In the formative years of Christianity, the Church came to the realization that in order to establish its own credibility, it must first discredit Judaism. Now, there were many methods the Church used to achieve this objective. These included spreading lies about the Jews, teaching that the Jews are spiritually blind children of the devil, as well as general vilification of the chosen nation. The only attempt the Church made to appeal to the human intellect was their exploitation of the Jewish Scriptures. The Church attempted to present the Jewish Scriptures as a document that supports the Christian belief system, while at the same time contradicting the Jewish belief system. The Church would have us believe that the authors of Jewish Scripture, namely Moses and the prophets, all subscribed to the Christian belief system. Now, in order to substantiate this preposterous theory, the Church spent millions of man-hours combing the length and breadth of the Jewish Scriptures. They were looking for verses that could be read as supportive to the Christian belief system. From the thousands of verses in Jewish Scripture, the Church found a handful of passages which could be manipulated to read as supportive of the Christian belief system and as standing in contradiction to Judaism. The Church then presented these verses together with their Christian explanation and made the claim that the authors of these verses were Christian by belief. The Church argued that the Jewish people are not loyal to their own holy books. Based on the Christian interpretation of these verses, known as proof texts, the Church advances the theory that the Jewish belief system stands in direct contradiction to the sacred books venerated by the Jewish people themselves. Now, according to the Christian claim, the authors of these books subscribe to the Christian belief system while their disciples confuse their message and created Judaism. The Church thus claims that the Jews failed in transmission of the very foundations of their religion. If indeed, the Church has succeeded in demonstrating that the Jewish belief system possesses inherent contradictions, then the Jewish Scriptures should be discarded. We must bear in mind that it is only through the testimony of the Jewish people that we have the Scripture. It was the religious leadership of the Jewish people who determined the authenticity of the scriptural prophets. If the Jewish method of transmission managed to distort the very essence of their religion, tend its foolhardy to accept their scriptural canon. The truth of the matter is that the Jewish nation has been studying Scripture since it was put down in writing. Every word and every nuance of the text is precious to the Jew. Jews have been reading these proof texts centuries before Christianity was born. Each one of these verses has a classical Jewish interpretation which clearly explains how these verses conform to the Jewish belief system. The Church maintains that the Jewish interpretation is wrong. The Church asserts that it is only an anti-Christian bias which binds the Jews from seeing the true meaning of these verses. Now the problem with this assertion is that many Christian scholars have come to agree with the Jewish interpretation of these verses. These people were certainly not blinded by an anti-Christian bias. Yet they accepted the Jewish understanding of these verses as the most accurate interpretation. It seems perhaps that the Church is operating from a bias, a pro-Christian bias, which causes them to read these verses as proof to the veracity of the Christian belief system. Much of the missionary effort to attract Jews to Christianity is focused on these proof texts. These are verses in the Jewish Scripture which Christians see as supportive of their belief system. These verses relate to the areas of difference between the Jewish and Christian belief systems. The verses which the missionaries use as proof texts are not the only verses which speak about these subjects. Jewish Scripture gives a lot of coverage to each of these subjects and the proof texts form only a small segment of the overall picture which Scripture presents. Scripture gives us a clear picture of concerning each of these subjects. The general message of Scripture conforms to the Jewish belief system. The few missionary proof texts verses are generally vague and ambiguous. If the Christian interpretation of these verses were honest, then we would be facing an inherent contradiction within Scripture itself. If one would not know the Jewish interpretation for a given proof text, the honest thing to do is to say, I don't know what it means, rather than assume that the verse stands in contradiction to the general message of Scripture. Judaism and Christianity differ in their attitudes towards the essence of God, the teachings of Moses, atonement, and the Messiah. What is the clarity that Scripture gives us on these subjects? What is the overall message of Scripture? In this brief study, we will not examine the missionary proof texts and will suffice for us to see that the Jewish belief system is firmly rooted in the words of the prophets. 1. The Essence of God The Jewish Scriptures testify that God revealed themselves to the entire body of the Jewish nation.  You shall not have any other gods besides me. 2. This is how God demonstrated to his people whom they are to worship. At the same time, God was teaching the people whom they are not to worship. Worship of anyone other than the God who brought the nation out of Egypt is idolatry. The Jewish Scriptures testify that the Sinaitic revelation was an all-inclusive demonstration. After the revelation at Sinai, there can be no room for doubt. Concerning this revelation, Moses tells the Jewish people, in Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 35, to you it was demonstrated in order that you know that the Lord is the God. There is none beside him. Now the people who were privileged to witness this great revelation were commanded again in Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 9, you should make it known to your children and to your children's children. When God commands the nation to kill people who are involved with idolatry, he makes reference to