Living Titus 3: Saved By Mercy, Proven By Fruit

We explore Titus 3 with a simple aim: let grace change our posture, our speech, and our public witness. From respecting authority to devoting ourselves to good works, we walk through how the gospel moves us from combat to compassion and from performance to Spirit-powered fruit.

• relating to authority without compromise
• speaking evil of no one in polarized spaces
• posture over position in hard conversations
• remembering “we once were” to grow humility
• regeneration by mercy, not by merit
• the Spirit’s renewal as power for change
• not saved by works but devoted to them
• fruit that serves others and points to Jesus
• vision of the church as a lighthouse for the community

“Be praying for this next generation…”

Transcript

Warm-Up: Strong Opinions And Banter

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Jeff Fuel Podcast, a series of Concord conversations. In each episode, our lead pastor and a guest will sit down and dive a little deeper into what we learned as a church that week. These are honest, practical conversations to fuel your faith and help you live it out with purpose and consistency. Or in other words, this is jet fuel for your soul.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Well, welcome back to the Jet Fuel Concords Podcast where we're fueling faith for everyday life, not just on Sundays.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Yes. But before we jump into our stuff, we had a question posed to us. And so we're like, oh, this could be fun to kind of open up this episode. So the question was what is one opinion that you feel very, very strongly about that maybe not everyone else cares about?

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Oh, well, see, that changed the game because I have strong opinions about everything. Yes, that's true. But strong opinions that no one else would care about. Okay. Uh I guess for me, and and I've even said this, I think, from the pulpit of how Christmas should not happen until after Thanksgiving. I am a pro Thanksgiving guy.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

You even, when we were packing advent boxes, we could not play Christmas music because it was before Thanksgiving, and you would not do it if we were playing Christmas decorations. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

I think I also walked out when we were doing the Christmas decor. Yeah, because we were playing Christmas music and you left. I told you guys. I told you, I'm not doing it. Christmas happens after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving needs its due. I don't know if you guys know this or not, but Thanksgiving is not a transition holiday. It's its own.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

No, I agree. I love Thanksgiving, but I also think it's fine to play Christmas musically.

SPEAKER_00 1:48

There's no room for that at all. It only happens after Thanksgiving. Well, what about you then?

SPEAKER_01 1:52

What is uh well, this is not a secret to anyone. We've talked about this a lot, but specifically for work, there should not be scheduled. I do not need to be scheduled for a meeting before 10 a.m. Well like if you want me to be any kind of productive in that meeting, it does not need to be scheduled before 10 a.m. I think that is the most ridiculous thing ever.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

It's not you we get so much done before 10 a.m. You don't participate in those meetings just too.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

I know. And when you schedule after 10 a.m., I'm like, yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Well, that was me in college. I scheduled all eight o'clock all through college. Absolutely. You're done by noon, no, ready to live your life, go work, go work out. Uh, but you probably took like 3:30 classes. Oh, yeah. The lab at 6 p.m. gross.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Yeah, and then I would stay up and work until like 1 a.m., which I kind of still do that.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

I don't I don't know in college if I saw many 1 a.m., if I'm honest. Yeah. But anyways, great question. And um, if you can tell, Aaron and I are extremely opinionated about some things, but and pretty opposite on some things as

Titus 3: Turning Toward Life Outside The Church

SPEAKER_00 3:01

well. Exact opposites on almost everything. I think that's why we work so well together. But uh, we are jumping into Titus uh chapter three, and it's incredible because we've watched Paul uh walk us through just this power-packed letter that really is all about hey, this is how the church works, this is how it should function, this is the kind of leadership, this is the kind of organization, this is how you should relate with others. But today we kind of switch course.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Yeah, and when he gets into Titus three, the last chapter of this book, it's all about, okay, how do, because it up up until now, it's kind of been how do we relate to people inside, like within the church walls, what does that look like? And now he does make a big transition to okay, how do we relate to people that are outside the church? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 3:51

