Do Good [Titus 3]

(Dated Nov. 2, 2011)

A person who believes in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior has been washed with His blood and is being renewed by the Holy Spirit. He has been justified by grace and has become an heir of the kingdom of God. Paul admonishes Titus to stress this to the believers, and I believe that these things apply even for us today.

We should "be careful to devote ourselves to doing good." Why? Because we bear the name of Christ, and doing good signifies the effect of the Holy Spirit's working in our lives. In the first place, if we have put our faith in Christ and recognize Him as the One who is in control of our lives, yet we fail to do good, then the death of Christ should be deemed a waste, a pointless act of sacrifice, for He died to save us from the punishment of sin and to free us from the stronghold of sin itself. He did not give Himself for us in order to do us a favor; we NEVER did and could NEVER do anything to deserve our salvation. It was only because of God's love that we are here and enjoying a life that is blessed and sustained by Almighty, loving Father.

So it is but right that we live in accordance to the will of God, and that means to do what is good and what is acceptable to Him. "Good" is perhaps the only thing we can do to somehow compensate for everything the Lord has done for us. It proves that Christ has changed us, and so the people around us will see this change and we might "make the teaching about God...attractive" (2:10). Our testimony is one of the most effective tools we can use to reach out to the people who do not know or recognize God, and it is very, very important that this testimony be GOOD. For if we live no differently than those who are in the world, then our salvation is useless.

So do good!