this revelation. In those cases where the death penalty is to be implemented, God identifies the idol by the simple terms, quote, that which I have not commanded, unquote, or quote those which you do not know, unquote. That's in Deuteronomy chapter 13 verse 3 verse 7 verse 14 and in chapter 17 verse 3. It's clear that God expects the Jewish people to identify the idol by process of elimination. If this is not what you were commanded to worship, then that's another God. The Jewish people testify that God revealed himself at Sinai as an absolute unity. Worship of anyone else is by definition idolatry. No one ever claimed that Jesus was revealed to the Jewish people at Sinai. The first worshipers of Jesus did not claim that their worship they were following a tradition that goes back to Sinai. According to the definition of Scripture, worship of Jesus is idolatry. The Jewish people were granted a revelation in order that they should know whom to worship. This was not the only method of instruction that God provided to guide us on this matter. It is clear from Jewish Scripture that God expects the human conscience to be able to distinguish between worship of God and idolatry. Time and time again the prophets appeal to human logic and sometimes even to humor in order to demonstrate the evil of idolatry. Jeremiah in chapter 10 verse 11 exclaims, tell them gods that did not create heaven and earth should go lost from this earth and from beneath these heavens. Jeremiah is pointing out the absurdity which is inherent in worship of anyone other than the Creator. A God who operates in an arena which he did not create is no God. Similarly, Isaiah points out the foolishness of placing faith in a human being. In Isaiah chapter 2 verse 22 he says, cease ye of man that has breath in his nostrils for what worth is he? Isaiah is demonstrating the futility of worshiping a man. If he is dependent on a constant supply of oxygen for his own well-being, now how is he going to help you? Worship of a human being is a part of the human conscience. Yet this is what Christianity advocates, whichever way you wrap it, Christianity is pointing to a man and saying, that is God. Scripture is clear that when it comes to idolatry you should not ignore the cry of your conscience. By this definition as well, Scripture identifies worship of Jesus as idolatry. Number two, the teachings of Moses. Judaism testifies that Moses relayed an entire body of law that defines the scriptural commandments. Judaism also testifies that the law of Moses authorizes qualified sages to make decisions in order to implement scriptural law. These decisions are binding upon the entire nation. Christianity rejects this testimony. Christianity asserts that Moses taught no more than what he wrote in the five books, and he certainly didn't authorize anyone to make decisions concerning the application of God's law. But upon examining Scripture one discovers that the Christian rejection of the Jewish position is illogical. If we read Scripture with a Christian position in mind, we will find that the teachings of Moses are practically meaningless. Take the scriptural holidays as an example. God directs his people to celebrate the holiday of Passover.  This holiday is to take place from the 14th day to the 21st day of the first month. Scripture does not tell us when this month is to begin. In fact, Scripture says nothing about the construction of a calendar. If we assume that Moses was told nothing more than what he wrote in the five books, then we are facing a serious problem. How are we expected to know when Passover is going to begin? It's obvious that God told Moses how to construct a calendar which would determine when God's holidays would be celebrated. Indeed, the Jewish people testified that Moses taught them how to construct a calendar which would determine the times of the scriptural holidays. Throughout history, this is the calendar the Jews have been following. The Jews observed the holidays according to the teachings of Moses, which were not recorded in the five books. There are many groups today who subscribe to the Christian belief system, but at the same time they attempt to observe the scriptural holidays. These people observe Passover in the same days that the Jewish nation celebrates Passover. This is hypocrisy. If indeed these people believed that Moses was taught nothing, which he did not record in the five books, they should construct their own scriptural calendar. And if they admit that there were some teachings of Moses which were not recorded in the scripture, well then they should ask themselves the following questions. How did God expect us to learn of these unwritten teachings of Moses? What means that God used to transport this information to us? If God considered the testimony of the nation a reliable means of transporting a complicated calendar, then how can these people be so confident that the testimony of this same nation is not reliable concerning simple matters such as the absolute unity of God? Scripture is equally clear concerning the authority of the teachers of Israel to render decisions concerning God's law. In Deuteronomy chapter 17, Moses directs the people to consult with the courts. The decision of the court is to be heeded. One who blatantly ignores the court decision should be put to death. Similarly, we find in two Chronicles chapter 19 how the righteous king Jehoshaphat fulfilled this directive of Moses. The chapter describes how Jehoshaphat established the courts in the land of Judah and in the city of Jerusalem. The king refers to two leaders to whom the judges can turn with their questions. One leader was to direct the courts concerning God's law while the other leader's role was to decide matters which pertain to the king. It's quite clear that the scriptures expected these judges to make decisions concerning the application of God's law. Now in Deuteronomy chapters 13 and 17, Moses directs the entire nation to participate in the execution of people involved with idolatry. It's obvious that the guilt of these lawbreakers is to be determined by a court of qualified judges. Yet the entire nation is commanded to implement the decision of these men. It's clear that not only does God authorize men