Introduction.

After introducing himself Paul goes on to identify the recipient of this letter as Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. The deep Christian love Paul had for Titus is patently obvious in this verse. I am sure that Titus in his minds-eye could see a smile on Paul's face as he penned these words. By addressing Titus in this manner Paul emphasizes their unity in faith and therefore their unity in purpose and goal. Paul in this greeting assures Titus that they are fellow-workers seeking to please their Lord.

From this greeting to Titus by Paul I want to draw three points:

1. The unity of our common faith in the Lord ought to greatly encourage us.

1. You are identified as an individual by your name. There are about six and half billion people in the world but very, very few people will share your name. Titus was a popular Roman name that meant honourable. This was a very appropriate name for a man whom Paul trusted and used as a ‘troubleshooter' in a number of different congregations. It was Titus who took on the very delicate task of defusing and resolving the tense situation that developed between Paul and the church in Corinth. This role called for a godly man of great tact and forceful character. It is clear that he was a much stronger personality than Timothy and possessed good administrative skills. From the letter Paul writes to Titus it can be surmised that he accompanied Paul to Crete to plant a church. After Paul left, Titus was left to consolidate the work. Paul and Titus were fellow-labourers in the Gospel of Christ Jesus united by a common faith.
   
   
2. The fact that Titus was a Gentile Greek and Paul a Jew is significant. Believers are united by a common faith which supersedes the barriers of race and culture. Believers are God's elect. Believers are the chosen people of God. The Jews no longer have the Biblical right to claim that they are God's chosen people. They had this right under the Old Covenant, but as Hebrews 8:13 tells us the Old Covenant has been made obsolete by the New Covenant. God's chosen people are those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. Paul calls Titus a true son, a son not by natural generation, but by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 4:15 Paul tells us that he saw all who came to saving faith under his ministry as his children. Paul says, ‘For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.' He was the instrument of their new birth, and therefore claimed the relation of a father to them, and felt deep fatherly affection towards them. Paul's fatherly love for Titus was enhanced by the fact that he was also called by the Lord to the ministry. They shared in the privilege and responsibility of being servants of Christ who are to watch over God's elect.
   
   
3. Our common faith unites believers to one another in a way that no earthly civilization, institution or activity has or will ever accomplish. In the world we live in we are divided by race, culture, language, nationality, ethnicity, economic status, education level and gender. In a multi-cultural country like Australian there are barriers and divisions that restrict the degree of unity of the nation. In Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, but all are one, united to Christ. Listen to Paul emphasising the unity believers share in Ephesians 4:4-6, ‘There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.'  In the church all barriers that make distinctions and cause divisions are broken down and cast aside to give way for a unity that comes from being united to Christ, filled by the Spirit and loved by the Father. Our common faith binds us together for all eternity. As a believer you are united to all other believers in every part of the world. In a wonderfully mysterious way being united to Christ even breaks down the barrier of being strangers. Our common faith not only places an obligation to love one another, but also motives and moves us to extend love to brothers and sisters in Christ the moment we meet them. There is a genuine desire to have fellowship with them and share the goodness of God's grace. Our common faith enables us to feel and enjoy a oneness with other believers.
   
   
4. The power of our common faith to unite and provide a deep and profound sense of oneness ought to greatly encourage believers. Congregations will pass through times of trial which cause tensions to arise and the cracks of division begin to appear. In times like that it is essential to rejoice in the fact that we are united by a God given common faith. Titus was given the task of uniting the church in Crete through exercising his authority to end the inconsistency between what they believed and the way they behaved. This task would involve rebuking, admonishing and disciplining those whose lives contradicted the saving power of the Gospel of Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Consider the following example; ‘During World War II, Hitler commanded all religious groups to unite so that he could control them. Among the Brethren assemblies, half complied and half refused. Those who went along with the order had a much easier time. Those who did not, faced harsh persecution. In almost every family of those who resisted, someone died in a concentration camp.  When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they decided that the situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. For several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining his own heart in the light of Christ's commands. Then they came together.  Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, "What did you do then?" "We were just one," he replied. As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred. When love prevails among believers, especially in times of strong disagreement, it presents to the world an indisputable mark of a true follower of Jesus Christ.' The love that needs to be exercised only comes from being united by our common faith. In many ways the sense of our common faith has been lost as a uniting and encouraging aspect among believers.

