Study Twelve
A Few Thoughts from the Book of Titus
The Spiritual Maintenance of the Christian Life
Titus 3:8
Many things require a regular maintenance program.
It is important to keep the product operating properly and
efficiently. For example, it is important to keep the oil
changed in your car on a regular basis. Most manufacturers
recommend changing the oil every 3,000 miles or every
three months. Changing the oil in your car is part of
maintaining a car. It is essential for the life and longevity of
your engine.
Now, in some cases, you may need more than
maintenance. I read about a wife that said to her husband
one day, “Honey, there’s trouble with the car. It has water
in the carburetor.” The husband, knowing that his wife
knew nothing about cars, said, “Water in the carburetor?
That’s ridiculous.” His wife replied, “I’m telling you, the car
has water in the carburetor.” The husband said, “Honey,
you don’t even know what a carburetor is, but I will check
it out. Where’s the car?” The wife answered, “It’s in the
pool.”
What is true for our cars and other products is also
true for the Christian life. The Christian life needs
maintenance if it is to stay healthy and effective. As we look
at Titus 3:8, Paul speaks to us about maintaining our
Christian life.
As we have looked at chapter 3, we have been
reminded of certain things that we are to remember. The
chapter begins with the words, “Put them in mind” (3:1).
The chapter highlights certain things that we are to keep in
mind, certain things we are always to remember.
In verses 1-2, we saw that we are to be mindful of the
life we show for Christ. As we live in this world, our
behavior is to be such that we bear witness for Christ. We
must ever be mindful that we are God’s billboards in this
world and that the Christian is the only Bible some people
will ever read.
Then in verses 3-7, we are to be mindful of the life we
share in Christ. We are to remember what we used to be,
the change God brought into our life, and the cause of that
change. We are never to lose sight of our salvation and
never forget the grace of God that made it all possible.
In verse 8, Paul sums up all he has said about the things
we are to keep in mind. Twice in verse 8, he speaks of
“these things.” The things that he is referring to are the
things he has instructed us to keep in mind in verses 1-7.
Verse 8 tells us how to view these things and our response
to them. I like to think of it as giving us a spiritual
maintenance program for the Christian life.
A Few Thoughts from the Word by Ken Trivette
www.kentrivette.org
First, maintenance of the Christian life involves:
WHAT WE ARE TO CONSIDER CONSTANTLY
Paul says, “This is a faithful saying, and these things I
will that thou affirm constantly.” Once again, Paul speaks of
how these things must be “put in mind” or remembered
constantly. In these words, we see:
A Pastoral Reminder
Paul’s charge to Titus was that the things he had
spoken of, he was to “affirm constantly” or remind the
people on a consistent and regular basis and make firm in
their life. As a pastor and preacher, he was to constantly be
reminding the people of their spiritual responsibilities and
their spiritual relationships.
As a preacher, Paul’s instruction to Titus speaks to me
of a need for truth (doctrine) to be presented clearly. I
think about a plumber that wrote a government agency to
ask about using hydrochloric acid to clean out water pipes.
He received a letter that said, “The efficacy of hydrochloric
acid is indisputable, but the corrosive residue is
incompatible with metallic permanence.” The plumber
replied, hoping that the government agency agreed that it
was useful to use hydrochloric acid, but he was not quite
sure that was what they meant since he did not understand
exactly what they were saying. He then received a letter
that said, “Don’t use hydrochloric acid to clean pipes. It eats
the devil out of pipes.”
Now, that is clear. I have heard some preachers who,
when they were finished, I had to get a dictionary to
interpret what they said. When it comes to preaching,
people ought to be able to understand what a preacher is
saying. Keeping it simple and clear ought to be the aim of
all preaching.
I also believe there is a need for truth (doctrine) to be
presented completely. The whole counsel of God should be
preached. The whole Bible should be believed, and the
whole Bible should be preached. Every word in the Bible is
inspired by God; therefore, it is the Word. Since it is the
Word of God, it should be preached in its entirety.
Furthermore, there is a need for truth (doctrine) to be
presented continually. I have studied preaching and
preachers, and I have found that all great preachers had
certain subjects that were predominant in their preaching.
These subjects were not all they preached about, but they
were a constant theme in their preaching.
Paul was telling Titus to remind people all the time of
their walk and witness as a Christian in the world in which
they live. He told him to remind believers what they were
in the past and who they are in the present. These things
were to be constantly affirmed.
Also, notice that in these words, we see a:
A Personal Remembrance
Titus was to remind the people, and the people were
to remember. Titus was to put certain things in the
people’s minds, and the people were to keep these things
in their minds.
There was an hour when we came face to face with
God’s saving grace. By God’s grace, we have been saved. We
experienced a wonderful transformation in life. By that
grace, we have been brought into many wonderful
blessings. As believers, we should never lose sight of what
God has done for us but constantly remember these
glorious truths. Throughout the day, yea, all through our
life, we should always be mindful of what God has done for
us in and by grace.
The spiritual maintenance of our Christian life
involves things that we should consider constantly.
Furthermore, we see that the spiritual maintenance of the
Christian life involves:
WHAT WE ARE TO CONSIDER CAREFULLY
In verse 8, Paul adds, “that they which have believed in
God might be careful to maintain good works.” The word
“careful” is only used on this occasion in the Bible, and it
speaks of giving careful and serious thought to a matter. It
comes from a root word that is translated as
“understanding” in other places in the Bible. This root
word literally means “to rein in.” There are certain things
you are to rein in, that is, give careful thought to until there
is an understanding of these things.
In Paul’s words, we find two things that a Christian
should consider carefully. First, there is:
God’s Word
He speaks of those who have “believed in God.” To
believe in God refers to more than just someone who
believes in God for salvation. This is someone who trusts
and takes God at His Word. In Romans 4:3, the Bible says,
“Abraham believed God.” Abraham took God at His word.
If you are to keep a spiritually healthy life, God’s Word
must be taken seriously. Taking God’s Word seriously
involves more than just spending time reading the Bible. It
involves acting on what the Bible says. That is what is
meant by believing in God. God’s Word is to be considered
carefully. The Bible is God’s Word. First, settle that in your
A Few Thoughts from the Word by Ken Trivette
www.kentrivette.org
heart. Nail that down in your life. THE BIBLE IS GOD’S
WORD!
Secondly, therefore, what the Bible says is true. I once
read a sermon by Theodore Parker entitled “The Transient
and Permanent in Christianity.” Parker was a pastor in
Boston in the mid-1800s. He did not believe in the
supernaturalism of the Bible and Christianity. For example,
in his sermon, he said of the account of God commanding
Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice: “Matters have
come to such a pass that even now he is deemed an infidel,
if not by implication an atheist, whose reverence for the
Most High forbids him to believe that God commanded
Abraham to sacrifice his son, a thought at which the flesh
creeps with horror; to believe it solely on the authority of
an Oriental story, written down nobody knows when or by
whom, for what purpose; which may be a poem, but cannot
be the record of a fact, unless God is the author of confusion
and a lie.”
My response to Mr. Parker is that I am among the
crowd that would consider him, and those like him, to be
an infidel. A preacher who doubts and even denies what
the Bible says is, in my opinion, an infidel. And I would add
that the story of Abraham and Isaac is a record of fact and
not some poem that was written down by someone nobody
knows or why. It is God’s record of events, a record that is
absolutely and totally true.
Because the Bible is true, you can believe it. You should
believe it. You should take God at His Word, believe His
Word, and act upon His Word. As Jesus said, “Have faith in
God” (Mark 11:22). Believing God is something you should
consider carefully. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, “But
without faith it is impossible to please” God. The Bible also
says in Romans 14:23 that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
Faith, or believing God, is important. If the lack of faith is a
sin and if we cannot please God without faith, it is
especially important. Believing God and taking Him at His
Word is something we should consider carefully and come
to an understanding of its importance in our life.
Furthermore, we should consider carefully:
God’s Work
Paul speaks of maintaining “good works.” The words
“good works” come from a Greek word that literally means
“to stand in front of.” It was a word used for a shopkeeper
standing in front of his shop seeking to entice people to
come into his shop and buy his wares.
I have been to Cozumel, Mexico, on different occasions.
I love the area but hate walking through the town. At every
store, there is someone hollering at you and trying to get
you to come in and look around. You cannot enjoy just
walking down the street and enjoying the town for people
trying to get you to buy something. Once, I walked past a
jewelry store, and a man said to me, “Come in and buy
something pretty for your wife. Show her that you love
her.” I nodded my head “no.” As we walked down the
street, my wife looked at me, smiled, and said, “Don’t you
love me?”
As Christians, we are to be seeking to get others to
come to Christ. That is the work God has given every
Christian. This is a work that we are to consider carefully.
It is not something we should take lightly, but one that we
should think about and understand that it is a work God
has given us to do.
We do not have something to sell, but we do have
something to tell. That is our work. Rather, I should say
that it is God’s work, which God wants to do through us. It
is a work that we should consider carefully and understand
that it is a work that every Christian should be doing.
In closing, let me say just a word about:

WHAT WE ARE TO CONSIDER CONSTRUCTIVELY

Paul ends verse 8 by saying, “These things are good and

profitable unto men.” Once again, our witness and walk in
the world are on Paul’s mind. He is thinking about the
people around us and our impact on them. He speaks of
thinking about these things to advance our Christian
witness in the world, things that have a constructive value
in our life. Having spoken of the things we should put in
mind in verses 1-7, he now speaks of them as:

Honorable things

He speaks of the “good.” The word “good” speaks of

that which is honest or honorable. Living a consecrated life
is spiritually honest and honorable, good for both the
Christian and the world. It is good for the Christian in that
God is honored. It is good for the world in that it will
ultimately bring honor to God through the saving of souls.
He also speaks of:

Helpful Things

He not only describes them as “good” but also

“profitable to men.” The word “profitable” speaks of that
which is helpful. God’s great desire is to see all men saved.
The cry of the heart of God is for sinners to come to Him
and be saved. The sending of Jesus to be our Savior is the
great expression of His heart and love. As Christians, we
should consider the things Paul has described, and as they
become a part of our daily behavior, they are helpful and
profitable in God’s great desire being accomplished.
We that have been saved by God’s grace live in a world
that needs what we have experienced. Therefore, some
things should be considered constantly, carefully, and
constructively. By putting in mind these things, we develop
a spiritual maintenance program for the Christian life. We
keep our Christian lives effective and meaningful.

A Few Thoughts from the Word by Ken Trivette

www.kentrivette.org