to make decisions concerning the implementation of his holy law, but God also instructs the Jewish people to abide by these decisions. Number three, atonement. The Jewish belief system maintains that it is only repentance turning back to God that can achieve atonement for sin. The worship of Jesus can do nothing to help expiate sin. Christianity on the other hand maintains that it is only the worship of Jesus which achieves atonement for sin. Repentance can do nothing to achieve atonement for sin. Some prominent Christian scholars that make that repentance plays an important role in the process of expiating sin. They believe that it is repentance together with the blood of Jesus which gains God's forgiveness, but this opinion is not accepted by the vast majority of angelical Christians. The Jewish position is firmly rooted in Scripture. The book of Jonah describes how the wicked people of Nineveh were threatened with destruction. The inhabitants of that city repented and as a result, God rescinded the decree of destruction. Jonah chapter 3 verse 6 to 10. Ezekiel tells the people, and the wicked should he repent from all his sins that he has done, and he will keep all my statutes and do justice and righteousness. He shall surely live, he shall not die. All his iniquity shall not be remembered against him in the righteousness that he has done, he shall live. Now these are not isolated passages in Scripture. The concept of repentance is one of the predominant themes in Scripture. The Christian cannot point to any one verse in Scripture which will tell you that repentance does not bring about the expiation of sin, nor can the Christian find any one verse which states that worship of the Messiah can achieve atonement. The Christian attempts to assemble several scriptural themes which, when pieced together, point to the Christian system of atonement. This type of argument has an obvious weakness. Since there is no explicit scriptural quotation to support the Christian position, it must rely on speculative analysis to draw accurate conclusions from a complicated conglomeration of scriptural themes. There's simply too much room for error. When we pit this argument against the straightforward statements which support the Jewish position, we are pitting questionable human reason against the explicit Word of God. When one examines the scriptural themes which the Christians quote to support their position, it becomes clear that not only do these themes fail to lend support to the Christian argument, but also these themes actually testify against the Christian position. The Christians point to the scriptural theme of the sinful nature of man. If man is so sinful, then how can his repentance count for anything before God? Indeed, Scripture declares, how can one born of a woman be righteous? Job 15 verse 14. But this sits well with the Jewish belief system. Judaism believes that, indeed, every created being must be imperfect before God, but it is the Christian belief system which stands in contradiction to this basic scriptural teaching. The entire Christian belief system is founded upon the notion that someone born of a woman was totally righteous. The Christian Scriptures in Romans 4, for instance, quote the verse in Genesis 15, where God credited Abraham's faith to him for righteousness. The Christian argument is that only faith can count before God is righteousness, not action. But in whom did Abraham place his faith? It certainly was not Jesus. It is the Jews' faith in the words of the God of Abraham which leads him to believe all that God has taught. It is the God of Abraham who said, return to me and I shall return to you. Malachi 3 verse 7. And the Jewish nation takes God on his word. Christians point to the scriptural concept of blood sacrifice. The Law of Moses spends so much time describing the various offerings. Does this not demonstrate clearly how blood sacrifice is central to the atonement process? But what is a blood sacrifice? A blood sacrifice was an offering brought by a sinner to God's altar as an expression of his repentant heart. Some of the sacrifices were national offerings. These offerings were paid for through a fund which was replenished every year by a collection taken from each individual Jew. These offerings were brought in the temple which was built by the Jewish people. The national offerings were an expression of the entire nation's sincere desire to be reconciled with God. But according to the Christian belief system, no action on man's part could bring about atonement for sin. The blood offerings of Scripture testify that man's action can and do achieve atonement for sin. Number four, Messiah. This is how Moses describes the Messianic era.   And the Lord your God will return your captivity and will have compassion upon you. And he will return you and gather you from all the nations that the Lord your God has scattered you there. If your outcasts be at the ends of the heaven, from there will the Lord your God gather you, and from there will he fetch you.  And he will do you good and he will multiply you more than your ancestors.   And you will return and hearken to the voice of the Lord and you shall do all of his commandments that I command you today. And the Lord your God will make you plentious and in all the work of your hands and the fruit of your body and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your land for good. For the Lord will turn to rejoice over you for good just as he rejoiced over your ancestors. When you hearken to the voice of the Lord your God to keep his commandments and statutes which are written in this book of teaching. When you return to the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul that's written in Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 1 through verse 10. The prophets of Scripture elaborated upon the basic messianic theme presented by Moses. The prophets describe in great detail the in-gathering of the Jewish exile, the rebuilding of the land of Israel, the temple in Jerusalem, peace on earth, and universal knowledge of God. The prophets provided a clear and unambiguous picture of the age of the Messiah. The fact that these prophecies have not yet been fulfilled tells us that the Messiah has