Faith: Gospel-Driven Good Works Without Divisive Disputes (Titus 3:8–11)

Introduction

Are you living out the gospel in a way that produces visible good in your daily life, or are you getting pulled into distractions that drain your love, joy, and usefulness? The central teaching I want you to grasp is this: because Jesus saved us by grace, we must affirm the gospel constantly and devote ourselves to good works, while refusing divisive, profitless arguments that corrupt the church (Titus 3:8–11). Paul is training Titus like a wise parent: some things you must say “all the time and forever,” and other things eventually require a firm “enough.” Titus 3 brings both categories into sharp focus.

Main Points

Are you living out the gospel in a way that produces visible good in your daily life, or are you getting pulled into distractions that drain your love, joy, and usefulness? The central teaching I want you to grasp is this: because Jesus saved us by grace, we must affirm the gospel constantly and devote ourselves to good works, while refusing divisive, profitless arguments that corrupt the church (Titus 3:8–11).

Paul is training Titus like a wise parent: some things you must say “all the time and forever,” and other things eventually require a firm “enough.” Titus 3 brings both categories into sharp focus.

Affirm Gospel-Driven Good Works Constantly

Paul says, “This is a faithful saying…these things I want to affirm constantly” (Titus 3:8). That means I need to keep repeating what’s most important, not because you’re slow, but because it’s essential. Just like in a home, there are lessons that must be reinforced again and again.

What is the faithful, constant message? “Those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:8). Another way to say it is: devote yourself to doing good.

Notice the order: those who have believed. Good works aren’t the entrance requirement into God’s family; they are the family resemblance after grace has rescued us. Your life between salvation and heaven has purpose. God saved you to make your life a living display of His goodness.

Keep Grace First, Works Second

If we get the order wrong, everything breaks. Paul just reminded us in the earlier part of Titus 3 that the gospel begins with the faithful bad news: we were sinners.

• “We ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived…” (Titus 3:3)
• Then God intervened: “When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared…” (Titus 3:4)
• Salvation came “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy” (Titus 3:5)
• Through “washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5)
• “Justified by His grace” (Titus 3:7)

So I want you to hold this tightly: you are not saved by good works; you are saved to do good works (compare also Ephesians 2:8–10). If you try to do good without constantly returning to grace, you will either become proud and self-righteous or discouraged and resentful.

Here’s a diagnostic that helps: when doing good feels impossible, often it reveals an area where the gospel needs to be freshly believed and enjoyed in your heart.

Let Jesus Define What “Good” Looks Like

Good works aren’t vague. Jesus gives shape to goodness by showing us what He has done for us and then calling us to reflect it.

In John 13, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). That means our good works are not about performing for approval, they are about imitating the Savior who served us first.

So I disciple you like this: don’t start with “What can I do to prove I’m a good Christian?” Start with “How has Jesus been good to me?” Then let that grace flow outward in practical, specific ways.

Serve, Forgive, Give, And Encourage From the Gospel

Let’s bring this down into everyday life, because “maintain good works” is meant to land in your calendar and relationships.

• Service and sacrifice: Husbands are called to love their wives like Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:25). But if you try to serve without remembering Christ’s service to you, you’ll either do it grudgingly or use it to build pride.
• Forgiveness: “Be kind to one another…forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Your power to forgive flows from the cross, where Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them,” while we were still sinners.
• Generosity: If God “did not spare His own Son…but delivered Him up for us all,” how will He not also give what we need (Romans 8:32)? When you see God’s generosity clearly, you can hold your possessions loosely. Without grace, generosity turns into religious bargaining or keeping people in your debt.
• Encouragement in suffering: “All things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8:28). That confidence isn’t sentimental optimism; it’s anchored in the greatest “tragedy-turned-to-glory” reality: the cross and resurrection. If God can turn the death of His Son into salvation for the world, He can sustain His people through affliction and bring them to His good purposes.

