‘An active, mighty thing’

The German Reformer Martin Luther was insistent that our salvation is based upon faith alone.

‘Faith alone, … before works, and without works, appropriates the benefits of redemption, which is nothing other than justification, or deliverance from sin.’ Given such a theological affirmation, there have been some who have argued that Luther’s view of saving faith inevitably leads to indifference to good works. But this is a very unjust accusation.

Luther was convinced, to cite him, that faith is ‘a living, busy, active, mighty thing’. Thus, Luther continued, ‘it is impossible to separate works from faith, quite as impossible as to separate burning and shining from fire’.

If we were to ask Luther from where he learned this truth about faith alone and the way that true faith ever bears fruit in good works, what would he say? Well, he would tell us to read the Scriptures, and especially the writings of the apostle Paul. And if there were one text in particular that stands out with regard to good works, it would be the letter to Titus.

Good works in Titus

Paul’s letter to Titus is one of three letters (along with 1 and 2 Timothy) that have been called the Pastoral Epistles. This title is not the best of descriptions, since neither Titus nor Timothy are pastors, nor are these letters primarily pastoral manuals. They do contain much about how to do church, but that is not their main intent. They were written in the wake of Paul’s release from his first Roman imprisonment (see Acts 28). Thus, they were written after 62 AD. Paul had been released and found himself ministering once again in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In Paul’s letter to Titus, we are told that Paul had left Titus in Crete for the specific purpose of appointing elders in the churches there (Titus 1:5). But there is also an emphasis on the ability of the elder to teach and refute theological error (Titus 1:9-10). This latter is important, since the churches in Crete (as also in Ephesus, where Timothy is when Paul writes to him in 1 and 2 Timothy) are in the midst of theological controversy. Those fomenting this controversy in Crete claim to know God, but in reality their lives indicate that they do not have a saving knowledge of God, for they are ‘unfit for any good work’ (Titus 1:16).

Hence a key theme of this letter, if not the central theme, is good works. Consider the following:

1. What kind of man must an elder be? He must be a ‘lover of good’ (Titus 1:8).

2. Older women in the church must be teachers of younger women with regard to ‘what is good’ (Titus 2:3-4a).

3. Titus himself is to be a model of good works (Titus 2:7).

4. The purpose of the incarnation and the death of Christ is nothing less than the creation of a people ‘who are zealous for good works’ (Titus 2:11-14). It is striking that Paul encourages Christians not to be simply doers of good works, but to be ‘zealous’ for good works.

5. Indeed, all of the believers in the Cretan churches are to ‘be ready for every good work’ (Titus 3:2).

6. Again, when Paul reiterates the gospel in chapter three, he emphasizes that believers have been born again and indwelt by the Spirit so that they might ‘be careful to devote themselves to good works’ (Titus 3:8).

7. Finally, at the close of the letter, Paul gives Titus and the Cretan believers an example of a good work. He encourages them to support in every way possible the good work of missionary labour by ‘Zenas the lawyer and Apollos’ (Titus 3:12-14).

At the heart of Paul’s letter to Titus is, then, a call to God’s people to show the reality of their salvation by a zeal for and a devotion to good works. Oh, that our churches might be filled with such today!