And I think that's an important question, especially for everybody listening right now, because you know, it is important for us to understand the structure of the local church, why it's important, like why it's not just something you attend, but also discipleship relationships. That's beautifully important. Uh, but this last one, I think it's important because now, especially in our culture, with all the data and research that we have, with people coming back to church, I think there's a generation that is really looking for answers. They're looking for hope. They're looking for truth. And and we have a responsibility to live in such a way that one, we can answer those questions, but also we can develop, you know, good standing enough with them to uh bring them to a point of truth.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

And so, well, and if we're and if we as a staff, as pastors and staff here at Congress are going to encourage people to be putting yourselves in situations where you're gonna be talking to unbelievers so you can share the gospel, we need to talk about, okay, well, what does that look like? Because I don't know how many conversations I've had with people that are like, well, I don't, I don't really have any lost friends. Like I'm gonna have to actually put myself in situations or around lost people.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Yeah, yeah. And so I think so too, and in the way uh we're seeing and observing people communicate nowadays, a lot of times it's not happening like this. It's not happening with a uh, you know, a cup of coffee over a table or something like that. Everything's being exchanged uh in social media, in comment sections, uh, and it's just it gets uh aggressive and it gets one-sided and gets very blinded. And and I I think what Paul is driving us to here is you know, we're not trying to win the argument. We're not trying to, you know, beat people into submission, but we want to live in a way that reflects the gospel and our Savior Christ. And so uh this text is amazing. So I hope as you guys look at Titus three, you're gonna see uh some of these things. And so uh let's let's start out with um you know just this very first verse where it says, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities,

Respecting Authorities Without Compromising Faith

SPEAKER_00 5:58

to be obedient and ready uh for every good work. And so uh when you think about that, like for the for the person that's listening, um, how do you help them operate in that frame?

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Yeah, I think it's hard because when you read that verse, a lot of time, especially now, if you do that, you're going to be looking at people who share very different values from you. Like people who have been put in leadership maybe at your job, um, in the government, like whatever that looks like, people who have been put kind of in authority over you, a lot of times as believers, those people do not share the same values as we do. And so you have to figure out, okay, how do I what does the respect look like in a way where I'm not like I'm not being angry or disrespectful in those conversations, but also making sure I'm sticking to what I'm called to as a believer.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Well, Aaron, that's interesting too, because when you think about it, our natural inclination is to push back against authority, right? I mean, just within our culture and um just how we do things, you know, we really don't want anybody telling us what to do. We really don't want anybody in charge of us. We want to be the one in charge. And then, you know, we work on this submission to godly leadership. Well, now you've got uh government or uh non-believers who are put in positions of authority, and and for the believer, we really have to wrestle with that. Well, Romans 13 talks about being subject uh to governing authorities. You can read verses one through seven, and it it really lays out something that we're not seeing in our culture right now.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

Well, and even like as well, I mean we've had this conversation in student ministry, like students that are coming to faith and their parents are not believers. And but I mean, scripture still calls them, they need to honor their father and mother. And so walking through like, okay, what does that look like to have that relationship with them and do what you're called to do, but also live as a believer when they don't share those values?

SPEAKER_00 8:03

So, how do we, you know, push back on our natural bend or the things that's easier, the thing that we see modeled for us? How do we how do we operate in a world that doesn't share our Christian values in different aspects of life?

SPEAKER_01 8:20

I think one thing that you said that really stuck out was we have this inclination to push back on any kind of authority. And I think sometimes as believers, we can use the excuse that they do not share our values, that we get to push back on that authority. And I don't think that's necessarily the case. Like they God has still allowed them to be in authority over you. And so for me, it's really sticking being able to live out your faith in a real way without having to compromise. Because if that person's not asking you to compromise any of that, then you're still you're still called.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Then you're still called to follow them. Yeah. And so that's hard. I think it's important for our people too to stand on truth. And I think that's the hard thing that we get sometimes is our our people have this generalized way they think they should go, and it really needs to be from scripture. I think it was Tozer or St. Augustine. I think it's attributed to both of them, but they talked about, you know, just uh the truth is like a lion. You you have to just let it loose. It doesn't need defending. We just kind of stand on truth. And so uh I think it's important when we think about the political tension that we're feeling in culture right now. We're seeing cultural hostility towards one another, moral confusion on things that are black and white in scripture.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Well, and what's awesome, when you look at Titus III, that's exactly what was happening. Like Greek hated Christianity. Yeah, like they were against it. There was political tension where they were. And so this these things that Paul is speaking to in Titus III translate in an amazing way into the world that we're living in right now because you see that same stuff of pushback against Christianity. There's political tension

