“The Faith of God’s Elect”
Titus 1:1-6
1)
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which
is after godliness;
2)
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie,
promised before the world began;
3)
But hath in due times manifested his word through
preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
4)
To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace,
mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
5)
For this cause left I thee in
6)
If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having
faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
Introduction
|
O |
ne
can take nothing personally, nor can one set expectations for others. If one
does, he is setting himself up for failure. The Only One Who
can be expected to perform is Jesus!
In salvation, all is done, “by faith,”
rather than through one’s “understanding.” One speaks in tongues “by faith,”
rather than by means of his understanding. One is saved “by baptism” through
faith!
Too many consider that operating
through faith is remaining as one is, yet being able to be blessed. The truth
of the matter is that we are granted “victory” through faith because we obey
the Word of the Lord! This, alone, signifies that we have been “changed.”
Main Thought
It seems as if many are very confused
when it comes to what “faith” reality is. It does not seem to mean that God is
to be believed for everything.
One of our greatest problems is that
we fail to put our confidence in what the Lord has already done. When we fail
to grasp this concept, we often feel as though it is our responsibility to
“make things happen” in our lives, and as we should know, try as we might, we
are destined to fail.
We must believe that what God says is
done, is done—and then, conduct ourselves accordingly. On the contrary, if we
insist upon using our sensory perception, we will never be able to receive the
things of God until they become human—and this will never be!
There exists a misunderstanding of
receiving things in the Spirit. It goes something like this: “Though I don’t
live saved every day, I can receive things (from God)
in the flesh.” Now, when one thinks about it, what would be God’s point in
doing this? All information that He gives is spiritual information. This being
the case, why would He give this precious information to one ill-equipped to do
anything with it?
Everyone, today, is looking for
“something.” What we, as the “people of God” fail to do is to show the World
that God is the One with that “something,” for we fail to act in faith, thereby
disallowing the manifestation.
The question that we must all answer
is whether we will receive from the Lord first—or must we first, “see?” People
will say that they believe that they are healed, yet conduct themselves as if
being ill. When we have really accepted something of the Lord, we will conduct
ourselves as that “thing” being done.
Our scriptures speak to us of “the
faith of God’s elect.” Are you elected by God? Indeed, He blesses according to
the “principle of election” which speaks to faith and action upon that faith.
One can say the he believes that God is able to “do” something, but if he is
unwilling to “put forth faith,” he will never grant God the “space” that He
needs to “work.”
The thing that stops most people is
that they are unable to look past their problems and focus on the solution to
those problems. “God’s business” (and that includes problem-solving) must
always be put before our own. Anything that we “do” is our “business,” so even
attempting to “handle” our own affairs qualifies as “our business.
Many things have contributed to Man’s
erroneous view of salvation. So many have professed to be “of God” while
exhibiting nothing of Him that sin is an accepted occurrence in most plans of
“salvation.” Evidently, many are convinced that a life without sin does not exist,
principally because they have tried living it through their human understanding
instead of through faith—and have failed miserably.
The first thing necessary for success
in salvation is that one must be lead by the Spirit in order to be a Son of God.
Even a “little sin” indicates that one is being lead by his flesh. If one
acknowledges the power of God in saving him, how could he not acknowledge that
that same power is able to keep him from sin?
We make a grave mistake in thinking
that because we don’t understand something that the Lord tells us, that it is
not true. By now, we know that the Word of God is not to be “understood,” but
rather, accepted. You see, in that the Word is a “guideline” for us to use in
receiving our blessings, in order for those blessings to be manifested, we must
do as the Word says.
Memorization of the Word has never
been enough. The Lord’s requirement upon our lives (those whom belong to Him)
is that we daily live by faith—and most are neither ready nor willing to “go
there.” In order to “go there,” one has to be willing to forsake “human
truth”—and for far too many of us, this is the only truth that we know.
As human beings, we are
“uncomfortable” outside of what we know, and this is exactly why we are
required to exercise faith in the Lord. Do you not think that God knew that Man
would have difficulty believing in that which is not “provable” through his
five senses? This is exactly why He gives of Himself; promises that He will
always keep His Word—it takes away our excuses.
If you crave human truth, you are
craving a “lost cause,” for from the beginning, humans have been liars. They
simply cannot help it. God’s Word is the only word that can be trusted,
consequently, that which is backed by God’s Word can be trusted, as well. Once
“the faith of God’s elect” really begins to be exercised, the rest of the world
will be convicted of this, as well.