not yet arrived. But these prophecies tell us more than that. These prophecies testify that when the Messiah does arrive he will not be a Christian. What would a Christian Messiah do in the world in which obedience to God is expressed through observance of the law of Moses? Who would the Christian Messiah teach in the world that looks to the Aaronic priests for guidance in their observance of God's law? For whom would the Christian Messiah be providing a torment in the world which sees the blood offerings of Moses being offered in the Jerusalem temple as they were in the days of old? Not only do the Jewish prophets tell us nothing about the Christian Messiah but they also leave no room for him in their vision of the future. In the face of the explicit message of the Jewish scriptures, missionaries quote the same prophets to lend support for their version of the role of the Messiah. It will suffice for us to point out that every one of the Christian proof texts is a subject of debate even amongst Christian scholars. There is no way one can honestly invoke these difficult and ambiguous passages to support a position which stands in contradiction to the entire messianic theme presented by the prophets. All in all the message of scripture is quite clear. One who reads the Jewish scriptures from cover to cover will certainly encounter many vague and ambiguous passages. At the same time he will find overall clarity concerning the most basic subjects. Scripture leaves the reader with no doubt that the Jewish people are the witnesses to whom God chose to reveal his glory. Scripture leaves the reader with no doubt that the law of Moses is a living law which applies to every generation. Scripture is abundantly clear that sincere repentance achieves God's forgiveness for sin.  The traditional Jew was never moved by the Christian argument. When the Jew rejected Christianity it was with a confidence and with clarity. The Jew's rejection of Christianity is founded upon the testimony of an entire nation. A nation whom God himself chose as his witnesses. The clarity of the Jewish rejection is reflected in the words of the Jewish prophets. This is what empowered our nation to overcome all obstacles and preserve the message which was handed them at Sinai. That message is still intact. One more thing. The Jew never saw a need to examine the testimony of Christianity in order to expose its emptiness. A clear understanding of the Jewish testimony is all that is required for the Jew to be confident in his rejection of Christianity. The following section is included because it illustrates how an accusation that a belief system has failed in the transmission of its message can be substantiated.


You're welcome back. Just before we went for a break, we completed our study on Chapter 2 of Titus. So anyone has any questions, any doubts, anything you'd like to ask? Or anything that you want me to explain again, reiterate? No questions, no doubts? Okay, thank you, Jeffina. Okay, I'll take the silence for a no and we'll move on to Chapter 3. Okay, where Paul is talking about respecting authority in the first and the second verse. So can one of you read verses 1 and 2 please? Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. Thank you, Rosalind. So in Titus, basically in Titus Chapter 3 verse 1 to 8, Paul is speaking like a kind father in the faith to his son Titus. And also to the believers at Crete, he's reminding them of basic ways that they need to behave in relation to this godless world. And he says remind them, the grammar for this word remind in the ancient Greek is actually the ancient Greek text says reminding, which means is the present tense go on reminding. So Paul is telling Titus, keep on reminding people to be subject to rulers and authorities.  They said that no believer in the true God had any responsibility to the civil government and its laws because these things were purely human, these things were of the world. So we do not conform to these laws, we do not adhere to these laws, we do not respect those in governmental authority. Or we don't come under them, we are not subject to them, but we are only subject to God's laws commands his authority and his rule. So Paul is here writing and telling Titus, keep on reminding them that they need to be subject to rulers and authorities. I see Paul writing about this even in Tim, when he writes the church at Ephesus, the church at Rome, he's telling them, we studied how they need to be subject to rulers and authorities and obey them, obey the earthly masters and those in governmental authority. So Paul says that, you know, when we subject ourselves to rulers and authorities, then we become a witness. So to be powerful witnesses in this present world, it requires us that we need to be subject to rulers and authorities and that we must show respect for them as individuals. We need to respect their office that they hold, excuse me. So he says that we must show respect to them as individuals and respect the offices that they hold. We must also obey the laws of the land, the society, unless, you know, those laws go against what God has commanded us in his word. Now we've studied this, when we studied the book of Romans and also when Paul writes to Timothy. And then he says to be ready for every good work. So he's saying, apart from being obedient to the laws of the land, apart from being obedient to the government authorities, he says Christians also need to take an active role and active part in promoting the welfare of their community. So to do good works in the community, so the community can be helped and to help in the welfare of the community. So we see that Christians by and large have done great tremendous work that has helped in the welfare of our community and the world around us. Then he says to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. So Paul is telling us and he's writing to the Church at Crete, who are known for their, you know, notorious behavior. We already saw this in the introduction, the background of the Cretan people. The Cretans were known to be notoriously turbulent, quarrelsome and impatient of all authority. And so he's writing and he's saying as Christians, we ought to resolve differences with our neighbors, with people we're living with in our workplace and make peace. And he says it's very important to maintain good relationships with our neighbor than to stand up for our rights. Okay. Now, you know, he says showing all humility. Sometimes we think humility is you shouldn't show humility as people override us. People take advantage of us. What humility is translated as meekness, meek meekness and meekness is not necessarily or does not mean weakness. But meekness rather means, you know, strength under control.  