Speak Evil Of No One: Posture Over Position

SPEAKER_01 10:15

depending on where your values land, like all of these things, confusion about what is right, what's wrong, what's truth, what's not, like that is very real today.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Yeah. And I saw you made this note as as we prep for this, but you said the line that really gets you is speak evil of no one, show perfect courtesy towards all people. Why does that, you know, I mean, really kind of take a grappling hook to your heart? Why is it that that's the part that jumps out to you?

SPEAKER_01 10:42

It's I think it's because I have seen, and I and I mean I have fallen into this as well. Like when I see conversations happening, whether it's on social media or in person or whatever, I think people automatically go to hostility on both sides. Like I see believers going towards being angry or fearful of something that they don't understand and they don't know. And so they automatically like speak down to them or speak evil about them. Or and so I just think it's that's that is where I think the church has gone kind of astray, is because there's the reason why the world does not want to listen to us is because a lot of times is when they see us interacting, it is in anger. And it's it's in hostility and fear and confusion. And I don't think that's how we're called to have those conversations.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

Well, and for the true authentic born-again believer, I mean, we just have to be different. We have to live the way God has called us to live. And and that's very important to be gracious in our speech, um, to be looking at the big picture of what that is. And I love that it does say uh toward all people. It doesn't say some people, the people that every single person we interact with, not the people just at Concord or uh the people who vote like you, hey, left or right, or people agree, but it's literally speak evil of no one and show perfect courtesy. And I I think if if I'm not wrong, that that word in there is you know like what they would use for meekness or whatever um towards all people. And so um how does how does that move from a passive acknowledgement to an active habit as we engage and do life with people who aren't in the church?

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Yeah. That's tough because you we're never called to water down the truth, we're never called to not speak truth. Like we are called to do those things, and but we're also called to do those things in a loving way, not to show that we're accepting something that we know is against scripture, but in a way that like I mean, bottom line, everybody, every human being is made in the image of God. Right. The person that you hate, the person that you their values are weird, the person that does not vote like you, the person whose morals are completely opposite of yours, that person made in the image of God.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

And and so you would say, because this idea of humility is just kind of soaked and threaded through this verse, this this real genuine humility. So you would probably agree with the statement that you know our posture trumps our position.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Yeah, oh yeah. I 100% agree with that. Because I think the the most the most success that I have had in having conversations with unbelievers was coming into the conversation, not automatically making myself better than them. Yes. Because I don't know. I mean, we've talked about this lots of times. Like it myself, I am one mistake away from like complete ruin. Yeah,

Remembering “We Once Were”: Humility And Compassion

SPEAKER_01 14:10

and the only reason that that's not happening is by the grace of God. Well, and but a lot of times we get this kind of uppity, like, no, I'm I'm a believer, like I know what's truth, I know this. You don't let me speak down and tell you what this is.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

And Aaron, I it's so over uh over uh communicated, but underdone is this idea of living in humility. Like we believe it, we latch on to it, we want it, but we don't really do it a lot. I remember one time, this was years and years ago, and talking with uh a family that um, you know, wanted to come to church, wanted to do some things, and they were living in ways that that weren't honoring to God, weren't biblical. And I I remember as we sat down um with with this lady and you know, just assuming the posture of going, hey, tell me what I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 15:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

