​Titus 2:1 – 3:11.
 
The Apostle Paul’s Epistles are replete with both theological principles and practical counsel on Godly living, where an important element of his teaching encompassed the seamless integration of faith and behaviour in the lives of believers. One of the more detailed, but non-exhaustive latter instruction can be found in his Letter to Titus (who was serving among Cretan believers), with a series of pertinent directives of sound Christian conduct to older men and women, young women and men, and slaves; generalising to everyone. 
 
To the elderly men, possibly including the leaders of families in their respective communities, Paul exhorted them to be sober-minded, worthy of respect, self-controlled, spiritually healthy in exercising their faith, love and patience (Titus 2:2). In Paul’s theological deliberations, this life ought to be measurably distinctive in its holistic Christian service, embodying a dignity in dynamic faith. This implied apurposeful intent in modelling for the next generation, without the temptation, commonly attributable to a reclusively disengaged and self-absorbed aging lifestyle of the older generation in Cretan society, or for that matter, in any culture.
 
The following two groups addressed were the older and younger women. The former were advised to be circumspect and God-fearing in their behaviour, and to desist from their typical slanderous loose talk and drunkenness, so that they may teach what is good, in content-wise, to the younger women in their marital and domestic fidelity in loving their husbands and children. To be dignified in self-control and chaste, effective in running the household and to be kind in their contact with everyone. And in her own submission to their husband, in order that God’s Word is not contradicted publicly (Titus 2:3-5). It appears inevitable that private ethics and morals will spill over into the public arena one way or another, and Paul’s caution was that if it did, their spiritual testimony publicly must not be jeopardised. 
 
Young men formed the third group. They were encouraged to be self-controlled, with an outward conduct in zealously doing what is good, irreproachable with respect to sound teaching, showing themselves to be above corruption, be respectable, where no one can condemn their manner of speech, thereby disarming their opponents (Titus 2:6-8). Clearly, there was a lot resting on Titus’ shoulders, for he was instructed to place his conduct and preaching on the line for the Pauline mission team, who stood accused by his opponents’ allegations. The inferences are clear; our reputation and the integrity of what we may say is directly impacted by our behaviour and the conduct of our household, apart from how we frame our message with respect to the gospel. 
 
The final household group were the slaves. They were urged to submit to their own masters in everything, in order to please them as a measurement of their acceptable service, and by not talking back to them. They must not steal from their masters so that they demonstrate their complete trustworthiness and reliability in household affairs, thereby becoming an example of their redemptive service in testimony to their faith in God and their Saviour (Titus 2:9-10).  
 
Both in their private and public spheres, the Apostle draws for us a composite cultural picture concerning the men and women of Cretan society in the church community. However, with their profession of faith as believers, Paul uncompromisingly distinguishes Christian values from their traditional wantonness and recalcitrant independence. He then summarises his edicts in the following segment (Titus 2:11-3:11), covering everyone in the community. The crux of the Apostle’s pronouncement was that the Gospel of salvation is not merely a forensic dogma, but belief in it transforms us, purifies us, generating a spiritual life that fully anticipates our Lord’s second coming (Titus 3:1, 4-8), and how one ought to live as a witness to the Gospel becomes the Christian norm in any society. The church, therefore, as a testimony to the living Christ is irreversibly counter-cultural and transformative - the very antithesis of the Cretans’ lifestyle prior to their salvation (Titus 3:2-3, 9-11). 
 
Lastly, Paul warned Titus to confront and to avoid the persistently divisive person in the assembly. Despite the fact that often church life is still very much a work-in-progress here on earth, the embodiment of Christ Himself within His community is reflective of what kingdom life is all about (Matt 6:10). The great distraction in this life is to fall far short of loving God with all our heart, all our soul and with all our strength and mind, and to love our neighbour as ourselves (Luke 10:27). That is our high calling in Christ!

​John 2 - 4.
 
