Titus 1 - Steve Bjerking

Devotional

Day 1: Truth’s Anchor in God’s Promise

Paul calls himself “a servant of God” while addressing Titus, using the Greek term for the lowest slave. He anchors Titus’ mission to Crete in God’s eternal promise: the One who cannot lie guarantees hope through truth. Paul’s credentials rest not in personal authority but in stewardship of divine revelation. [19:04]

Truth transforms. Just as Cretan culture thrived on deceit, many today chase shifting narratives. But God’s unchanging word produces godliness—not moral striving, but heart-deep renewal. Jesus, the Truth Himself, reshapes rebels into faithful stewards when His word takes root.

Where have you compromised truth for comfort? Write down one area where cultural lies pressure you to bend. Read Titus 1:2 aloud: “God…cannot lie.” How might clinging to this verse steady you today?

“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness—in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.”
(Titus 1:1-2, CSB)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to expose one lie you’ve tolerated and replace it with His unshakable truth.
Challenge: Write Titus 1:2 on a card. Place it where you’ll see it hourly today.

Day 2: Stewards, Not Owners

Titus appoints elders who manage God’s household, not their own. Their qualifications—blamelessness, self-control, fidelity—contrast starkly with Crete’s “lazy gluttons.” These leaders must rebuke error while modeling servanthood, remembering the church belongs to Christ alone. [30:10]

Ownership breeds abuse; stewardship fuels humility. Jesus washed feet while bearing all authority. Similarly, elders lead best when grounded in their identity as undershepherds. Every act of service echoes Paul’s lowly title: “servant,” not master.

Identify one relationship or responsibility where you’ve acted like an owner rather than a steward. What practical step could shift your posture today?

“An elder must be blameless…not arrogant, not quick-tempered, not a drunkard, not a bully, not greedy for money, but hospitable, loving what is good, self-controlled, righteous, holy, disciplined.”
(Titus 1:7-8, CSB)

Prayer: Confess any area where you’ve lorded over others. Ask for grace to lead like Jesus.
Challenge: Text one leader you know, thanking them for a specific act of Christlike service.

Day 3: Sharp Rebukes, Tender Hearts

Paul orders Titus to “rebuke them sharply” when Cretan false teachers corrupt households. This isn’t harshness but surgery—removing gangrenous lies to save the body. Truth spoken in love protects; silence enables destruction. [45:06]

God’s jealousy for His church demands confrontation. Like a surgeon excising cancer, Titus must remove what harms spiritual life. Yet the goal remains restoration: “that they may be sound in the faith.”

When has a loving rebuke steadied your walk with Christ? Who in your circle needs courageous truth spoken—not to shame, but to heal?

“For there are many rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception…They must be silenced…Rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith.”
(Titus 1:10-13, CSB)

Prayer: Ask for boldness to address error and humility to receive correction.
Challenge: Write one sentence affirming a biblical truth to counter a specific lie you’ve heard this week.

Day 4: The Shepherd’s Scars

Ezekiel 34 exposes false shepherds who exploit sheep while God vows: “I myself will search for my flock.” Centuries later, Jesus—the wounded Shepherd—fulfills this, buying the church with His blood. Cretan leaders now guard what cost Him everything. [17:27]

Every elder’s authority flows from Christ’s sacrifice. When leaders grasp this, control gives way to awe. The church isn’t a project to manage but a bride to present—spotless because He made her so.

Where do you struggle to trust Christ’s leadership over His church? How might viewing your local church as His treasured possession change your prayers?

“I will rescue my flock…I will shepherd them…I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, and strengthen the weak.”
(Ezekiel 34:12-16, CSB)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for His sacrificial care. Intercede for one church leader by name.
Challenge: Memorize Ezekiel 34:15. Whisper it when anxious about the church’s future.

Day 5: Sent to the Rebellious

Paul reminds Titus: Preaching isn’t optional. Cretans—liars by reputation—need God’s word to pierce their chaos. The same power that raised Christ transforms even the hardest hearts when truth is proclaimed. [15:52]

Rebellion thrives where truth is muted. Yet Romans 10 declares salvation comes through hearing. Every sermon, every shared verse, every testimony carries resurrection power—not because of the messenger, but the Message.

