In his epistle to young Pastor Titus, the Apostle Paul spoke of his apostleship in a unique way, saying,

“Paul…an apostle…according to the faith of God’s elect…” (Titus 1:1)

What could Paul have meant when he said that he was made an apostle “according to the faith of God’s elect?”

Well, the word “elect” means chosen, of course.  When we have an election, we choose a candidate to be our leader.  And when it comes to God’s elect, even the Lord’s enemies knew that He was God’s chosen (Lu. 23:35).  You yourself became part of God’s elect when you believed the gospel and God placed you “in Christ” (I Cor. 1:30).  That’s how it has always worked, in every dispensation.  Isaiah identified the Lord Jesus as God’s elect (Isa. 42:1 cf. Mt. 12:18,19), but later identified believers in Israel as God’s elect (65:9,22).

But when Paul said that he’d been made an apostle according to the faith of God’s elect, that can’t be talking about the faith that we put in Christ to become part of the elect.  Our faith didn’t come along until long after Paul was made an apostle, so he couldn’t have been made an apostle according to that faith.  Whatever faith he’s talking about here, it must have existed before Paul was an apostle, and he was made an apostle according to it.

Here it helps to remember that the phrase “the faith” can refer to a body of truth, as it does when Paul and Barnabas “returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch…exhorting them to continue in the faith” (Acts 14:21,22).  We see this same definition of the phrase “the faith” when Paul later helped some churches become “established in the faith” (Acts 16:5).  In these verses “the faith” clearly referred to the body of truth given to Paul.  That’s the thing in which believers should be established, and that’s the thing in which they need to continue, as those verses—and others—insist (cf. Rom. 16:25; Acts 13:43, I Tim. 4:16, II Tim. 3:14).

And that’s what the phrase “the faith” means in Titus 1:1 as well.  The body of truth that was given to Paul existed in the mind of God before the world began, and Paul was made an apostle according to it.  That is, he was made an apostle to reveal that faith and preach it, and make known that body of truth.  Paul calls it “the faith which should afterwards be revealed” (Gal. 3:23) because while it existed in the mind of God before the world began, he says that God “manifested His word through preaching, which is committed unto me” (Tit. 1:3).  It is the message of God’s grace, and it is the reason Paul wrote that he had “received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations” (Rom. 1:5).

Have you been obedient to the faith, and “obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” through Paul (Rom. 6:17)?  Paul says that God will impute His very own righteousness to us “if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

“Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:24,25).

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

“Paul…an apostle of Jesus Christ…in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:1,2).

If you’re a Gentile, you should be eternally grateful that Paul, “the apostle of the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13), was made an apostle “in hope of eternal life.”  You see, before Paul came along, we Gentiles had “no hope” of eternal life (Eph. 2;11,12)!  But Paul was made an apostle to give us that hope.

The word “hope” means to expect or anticipate something that may or may not happen, depending on something else.  Paul hoped to send Timothy to the Philippians, but it depended on how things would go for him (Phil. 2:19-23).  But he told a Gentile named Titus that the hope of our eternal life depends on the promise of God—the God who “cannot lie.”  If you think hope like that is pretty secure, say amen!

Of course, if you do think that’s a pretty secure hope, it is probably because you’ve studied the Bible all your life, so you know you can trust the God of the Bible to keep His promises.  But Titus was the leader of the churches in Crete (Tit. 1:5), an island off the coast of Greece.  So instead of studying the God of the Bible all their lives, the Cretians studied the gods of the Greeks.  And if you want to talk about a bunch of lowdown, no good, lying scoundrels, just spend some time studying the gods of Greek mythology!

This is why in writing to the leader of the churches in Crete the apostle Paul spoke of God as the God who cannot lie.  Surely Titus needed no such assurance, but Paul knew he would share his epistle with his congregations.  They needed to know that this God that was offering them the hope of eternal life was not a liar like the gods they knew all too well from their past.

If you’re not saved, and you are wondering how to obtain the eternal life that God promised us Gentiles, Paul told Timothy that he was made an apostle “according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus” (II Tim. 1:1).  Eternal life is found in Christ!  And when Paul also wrote that “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ” (Romans 6:23), we know that God wants to give you eternal life as a free gift.  And the only way to receive this gift is by believing.  Speaking of God’s promise of eternal life, Paul says “that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” (Galatians 3:22).

