God no longer expects His people to bring animal sacrifices to a temple made with hands. The Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for man, and in doing so, became the ultimate sacrifice, once and for all. To bring an animal to any religious facility in the present age would be directly disobedient to the clear teachings of the New Testament. Yet, the Lord still desires to receive sacrifices from men. The sacrifices today consist of believers presenting their bodies to the Lord (Romans 12:1) and giving thanks to Him with their lips (Hebrews 13:15). In Hebrews 13:16 the Bible also says “to do good and to communicate . . . for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
The scriptures plainly and repeatedly state that Christ gave Himself as man’s complete and only sacrifice. Yet, the New Testament proclaims that because of salvation, the believer can offer spiritual sacrifices to God (1 Peter 2:5). Before a believer can determine the complete nature of these sacrifices, he must first recognize that any such sacrifices must be made to God only. The Lord declared His jealous nature in the Old Testament when He said, “He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed” (Exodus 22:20). Though much has changed, God still demands that man’s sacrifices be presented to Him and Him alone.
Living the Christian life is not limited in time or place. In fact, the workplace serves as one of the most important places for a Christian to exemplify a testimony for the Lord Jesus. Yet, Christians can fail miserably by being lazy workers or disobedient to employers. According to scripture, servants are to obey their masters (Titus 2:9) from the heart (Colossians 3:22) with fear and trembling (Ephesians 6:5-6). Not only are Christians responsible to obey godly bosses, but the Bible commands the same respect to be given to those who are froward (1 Peter 2:18). Believers ought to behave beyond the norm in their service in the workplace. The Bible affirms this truth by saying that servants should “please” their masters well in all things (Titus 2:9). Many lost people have been led to Christ by Christians who live godly and display an impeccable testimony at work.
Because political abuses are becoming increasingly common, people have become disillusioned with their elected representatives. However, God is very specific concerning His purpose for government. It is empowered by God for the punishment of evil doers and the praise of the righteous (Romans 13:1-6). The Bible refers to rulers as “God’s ministers” (Romans 13:6) and these ministers are offered as a gift from God to the people. As believers, we are to submit ourselves to the ordinances of man for the Lord’s sake (1 Peter 2:13-17). In our passage, Titus was reminded that one of his responsibilities as a preacher was to put the people in mind “to be subject to principalities and powers” and to encourage them “to obey magistrates.” This may sound like a daunting responsibility because governments frequently go beyond the scope of their God-given authority. This is why God has not left Christians without direction when He instructs that is better to obey God than men (Acts 5:29).
