Saved to Serve
We are saved to serve, not to sit back. The book of Titus was written to a companion of Paul, who Paul led to Christ and who became one of his ministry companions. He was willing to do whatever God called him to do, even the hard things. He delivered letters from Paul to the church in Corinth and ministered to the church there, helping them do what God called them to through Paul’s letters.[1] And the church of Corinth was one of the most notoriously difficult and sinful churches. Now Titus is ministering at Crete, which was just as difficult a place for different reasons. Among many things we see of Titus is, he didn’t sit back; he served. God calls us to do the same. That’s what we’re going to see throughout this series in Titus. How God calls us to serve in the church, in our families, and in the world because of the salvation we’ve been given in Him.
People of God grow in faith, knowledge, and hope.
Think of it like a three-legged stool. We have one of these in our house. If one of the legs is missing of weak, the stool tips over. You need all three together. Faith without knowledge is blind. Knowledge without hope is dead and cold. Hope without the other two is just wishful thinking or optimism. All three must work together. We see these three through Paul’s purpose—not just his purpose in writing this letter, but his purpose in life. He makes it clear in the opening of this letter. By the way, this letter was to Titus, but it was intended to be read aloud to the whole congregation. So, all would know Paul’s heart.
First, Paul’s purpose is propelled by his relationship with God. In verse 1, he calls himself both a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Think about this. The old Paul—the Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus—saw himself as a zealous servant of God. But in reality, he was an enemy of Jesus. He was dramatically saved by the Jesus he was persecuting, and then he became a true servant of God. The word used for servant is actually stronger—it’s slave.[2] We are slaves to God if we’ve been purchased by the blood of Jesus.
1 Peter 1:18-19 – “18 knowing that you were ransomed [released by paying a ransom][3] from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
1 Corinthians 6:19 – “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.”
If you are saved by Jesus, you are a slave to God. You have been bought at a price, and great was that price! You are not your own. His purposes now become your purposes.
The first purpose we see Paul speak of is regarding the faith of others. In verse 1, he says, “for the sake of the faith of God’s elect.” Who are God’s elect? They are those who believe in Jesus. Those who have faith in Jesus. Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9,
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
And that’s after he says in Ephesians 1:3-7,
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
Some people don’t like the word elect. But we can’t skip over it. It’s there in our Bible. We must believe the Bible. The word elect literally means “chosen.”[4] But the scriptures about it also show that the elect are to believe. They are saved by grace through faith.
Charles Spurgeon said this concerning the issue:
“He saves man by grace, and if men perish they perish justly by their own fault. “How,” says someone, “do you reconcile these two doctrines?” My dear brethren, I never reconcile two friends, never. These two doctrines are friends with one another; for they are both in God’s Word, and I shall not attempt to reconcile them. If you show me that they are enemies, then I will reconcile them.”[5]
We are saved by grace, and it is through faith. Our faith must lead somewhere. Our faith isn’t dead faith. Therefore, Paul is also devoted to growing these people of faith in “knowledge of the truth,” according to verse 1. Our faith isn’t fideism,[6] a blind, “just believe” faith. It is faith with answers. If our faith is rooted in truth, it must have answers. This is countercultural to Crete, where Titus is ministering. Crete is full of liars.[7] They are known for that. Their own poet, Epimenides, said so. Zeus, the god whom they claimed was born there, was a liar in their own stories. And Satan is “a liar and the father of lies.”[8]
But Paul contrasts the character of God against the whole culture, in verse 2, Paul says, “which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.” We should continually seek to grow in knowledge of the truth, because all truth is God’s truth, and because God has revealed Himself and His ways to us, and God never lies. It’s as Augustine said, “Let every good and true Christian understand, that wherever truth may be found, it belongs to his Master.”[9] How can we not stop growing in knowledge of God and His ways?
But what is it Paul is specifically banking the truthfulness of God on? It’s our future hope. It’s heaven. This is the third driving purpose of Paul—to proclaim the hope of heaven. In verse 2, he says, “in hope of eternal life…” God saves us and secures us not just now, but for all eternity. There’s hope in that! The hope of heaven fuels our living and our dying.
This is the Apostle Paul’s three great passions for which he is writing this letter to Titus—faith, knowledge, and hope—and He is seeking to instruct Titus and the church to right living regarding these matters.
A life flowing from salvation should be dedicated to sound doctrine and godly behavior.
If you have been saved, it should affect how you live. Paul uses the title “Savior” 12 times in the New Testament.[10] Do you know where half of those times are found? In Titus. We see it applied three times to the Father (1:3; 2:10; 3:4) and three times to Jesus (1:4; 2:13; 3:6). We see it here in verses 3 and 4 — “God our Savior” and “Christ Jesus our Savior.” All persons of the Trinity are actively involved in the salvation of sinners.[11]
Flowing out of salvation, we see Paul say in verse 4, “To Titus, my true child in a common faith.” This is where we see both the doctrine and behavior flow out of salvation. There is so much wrapped up in this one line.
Titus was Greek, not a Jew. But he became one of Paul’s converts and eventually accompanied Paul and became a trusted companion. What did Paul and Titus have in common? Just their shared faith. They both believed in Jesus. They have the same shared faith that is common to all Christians. What unites us isn’t a common heritage but a common faith. Where we see the doctrine leading to godly behavior in their history is when Judaizers came proclaiming that you had to be circumcised to become a Christian, and they were pressing Paul on this in Jerusalem,[12] unlike with Timothy in Lystra, Paul didn’t circumcise Titus.
