Jesus Gave Himself For Us Titus 2:14 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
According to Titus 2:14, Jesus gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity. But that’s not all. There are three other things in the verse for which he gave himself.
His primary desire, of course, is your salvation. The very name Jesus means, “He shall save his people from their sins,” Matt 1:21. He is the Saviour of the world. 1 Tim 2:5-6 says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” Have you been saved? If so, then you need to realize that there is more to your salvation than just being saved. Jesus gave himself for our purity, peculiarity and productivity, as well.
The trouble is that most people stop with salvation. They think, “Well, I’m saved, so that’s it. Now, I’ll enjoy the ride until I get to heaven.” But there’s more to it than that.
Equally important to Jesus are the other three things in the verse. And if these things aren’t present in your life then you have seriously short changed your Saviour. He redeemed you which indicates that he paid a price for you. You are bought with the precious blood of Jesus. The Lord not only gave himself for your soul but he also gave himself for your:
Purity – “and purify unto himself” – Christians who are looking for the return of the Lord Jesus [Tit 2:13] purify themselves [1 Jn 3:1-3]. Our lives must be clean and holy [2 Cor 7:1]. The Lord desires our vessels to be vessels of honor [2 Tim 2:21] “sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” That means that we need to get away from every defiling influence in our lives. Our mouths, eyes, heads and hearts must be clean. Our hands and our feet must be clean, though the Lord does not want a bunch of Pharisees, either. Today’s Christians are pretty filthy. Your hearts and minds are defiled with your music, movies, covetousness, and lasciviousness. Facebook is filthy. We had an account for about three weeks. I followed the connections and found vile behavior, words, dress and attitudes among God’s people. It was all self-centered and much of it was trash. Get in your Bibles folks and on your knees before your holy, righteous Savior and let him clean you up completely – that’s what he paid for!!!!!!
Peculiarity – “a peculiar people” – Jesus could easily say to this generation, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God,” Jas 4:4. Christians don’t stand out from the world anymore and that’s not because the world is so godly. It is because you are so ungodly. You said that you wanted to look like the world in order to reach the world for Christ. That is a bunk excuse. You look like the world because the devil has reached you for the world. The trouble is that you will not admit it. You fuss with the preacher when he stands with Christ and you say you won’t attend his church unless you can have everything your own way when you come there. You big baby; you spoiled brat. Jesus Christ was a peculiar person when he was here and he expects his children to be the same now that he is gone. Do you think God is going to fix up heaven to suit your tastes? Listen, He paid the price for you [1 Cor 6:19-20]. You got in on this for free. And so if he wants to change you into the likeness of Jesus and run your life the way he intends then that’s his choice NOT YOURS!!!!!!!
Productivity – “zealous of good works” – There is less and less good being done by the body of Christ these days than at any other time in history. We have about 1/10th the missionaries on the field today that we had 50 or 60 years ago and yet the world’s population grew by 2 and 2/3rds between 1950 and 2010. By now, the population has nearly tripled. And I’m wondering what in the world you are doing for Christ. What good works are you zealous for? When the Lord turned my life around I made a decision to follow the Lord in whatever he wanted to do in my life. And though we have met with numerous obstacles along the way and those who have tried to stop the work of the Lord in our lives, we are still at it. Do you even witness? Have you ever led a soul to Christ? Are you leading anyone in discipleship? Do you teach? Do you work in your church? Do you pray? The Lord said, “Without me ye can do nothing,” Jn 15:5. I have one question for you. If Jn 15:5 is true and you know that I know that it is, what in your life would stop if Christ stopped working in your life? Oh, brother, your silence is deafening. He paid for you to be zealous of good works and you are spending his ransom up on your self!!!!!!!
Conclusion: If you are saved, praise the Lord. But if that is all, then Jesus got about 25% of what he paid for. He also paid for you to be pure, peculiar and productive. Are all the areas of your life pure? Do you stand out in the world as peculiar? Are you productive for the Lord? If not, then you need to yield yourself to Jesus and let him have the rest of what he gave himself for.