"It is written in the book of Nehemiah chapter 4 that the Jews, in rebuilding Jerusalem, wrought with one hand and with the other held the sword, because of the enemy who sought to hinder the building.
Paul in Titus 1:9 carries out the thought of the symbol in this teaching....
Accordingly, we are to make a twofold use of the Word of God:
With one hand we must
Paul teaches what should be the one theme of Titus and of every other preacher, namely, Christ.
Paul condemns the favors of the world and of men as pernicious, worthy of condemnation, ineffectual;...And Paul declares in Galatians 1:10, "If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ."
At first Christ preached the Gospel and only in the land of the Jews, knowledge the Holy Scriptures being confined to that nation, as Psalm 76:2 and Psalm 147:19 declare.
But afterward the Word was made free to all men; not confined to any particular section.
Psalm 19:4 declares, "Their line is gone out through the earth, and their words to the end of the world."
But you may object, "Surely the words of the apostles did not, in their time, reach the end of the world; for nearly eight hundred years elapsed after the apostolic age before Germany was converted, and also recent discoveries show there are many islands and many countries where no indication of the grace of God appeared before the century."
I reply: The apostle has reference to character of the Gospel. It is a message calculated, from the nature of its inception and purpose, to go into all the world. At the time of the apostles it had already entered the greater and better part of the world.
Paul speaks of "denying," or renouncing. Therein he rejects many foolish expedients devised by men for attaining righteousness. Some run to the wilderness, some into cloisters.
Now, if ungodliness and worldly lusts were but something painted upon the wall, you might escape them by running out of the house;
But since they inhere in your heart and permeate you through and through,
The apostle means, not simply that we must flee the outward temptations to sin, but, as he says, that we must "deny" them, must mortify the lusts, or desires, within ourselves.
^The way of God does not require us to build churches and cathedrals, to make pilgrimages, to hear mass, and so on.
^God requires a heart moved by his grace, a life mistrustful of all ways not emanating from grace.
Many depend upon purgatory, living as it pleases them to the end and expecting to profit by vigils and soulmasses after death.
Truly, they will fail to receive profit therein. It were well had purgatory never been conceived of. Belief in purgatory suppresses much good, establishes many cloisters and monasteries and employs numerous priests and monks.
It is a serious drawback to these three features of Christian living: soberness, righteousness and godliness. Moreover, God has not commanded, nor even mentioned, purgatory. The doctrine is wholly, or for the most part, deception; God pardon me if I am wrong." Martin Luther
Paul in Titus 1:9 carries out the thought of the symbol in this teaching....
Accordingly, we are to make a twofold use of the Word of God:
With one hand we must
build,
improve,
teach and feed all Christendom;
with the other,
oppose the devil,
the heretics,
the world.
Paul teaches what should be the one theme of Titus and of every other preacher, namely, Christ.
Paul condemns the favors of the world and of men as pernicious, worthy of condemnation, ineffectual;...And Paul declares in Galatians 1:10, "If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ."
At first Christ preached the Gospel and only in the land of the Jews, knowledge the Holy Scriptures being confined to that nation, as Psalm 76:2 and Psalm 147:19 declare.
But afterward the Word was made free to all men; not confined to any particular section.
Psalm 19:4 declares, "Their line is gone out through the earth, and their words to the end of the world."
But you may object, "Surely the words of the apostles did not, in their time, reach the end of the world; for nearly eight hundred years elapsed after the apostolic age before Germany was converted, and also recent discoveries show there are many islands and many countries where no indication of the grace of God appeared before the century."
I reply: The apostle has reference to character of the Gospel. It is a message calculated, from the nature of its inception and purpose, to go into all the world. At the time of the apostles it had already entered the greater and better part of the world.
Paul speaks of "denying," or renouncing. Therein he rejects many foolish expedients devised by men for attaining righteousness. Some run to the wilderness, some into cloisters.
Now, if ungodliness and worldly lusts were but something painted upon the wall, you might escape them by running out of the house;
But since they inhere in your heart and permeate you through and through,
where can you flee that you will not carry them with you?
What can you wear under which you will escape them?
What will you eat and drink wherein they will not be with you?
In a word, what can you do to escape yourself, since you cannot get out of yourself?
Dear man, the great temptations are within you. To run away from them would necessitate, first, fleeing from yourself. James says 1:14, "Each man is tempted, when he is driven away by his own lust, and enticed." The apostle means, not simply that we must flee the outward temptations to sin, but, as he says, that we must "deny" them, must mortify the lusts, or desires, within ourselves.
^The way of God does not require us to build churches and cathedrals, to make pilgrimages, to hear mass, and so on. ^God requires a heart moved by his grace, a life mistrustful of all ways not emanating from grace.
Many depend upon purgatory, living as it pleases them to the end and expecting to profit by vigils and soulmasses after death.
Truly, they will fail to receive profit therein. It were well had purgatory never been conceived of. Belief in purgatory suppresses much good, establishes many cloisters and monasteries and employs numerous priests and monks.
It is a serious drawback to these three features of Christian living: soberness, righteousness and godliness. Moreover, God has not commanded, nor even mentioned, purgatory. The doctrine is wholly, or for the most part, deception; God pardon me if I am wrong." Martin Luther