Galatians 2:3–5: 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
If you are saved by grace through faith, and it’s not of yourselves but the gift of God, no outward sign can add to your salvation. They had to argue about this doctrine before they ever got the action right. Our doctrine can have painful consequences! Throughout this letter, Paul talks about “knowledge of the truth” (1:1), “the faithful word” (1:9), “sound doctrine” (1:9; 2:1; 2:7), “sound speech” (2:8), “the doctrine of God” (2:10), and “trustworthy statement” (3:8). Also he says those responsible should share the truth through “preaching,” “exhortation,” “rebuking,” “teaching,” “training,” “reminding,” and flowing from all of that…“good deeds.” (1:6; 2:7, 14; 3:1, 8, 14). I think it’s safe to say that sound doctrine is important to Paul.
What you believe determines how you live, and how you live demonstrates what you believe. You know what? Most people will never read our statement of faith. They will never ask you what you believe in detail. But they will watch how you treat people. They will watch how you treat your wife and your kids, how you act towards your coworkers, how you respond when you’re wronged. Godly behavior doesn’t save us. But godly behavior demonstrates the doctrine we say we believe. What does your life say you believe?
We see the need and we see what it flows out of. Salvationsound doctrinegodly behavior. Now let’s see some brief application for us.
What is your identity?
Paul is a slave and an apostle. That is his identity, and it drives everything he does.
Your identity should be hidden in Christ.[13] Paul says in Colossians 3:3,“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” If your identity is in anything other than Christ, you will be chasing fulfillment or validation. You won’t be living for His kingdom and His glory.[14]
Think of it like this: I have a book stamper with my name on it. It doesn’t matter if the book is new or used. It doesn’t matter if it is fresh off the press or if it has been previously owned by multiple users. Once I buy the book, I can put my stamp on that inside page. I make my mark. I identify that it belongs to me. It doesn’t matter who it used to belong to or what its previous purpose was. It has a new identity. It’s labeled. This book belongs to Jacob Haywood. And that identity fuels its purpose.
What is your purpose?
Paul’s is to be the means of people coming to faith, to strengthen their knowledge of the truth, and to establish them in their certain expectation of eternal life. That is his primary purpose for living. That’s God’s purpose for him.[15]
God has a magnificent general purpose for each Christian. It’s to glorify Him. That’s what each one of us were created for. But it specifically has to do with the gifts He has given you to glorify Him.[16] He has wired you and equipped you for a specific purpose. Are you living it out? Are you serving Him?
Think of a hammer. Many hammers have built many incredibly beautiful things. But a hammer has an intended purpose. It exists to be used in the builder’s hand. It doesn’t get to decide what the house will look like, but man has it built some beautiful houses in the maker’s hands!
At the end of your life, when you look back on your life, what do you most want to be known for? What do you most want to have accomplished? Are you living for that now? Are those purposes in line with God’s purposes?
What is your calling?
Paul’s calling is to proclaim the Word of God. You can see that in verse 3: “through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior.” What are you doing to fulfill your purpose? Whatever that is, that’s what you’re called to. And God equips you for what He calls you to. Notice that Paul didn’t invent his assignment on his own. He didn’t have a brainstorming session and come up with what he thought would be the best calling for his life. He was entrusted with it by the command of God his Savior.
Your calling is the purpose God has given you meeting the people God places in front of you. There are people God has placed in front of you right now that God has intended for you to live our your purpose and calling with.
To whom are you committed?
Paul was committed to Titus. Titus was committed to the church at Crete.
Who are you walking with through life? Who are you discipling? Will your purpose and calling disappear when you leave this earth, or will it be passed on to other people? If your faith stays private, it dies with you. Part of what it means to be a disciple is that you make other disciples. There shouldn’t be a single disciple of Jesus who isn’t discipling someone else. Who isn’t walking alongside someone else in life. Who is your Titus? If you don’t have one, who can be your Titus?
Ultimately all of this is possible because God is committed to us—to our salvation, our sanctification, and our glorification. We see all three in this passage today. That’s no more evident than at the cross. We are saved to serve Him. Jesus served us by saving us. He said in Matthew 20:28, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
[1] https://biblehub.com/topical/naves/t/titus--sent_to_corinth.htm; https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/four-letters-corinthians
[2] https://biblehub.com/greek/1401.htm
[3] https://biblehub.com/greek/3084.htm
[4] https://biblehub.com/greek/1588.htm
[5] https://sermonindex.net/speakers/ch-spurgeon/jacob-and-esau
[6] https://www.gotquestions.org/fideism.html
[7] Titus 1:12; https://www.gotquestions.org/all-Cretans-are-liars.html
[9] https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2025/10/all-truth-is-gods-truth
[10] Ephesians 5:23; Philippians 3:20; 1 Timothy 1:1; 2:3; 4:10; 2 Timothy 1:10; Titus 1:3, 4; 2:10, 13; 3:4, 6
[11] https://www.crossway.org/articles/the-work-of-the-trinity-in-salvation
[13] https://www.gotquestions.org/identity-in-Christ.html; https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/why-our-identity-in-christ-matters
