generous gospel good works

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

Titus 3:14

Something was going on for Paul in Nicopolis. This strategic port was a Roman capital and a bustling place for activity. It also had NO gospel witness and there was an urgent need for the gospel to advance. Paul was planning ministry there for a season. He wanted Titus to join him after receiving this letter (Titus 3:12). He was planning on spending the winter there rather than attempting further travel. There on the west coast of Greece, ministry was being strategized to continue advancing the gospel. Zenas the lawyer and the gifted speaker Apollos were apparently going to join with Titus and Paul (Titus 3:13). And effort would require commitment from the church for this dream team to form and do good work.

Paul enlists Titus to remind the church at Crete to join them with this effort. The devotion to “good works” spoken of here is probably a call for Christians to be generous in providing funds for Titus, Zenas, and Apollos to make the journey. It was also more than likely a request for the church to continue to join in the gospel expansion in Greece. It was Great Commission thinking for the congregation.

The gospel is commanded to go wide and deep. We must, as Christians, in very generation, preach the gospel to the ends of the earth. We must do good works along with this proclamation. We must invest our lives in the giving of time, abilities, resources, and money to make Jesus known. This is always the call. There is always need… because often the most difficult of circumstances (disasters, spiritual impoverishment, war zones, physical poverty, drought, or plague) call for the most Christlike compassion. And in those needs the gospel can thrive. In urgent need, we must be willing to do good works, sow generously, and cultivate kingdom fruitfulness.