2.  The unity of our common faith is cemented by the common blessings we receive.

1. The three great blessings of our common faith are: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.'  Grace, mercy and peace are received from the Lord and enjoyed by all who share our common faith. Every believer has first-hand experience of God's amazing grace, mercy and peace. Our common faith revolves around receiving grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
   
   
2. The blessing of receiving God's grace is amazing and overwhelming. All believers ought to be humbled by the fact that it was by grace that they were elected by God before the foundation of the world, by grace they have been saved, by grace they are made a sons of God, by grace they are kept, and by grace they will be with the Lord in glory forever. Biblical grace is the love of God in action. God's grace is supremely seen in God the Father sending God the Son to be our Saviour. The greatness of grace is seen in our wonderful salvation. Are love and grace synonymous? The word grace is stronger than love in that it strongly implies that those who receive it are unworthy. When we think of God's grace directed by his love we must enhance our thoughts by including the power of God. God's grace comes with his almighty power therefore it is effective and efficient in accomplishing its purpose. We should never think of grace apart from the power of God. Think of the results that grace produces. Grace works in those held captive by sin, death and the devil. Ephesians 2:1 speaks the truth of every believer when it says, ‘And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.' Listen to Ephesians 2:5, ‘even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).'  It is the power of God's grace worked by the Holy Spirit that releases you from the death grip of sin and unites you to Christ. Paul is thinking of the power of grace when in 2 Corinthians 5:7 he says, ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.'  It is by the power of God's grace that you are saved. The power of saving grace makes a man as willing to leave his lusts and sins as a slave is willing to leave his galley, or a prisoner his dungeon, or a thief his stocks or a beggar his rags, and follow Christ? Being saved means a life changed by the power of grace. Our common faith includes the blessing of being changed by the power of God's grace.
   
   
3. While God's grace is concerned about releasing the elect from the grip of sin, his mercy is concerned about the misery that sin inflicts. As an infection brings on a fever, so sin brings misery to all. God's mercy rescues or preserves us through the misery that comes in the wake of sin. Sin's misery can be a heavy burden of guilt, a heart broken and full of pain, a broken relationship, a deep sense of loss, an anxious mind, a fearful heart, or deep shame. The misery of sin strikes quickly and deeply in the souls of the elect. God's mercy comes to meet us in our misery and lead us into his ways. Listen to Sinclair Fergusson, ‘God has two sheepdogs: Goodness and Mercy. He sends them to us from his throne of grace; sometimes to bark at us, to badger us; sometimes to woo us by persuading us that his will is good and perfect for our lives.' It is God's mercy that leads us to repent of our sins. Mercy convinces us that God's way of relieving us from the misery of sin is the best and only way. We would like mercy to relieve misery the way taking paracetamol relieves pain. Mercy relieves the misery by guiding us to walk down the path of obedience, confession, restitution and reconciliation. If we refuse the way of mercy we extend our misery and begin to inflict our misery on others. God's mercy is concerned with relieving us from our misery by submitting to the Lord's wisdom. Our common faith ensures that we all know the working of God's mercy in our lives.
   
