{"id":804,"date":"2013-02-07T12:27:15","date_gmt":"2013-02-07T12:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emailsfromdad.com\/wp\/2013\/02\/07\/christianity-isnt-about-what-we-must-do-but-what\/"},"modified":"2013-02-07T12:27:15","modified_gmt":"2013-02-07T12:27:15","slug":"christianity-isnt-about-what-we-must-do-but-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/emailsfromdad.com\/wp\/2013\/02\/07\/christianity-isnt-about-what-we-must-do-but-what\/","title":{"rendered":"Christianity Isn\u2019t About What We Must Do, But What We Ought To Do"},"content":{"rendered":"

Titus 1 \u2013 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

Titus is a short and sweet book which is very encouraging to read. There are not a bunch of doctrinal truths or discussions here, but rather an encouraging word to a close friend. He goes through \u201cqualification\u201d of various positions in the church. Verse 1:6 talks about the qualifications of elders:<\/p>\n

if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I believe this is something we should all strive for, not just for the position of \u201celder\u201d. After 22 years of being in a sometime volatile marriage, this is not easy to do. Dealing with your own problems is hard enough, but include those of another AND then add children in the mix, it amazes me more people don\u2019t take the simple road of divorce. \u201cDebauchery or insubordination\u201d is a byproduct often times of giving up on a marriage. Or often not releasing these behaviors cause the marriage to fester.<\/p>\n

Either way as simple as this may sound, it by no means is. What they are looking for in leaders is self-control and the ability to work with others. Also, the part about the children reflects good leadership. That is what is needed to lead others in their walk with Jesus, not just a charismatic personality. It\u2019s difficult to represent the word of God, when your family is a shambles. Not saying it can\u2019t be done, it just becomes a potential stumbling block for yourself and others.<\/p>\n

Verse 1:11 caught my eye, not because of what it was saying but in verse 10 the group is a \u201ccircumcision party.\u201d<\/p>\n

They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although this is the first time this has stood out to me, it\u2019s also in Acts and Galatians. I searched other version and did not find it although some searches has the group show up in Matthew also. By the name I assumed it was a group of Jewish Christians who are still bound by the law. It is a group that still focuses on the Law being a binding covenant with salvation in Christ Jesus. The problem with a legalistic society is we tend to gloat over our salvation while at the same time condemning others for their sin.<\/p>\n

We often are taught that Jesus fulfilled the law and made it harder. Take the story of the widow\u2019s mite, the rich guy gave his 10% where the widow gave all she had. The story was not to guilt us into giving everything, but to make us realize that although the Law is tough, it\u2019s just a guide and we will NEVER be able to really live to God\u2019s standard without the grace and love given by Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross.<\/p>\n

I am not going to pull select verses from chapter 2 and 3 since they are more a list of how we should act as Christians. But attributes like being \u201cself-controlled\u201d or not being \u201cslaves to much wine\u201d are points we should do some soul searching on. Read this chapter with a true introspective view into your own life and desires and see where you need to make changes. Once you have an idea, start on one \u201cvice\u201d a week and move quickly working towards using this as a checklist of things you need to follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Titus 1 \u2013 3 Titus is a short and sweet book which is very encouraging to read. There are not a bunch of doctrinal truths or discussions here, but rather an encouraging word to a close friend. He goes through \u201cqualification\u201d of various positions in the church. Verse 1:6 talks about the qualifications of elders: … Continue reading “Christianity Isn\u2019t About What We Must Do, But What We Ought To Do”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/emailsfromdad.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/emailsfromdad.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/emailsfromdad.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/emailsfromdad.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/emailsfromdad.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/emailsfromdad.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/emailsfromdad.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/emailsfromdad.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/emailsfromdad.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}