To live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age

Titus 2 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. ² Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.

³ Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, ⁴ so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

⁶ Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; ⁷ in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, ⁸ sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.

⁹ Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, ¹⁰ not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, ¹² instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, ¹³ looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, ¹⁴ who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

¹⁵ These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

In today’s text it says:  Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.   One thing that is common to the instruction and the exhortation of all of these is to be sensible.  Sensible is defined as:  having, containing, or indicative of good sense or reason : rational, reasonable.     There are many times and many ways that we see today that human knowledge and human reasoning does not make sense.  It is irrational. The text says:  The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.  

God, in His wisdom, created all things in a sensible and orderly fashion. In the beginning, in Genesis 1:2-3, it says:  The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be…     The words without form and void are translated from the Hebrew Tohu wa-bohu, which could also be translated as chaos, confusion; disorder. God spoke and brought order to the chaos and confusion. God’s word and His will are always to bring order, not confusion. Contrary to God’s design of and His desire for order, science tells us that there is a natural law which also affects all of creation. The law of entropy says that all things will naturally tend to breakdown, to lose order. They will tend toward randomness, disorder, confusion and chaos.  While scientifically entropy is a law of physics, of thermo dynamics, we can see that it also could be applied to our cultural social and moral structure. God’s word and His will brings order. Apart from His will there is disorder and confusion.  

God’s plan, His will for us is that we live sensibly, according to His design. To deviate from what God intended, from the order that He created is not sensible. It is unreasonable and irrational. If we look at the worldly lifestyles of sin, we will see that they are at the very least senseless and more often irrational and even harmful. God’s plan, His design and His desire for us is not to restrict and withhold good from us, rather it is to give us what is good, reasonable and profitable.  In Jeremiah 29:11 God says:  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”   His plans and His word are always for our good. If we look at many of the social and moral debates of our day from a purely sensible point of view, there really is no debate. God’s plan and His design makes more sense; it is more reasonable and more rational than what the politically correct culture promotes. The world tries to present its affinity for sin as enlightenment, when really it is more like entropy and rebellion. God spoke and created order from chaos and confusion. His word still speaks order into the confusion of the world. We all have a choice, but if we are sensible, we will choose God’s plan, His desire and His design.

The text says:    But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine… For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.   That seems reasonable and sensible to me.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You for bringing order to the chaos and confusion of the world. Thank You for Your word which speaks order. Thank You for the cross which restores order. Thank You Holy Spirit for leading and guiding us to live in the orderly and sensible will and way of God.    Amen.