   
4. The third blessing of our common faith is the peace of God. Peace is a settled and right relationship with God that the Saviour has secured by making propitiation for our sins. We are no longer enemies of God, no longer waring against his sovereignty, and no longer living according to the flesh. We are at peace with God he has conquered and transformed us in Christ Jesus. While this is wonderful, we must not limit peace to a status, but go on to see the peace of God as active in our lives. Paul in Philippians 4:6-7 says, ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.' The peace of God is active in guarding your hearts. Matthew Henry describes the activity of the peace of God when he says, ‘The peace of God will keep you from sinning under our troubles and from sinking under them.'  It is vital that we grasp that biblical peace is not found in the absence of trouble, but in the presence of God who is with us in our troubles. There will be times when you confess your sin and seek forgiveness God's way that your troubles seem to increase. In such situations you need to trust God and leave the outcome in his loving hands. The presence of God with us is not affected by the external circumstance we find ourselves in. God's peace in us is not dependant on circumstances, but on us responding to life God's way. Titus in seeking to end the inconsistency in the witness of the church in Crete would probably find himself strongly criticised, challenged and rebuffed by saints who loved their ‘bosom sins'  and would resist  any call to leave them. When these trials came Titus would find peace in the fact that God was present with him and totally in control. ‘We sleep in peace in the arms of God' says Francois Fenelon ‘when we yield ourselves up to his providence.'  The peace of God in those who share the common faith ought to be highly valued. C. H. Spurgeon said, ‘If we lose inward peace, we lose more than a fortune can buy? I urge you to do all you can to maintain the peace of God in your heart, strive not to grieve the Holy Spirit. Our common faith has provided us with the amazing blessings of grace, mercy and peace.

3. The unity of our common faith has its source in God.

1. The source of the common faith and unity of believers is God. The church is not a human institution held together by the dynamics that are at work in a golf of footy club. The church belongs to God; he created it and brought it into being. The dynamic that supplies the unity is the mighty power of God. This must be the case as it is to his elect that he has given faith and granted the blessings of grace, mercy and peace and reconciled them to a new relationship with God as Father, Saviour and Comforter. Knowing the trials that Titus would face Paul points Titus to his relationship with the Father and the Son in order to strengthen and encourage him.
   
   
2. Titus is to be comforted by his sure and certain knowledge that God is his Father. Titus has been given the right to call God, ‘My heavenly Father' because he was born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13). Titus did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but he received the Spirit of adoption by whom he cried out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God' (Romans 8:15). Being made a child of God is not a cold legalistic thing. Titus ought to be filled with awe at God's grace he has received. Believers in 1 John 3:1 are exhorted to ‘Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!' Every time Titus prayed and called God ‘Father' he was to be reminded of God's great love and the security he had through the power of God at work in him. Our common faith brings every one of God's elect to the joy of knowing God as Father.
   
   
3. Paul goes on to urge Titus to remember that wonder of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ his Saviour. The Apostle brings to Titus' mind the greatness of Jesus by using the full title the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. Jesus is Lord and on the great day of judgement every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11) The full divinity of Jesus will be proclaimed by every person ever created by God. The title Christ is an affirmation of the fact the Jesus is the Messiah promised by God through the prophets. The name Jesus points to the work he came to accomplish, he has saved his people from their sins. By adding the phrase our Saviour, Paul is urging Titus to reflect often on the saving work of Jesus. The saving work of Jesus for believers confirms the fullness of the love of God extended to them from before the foundation of the world. Our common faith fills us with assurance of the commitment of God to us in the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
   
   
4. It is significant to note that in his letter to Titus Paul refers to the Saviour six times which is equal to the number of times he uses it in all his other letters in the New Testament. Why does Paul emphasise that Jesus is the Saviour so strongly in this epistle to Titus? I believe the answer lies in the fact that Titus was given the task of turning the church away from being self-centred to being Christ-centred. The chains and shackles of self-centredness are broken by the great truth of Christ's saving work applied by the Holy Spirit to the believer's heart. How can you continue to be self-centred when you grasp the depth of your sin and the poverty of your soul, and realise that the only reason you are not cast into hell is because Jesus has saved you. The truth that he has saved you will fill you with gratitude and reciprocal love for the Saviour. Titus must guard his own heart by remembering the Saviour and his work and constantly remind the self-centred saints of the Saviour so that their love for him would grow, their sense of indebtedness would increase and their appreciation of Christ's loving work would fill their heart and minds. Our common faith exalts the Saviour and promotes Christ-centred living.

Conclusion.

Examine yourself in all seriousness to determine if you are a partaker of this common faith and the wonderful blessings it brings to believers.