UPRIGHT AND GODLY
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
TITUS 1 1-3; 2:11-15
Key Verse
“But when the kindness of God our Saviour and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit”.
Titus 3:4-5
INTRODUCTION
All human beings are under great pressure to live in a way that God does not approve of. Our enemy, the devil, has all kinds of tricks and temptations to make us do what we should not do, even though we know that doing certain actions carry risks that is not worth taking.
Our Lesson Study reminds us however that we have a friend in God the Father who so loved us that He sent His son to minister to us and make us free from the bondage of sin. God did that because He loved us. We could not help ourselves and so He took the initiative and acted on our behalf.
The Apostle Paul had to send his representative named Titus to the island of Crete in the Mediterranean to help set up churches, organize them properly, and appoint good leaders who would teach the members of the church how to live godly and upright lives. This was a very tough job but it had to be done. It was very necessary to send Titus for he was a tough, well-experienced and capable missionary who worked with the Apostle Paul for a long time. Paul could trust him to do the job well. The Cretans were descending from fore-parents who had established the sophisticated and famous Minoan civilization, but that had fallen apart and the people of the nation had become lazy, drunkards, lovers of excessive eaten, called gluttony, and were always liars, slipping from the heights the nation had reached before. Their reputation was bad. Titus would have a difficult time. So the Apostle Paul gave him a list of about 18 qualifications for elders or leaders in the new churches.
They had to be blameless morally, faithful to their wives, be able to bring up their children properly, not greedy or violent, not drunkard, not gluttonous, not liars but truth loving persons, hold firmly to the message of the Gospel, be able to teach sound doctrine, love people, be able to teach and convince the people in Crete of the love of God, and be able to convince them of the truth of the Bible.
From this list we know how people in the church today should live and the qualifications men should have before they are appointed as leaders in the church. God had taught the Apostle Paul how leaders should be. So, Paul taught Titus, and all of us, that if men did not live godly and upright lives they should not be leaders.
Many people do not like to hear this message from the School of God. Most people like to do what they want to do. In so doing they put themselves in the place of God. That makes no sense, and people behaving that way will face a difficult and painful judgment from God and they will regret what they had been doing.
So, follow the “good way”, live godly and upright lives, resist the temptations from Satan, and if something comes to you that does not look right talk to God and ask Him what to do. As a matter of fact, even if something looks right ask God if it is good anyway. Sometimes Satan gets very deceptive and tricky and it is not easy to tell what God likes from what He does not like.
That is the best way to live. Live depending on the Holy Spirit for teaching, guidance, security, and leading. UPRIGHT AND GODLY
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
TITUS 1 1-3; 2:11-15
Key Verse
“But when the kindness of God our Saviour and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit”.
Titus 3:4-5
INTRODUCTION
All human beings are under great pressure to live in a way that God does not approve of. Our enemy, the devil, has all kinds of tricks and temptations to make us do what we should not do, even though we know that doing certain actions carry risks that is not worth taking.
Our Lesson Study reminds us however that we have a friend in God the Father who so loved us that He sent His son to minister to us and make us free from the bondage of sin. God did that because He loved us. We could not help ourselves and so He took the initiative and acted on our behalf.
The Apostle Paul had to send his representative named Titus to the island of Crete in the Mediterranean to help set up churches, organize them properly, and appoint good leaders who would teach the members of the church how to live godly and upright lives. This was a very tough job but it had to be done. It was very necessary to send Titus for he was a tough, well-experienced and capable missionary who worked with the Apostle Paul for a long time. Paul could trust him to do the job well. The Cretans were descending from fore-parents who had established the sophisticated and famous Minoan civilization, but that had fallen apart and the people of the nation had become lazy, drunkards, lovers of excessive eaten, called gluttony, and were always liars, slipping from the heights the nation had reached before. Their reputation was bad. Titus would have a difficult time. So the Apostle Paul gave him a list of about 18 qualifications for elders or leaders in the new churches.
They had to be blameless morally, faithful to their wives, be able to bring up their children properly, not greedy or violent, not drunkard, not gluttonous, not liars but truth loving persons, hold firmly to the message of the Gospel, be able to teach sound doctrine, love people, be able to teach and convince the people in Crete of the love of God, and be able to convince them of the truth of the Bible.
From this list we know how people in the church today should live and the qualifications men should have before they are appointed as leaders in the church. God had taught the Apostle Paul how leaders should be. So, Paul taught Titus, and all of us, that if men did not live godly and upright lives they should not be leaders.
Many people do not like to hear this message from the School of God. Most people like to do what they want to do. In so doing they put themselves in the place of God. That makes no sense, and people behaving that way will face a difficult and painful judgment from God and they will regret what they had been doing.
So, follow the “good way”, live godly and upright lives, resist the temptations from Satan, and if something comes to you that does not look right talk to God and ask Him what to do. As a matter of fact, even if something looks right ask God if it is good anyway. Sometimes Satan gets very deceptive and tricky and it is not easy to tell what God likes from what He does not like.
That is the best way to live. Live depending on the Holy Spirit for teaching, guidance, security, and leading.