I'm Following Jesus – Page 1595 – Mark 8:34 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.

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: Thursday, December 19, 2019
Chapters: Book of Titus
Message: Virtuous Pure Religion

Hello My Friend,

As I was reading the chapters for today the word virtue popped in my head, that is the best was to describe the way we all ought to behave as saved, born again Christians. So, what exactly is virtue? Virtue; Moral goodness. The practice of moral duties and the abstaining from corruption; A conformity of life and conversation to the moral law. Virtue may be, and in many instances must be, set apart from religion. Why does virtue need to be set apart from religion? Because it is religion that often leads people into sin. How? It is religion that mixes law with grace, it is religion that picks and chooses what to know from God’s Word, it is religion that teaches that there are several ways to heaven. It is religion that teaches rules so strict that even Jesus would be seen as a sinner. And yes, it is also religion that teaches it is okay to live any sinful way one pleases without consequence. Whatever religion people choose to get under, it is the complete opposite of the pure religion that God teaches. “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” – James 1:26-27.

“and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” This is another way of saying that we ought to be virtuous. The Book of Titus was written by Paul to Titus, at the time he wrote his first letter to Timothy, approximately 63 AD. Titus was a Greek convert and fellow worker with Paul to correct problems within the churches in Crete. What we are to learn from the book is that our good works must be established and organized according to the Word of God. We know very little of Titus, although he was never mentioned in the Book of Acts, he was one of Paul’s most trusted friends and disciples. This letter guides Titus in the 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. Paul begins with telling him what the virtues of the pastors (bishops) and elders of the church are to be.

“If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 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; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; 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. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. 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. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” – I Titus 1:7-16.

“sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.” The Bishop or Pastor is the overseer of Christ’s Church, he the shepherd to Christ’s sheep while we are here. Exhort means to advise or warn, 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. Let me tell you, anyone can twist Scripture to make their point look believable, which is why we need to be reading it for ourselves. And if you ever wondered why there are so many “versions”, this is why. A version is a translation of what the Bible says from the thoughts of someone who read it. There is only one translation of God’s Word that tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing, but the truth, and that is King James. All the other “versions” are the thoughts of what someones opinion, and everytime another “version” is created twenty percent of the original words from the Bible are removed to avoid copyright laws. Do you know how many “versions” that are since King James was translated? Hundreds. And by the way, King James is transcribed word for word from the original transcripts into the English language, it was not nor ever has been a version, it is the only translation.

“Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. 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. And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.” – Jeremiah 23:31-34.

“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.

“But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” – Titus 2:1-5,10-14.

“and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Our salvation ought to be the reason why we turn away from the lusts of the world and turn to Christ. Our good works, walking in the likeness of Christ is not to keep our salvation, Jesus took care of that for us, it is for our own good. 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. This is why being virtuous is so important, it shows us and the world that a life truly can be changed and blessed when Christ is in it. This is not about following a bunch of commands that even God does not enforce, it is about having respect for what Jesus did for you and honoring Him by living you life through His example. Paul winds up his letter by reminding us that while are saved by grace, it is profitable to maintain those good works.

“Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 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; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 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.” – Titus 3:1-8.

“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish,” Yes, many of us have done some foolish things as we all have our own crosses to bear, but we repented as we learned that what we were doing was wrong in God’s eyes. Since God knows that we are sinners, He expects us to have a hard time removing sin from our lives, but that does not mean we are to continue in sin, this hinders us, it does not help us. “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” – Romans 6:15-16.

“These things are good and profitable unto men.” Saved or not, sin always leads to death, we may not face hell, but we do face the consequence of sin should we remain in it. 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. Living a virtuous life not only brings more blessings, it gives rest to the weary, peace with God, and salvation to others as they see Him through us. While we will never lose our salvation, to quote from the song, O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E, “Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe.” “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11-14.

Today’s Prayer: God, I do want to live a virtuous life, help me to always be teachable, learning Your ways, through Your Word, and other godly likeminded people who know and live by Your Word as well. Teach me Your truths and give me the wisdom to teach them to others. Let us not be deceived by false preachers or teachers, and keep us grounded in Your Word so we are able to discern truth from the lies. We can be the virtuous godly examples You need us to turn people away from the lies of religion, and to the truth of Your Son. I ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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