HEIRS OF THE HOPE OF LIFE

“That having been justified by His grace we should become HEIRS according to the HOPE of eternal LIFE” – Titus 3:7

Believers in Christ are Heirs – HEIRS of the HOPE of LIFE: “according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become HEIRS according to the HOPE of eternal LIFE” (Tit.3:5b-7). An Heir is an Inheritor. Christians are “HEIRS of God and JOINT-HEIRS with Christ” (Rom.8:17). Galatians 3:29 says, “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and HEIRS according to the promise.” Christian couples are referred to “as being HEIRS together of the grace of life” (1Pet.3:7). Christians are Heirs of Salvation: “those who will inherit salvation” (Heb.1:14).

In Titus 3, Paul discussed Christian behaviour in the context of government and society: how Believers should respond to an ungodly world. The quality of our temporal earthly citizenship should reflect the hope and confidence we have in our eternal heavenly citizenship! Because we are citizens of God’s eternal Kingdom – Heirs of Hope – we can LIVE with HOPE and serve conscientiously in earthly kingdoms! Like a kind father in the faith, Paul gave Titus and the believers in Crete gracious reminders of how God had laid hold of their lives in order that the Church may be a Witness in a pagan, unbelieving world.

This is still highly relevant to our contemporary times – a culture that exalts sin and despises God, with an increasingly militant mood against those who hold to godly standards. How should believers respond? By organizing political parties to try to gain power over the opposition, staging protests against forces of evil, or seeking to pass laws that uphold biblical standards? Virtually all Christians agree that we are to live at peace with the state as long as the state allows us to live by our convictions. Over the ages however, Christians have interpreted obedience to the government in three broad ways:

​Some Christians believe that the state is so corrupt that Christians should have as little to do with it as possible: We should be good citizens as long as we can do so without compromising our beliefs. The extreme of this is that we should not work for the government, vote in elections, or serve in the military.

Others believe that God has given the Government authority in certain areas and the Church authority in others. Christians can be loyal to both and can work for either. We should not, however, confuse the two. In this view, Church and State are concerned with two totally different spheres – the spiritual and the secular or physical.

A third category believes that Christians have a responsibility to make the state better. We can do this politically, by electing Christian or other high-principled leaders; or morally, by serving as an influence for good in society. In this view, Church and State ideally work together for the good of all.

Thankfully, none of these views advocates rebelling against or disobeying laws unless they clearly require us to violate Biblical or moral standards. But above all we must remember our true citizenship. We are primarily Citizens of Heaven and secondarily, of particular countries of birth or naturalisation – “sojourners and pilgrims” of our earthly nations (1Pet.2:11).

What a perverted, sinful society needs is the Gospel, which alone can change human hearts. But, among a people who mock God and His Word, we can gain a hearing for the Gospel by living godly lives and excelling in good works that display God’s Grace through us. Before we experienced His Grace, we “were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another” (v.3). Now, the marvellous Grace of our Loving Lord has changed us. Our changed lives provide the platform for verbal witness that points sinners to His Grace.

As Heirs of the Hope of Life, the revelation of God’s Mercy and transforming Grace should always motivate us to positively and practically impact our world for Christ.