Paul doesn’t seem to tire of certain subjects. We probably shouldn’t tire of them either. How Christians should behave is one of them. The plain facts of the gospel are another. He covers both of these again in this last chapter to Titus who is serving on the island of Crete.
Dave Keesee, pastor of Calvary Chapel in Crawfordsville, blessed us with this teaching today.
Acts 1.mp3 (Dave Keesee)
When I got to Horizon in San Diego in 1983 it seems to me like the perfect church. It’s still unclear, but it may have gone downhill from the moment I started attending. Honestly, we’re probably all aware by now that the perfect church doesn’t exist. Still the Bible does give us an idea of what we should shoot for – things we can do to make our own church better. As churches go, the one in Thessalonica was pretty good, so this chapter gives us a number of characteristics (I counted 14) that a model church ought to have.
My college friend threw a problem my way – something from his philosophy teacher. It’s called the Euthyphro Dilemma and it goes back at least to the time of Plato: Does God command something because it is good, or is it good because God commands it?
The solution is found in today’s passage: God is personal and so He has a certain character. That is, certain qualities are essential to the “nature” of God. His commands, then, are an expression of His nature. He is the ultimate good and His commands are always consistent with His character – or, who He is by nature. His commands are the faithful expression of these essential character traits.
Central Reflections 