And it just changed the entire tune of the conversation to come in instead of going, hey, you're wrong, these are our standards, these are our rules, this is how things go.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Well, just the simple question of, hey, why do you believe that? Right. Or why do you think that is what's true? Because a lot of times when you ask those questions, if you have, if you're studying scripture and you're in the word and you're listening to what God is telling you, a lot of times when they say, Well, this is why I believe that, you're gonna be able to find the lie in there and be able to explain, well, let me tell you what Jesus says about what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Well, that's exactly how this conversation went. As I should say, hey, tell me what I don't know. Tell me what you believe, tell me why this is, help educate me. And then I was like, hey, as you've shared what you believe, can I tell you the principles that we stand on biblically and how that works? And so that's huge. But this does take an amazing turn when we get to Titus 3:3, um, because it doesn't tell believers just what to do, it reminds them of why. Uh it's a it's a perspective thing. It says, and I love these words, just like that other one hooked you. It was, for we ourselves were once. And then it goes through all these things, foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to passions and pleasures, passing the days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. And it literally says, for we ourselves were once. And so let me ask you this how easy is it to forget where what Jesus is saving?

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Like, I don't know how many times I have to go back. My first reaction, and this is this sounds terrible. My first reaction to when like someone comes like for a counseling or they like want to share something, my first reaction that I have to battle against is why would you why would you do that? Like, what made you think that was okay? What and I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Like let's just think back to the filth and the mess that God has brought you out of, Aaron, and how he continues to work in that. And you're gonna realize real quick, like, okay, I can see why maybe someone would fall into this and yeah, it's so, but it's so easy to be like, oh, like I'm a follower of Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Well, and I think for us, and I I kind of laugh when I say this, because you know, when you read scripture, we read in hindsight. And so we look at this and we're like, how did they miss this? The nation of Israel, how is how do you think that's the people? Hey, what you're literally walking and talking with them is your problem. And one of the things is when we look at the Pharisees, I mean, we look at them and go, oh man, you whitewash tombs and you're all about the show and not about the substance. And and I go, I think we can fall into that very, very easily because the grace of God has been so good in so many of our lives. And I know people listening to this right now, they they get that about their lives. Like God's grace has been so good in their life, yeah, but maybe they've lived in that grace so long that they forget.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Well, we've gotten stuck in this Christian superiority complex of like, no, I'm living the way that I'm supposed to. I'm doing the things that God has called me to do. You need to fix your life. Right. That's not how we go about those conversations humility, not superiority.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

Yeah. So for someone that's studying with us right now, they're listening, like, what is the advice you would give them when, you know, doing life with people who don't know Jesus? They're living in a way, they're they're slave to passion and pleasure, malice and envy, hated by others, hating one another. How do we develop a perspective of compassion rather than combat?

SPEAKER_01 18:54

For I think for me, it's being able to be honest in those conversations. Okay. And what I mean by that is not in a way that's going to glorify my sin or make it like a joke, but being honest enough with them to say, be able to say, like, hey, I can understand some of the things that you're struggling with because this is what God has brought me out of. And for me, when I do that in a conversation, it automatically leads to me having compassion for that person because I'm being reminded in the moment, God has done an incredible work in you. He continues to do an incredible work in you. That same thing can happen for the person that you're having a conversation with, and you need to kind of walk through this is what God has done in my life. This is what he continues to do. Like it just automatically leads to compassion for me when I am honest. Because I think a lot of times the turnoff for people, or at least for men that I talk to that are not believers, the turnoff is when they're they think they're talking to someone who has it all together all the time.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Well, and I think very practically, one of the things that I love about Concord, what I love about our church. Church is we hear this thing often is there's a genuineness. There's a transparency to go, hey, the the staff is not just a bunch of polished perfect people, but it's people that are growing in their sanctification. It's people that are maturing alongside of our church and going, if you're looking for a perfect pastor, me, not it. If you're looking for a perfect staff, not it. You're looking for perfect programs and going. I think that is one of the things that I love about Concord is our people do have a genuineness about them. They have an authenticity of going, hey, I'm a work in progress, but I'm not using that as an excuse to stay in my sin. I'm really trying to chase after maturity in Christ.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