And basically, we can only show humility, we can only be meek when we are under the control of the Holy Spirit. Okay. That's when we can under strength. That means we can control an anger, the words that we want to lash out with, revengeful behavior, we did for that, you know, speaking things against them, pointing out their mistakes, all can be done. But, you know, meekness is having the strength to control, to practice self-control. And we know that, you know, meekness, kindness, self-control are all the fruit of the Holy Spirit. So we need to respond graciously, kindly, even when we are wrong, which is very difficult for me. I find it extremely difficult. But, you know, just reading this, preparing this yesterday, you know, it's just kind of God has been working on me as well. You know, how we need to respond and be gracious and be kind. So, Paul goes on to mention what should inspire us to, you know, behave in this way.   So he's saying that, you know, there's a reason why we can be meek.  We were bad by nature as any one of them that we encounter in our world today. And God, in spite of our shortcomings, in spite of our sinful nature was kind to us, he treated us kindly and saved us even when we did not deserve it. So he goes on to mention what should inspire us to behave in this way. That is what he will read in verses three to eight response to the Saviour. So can one of you please read verses three to eight, please, of chapter three? For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God, our Saviour, toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he served us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Whom he powered out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Saviour, that having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of internal life. This is a faithful saying and these things I want you to confirm consistently that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. Amen. Thank you, Luvega. So in verse three, Paul is reminding us of what we used to be. He says that, you know, we, here we signify as Christians, believers. He says it's easy for us to become angry, impatient with unbelievers who act selfish. But if you want to behave as Godly people towards them, if you want to treat them in kindness, humility and meekness, then we need only one thing can help us to have the strength and the control. Of course, the Holy Spirit, but also remind us that who we were before we met Christ. We too acted in the same way these people do. That's what we read in verse three. Before we met Christ, we were living in our own sinful lustful passions, we were foolish, disobedient, deceived, we were living for pleasures. But he says, keeping in mind how we used to, will be able to enable us, you know, to treat ungodly people with grace and compassion. Knowing that, you know, hey, when we were like this, God showed us his grace and compassion. So when I exercise grace and compassion towards these people, what is going to happen? You know, it's basically that they are going to be led to the Savior. They're going to say, hey, I shouted at this person. I said such mean things, such rude things, such annoying, disrespectful things. But the way this person is reacting towards me, the way this person is treating me, show me so much of grace and love and kindness and compassion.  You can lead them to Christ.  Why did people come to Jesus? You know, even though he was sometimes tired and running away from people, people reached the spot even before he did. And what does the Bible tell us? You know, when Jesus saw the multitudes, the crowds, he was moved with compassion and he healed them all. So he did not say, hey, tell his disciples, I'm tired. I need a break. You know, these people are simply following me. Tell them to wait. Let me just take a nap, at least a power nap and come back. He doesn't say all that. He just ministers to them because his heart is moved with compassion. So that is why people follow Jesus because of his love, his forgiveness, his compassion. And yes, of course, because he did science, miracles and wonders. And what does Paul write when he talks about the gifts of the Spirit in verse Corinthians chapter 12? Well, he says the greatest of all this is love. If you don't have love, you can't flow in the gifts. So to flow in the gifts of the Spirit, you know, some of you are wanting to flow in the gifts of the Spirit, manifest the gifts of the Spirit. You're praying for that. The basic thing is love. You know, if you don't have love towards people, then the gifts are not going to operate and flow freely through you. So Paul lists seven characteristics of unbelievers. He says we were foolish, which means, you know, a spiritual wisdom or we did not have spiritual wisdom or understanding. We did not know God, you know, we were disobedient to God's laws, his ways, the gospel of Jesus Christ. He says we were deceived. Third one, deceived means basically to roam or to go astray from the truth, to wander from the right way. Why do we wander away from the right way? Because of our ignorance, because we were spiritually foolish, we had no spiritual understanding because of our unbelief. And because of the false religious teachings that we were listening to and our own lust that were leading us away from the truth. The fourth thing he says is serving various lusts and pleasures. Paul says we were slaves of all kind of lust and pleasures. And the word pleasure here generally used in New Testament is in the sense of evil pleasures. And the fifth one he says we once spent our lives in malice. Malice is a general term that is used for wickedness or all kinds of evil. But here it's basically it's a desire to harm to others as it