Believe what?  Believe the gospel!  What gospel?  The gospel that could save even the sinful Corinthians!  Writing to them, Paul said,

“…I declare unto you the gospel…which also ye have received…by which also ye are saved…Christ died for our sins…and…was buried, and…rose again” (I Corinthians 15:1-4).

Now you know what to believe when Paul says,

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

The story is told of an innocent man who was accused of killing someone, and was on trial for murder.  The man was innocent, but the case against him was strong, and his brother was afraid he’d be convicted.  So he decided to bribe a seemingly slow-witted man serving on the jury, offering him $10,000 to convince the other jurors that his brother was guilty of manslaughter instead of murder.  Well, it worked, and as he paid the slow-witted man the money, he asked him if it had been difficult to convince the other jurors.  “It sure was,” he replied, “they all thought he was innocent and wanted to let him go!”

As you may know, the Epistle of Titus was written by a killer named Saul of Tarsus, who not only got saved and quit killing people, he became a servant of God and an apostle of Christ:

“Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness” (Titus 1:1).

The first thing we notice about this reformed killer is that after he got saved he preferred to be called Paul.  Now, most killers who change their name do it so they can escape their past and blend in with society.  Back in 1988, a man in England was convicted of killing two young girls and incarcerated.  When they finally released him in 2017, he changed his name.  Of course, his name was Vile Pitchfork, and that’s not an easy name to forget—making it hard to blend in with society!

But Saul didn’t change his name to try to escape his past.  He couldn’t have done so if he had tried.  You see, he was the most notorious persecutor of the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ of his day!  But if he wasn’t trying to hide from his past, why did he start going by a new name?

Well, “Saul” was a Jewish name.  He was named after Israel’s first king.  But when he got saved, the Lord told him, “I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles” (Acts 22:21).  So Saul began to go by his Gentile name (Acts 13:9) to reflect how God had sent him to the Gentiles.

You know, it wouldn’t hurt all of us to examine ourselves to see if everything in our lives reflects the fact that we have been sent by Christ—not to be His apostles, but to be His ambassadors (II Cor. 5:20).  There’s probably no reason to change your name now that you’re saved, but some changes in your conduct might be in order if an examination of your life shows that you could be a little more godly, a little more kind, or a little more patient with others.  Things like that will always reflect well on the One who saved us by His blood, and then sent us forth to represent Him.

Is this something you should pray about?  If so, there’s no time like the present to talk to God about your desire to represent the Lord in a way that will bring more honor to Him.

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.

“Why should we fear God (2 Cor. 7:1)?”

Our apostle Paul says we should be “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Christians needn’t fear that God will take away our salvation if we don’t perfect holiness in our lives, for we are saved and eternally secure (Rom. 8:35-39). But Paul says to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12) because we must never forget the majesty of the God who gave us our salvation.

Consider that when God appeared on Mt. Sinai, “all the people that was in the camp trembled” (Ex. 19:16). God was not angry with His people here, so it was not His wrath that induced their terror. It was the thunder and lightning and the “exceeding loud” voice of God, the manifestations of His majesty, that struck such fear in their hearts. God is not angry with us either, but we should be just as mindful of His awesomeness, from what we know of Him in His Word, even though we cannot see or hear the physical manifestations of His majesty.

We might compare how every time an angel appears to men in the Bible, the first words out of his mouth are usually “fear not” (Matt. 28:4,5; Luke 1:12,13; 2:9,10, etc.) That’s because angels are so awesome in appearance that men naturally cower before them. Well, if they cower before angels, and angels are mere creations of Almighty God, how much more would we fear the Creator Himself were we to be able to see Him.

BBS founder Pastor C. R. Stam used to compare our fear of God to an invitation you might receive to dine with the president. While you would delight to go, you would no doubt go with fear and trembling. Not fear of what he might do to you, but out of respect for his office, and fear that you might disappoint him with your conduct and perhaps, in the extreme, even disgrace your family name. Likewise, we are not afraid of what God might do to us if we work out our own salvation poorly, but we fear disappointing Him, or disgracing His name by our conduct (cf. Neh. 5:9).

Finally, you might also compare how a husband who has a godly wife fears to hurt her—not because he is afraid she’ll leave him, for she has vowed she never will. But rather because he is afraid to presume on her grace by grieving her. Similarly, God would never leave us, but we don’t want to presume on His grace by grieving the very Spirit that seals us (Eph. 4:30).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Two Minutes with the Bible is now available on Alexa devices. Full instructions here.