One of the things I wrote down as I was walking through this and thinking through what Tyus 3 was saying, it says, and I wrote, hey, we don't engage the world as judges. We engage it as people that have been rescued by grace.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

And when you think in that mindset, it completely changes how you're going to have a conversation with someone that is walking through something tough.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Well, and I think that's what I want to encourage everybody to do today is let's change our approach when we engage with the world because we have to understand we were once like them. Yeah. And by the grace of God, we were changed by Christ. And so I think that just changes the way we view people, the way we value people, the way there's an urgency to share the gospel. And I think this just those few words of we ourselves once were is a huge thing. But I want to

Staff On The Mic: Meet Miles Hansen

SPEAKER_00 21:36

push pause. Yeah, so let's take a break. Uh because I want to give another staff on the mic moment. Just uh you guys getting to uh meet one of our teammates. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

Mr. Hansen. Howdy. Hello, sir. Um okay, so if you don't know what we do in this, you're the second one that we've done. So the first one was Abby, and she rocked it. So you have a little bit to live up to today. All right. Um, but no, this is just a time where I'm gonna ask you a few questions, get a chance for our congregation, our people to know you a little bit better, just get you from behind the pulpit and see, hey, who is Miles? And so, first of all, um, how long have you been on staff here? A little over two and a half years now. Okay, and then tell everyone what is your like official title?

SPEAKER_03 22:24

Student ministry director, which means what? I oversee our sixth through twelfth grade hooligans. So the discipleship, the evangelism, everything that entitles uh anything Sunday and Wednesday.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

So yeah, programming is mainly Sunday and Wednesday, right? Correct. Okay. And what were you doing before you came to Concord?

SPEAKER_03 22:45

So I was interning uh at my church in Oklahoma, even though I wasn't getting paid to do it. Um I loved my church. I knew I wanted to go into ministry, and so um the student pastor at that time was like, hey, I don't have an internship, I can't pay you, but I can have you shadow alongside me. So uh I got to go do campus ministry, meals with him, the planning, the visioning, staff meetings. He really allowed me to get that experience. Cool.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

And so you were interning in student ministry. Correct. Okay, so you were living in Oklahoma. How did you get to North Georgia?

SPEAKER_03 23:19

So uh through the grapevine, uh Pastor Clint and I actually came from the same church.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:25

So we actually didn't know each other. And it's it was a large church, but it wasn't like that mega church to where it's that big. No, I was a student from 2016, 2017, my senior year there.

SPEAKER_02 23:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

I left, I graduated, went off to college during that time when I was in college. Clint came to be the next gen pastor at Battle Creek, oversaw kids, pre-K students, college, young and all, everything like that for six different campuses. Uh and so by the time I graduated and came back for my internship, Clint had already come here to Concord. So, like missed each other on the windows, but I got to see everything that was done at Battle Creek from a student perspective to a volunteer and how much it was radically changed. And so through my internship, there were still connections. And so uh they sent me out for an interview here, and here I am.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

So I remember that day that you came for your first interview. Um, I picked you up. We ate at, I think we ate at we're creating Cleveland, yeah, at Creekside in Cleveland. And this is your first full-time ministry job, right? Script.

SPEAKER_03 24:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

So what are some things maybe like you don't have to go into like super detail, but what are like a couple quick things that you have learned stepping into moving from an internship, kind of just shadowing someone, watching how they do ministry, learning their mistakes, how what works, what doesn't. What are some things that you've learned since you've been here at Concord?