stems from the root of selfishness and wanting our own way, even if it means harming someone to get it. So that is what he says and he mentions here about malice. He's saying that we have this desire to harm others because it stems out of our own selfishness and wanting our own way, even if it means harming someone to get it. The sixth characteristic of unbelievers he says is we spent our lives in envy, which means basically envy is when you're not pleased with when you see others happy, seeing others prosperous, seeing others doing well. You want what someone else has or what someone else desires. You want to be in their position that they are in. So that is envy. And then he says we were once hateful, which means we lived in a lot of hatred. But verse four it says, but when the kindness and the love of God as Savior toward man appeared. The word, but basically reminds us of who we were sinners and shows us there's nothing in us that is deserving of salvation. We only deserve God's wrath and judgment, but because of his great kindness, love, grace, merceness, goodness towards us, he saved us. So this verse gives us the basis or the cause of our salvation. It's God's kindness, his love and his mercy towards us that has given us salvation. So the kindness of God as Savior and his love for mankind appeared when Jesus Christ, the eternal God became flesh, took on human flesh. He entered this world and, you know, he died in our place. He became that sin offering, that sin bearer, that lamb that took upon our sins, a substitute for our sins. And we in return personally experience his mercy, compassion in our very pitiful condition in which he saved us. Verse five, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Now this verse basically talks about the effects of our salvation. So what is the effects of our salvation? The effects, the previous verse we looked at so gives us basis, the basic idea of the cause of our salvation. It's God's kindness, love and mercy. And verse five gives us the effects of our salvation. So what is the effects of our salvation? Regeneration, renewal and justification, you know. And they give us the means of salvation. It's the power of the Holy Spirit to the work of Jesus Christ to which we receive regeneration, renewal and justification. So Paul states that we are saved not as a result of our works of righteousness, not because of our righteous good or right deeds or acts, which we have done, but we are saved because of his mercy, kindness and grace. Now what is this phrase through washing of regeneration mean? Now many commentators basically interpret this washing of regeneration to refer to baptism. But that is wrong, that is mistaken because in the New Testament baptism happens only after a new birth. And it's a testimony of what God did in saving us that he saved us from all our sins. So we're testifying to that fact. We are telling the world that, you know, hey, I have asked you this for forgiveness of sins. I have believed in the Savior and I'm testifying to that fact. But the Greek word here used is a Lutheran and is mentioned only here and in Ephesians chapter five verse 26. So the word means primarily a vessel for bathing. So washing the Greek word Lutheran is basically meaning a vessel for bathing. So in Titus chapter three verse five, you know, Paul must be basically thinking about what the prophet Ezekiel wrote in Ezekiel chapter 16 verse four, where God speaks metaphorically of Israel's birth as a nation. And then he says in Ezekiel chapter 16 verse four that as for your birth on the day you were born, your naval cord was not cut. No way you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in clothes.  So he's basically talking metaphorically of the nation of Israel, but talking about the birth of a child. Okay, then in the same chapter, chapter 16 of Ezekiel verse six, God says that, you know, God is saying I passed by. Okay, and saw you squirming in your blood and said to her and live. And later in verse nine of the same chapter, he tells how he bathed her with water, washed her of her blood and cleansed her.  So the whole picture here of regeneration refers to new birth or us being born again.  That means we were squirming, we were left to die in our sinfulness, in our misery, in our pity. God saw our misery, our pity and our pain, how we were dying. And then, you know, he came and saved us and through his blood he washed away all of our filth, our sins.  And the new birth is God's doing according to his will. Okay, so here is basically not talking about baptism, but it's talking about what this whole picture in the Ezekiel chapter six. Paul must have had this in mind and hence he is talking about how God saved us in our misery, in our sin, in our filthiness and how he gives us spiritual life when we were spiritually dead. Renewing by the Holy Spirit. So here, another effect of our salvation is renewal by the Holy Spirit. This refers to the ongoing process of inner renewal that occurs after regeneration. Regeneration is basically, you know, when we're born again. So in Romans chapter 12 verse 2 we read, you know, the renewal of the mind is basically an ongoing process that takes place after we present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Also, we read in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 23 and Colossians chapter 3 verse 10 where Paul is referring to, you know, he talks about putting on the new man who has been renewed according to the images of the dead. Adding to the images of the one who created him. Okay. So while God creates the new nature by the power of the Holy Spirit, we must also yield. We must also be, you know, submit and surrender. And we must also be willing to be led by the Holy Spirit, walk in the Holy Spirit and live in the Holy Spirit and be transformed through God's word in order to experience this ongoing renewal. Yes, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us after regeneration, but the sanctifying process happens only to the extent that we allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify us. So for that, we need to submit, surrender on an everyday ongoing basis, you know, and we must be willing to be led by the Spirit, walk in the Spirit and live by the Spirit and be transformed through God's word in order to experience this ongoing renewal. So this is what he talks about in verse 5 about the effects of our salvation. And he gives us the means of our salvation is to the power of the Holy Spirit that works through Jesus Christ. Any questions? Any questions before we move on to verses 6 and 7? So first of all, good pastor. Okay. Thank you, Lubega. So again, someone read verses 6 and 7 please. He pulled 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. Thank you, Rosalind. So Paul is mentioning how can we, you know, live the way God wants us to live? You know, how can we, you know, do good deeds or live a life that is honourable in God's side in the world that we are living in? Paul says that, you know, God has pulled out on us abundantly through Christ Jesus our Savior. Abundantly basically means richly. So what has God pulled out on us? What is the means of our salvation?  