Jesus’ first Passover, since the commencement of His public ministry, was a distressful event: He entered the Temple precinct and drove out those selling oxen, sheep and doves, including the money changers. The fact that the temple guards did not intervene to stop or arrest Him for what was a significant breach of the peace, implied that His reputation had possibly preceded Him. Subsequently, rather than confronting Jesus for His rioting, the religious leaders chose to questioned His authority for His uncommon behaviour, which was an explicit challenge to their own power and control over Temple affairs. Jesus’ reply, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” went totally over everyone’s heads (John 2:19). In reading through John’s Gospel, one is immediately struck with his use of Old Testament typology references concerning the Christ: viz., the Lamb of God, the Bread of Life, the Good Shepherd, the true vine, the tabernacle or the Temple, the Sabbath rest. Here, referring to His body as the Temple, Jesus was addressing His resurrection, but to everyone else, it raised a mysterious disconnect (John2:20-22; c.f., John 1:14 - at His incarnation, John stated that He ‘tabernacled’ among us). The significance of these symbolic representations is that Jesus considered Himself to be the focal embodiment between God and those who had put their faith in Him; He being effectively the Temple of God (Rev 21:3; Rev 21:22). The atonement process, through His death and resurrection, was fundamental in establishing Christ’s authoritative claim that He is the only One through Whom we have access to our heavenly Father (John 14:6); essentially, there is no other way.
 
Nobody believed Jesus when He made certain out-of-this-world claims during His tenure on earth. Unlike Jesus’ followers and disciples, with the post-resurrection advantage of hindsight, it is quite straight forward for us either to trust God or reject Him, unlike the need for the former to wait for His resurrection and to suddenly realise what He meant when He said things about Himself; as His miracles, resurrection and subsequent appearances had no historical precedence for them (John 2:22-25). For example, in His conversation with a high ranking Pharisee, Nicodemus, on the necessity of a new birth in order to see the kingdom of God, it was to authenticate His heavenly authority in giving us God’s new life through Him (John 3:1-13). And just as seeing the raised serpent during the days of Moses meant believing that God through their faith was the Israelites’ Healer, anyone who believed in Christ, the object of our faith, Who died on our behalf, will possess eternal life (John 3:14-15). God’s whole purpose in initiating His faithful and merciful dealings with man throughout Testamental history is due to His unconditional love for a broken world and restoring man’s estrange fellowship with Himself (John 3:16-21).
 
Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at a Sychar well defined for us His new covenant thinking on worship (John 4:1-30). In line with the Temple and resurrection context mentioned above, true worshippers are freed from being bound by the material world (John 4:13-15) and have been set free from their personal spiritual handicaps in life (John 4:16-19; John 4:27-29). Furthermore, geographical locations are no longer an impediment to their worship (John 4:20-23; as Near Eastern gods tend to rule over localities), nor are they subjected to prejudices in any form (John 4:9, 27; John 4:39-42). Jesus Himself throughout His earthly life modelled for us a selflessness that only lived to pursue His Father’s will on earth (John 4:31-38). The principal element that Jesus was attempting to elicit from the Samaritan woman was not the manner or task of worship but the motive of true worshippers (John 4:24). Hence, worship in the New Covenant appears impossible until after Christ’s resurrection. His focus was seeking after the heart of true worshippers, who despite themselves, as saved sinners in Christ, must come sacrificially offering worship to Him in the way the gift of the Spirit of God dynamically opens for them (i.e., in spirit) as they learn about who Jesus is and what is God like (i.e., in truth; c.f., John 3:6-8). Hence, the significance of the forms and rituals of our worship is minor compared to what goes on in our hearts and minds in Christ when we worship our Creator. God is God, He is the Alpha and the Omega, the eternal Life-Giver and unchangeable One, and He is incorporeal, not flesh and blood, therefore, how we appreciatively comprehend our God through our position in Christ matters principally as we draw near to Him (c.f., Acts 7:48-49; Acts 17:24). And as the Apostle John explicated, the hour as true worshippers of our Father in spirit and truth ….. has now come (John 4:23).