When did someone’s faithful proclamation alter your life? Who in your orbit needs to hear Christ’s offer of pure grace?

“How can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher?…How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
(Romans 10:14-15, CSB)

Prayer: Ask God to make you a bold herald of His gospel this week.
Challenge: Share one verse about Christ’s salvation with someone before sunset today.

Sermon Summary

Paul writes to Titus on Crete to bring order to chaos, not by clever tactics but by God’s own method. The text says God has revealed his word by preaching, and that is how faith is born and churches are formed. Paul ties the whole project to one clear chain: the knowledge of the truth leads to godliness, and godliness yields hope in eternal life, and that hope is rock solid because God cannot lie. So the task before Titus is to strengthen truth, because truth, rightly preached, does the work.

Acts shows the same pattern. Gospel preaching awakens people, salvations gather into churches, and churches demand oversight. Paul’s answer is subshepherds. Elders are appointed in every town, not to own the flock but to steward what Christ purchased with his own blood. Stewardship keeps the hands open and the heart low. Ownership grabs, lords, and finally harms. Peter says, do not lord it over those entrusted. Paul says, guard the flock the Spirit made you overseers of. God says the church is his.

Titus 1 then sets out what kind of men can carry that load. The list can be seen in three buckets. First, a man must manage his own household. If his home is unmanaged, his heart is likely unmanaged, and the church will feel it. Second, power problems must be absent. Arrogance, hot temper, excess, bullying, and greed are flesh, and flesh is hostile to God. That is where spiritual abuse is born. Third, godly character must be present. Hospitality, love of what is good, sensibility, righteousness, holiness, and self control are fruits of walking by the Spirit, not feats of self improvement. Those who hold fast to the faithful word will both encourage with sound teaching and refute those who contradict it.

Crete needs that refuting. False teachers, including the circumcision party, are empty talkers working for gain. Paul quotes their own proverb about Cretans and says, it is true. His remedy is not politeness that pads the fall but a sharp rebuke so that people may be sound in the faith. A godly rebuke is an act of love when it aims at health, not control, and when it stands on the word, not on ego.

Finally, the contrast lands in the heart. To the pure, everything is pure. To the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Purity is not rule keeping; it is a heart made clean by Christ. Traditions that add to Christ’s work only defile and can even nullify the word. Paul chooses to know nothing except Christ crucified. That simple gospel saves, and that same gospel keeps a church healthy when overseers steward it, preach it, and guard it.

Key Takeaways

1. Truth births godliness through preaching [19:04] God ties knowledge of the truth to godliness, and he spreads that truth by preaching. When the word is preached without polish or compromise, the Spirit plants it and it bears fruit. Hope in eternal life flows from that work because God cannot lie. Techniques shift people; truth transforms them. [19:04]
2. Overseers steward, never own [29:04] Elders are subshepherds of God’s household, entrusted with what belongs to Christ. Stewardship serves from beneath and refuses to lord it over those entrusted. Ownership grasps, controls, and finally harms the very flock Christ bought with his blood. Fear of God keeps hands open and hearts low. [29:04]
3. Godly rebuke heals, not harms [44:00] Sharp rebuke can be love when it aims to make people sound in the faith. Silence of false teaching protects households from ruin, while soft-pedaled correction can leave cancer in the body. The manner matters, but so does the edge when souls are at stake. Offense often exposes what God wants to heal. [44:00]
4. Pure hearts outlast religious add-ons [51:02] To the pure, everything is pure because Christ cleanses the heart; to the defiled, nothing is clean no matter how many rules they keep. Traditions that add to Jesus only re-yoke the soul and drain the gospel of its power. Christ crucified is enough to save and enough to keep a church clean. Simplicity here is strength, not lack. [51:02]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[16:00] - Why Titus, the third pastoral letter
[384:00] - Where and what is Crete
[531:00] - The Cretan proverb and its truth
[618:00] - Who is Titus, the man for chaos
[778:00] - Pattern of preaching and appointing elders
[926:00] - God’s heart and the necessity of preaching
[1144:00] - Truth that leads to godliness and hope
[1272:00] - The overseer’s primary job is truth
[1379:00] - Do not polish or dilute God’s word
[1744:00] - Overseers are stewards, not owners
[1908:00] - Servant leadership vs lording it over
[2105:00] - Elder qualifications in three buckets
[2408:00] - Rebuke as love that makes sound
[2640:00] - Silence false teachers; rebuke sharply
[3037:00] - To the pure, all things are pure
[3258:00] - Christ crucified and the simple call

