Dear Friends,

Ding, ding, ding … Now we are in the bonus round. I have included more study sheets to supplement this week’s study.

Does God not have a plan?

Or is it possible that he has a plan, and we are missing it? We sound the alarm. “This legislation is passing; that liberal was elected … We need a plan. We need to do something.”

So I ask again, does God not have a plan?

• (Titus 3:1 ESV) Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,

Have world events and national trends taken him by surprise? Slipped by him? Fallen through the cracks of his sovereign, providential rule? Did God not take into account the political climate in the United States as he wrote these words 2,000 years ago?

So are we saying that we need to “come up with a plan” because there is not a plan in God’s Bible? And what does that tell us?

Isn’t it funny–as in not really funny but sad and ironic–that we (evangelical, fundamental Christians) spend so much time, energy and resources denouncing and disparaging our government, calling for a plan, calling for reform, and God nowhere in his Bible tells us to do such a thing.

No it isn’t funny.

No place in Scripture does God call us to spend our lives seeking government reform. For something that is clearly NOT taught in Scripture, why is it so high on our priority list?

Because we put it there. So we must know better than God?

What God does tell us in his Bible is to submit to governing authorities, obey them, honor them and respect them.

• THREE TO ZERO …
  —Three times in the New Testament God commands us to submit to governing authorities.
  —ZERO times he calls us to government reform.

In fact find anywhere in the entire Bible that supports this agenda.

Here are the first two verses of our text this week.

• (Titus 3:1–2 ESV) Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, ² to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

God calls us to a lifestyle that honors both our citizenship in heaven and our citizenship on earth.

• to be submissive to rulers and authorities,
• to be obedient,
• to be ready for every good work,  
• to speak evil of no one,
• to avoid quarreling,
• to be gentle,
• and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Is our cause so “righteous” that we are justified in pushing these truths aside?

God’s plan for reform begins in our hearts and it works its way out through the words we say and the attitudes and actions we embrace.

We do not need to come up with a plan of action, we need to obey God!

• PDF LESSON 34B : Remember This : MEMORIAL DAY : Titus 3:1-11 : FFC : dave scott : 052415: STUDY SHEET THREE
• PDF LESSON 34B : Remember This : MEMORIAL DAY : Titus 3:1-11 : FFC : dave scott : 052415: STUDY SHEET FOUR