SPEAKER_03 24:46

I'd say in my first year, that was the really big challenge was I learned I'm under an amazing student pastor, and they saw incredible growth. And in my first year, if I'm being totally honest, I said, you know what? Let me try taking this very successful model uh and implementing it here at Concord. And that blew up in my face. It honestly did it did not work well. What I really learned in that year, uh, because honestly, I mean, you and I both know we didn't see a whole lot of growth in student ministry that year. Uh, what I really learned was that guy was teaching me, you can't try to copy someone else's who they are, uh, their ministry model, their leadership style. I've called you specifically to Concord for you to lead a ministry, which I'm specifically calling you to. And so it took some time that you and I have worked through with our midweek and our Sunday of trying new things and testing things new out. And through that, of which now leaning in on what God is calling me to do, we've seen uh some incredible stories. We've seen growth in student ministry, uh, and it's it's super exciting to see that.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

Yeah, especially, I mean, even last night, we're seeing we're beginning to now finally see students catch on to like, hey, someone brought me, I found Jesus, I'm gonna bring someone else, they found Jesus. And so we're starting to see kind of this replication process, which is very, very cool. Um, okay, so moving kind of away from serious, um, what are some things that maybe Concorde does not know about you? Like weird quirks or hobbies, like what do you do for fun? Like, what are some of those things just to kind of give give our people a glimpse into who Miles is away from the church? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

Um You were a runner in college. I was a runner in college. Um yeah, did that for two years at a junior college and graduated from University of Oklahoma. Uh, didn't do it at Oklahoma, but still like ran recreationally, like just like for exercise and enjoying it.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

I see you running down 129 without any reflective gear, by the way. You need to fix that.

SPEAKER_03 26:49

It's daylight, bright clothes. Yes, I am getting back into running. Um, you know, trying to get uh married in June. So trying to lose some weight. And so not that I'm like I'm over with it trying to get back to the back. Okay, so yeah, getting back into running and enjoying that. Um I'll occasionally go disc golfing. And so you and I have gone a couple times. We have our yearly outing that we go once a year. Um, but really, other than that, um, I love spending time with our students outside uh of typical ministry, Sunday, Wednesday. So going to their games, seeing the FCAs. And so um when I'm not doing running disc golf or spending it with my fiance, it is spending time outside of ministry hours uh at their schools.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

That's awesome. And so you met Caitlin here, right? Or like since you have moved here? Yes, since I moved to Georgia. Since you moved here. You did not know her before. Okay, yeah. And she is in medical school? She's in her first year of medical school. Yeah. That's tough. I yes, I'm that's gonna be you're gonna do great. Uh and you're getting married in June. June 13th. June 13th. Okay, congratulations. Thank you. Um, okay, last question for you. Okay. If you had to say or ask one thing to or from the people of Concord, what would you say?

SPEAKER_03 28:03

Um, be praying for this next

Regeneration Explained: Washed And Made New

SPEAKER_03 28:06

generation because uh as I've met with some parents in the past, the past couple weeks and working through some new things for student ministry. Um, kids are being introduced to um whether that be drugs, whether that is uh adult topics, whether that is things that most people think, oh, well, that's more of a high score, that's maybe a college thing. There are middle schoolers that are being introduced to these topics now that parents are navigating, students are navigating that I'm navigating. This is like a new like territory of student ministry that we're charting. And so uh my ask would be to pray for these students as they navigate this, because it's not like we can look in the past and say, hey, it was done this way, we can replicate it. Yeah, this is uncharted territory that we've got to look into, we've got to test two things. So for our people, for Concord, prayer would be number one of continuing just to seek that the Lord would do something in our students uh and that they would have just a fervent heart and adoration for scripture because you can't try to play the life as a Christian. Yeah, yeah. You have to be fully bought in. And I think like our students are beginning to see that there, there's no one foot in the world, there's no one foot in the church, and we're seeing more and more students that are like, okay, I recognize that. I'm fully committing my life to the Lord. But there's still a lot more out there that we're trying to get to understand that. Yeah. And so prayer for that, prayer for the parents, yeah, pray for myself and our beliefs. And so yeah, um, yeah. Uh and yeah, if if you have any talents that can contribute to the health of that, of the health of student ministry, I mean, I don't have picture perfect. Here is where you can serve. Yeah, I've got people that bring snacks to our leaders on Sunday. I've got a cooking crew, I've got everything under the sun. So if you've got a niche like, hey, I can do like home projects, yeah. Hey, let me know. I would love to use that. So cool.

