How to be Good: Part 3 of 4

In case you just joined us . . .

I'm trying to figure out where 'being eager to do what is good' fits into our Christian lives, especially in the life of our local churches

Paul’s letter to Titus has a lot to say about doing good. In three short chapters, Paul pushes ‘doing good’ no less than eight times! (Ch 1:8, 1:16, 2:3, 2:7, 2:14, 3:1, 3:8, 3:14)

Paul ‘s focus here is not just on sound teaching (good doctrine) but on good living. He tells Titus to set an example to the younger men by ‘doing what is good’, that he must remind people to do what is good (here in 3:1 he is talking about being good citizens in our relationships outside the Christian community), and in 3:14 that we must learn to be good so that we can be productive and not a burden.

But a watershed moment is when you realise the difference between being good and doing good. Being good is a status that none of us can achieve without the death of Jesus to redeem us from sin. Nowhere does Paul ever tell us (in Titus or anywhere else) to ‘be good’. That would be a stab in the back to the gospel of grace. Two of the key verses in Titus (2:14 and 3:8) make that crystal clear.

However, Paul can’t bear to offer his gospel nugget without wrapping it up by saying we must therefore be ‘eager to do what is good’ and ‘to devote ourselves to doing good, for this is excellent and profitable.’

You don’t become a Christian because you are good, but once you’ve become a Christian, we are free to do good born out of grace, and we gobble up opportunities to make that happen.

Next time: How we (at St James) might be able to ‘do good’ in Kenilworth.

PS: I have no idea why Titus appears to missing half a finger btw . . .