Titus 1:1a (ESV)
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
When you get an email, the header usually tells you first of all who the note is from and what the note is concerning. This, of course, helps you to know what to do with the note. If I get a note from my secretary that has as its subject, “Prayer Request,” I know to open the note and pray for the person listed. If I get a note from my wife the subject of which is, “Jewelry,” I know to panic. If I get a note that has a little “fwd:” in the subject, I pretty much delete it on the spot.
In the early first century, people wrote their letters with headings or greetings that were much like the header of an email. The book of Titus is a letter, and the first phrase of it identifies who is sending it.
Paul is a name that we know pretty well. He was originally a Jewish persecutor of the church, was saved after an astounding encounter with the risen Lord Jesus, and is responsible for writing 13 of our New Testament books. Paul traveled the world preaching the good news of Jesus Christ to first Jews and then to mainly gentiles, non-Jewish people.
Paul identifies himself with two interesting phrases. First, Paul calls himself a servant of God. The Greek word here translated servant is a word that literally means slave. Paul knew himself to be a slave of God. God had bought Paul out of his sin and made Paul his own possession. Like a slave, Paul was completely under the authority of god. If God said to Paul, “Go here,” Paul went there. If God told Paul, “Say this,” Paul said it. Paul was under God’s authority, and it was his job to fully obey.
Paul also calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ. Literally an apostle is a person who is sent out with the authority of the sender. Not only was Paul under God’s authority, he was also given a mission by Jesus Christ. Jesus both commanded and authorized Paul to go into the world and make disciples.
So, in this first phrase, we see that Paul is both under the authority of God and sent out on mission with the authority of God. Paul is both a slave and an apostle.
How do you respond to authority? Does it bother you to have someone in charge of you? Does it chafe at you to know that you are not the master of your fate and the captain of your soul? It did not seem to bother Paul, and it ought not bother you or me.
Paul called himself God’s slave. Guess what? We are too. You were created by God, which means he has full ownership of you. If you are God’s child, saved by Jesus’ blood, you have been bought by God.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
The price paid for souls was infinitely high. However, if you are a Christian, God paid that price to himself, by himself, in Christ.
If we are slaves of God, we are under his authority. We are to obey his commands. If God tells us in his word to do something, we are to do it. If God tells us in his word to avoid something, we are to avoid it. If God tells us in his word to believe something, we are to believe it. If God tells us in his word to feel a certain way, we are to battle our emotions until they do exactly what God said.
Paul was also sent out by God on a mission with authority. While we do not have the authority that Paul had to write holy Scripture, we are sent out by God on a mission with authority too.
Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus has all authority. He sends his children out with his authority to make the people of the world into his followers.
Grasp this point: Submit to the authority of God. God is in charge. He is the Creator and master. Because God made you, he has the right to tell you what to do. Give into that and follow his authority. If you are not yet a child of God, give into God’s authority by turning from your sin and turning to Jesus Christ. If you are a child of God, you submit to God’s authority by going out, in God’s authority, and calling people to him.
Pastor Travis Peterson 