SPEAKER_01 29:59

Well, thank you very much, Miles. I think you were doing a great job. I have seen, just like I told Abby, I've seen so much growth in you since you have been here. I'm excited about what God's gonna do. And I can't wait to just kind of watch and see what happens in your ministry over the next few years. So thanks, Miles. Thanks for having. All right, so let's jump back in. Titus three. You had a section that you really wanted to head on.

SPEAKER_00 30:23

Oh my goodness. I mean, I think this is possibly the greatest text on the doctrine of regeneration in scripture. I mean, it just verses four, five, six, and seven, I mean, just lay it out there. I mean, it literally starts, uh, you know, in verse three was we once were, but then verse four, but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us. Yeah. And it's just, I mean, you see those three words. God's goodness, his loving kindness appeared, and he saved us, but not because of our works.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

Yeah, not because of works done by us in righteousness. I think, and that's Paul's very clear. Like we were not saved by anything that we have done. And we cannot be saved by that.

SPEAKER_00 31:13

We can't earn it. I don't know, you know, I I know we're still growing in our relationship of our past, you know, we're we've got a great relationship now. Um, but you know, when I grew up in church, there was the um the statement that the church would say is uh you're saved by grace, yeah, um, through faith, uh, not by works, you know, the Ephesians 2 passage. But there was still a little in you that legalistic bend that wanted to prove yourself to God, that wanted to earn his love. And for me, early on, you know, praying that center's prayer wanted to keep God's love, that there was something I could do.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Well, I grew up in a free will Baptist home until middle school. And Free Will Baptists, I mean, you you will hear teaching in a free will Baptist church that you can lose your salvation. Right. And so there is this idea of like, well, I don't want to lose it, so I better better keep this checklist going. Salvation is somehow on. And you're always living in fear of like, have I done enough today where I don't lose it?

SPEAKER_00 32:16

And it's it's suffocating. Like, right. But he says

Not Saved By Works, Devoted To Good Works

SPEAKER_00 32:20

this it's not by works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. And then he has these two statements that were probably a little clunky to a lot of us because we don't use them uh regularly. It says, um, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. I mean, when you talk about being made new, going from a degenerate to regenerate, yeah, uh, you have moved from something that was broken and now something that is made new. Uh and then he talks about this um, you know, washing of regeneration, and that's where I think you get, you know, a symbol of baptism. Yeah. You know, it's a picture of what's happened inside. And then the renewal of the Holy Spirit says that he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ. That Holy Spirit poured out generously uh into our lives. And I just think it's a beautiful thing to go, you know, we were once, but now because of God's goodness, his loving kindness, his mercy, we've been saved, not because of what we've done, but because of what he's done. That's true. This is game-changing truth.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

It is what gets me though, with what he does, so he is very clear hey, we are not saved by good works at all. Nothing we have done, nothing we can do is going to save us his grace alone. But by the time he gets to verse eight, right, he makes the statement that we need to be careful to devote ourselves to good works. Oh man, this is where a bunch of people just pump the brakes on you. And I'm like, okay, wait a second. So he was saying we're not saved by good works, and then by verse eight, he's saying you need to be careful to devote yourself to these. So let me ask you. Okay, as a pastor, when you're teaching this passage, how do you reconcile the fact that Paul Paul says, hey, you are not saved by good works. And then in the same chapter, just a few verses later, hey, but you need to devote yourself to these. What how do you what do you say there?

SPEAKER_00 34:25

Well, I would say, first of all, that faith and good works can coexist. Okay. Um, but faith has to be uh preeminent, it has to be the priority because we are very clear in Scripture that Jesus saves us, that it is his grace, his mercy, his uh atoning death on the cross, the resurrection. Yeah, Romans, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. It's by what he's done. But because we've been made new, because we are now adopted into the family of God, our faith should work itself out in us. We should demonstrate to the people. There needs to be fruit that you can see of fruit. And and you know, frankly, within the church, uh, this is you know a little out of bounds too, where people were pumping the brakes just a second ago of going, where do we fruit inspectors? You know, I mean, uh, it's it's one of those things that our lives should produce fruit that benefits other people.

