For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. (Colossians 1:19)

We like the Christmas season and we like to put our thoughts on the baby Jesus. So many aspects of the story appeal to us. We think of two relatively young people out among strangers and in great need. We think of the humble nature of their surroundings – no room in the inn – contrasted with the angelic glory of His birth announcement, even if it was heard only among a few shepherds. We think of the baby Jesus wrapped tight in fabric Mary probably brought with her all the way from Nazareth, knowing she would need it. We think of a little child on a starry night laid down to sleep in a feeding bin for animals.

All this is wonderful and true, yet it only scratches at the surface of the greatness of what God did on that night. The child sleeping in that manager was no mere man. God had humbled Himself to come not only in humanity, but in the full experience of humanity.

Theoretically, Jesus could have come to the earth as a 30-year-old man and began His public ministry immediately. After all, the first Adam came to the earth as an adult; perhaps the second Adam would also come that way. Yet it was good and right and important for the God to add humanity to His deity in a way that connected with the full experience of humanity, including the helplessness and dependence of a baby.

Yet make no mistake; Colossians 1:19 is just as true about the baby Jesus in the manger as it was true about the man Jesus on the cross: it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.

It is a broad statement – combining the two mighty words all and fullness. Put those two words together and you mean everything. There is nothing left out from the all and from the fullness, and these two words tell us that in Him– that is, in Jesus Christ – there is all of what makes God really God.

There was a definite idea behind the ancient Greek word Paul selected, the one we translate fullness. The ancient Greek word was pleroma, and it was a recognized technical term in the theological vocabulary of the ancient world, describing the total package of Divine powers and attributes. Paul took all that was implied in that one word and said, “All of this fullness – all of this stuff that makes God who He is – all of it dwells in Jesus.”

Paul also carefully chose his words when it came to “should dwell.” The ancient Greek word for dwell is here used in the sense of a permanent dwelling. There is an entirely different word used for the sense of a temporary dwelling place. Paul wanted to emphasize the idea that Jesus was not temporarily God but He is permanently God.

Notice that the fullness is in Jesus Christ. Not in a church; not in a priesthood; not in a building; not in a sacrament; not in the saints; not in a method or a program, but in Jesus Christ Himself. It is in Him as a “distribution point” – so that those who wanted more of God and all that He is can find it in Jesus Christ.

So long ago, all of that slept in a humble manger on that Bethlehem night.

Click here for David’s commentary on Colossians 1

And [Elijah] said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’” (1 Kings 18:43-44)

As Elijah prayed for rain, he expected an answer and he would not stop praying until he saw the answer come. So, he sent his servant out to look for the clouds of coming rain. The servant went out and saw nothing; Elijah kept praying. Five times more the prophet sent his servant to see the answer to prayer and the servant saw nothing.

Yet, “it came to pass the seventh time.” This was stubbornly persistentprayer. It was as if Elijah would not take “no” for an answer, because he was confident that it was God’s will to send rain. He stubbornly furthered the will of God by his persistent prayer. It is a good thing that Elijah didn’t quit praying after six previous disappointments.

Finally, the servant brought a report: “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” The evidence of coming rain came slowly and in a small way, but out of this small evidence God brought a mighty work.

Four Signs

Charles Spurgeon used these verses as an illustration of the small signs that come before a mighty work of God. He spoke of four “certain signs and tokens for good which prayerful faith clearly perceives when an awakening, a genuine revival is about to come.” Christians should regard such things as clouds, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea. Spurgeon noted these four things which, in his opinion, were like a small cloud that signaled a great downpour of blessing to come:

– A growing dissatisfaction with the present state of things, and an increasing anxiety among the members of the church for the salvation of souls.
– When this anxiety leads believers to be exceedingly earnest and bold in prayer.
– When ministers begin pray together, and to say, “What must we do?”
– When we shall see the doctrine of the individual responsibility of each Christian fully felt and carried out into individual action.

Elijah knew that the small cloud meant a big work was on the way. He told King Ahab in faith, “Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.” Based only on the sighting of a cloud that was as small as a man’s hand, he knew a torrent was on the way. When we see God moving in even small ways among us, we should have great faith for a greater work to come.

Click here for David’s commentary on 1 Kings 18

And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful. All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. (Titus 3:14-15)

These last sentences from Paul’s letter to Titus give us a few final things to remember. We can first look at the goal: that Christians may not be unfruitful. God wants us to “bear fruit” as believers.