This is why I keep saying: all good work is gospel work. If it doesn’t rise from what Christ has done, it won’t last or it won’t be clean.

Avoid Profitless Arguments That Produce Bad Fruit

Now we shift to the second category: the “how many times do I have to tell you” warning.

“But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and useless” (Titus 3:9). These debates may sound spiritual, but Paul says they don’t profit anyone. They don’t help you love Jesus more, trust the resurrection more, or reflect Christ more.

I want you to test your conversations with simple gospel questions:

• Does this increase worship, humility, and love?
• Does this strengthen confidence in Christ and obedience to Him?
• Or does it stir agitation, pride, division, and suspicion?

Paul warned Timothy similarly that obsession with disputes produces ugly fruit: envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, and “useless wranglings” (1 Timothy 6:3–5). So don’t be fooled: theological talk can still become spiritual noise if it’s detached from “wholesome words…of the Lord Jesus Christ” and “doctrine which accords with godliness” (1 Timothy 6:3).

Set Firm Boundaries With Divisive People

Paul doesn’t only say, “Avoid the distractions.” He also tells Titus what to do when someone keeps bringing them into the church.

“Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition” (Titus 3:10). In other words: warn them, warn them again, and then stop giving them room to fracture Christ’s people.

Why so strong? Because persistent divisiveness isn’t neutral. Paul says such a person is “warped and sinning, being self-condemned” (Titus 3:11). The issue isn’t that they asked a hard question or expressed a concern; it’s that they are committed to a pattern that harms the body and pulls people away from living out the gospel.

So I’m teaching you a mature balance: be patient enough to admonish, but be wise enough to protect the flock. The gospel creates good works and unity; endless quarrels create suspicion and decay.

Conclusion

Titus 3:8–11 gives us a simple framework I want you to carry: live out the gospel and leave out the rest. We affirm constantly what saves and what sanctifies, God’s grace in Christ, producing real good works in everyday life. And we refuse the distractions that are “unprofitable and useless,” especially when they create division and corrupt the church.

So this week, I want you to do two things with intention: (1) ask God to show you one concrete “good work” that flows from His goodness to you, and (2) step away from any argument that doesn’t lead you into deeper love for Jesus and deeper love for people.

Father in heaven, thank You for Your kindness and love that appeared in Jesus Christ. Thank You that You saved us not by works of righteousness we have done, but according to Your mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Help me live in that grace, not just believe it once.

Lord, make me careful to maintain good works. Show me specific ways to serve, forgive, give, and encourage others as an overflow of what You have done for me. Protect my heart from pride and from doing good in my own strength.

And Father, give me wisdom and courage to avoid foolish disputes that do not profit anyone. Guard Your church from division. Help me pursue wholesome words, sound doctrine, and a life that accords with godliness. Make my life a clear reflection of Jesus. In His name, amen.

Conclusion

Titus 3:8–11 gives us a simple framework I want you to carry: live out the gospel and leave out the rest. We affirm constantly what saves and what sanctifies, God’s grace in Christ, producing real good works in everyday life. And we refuse the distractions that are “unprofitable and useless,” especially when they create division and corrupt the church.

So this week, I want you to do two things with intention: (1) ask God to show you one concrete “good work” that flows from His goodness to you, and (2) step away from any argument that doesn’t lead you into deeper love for Jesus and deeper love for people.

Closing Prayer

Father in heaven, thank You for Your kindness and love that appeared in Jesus Christ. Thank You that You saved us not by works of righteousness we have done, but according to Your mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Help me live in that grace, not just believe it once.

Lord, make me careful to maintain good works. Show me specific ways to serve, forgive, give, and encourage others as an overflow of what You have done for me. Protect my heart from pride and from doing good in my own strength.

And Father, give me wisdom and courage to avoid foolish disputes that do not profit anyone. Guard Your church from division. Help me pursue wholesome words, sound doctrine, and a life that accords with godliness. Make my life a clear reflection of Jesus. In His name, amen.