Godly Living Becomes the Philadelphia Faith
Without truth as his anchor, Man is a ship of ignorance drifting aimlessly on a sea of hurt. Until he is born again his contact with truth is coincidental, but once he receives Christ as his Savior, Man immediately reaps a bounty of joy and comfort because for the first time in his life he gets his bearings and can see a clear direction laid out before him. When the fog of life lifts he gets stability and he now knows, beyond any question, that there is right and wrong, true and false, good and evil black and white. At some point this man, anchored by a knowledge of truth’s existence and navigated by its clear direction, comes to know that truth and Jesus are synonymous, that Jesus is the embodiment of truth, that what Jesus says, feels, and does, is truth and nothing but the truth.
One sure way that today’s Philadelphia Church will manifest itself is in its unswerving love for the truth. In his letter to Philadelphia Jesus identifies himself as, “He that is true.” The Philadelphian can be sure that God’s sound doctrine, revealed in the Holy Scriptures, will provide the anchor needed to keep his mind from being swept away and drown by the swift and confusing current of humanism. If the Christian learns to ignore the changing tides of humanism and instead allows himself to be caught up by the free flow of the Scriptures he learns that sin is sin and righteousness is righteousness and never the twain shall meet. He comes to believe and understand that the ways of godliness and the fruits of the Spirit are opposite the ways of the world, the ways of the flesh, and the ways of the Devil. But these truths must be held onto ferociously.
Inevitably the spirit of compromise and ecumenical concession try to creep into our faith to persuade us that doctrine and steadfastness are stumbling blocks placed in the way of Christian peace and unity. The spirit of compromise tries to convince us that godly doctrine and insisting on sound living is the invention of short-sighted, self-righteous, self-appointed judges who epitomize everything bad about religion. Left unchecked, this spirit of compromise leads us to endorsing half truths and winking at sin. But the Philadelphia faithful will not give in to this spirit of compromise and humanism. Just as Jesus commended the original Philadelphians for keeping his word, so today’s faithful Philadelphian will keep Jesus’s word also.
The Philadelphian need never apologize for keeping sound doctrine. The book of Titus is a prime example of Christ’s belief in this. The words in Titus encourage us to have loyalty, allegiance and steadfastness concerning God’s Word not only in word but in deed also.
In his greeting to Titus Paul declares that he is an apostle according to the faith of God’s elect and, “the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness.” The rest of Paul’s letter to Titus is devoted to this truth in living which is after godliness. Paul tells Titus to ordain men, women, and youth who love “good doctrine”, “sound doctrine”, and “the doctrine of God our Savior”. Laziness, greediness, violent behavior, drunkenness, etc., all the usual uncomely actions, are roundly condemned as unsound doctrine. Husbands and wives with stable lives and living a godly existence are commended and encouraged.
Paul goes on to lay down the character that a shepherd of souls must have and concludes by saying that a shepherd should, “Hold(ing) fast the faithful word that he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.” He talks about the unruly and those who deceive and “that turn from the truth” and he says these are the people who “profess that they know God: but in works they deny him, being … unto every good work reprobate.”
Paul then reminds Titus to “speak the things which become sound doctrine.” He instructs Titus to exhort the men and women, old and young, to sound living and reinforces the teaching by saying, “In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity. Sound speech, that can not be condemned: that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.”
In short, the Philadelphian will be instructed by the same instruction delivered to Titus by the Holy Ghost. The Philadelphian will know what the Scriptures say, know what the Spirit has taught him about God’s word, and will keep the word of truth with steadfast loyalty in a way that would be the envy of any army or political party. Remember, Jesus is “He that is true”, and we should cling to his truth without shame or apology for living godly lives in Christ. •
- The Seduction - January 17, 2021
- The Science of Prophistory - January 17, 2021
- The Road To Philadelphia - January 17, 2021
