December 19, 2020 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Saturday, December 19, 2020
Chapters: Book of Titus
Message: The Washing of Regeneration

Hello My Friend,

Rejoice! If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, that means you are born again. We have been birthed with the Spirit of God into our soul the second we received Jesus Christ as our Saviour, meaning we are not only saved from death and hell, we are given eternal life, and a child of God as well. By His mercy He saved us, not by any works of our own, but by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. Praise God! The least we can do to show our love and gratitude is by living our lives in a way that reflects His Son, otherwise, the world will never see the need for the Saviour themselves, [John 3:6-8,14-15 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.]

The book of Titus was written by Paul to a one of his sons of the faith, Titus, at the time he wrote to Timothy, approximately 63 AD. Titus was a Greek convert and fellow worker with Paul, he sent him to Crete to correct problems within the churches. What we are to learn from the book is that our good works must be established and organized according to the Word of God, not commandments by me. This letter guides Titus in the right ordering of the churches in Crete, it is quite similar to the words he spoke to Timothy, proving that all churches representing Christ are to be the same way, authored by the Word of God, headed by Christ. Paul begins with describing the roles of the pastors (bishops) and elders of the church.

[Titus 1:7-16 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; 8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; 9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake. 12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. 13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; 14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. 15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.]

[for filthy lucre’s sake.] Do you know how many men and women are out there preaching God? The sad thing, it is not sound doctrine, and has nothing to do with the love of the people. It is all about the money they make off of the people, [1 Timothy 6:9-10 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.]

[that turn from the truth.] The Bishop or Pastor is the overseer of Christ’s Church, he the shepherd to Christ’s sheep while we are here. They are here to advise us on the Word of God and teach how to live through it. They will be accountable to God if they preach anything apart from sound doctrine. Even though I am not a bishop, I too will be accountable if I teach anything other than what is written from the Word of God,

[Jeremiah 23:31-32,39-40 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. 32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD. 39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence: 40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.]

[that use their tongues, and say, He saith.] Probably the worst thing we could ever do is say that God said something when He did not. You know how it feels when someone says that you said something when you know you did not? Imagine how God feels. God’s words are literally a matter of life and death. Those who twist Scripture in order to make someone feel good and accepted in their sin does not help them, it will send them to hell. We are not here to please man or our own flesh, we here to please God, and that does not mean God does not want us to enjoy life. In fact, we would be truly amazed with what God has in store for us, He does not expect us to be perfect because we are not, He does expect us to be faithful to Him if we chose His Son as our Saviour. Paul continues explaining why it is important to keep sound doctrine.

[Titus 2:9-14 Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; 10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. 11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.]

[and purify unto himself a peculiar people,] Peculiar; Appropriate; belonging to a person and to them only.
You do realize that once you accept Christ as your Saviour you belong to Him. Before you get all offended and start saying you belong to no one, this works both ways, Christ also belongs to you, and that ought to be the greatest incentive to live soberly and righteously. Our salvation ought to be the reason why we turn away from the lusts of the world and turn to Christ. We must face reality, not every person or church proclaiming Christ is true, the world, mega churches, media, TV, movies, and any other form of entertainment about Christ have Christianity all wrong. They are not preaching sound doctrine. Yes, we come to church to be lifted up, and encouraged, but we also need conviction and spiritual healing because we are all broken, we are all sinners saved by grace who need to be taught right from wrong as God sees it, not man.

[Titus 3:1-8 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, 2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. 3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.]

[by the washing of regeneration,] Regeneration; Reproduction, the act or producing a new. A new birth by the grace of God; that change by which the will and natural enmity of man to God and His law are subdued, and a principle of supreme love to God and His law are implanted in the heart. This is why it is near impossible to get saved and Christ not turn you life around. Yes, many of us have done some foolish things before we got saved and after, but that is what grace is for. It is by the grace of God that we are not punished for all the things we have done in our flesh or continue to do. But grace is more than that, it is the favor of God, His commitment to us for believing in His Son, and accepting Him, His assurance of eternal life, and His promise to be there for us through the good and bad times, [2 Corinthians 12:8-10 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for using me to be a witness of the Gospel, I know I mess up every day, but also know that You do a great work in me. I do want to live a life that is pleasing to You, help me to learn Your will for every area of my life. Let us not be deceived by those who use Your name for filthy money, and keep us grounded in Your Word so we can be the witnesses You need us to be to reach the lost. Lead us, guide us, and give us Your power, wisdom, and understanding so that our good works reflect Your Son onto them. I ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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