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Titus 1:1-16 (ESV)
[Full passage quoted in sermon; key focus on qualifications for elders, rebuking false teachers, and purity of heart]

Observation Questions

According to Titus 1:5-9, what three categories of qualifications does Paul emphasize for elders? (Household management, absence of power issues, presence of godly character)
In Ezekiel 34:1-10 (referenced in the sermon), how does God describe His attitude toward shepherds who harm His flock? [30:43]
Acts 20:28 warns overseers to "care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood." What does this imply about the role of church leaders? [33:27]

Interpretation Questions

Why does Paul tie "knowledge of the truth" directly to "godliness" in Titus 1:1-2? How does truth transform believers differently than human effort?
How does the distinction between stewardship and ownership (Titus 1:7) guard against spiritual abuse in leadership? [29:39]
The sermon states, "A godly rebuke is an act of love when it aims at health, not control." How does Titus 1:10-14 balance sharp correction with genuine care for the church?
Paul quotes a Cretan proverb calling his audience "liars" (Titus 1:12-13). Why would he use their cultural reputation to emphasize the need for purity in Christ?

Application Questions

The sermon highlights that "unmanaged homes reveal unmanaged hearts" for leaders. What practical steps could someone take to cultivate order and godliness in their household? [35:33]
Power issues like arrogance or greed are called "flesh hostile to God." Are there areas in your life where you’re tempted to control rather than serve others? How might this affect relationships? [35:57]
How have you experienced or witnessed a "godly rebuke" that led to healing? What made it effective (or harmful) in your situation? [40:32]
The sermon warns against traditions that "add to Christ’s work" and defile faith. Are there rules or habits you’ve treated as essential to salvation that might actually dilute the gospel’s simplicity? [50:16]
"To the pure, all things are pure" (Titus 1:15). How could a renewed focus on Christ’s cleansing work free you from religious guilt or rule-based living?

Sermon Clips

God can't do anything, can he? He cannot lie. By nature, God cannot lie. It's right there. And so the hope that we have in eternal life is guaranteed because God's promised it. That's the amazing thing about God's promises, is they're guaranteed. It's different to I hope that today's gonna be sunny, as the example I always use, or tomorrow's gonna be sunny. We know it's not. [00:19:34] (21 seconds)

We all die. We all go before God. And the only thing that separates the sheep from the goats is that truth that lives within us by the Holy Spirit. It's not how good we've lived our lives. It's whether or not we have the Holy Spirit. Does that make sense? How important is it to strength to strengthen the truth, and the fruit will be always always the fruit will be godliness in the saints. [00:23:13] (26 seconds)

The point is purity is not about the things that we do. It's actually about the condition of the heart. Yeah. As you come to love God, all of a sudden, you're no longer thinking about gotta do this, can't do that, can't eat that. All the religiously stuff, all the rules and conditions and laws and condemnation drop off. You actually get yourself a pure heart because the lord refreshes it. He renews it. That's his promise. I will give you a clean heart. [00:50:58] (29 seconds)

There comes a time when we need to rebuke sharply, and we see this right through scripture. We even see that with a correction in first Corinthians where they had to expel someone so that they would actually repent, and it was successful. In the next book, you could see they repented. But Paul literally said, hand him over to the hands of Satan [00:46:45] (18 seconds)

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

What qualifications define a blameless elder?

Why must overseers be stewards not owners?

When should leaders rebuke sharply rather than gently?