of God our Savior appeared, 5 not out of those works of righteousness which we did, but according to His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit 6 whom He richly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by His grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:8  The message is trustworthy, and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have come to believe God might be careful to do good works. These things are good and profitable for men. 9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, strifes, and legal battles, for they are useless and empty. 10 Refuse a factious man after a first and second warning, 11 knowing that such a kind has been perverted and is sinning, being condemned.

Let’s go back to verse three. Paul described what he and others were before they were Christians.

Titus 3:3 For we also had been at one time foolish, disobedient, being deceived, serving as a slave to lusts and many pleasures, spending life in evil and envy, hated, and hating one another.

That was life before Christ. Starting in verse four, Paul talked about a transformation. 

Titus 3:4  But when the kindness and the love for mankind of God our Savior appeared, 5 not out of those works of righteousness which we did, but according to His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit 6 whom He richly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior,

That's the transformation that Jesus brings into peoples’ lives. Because we are saved and we are Christians, we are supposed to behave differently. Paul mentioned some specifics. Starting in verse one he said,

Titus 3:1  Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2 to verbally abuse no one, to be not a brawler but forbearing, and exhibiting every gentleness to all men.

In verse nine he said 

Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, strifes, and legal battles, for they are useless and empty.

These are some specifics about what we're supposed to do now as Christians which are different from what life was like before Christ.

Repentance is a concept that is mentioned many times the New Testament. Paul gave some specifics on what repentance looks like. Instead of being foolish, disobedient, and a slave of lusts and many pleasures, we are supposed to obey God, be forbearing, exhibit gentleness, and do good works. 

Here is something for you to think about. What are the proofs of repentance in your life? What did you do before salvation that you stopped doing? What are some things that you did before salvation that you should have stopped doing and still haven't? What are some things you're doing now after salvation that shows evidence of being a servant of Jesus? 

As Christians, we need to be different than the culture and the world around us. Part of the process of becoming a Christian is to repent and to stop living the way we were living before Christ, and to start living the way Jesus wants us to live. If we have truly become a servant of Jesus, then our behavior should provide evidence of being a servant of Jesus.

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Scripture quotations from Titus taken from a translation by Bible Mountain.

“All other Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)