The idea of “fruit” or being unfruitful here is a poetic way to speak of a Christian life that brings forth good things. It’s good for an apple tree to bring forth good apples, and it’s good for a Christian life to show the “fruit of the Spirit” described in Galatians 5:22-23: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

Here, Paul says we will not be unfruitful if we maintain good works, and if we meet urgent needs, giving us the opportunity to show forth the fruit of the Spirit. It’s good for Christians to do good, and to do good in Jesus’ name! We should not only start doing good works, but we should maintain good works, keep on doing them. We should look for urgent needs and try to meet them in Jesus’ name.

This is another way that the wonderful letter to Titus encourages us to do good and to show the reality of our faith through such good works. We also see another way that the message of Paul and the message of James were not in contradiction, and that Paul also believed that real faith would show in real life.

A Special Kind of Love

In the last verse of Titus, we are reminded of Paul’s warm relationships with Christians all over the Roman Empire. He sent a greeting both to Titus and to the other Christians on the Island of Crete. In this, notice this line: greet those who love us in the faith.

We should be grateful for the people in our life who love us in the faith. We enjoy our bond as brothers and sisters in Jesus, a bond that can go deeper than blood because it is in the faith. I want to say “thank you” to those who love us in the faith.

At the end of it all, Paul wrote: Grace be with you all. Even though the letter to Titus has a lot of emphasis on practical Christian living, we can only live the way God wants us to when we walk in His grace. We’re grateful for all His grace gives us and teaches us, and we long for that grace to be with us more and more. By faith, receive His grace today and for the coming week – and then maintain good works!

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 3

Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. (Titus 3:10-11)

In this section of Titus 3, Paul told Titus to remember several things. Here he told him to remember to reject a divisive man.

Divisive people are not a new problem for the church. Titus 3:10-11 tells us that they have been a challenge for pastors and church leaders from the earliest days of Christianity. Simply said, the divisive man divides people in God’s family without good cause. I have never met a divisive person who didn’t think they had good cause, but clearly not all of them do.

Connecting Titus 3:10-11 with the previous verse, we can see that these divisive people were focused on “foolish disputes” and things that were “unprofitable and useless.” It seems they divided over things that didn’t matter much.

Recently I heard a respected pastor say that one of the biggest problems in the church today is pettiness. People get offended and divide over small, sometimes trivial things. They lose their sense of proportion and end up going their own way and drawing others with them over minor issues. I think there was a lot of truth in that pastor’s observation.

What to Do With the Divisive

Notice what Paul said to do with the divisive person. First, reason with him or her, and do it a first and second time. Our first reaction to such people should not be anger or frustration, or to tell them to “shut up.” We should approach them with love, bringing godly admonition in wisdom. We should be willing to do this more than once.

If they persist in their divisive ways, they add rebellion, rejection of authority, and unwillingness to learn to their sin of divisiveness. It’s only then that we should reject them. This means that we should put them outside the care and comfort of the community of God’s people. We should do this as gently as possible and with only the necessary measure of firmness, not more.

Notice that we are not to do them any harm in body, soul, character, or property. The times when the church dealt with divisive people by persecuting them in those ways were dark days that, God helping, will never be repeated.

It’s good to know how to deal with such divisive people. But consider this: are you the divisive one?Do you argue and dispute and divide over things that are small in the big picture? It’s hard to see this sin in our self; pray that God searches our heart and mind and that we listen to what He tells us.

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 3

This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. (Titus 3:8)

Some people like to claim that the Bible contradicts itself. Most of these claims are fairly silly, and can be dealt with easily. Some are a more involved, and take some effort to understand. Titus 3:8 speaks to one of these “more involved” matters.

The claimed contradiction is between Paul and James. The Apostle Paul was one of the champions of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone. The Apostle James emphasized the necessity of good works and a life that honors God.

If you took a single verse from James and a single verse from Paul and set them against each other, you might think there is a contradiction.

Then we read what Paul wrote here in Titus 3:8: those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. You might say that with that statement, Paul summarized the entire theme of the book of James!

Both Are Right

Paul definitely believed in good works, and that Christians should maintain them. In fact, he wanted Titus to affirm constantly this truth. It was a faithful saying. Paul would never say, “Just have faith, give no concern to good works.” Paul knew just as James wrote, that good works are an important part of the Christian life.

Yet, good works are not the reason why we are right with God. We are right with God because of who Jesus is and what He did for us on the cross. What Paul and James want us to know is that if you are made right with God, it will show in good works. We are saved by grace through faith, but it is a living faith – the faith that saves will do something, and many good things for God, His people, and a needy world.

To put it another way, faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone. We must never put the cart of works before the horse of grace.

Ask God for wisdom about your own life. Do you maintain good works? Are you good for something in the here-and-now, or are you good for nothing?

Click here for David’s commentary on Titus 3