SPEAKER_01 35:23

Well, you hear like you hear this comment. I was like, you don't judge me, like you can't judge me. Okay, well, if you're claiming Christ and I am also claiming Christ, then I am called to hold you accountable to what you have been called to do. And so then that's hard.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

Well, and and this goes back to this idea of like, hey, is your faith authentic? Um, because if it is a religious experience, a behavior modification, some kind of moralism, it will break down. There will be a temptation, there will be something. The power comes from the Holy Spirit that's been poured out on us. And now we're created in Christ for good works. And he even goes on and says these things will be excellent and profitable for people. Now, I heard a guy say, and this is a little off topic, but I think we can tie

Fruit For Others: Witness In A Hostile Culture

SPEAKER_00 36:10

it in of going, you know, you look at the fruit of the spirit, the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, uh, you know, go down that. Um, fruit is not for the tree. Like the tree produces fruit, it doesn't eat its own fruit. That fruit is for other people to experience that love, that joy, that peace, that patience. So when we live out our faith and we're doing the good works that God has called us to do, it's profitable for the people that experience. And now we're thinking about people outside of the church that they experience a Christian who's bearing fruit, who's doing the things that God's done. It's a it's a very powerful testimony. Um, and so uh it's not just you know for the church, but for the community. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Well, I think when we when the church loves well, serves well, come on, does the things that we're called to do, it does change people's lives. Yeah, and I think the hard part is there's almost like this fear of it being a performance because well, because I've had a lot of convers like I know I have a lot of friends that are really good, moral people that do really good things for other people. Like they philanthropy, they yeah, they volunteer and they do all these things, but then when you get to the root of what why they are doing those things, if they're honest and we have that conversation, a lot of it comes back to it is to make myself feel better. And that is the root of what we're talking about because when that transition happens, when you start following Jesus, these good works that are flowing out of us and the love and the serving and all the things that we're called to no longer become, hey, this is meant to make me feel better. No, this is to make and help a dying, unbelieving world see the transformation that God has done in me, that all of a sudden I am just I can't help but do these things.

SPEAKER_00 38:09

Right. And I have this picture and I and I've shared it with you guys before, but just of Concord being a lighthouse, just a beacon of hope, that it's not somewhere that you have to shine yourself up and be pretty enough to come, but you bring your brokenness, you bring your hurt, and your your marriage is in trouble, your past uh is is is something that that you struggle with, that this is a place where there will be people that will embrace you, speak truth to you, um, show you Jesus, point you to Jesus, that we are planted in this community to be a light in the darkness and to point people to Jesus going, He is our hope. Yeah, he is our salvation. Well, let's do this. Let's land this time together. And um a couple of questions. You know, one that I just think of is is asking our people, how are you engaging people outside of the church? I mean, and that's something we all need to consider.

SPEAKER_01 38:59

Yeah, we need, I mean, we need to consider, and that I mean it is it's not a gray area, but you want to you want to engage people outside the church without compromising things that God has called you to do. Right. And so you just need to make sure, but like, yeah, asking yourself, hey, am I and how am I engaging people that are outside?

Lighthouse Vision And Final Reflection Questions

SPEAKER_00 39:22

Um I think is in, and then does grace shape my tone and posture? You know, approaching people with the I once was, yeah, but then God, yeah, right. Um, and our good works flowing naturally from the gratitude of our salvation. I think these are great places for people to really think. Yeah, I agree. Um, so well, uh I'll I'll tell you this. I've enjoyed Aaron discussing Titus chapter three with you. I'm glad you guys joined us today because uh it's always fun. And so we'll see you on the next episode of Jet Fuel.

Closing And Thanks

SPEAKER_00 39:51

Yeah, thanks, guys.