I was recently reading Titus 1:12-13. There it says:
Titus 1:12-13
“One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; ”
“One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; ”
Paul uses a saying of the time to describe the Cretans1, but this description does not include things they would take pride of: “always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies”. Paul does not, like somebody would expect, rebuke such a saying. In fact he did the opposite. He said that this saying is true and instructed Titus to rebuke the Cretans sharply that they may be sound in the faith. From this I extract that this description of the Cretans applied also to those from Crete that God had called. These people were not some noble, sincere, nice speaking people with great values. He called people who were liars, evil beasts and slow belies. These are the people who God went to, revealed His Son, and they accepted Him!
God’s love is really amazing. It is not because of the things that we did or we are that we are saved and members of the family of God, but it is because of His amazing grace and love! For either we are like the Cretans or we think we are a little bit “better”, for God there is no difference:
Romans 3:21-26
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested….even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus.
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested….even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus.
“There is no difference”, says the Word. “All [including you and me] have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. Yet God made a way out in Jesus Christ. Now whoever “BELIEVES in Jesus2” is justified! See also Romans 5:8-10:
Romans 5:8-10
“But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, having being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. ”
“But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, having being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. ”
God demonstrates His love towards us by giving His Son for us WHEN WE WERE STILL SINNERS. We were ENEMIES to Him, but He reconciled us to Himself by the death of his Son.
Don’t look with amazement to the filthiness of the Cretans. You can also look at me and yourself without Christ. Without Him we are nothing. HE made the difference! His sacrifice made the way. The only thing that is needed from us is to believe in Him. To believe in the Lord Jesus and in His resurrection. If you are reading this and you don’t yet believe in Christ and you think that you are OK because you may consider yourself a little bit (or a lot) better than those Cretans.. in God’s eyes you are NOT better. The Cretans wouldn’t be reconciled to God and they wouldn’t be justified, by becoming more honest, more sincere, but by believing in Christ and in His resurrection. He is the only solution. See what God says in His Word:
Romans 10:9
“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:11
“Whoever believes on him will not be ashamed. ”
“Whoever believes on him will not be ashamed. ”
I John 5:1
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”
It is believing that is required for salvation, not doing! It is believing, not understanding! Believing comes first and with it comes the whole gift package, including: salvation, justification, reconciliation with God, holy spirit, becoming son and daughter of God i.e. member of God’s family and others that “God has prepared for those who love Him” (I Corinthians 2:9). It is not works that are needed to achieve these. Christ did the work. What is needed now is believing in Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His resurrection from the dead. This is what those Cretans did and I hope that you have already done or you will also do the same.
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