Okay. So Paul says in Romans chapter 8 verse 9, you know, however, you are not in the flesh but in the spirit. If indeed the spirit of God dwells in you, but if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. So God has pulled out his Holy Spirit richly through Jesus Christ on all of us. So our text says that we are not, we not only have the Holy Spirit in small proportion or in small portion, but God has pulled out or he is lavished, you know, or he's richly pulled out his Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. Verse 7, having been justified by his grace, we should become his according to the hope of eternal life. So Paul says here that justification comes to us by God's grace and it's no way meditated by our faith. Okay. I'll repeat that. He says justification comes to us by God's grace. It's God's grace. Because of God's grace we are justified. It's not because we have put our faith in Jesus Christ that we are justified. Yes, faith is important. Faith leads us to receive the grace of God and leads us to be justified, to be made righteous in his sight. But it's the grace of God that brings justification and it's no way meditated by our faith. So this verse mentions the goal of our salvation. So what is our goal of our salvation to be his according to the hope of eternal life? Okay. So in verse 4, we saw the cause of our salvation that is God's kindness, love and mercy. In verse 5, we saw the effects of our salvation that is regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. And also in verse 5, we saw the means of our salvation which is the power of the Holy Spirit that is working through Jesus Christ. And one of the effects of our salvation is also justification. And also here we see in verse 7 that the goal of our salvation is to be his according to the hope of eternal life. Just like I said, eternal life is not something that we experience all of its fullness here in this life that we're living. We experience it in a bit in a part, but we will experience it fully. And so the hope here, the word hope does not convey any uncertainty, but rather the fact that our inheritance is still in the future and it's not fully realized. But through eternity, we will not get to the end of experiencing our richness in Christ Jesus. And then Paul moves on to talk further. But why does Paul go on in this great discussion about our salvation? Or why is he talking so much in depth about salvation? Or why is he getting into this great discourse about our salvation? We look at what he says in verse 8. So can somebody read verse 8, please? Verse 8. 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. Thank you, Rosalind. So Paul is saying in verse 8 that, you know, this is a faithful saying, which means, you know, this is something that, you know, we need to preach and teach. And people should know the highest degree of importance about salvation and everything about salvation is entirely worthy of belief. And these things is what Paul has mentioned thus far. He's told Timothy. Sorry, Titus. He wants Titus to continuously preach with confidence the truth of the gospel so that believers will engage in good deeds. And then the word careful, like I said, was something, means the verb careful in Greek, basically means to reason, to consider carefully. And it's a word that is used only here in the New Testament. So if we need to understand the doctrine of salvation by God's sovereign grace, you know, it will motivate us to take thought about how we engage in good deeds. So when we consider the entirety of salvation, if we look at salvation as the highest degree of importance there and we look at it something as worthy of our honor, our recognition of us, you know, being thankful for what God has done and purchased for us, then, you know, it will motivate us to take thought about all that he has mentioned, all that we studied, and how we can engage in good deeds. And then he goes on to say that believers must constantly think about and take lead in living godly lives for the sake of the gospel. So, you know, Paul is affirming here again that people, you know, are right. Yes, Godly good deeds are important. It's important for us to do good deeds. It's important for us to engage in community activities which will help enhance our community. All that is very important. But Paul is telling people that they cannot be made righteous, you know, with their good deeds. But yes, the goal of every believer, apart from receiving salvation, apart from living a pure life, should also lead them. Salvation should also lead believers in doing personal good works.  And so he goes on in verses 9 to 11 to tell Titus how he needs to reject these foolish controversies. So we look at this in our next class, next Friday we'll study this last bit of chapter 3 and then we'll move on to Philemon and we'll be good enough to finish our course on. Any questions, any doubts? Anyone has anything you want me to help you understand again? Nothing? Okay, I posted the assessment tool on 2nd Timothy last evening. You can submit that on Monday evening. I hope that's okay. Is that fine? Okay. Okay, thank you everyone for joining class. I'm so sorry for all the inconvenience, but thank you for your patience and have a blessed and refreshing weekend. I'll see you next week. Thank you.


My life started over 33 years ago. It actually started on a very rough note as I was born a sickly boy I suffered rheumatism for the first 17 years of my life and in those years I spent more time on my sick bed than I spent doing almost any other thing I couldn't attend school regularly and I couldn't play like other kids Needless to say I had wasted almost all my childhood Fighting rheumatism. So you will expect that with such a big setback it will reflect in my future, right? Well, probably the opposite. While at 33 I have not been the national figure in my country The speed at which I climbed the ladder of life is so fast that I could have been 50 With what I have done with my life. So how did this happen? How can you achieve success faster than most people? That's what I'll try to share with you in today's video. If you're new here consider subscribing so that you won't miss other interesting videos like this Get serious early though. I battled sickness for the first 17 years of my life when I was 18 years old I was probably the craziest 18 year old boy in the world from age 18 till 30 I doubt if anyone else lived the way I lived all my 20s my watchword seemed to be Waste no single minute if you want to be successful faster than most people you have to wake up early By this I don't mean you should be waking up early in the morning like 5 a.m. Or something like that instead I mean that you should get serious about your life earlier than most people pay attention to this The number one reason why he takes forever for most people to achieve reasonable success in their life is because Almost everyone waste their 20s in frivolities.   I asked myself this question How many times do you log in to the Facebook every day? The answer was about seven times on the average and each time I might spend like 15 minutes or more I asked myself if I spent so much time on social media. What do I get in return? You know the answer nothing almost nothing. I told myself I'd rather use Facebook to make money or don't use it at all by November 2017 I deleted my personal profile on Facebook instead I started using Facebook for my business needs in the year 2018 I made between $10,000 to $30,000 profit on Facebook today I make more money on social media than most people can even believe possible now I'm not advocating that you should go and delete your personal profile on social media I'm only challenging you to become more aware of what you're building your life around Let me give you bad news most people in the world build their lives around other people's businesses They wake up in the morning using toothpaste they didn't make and sleep at night on a bed from a company They didn't have shears and sleep at night on the bed from a company They don't have shares in and between when they wake up and when they sleep every minute of their day and every dollar from their purse Is spent on other people's businesses if you want to be successful faster I don't mean you stop patronizing other people's business I don't even mean that you must be an entrepreneur or have a business in the first place I simply mean that you have to build your life around your business If for example your medical doctor then your life should be devoted to medical science If you're a lawyer then you must strive to be the best in your country and this requires crazy devotion I mean your devotion shouldn't be to Facebook soccer games or your TV set Your devotion shouldn't be to anything except such things that move you in the direction of your biggest dreams So how do you do this? Let me explain in the next section Cut off almost everything from your life About two months ago someone told me that I'm the only adult he knows who doesn't have a TV set I smiled and wondered why everyone owns a TV in the first place Think about this because we don't own a TV the best toy of our kid are books And because there are no gigantic screens in our living room when I am with my kid I am with her 100% Now that was just an example and I don't mean to say that TVs are evil boxes I simply mean that you should cut off many distracting things from your life For example who in the world needs three social media accounts Why should anyone use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter in a single life Except you use these platforms to make money in some ways My message here is simple cut off any distractions as possible Use a single social media if you can Don't subscribe to those interesting cable networks cut off most things But why is this important? You see human nature will always go for the most interesting things available So for instance if I use Facebook I'm likely to have checked my profile this money Because that will be more interesting than this boring script I'm writing If I own a TV I'm likely to spend couple of hours every day on some useless reality shows Because as useless as they may be they will as well be interesting and fun But when you cut off those interesting stuff you simply force yourself to do what matters And this helps you to succeed faster than most people Build a career around what you like You've heard this said a million times but let me explain the reason why it's so important You see entertainment is the substitute for the joy and pleasure we lack in our life Maybe the above statement is too harsh but it's the truth Show me two people one crazily loves his job and the other hates Mondays I have no doubt who among these people will consume more entertainment The guy who loves his job simply doesn't need that much entertainment Because he's entertained by his business but the man who hates his job needs entertainment 11 hours every day because entertainment is the only thing that makes him relax So what happens when you like what you're doing for a living is that you get lost in it You work harder than everyone and you don't even feel like you're working You read everything available about your job or business Because you have great fun knowing more about it You work every day even if you know it's not good Because you have a job or business that's like a hobby You'll invest every single breath into it And the result will be that you'll become successful faster than everyone else Get serious about your life very early Build your life around your business not other people's businesses Cut off most distractions so that you can have time to focus on what matters Build a career around what you're passionate about So you can invest all your blood into what you're doing And this will lead you into success faster than most people Thank you for watching our videos


The study aimed to estimate canola seed maturity using field-based hyperspectral imaging, and developed a new vegetation index called canola pod maturity index, CPMI, that showed a stronger relationship with pod and seed moisture for all genotypes, and was able to find differences among genotypes with variable maturity times. This article was authored by Keisha D. Singh, Hima S. N. Judo, Sally Vale, and others.


The Australian PHC system has been successful in providing universal access to primary medical care, but it has not been able to adequately address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, NCDs. This is due to a number of factors, including a predominantly episodic approach to care, an unequal distribution of resources, and a mix of public and private insurance coverage. To improve the effectiveness of PHC in Australia, policymakers should prioritize a shift towards a comprehensive, integrated, and patient-centered approach to care, ensure equitable access to care according to need, and promote equity in health outcomes across diverse populations.