The Grunt Work of Grace Text: Titus 3:12-15
Introduction: Faith with its Boots On
We come now to the end of Paul's letter to Titus. After soaring to the theological heights, reminding us that we are saved not by works of righteousness that we have done but according to God's mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Paul does not float off into abstract piety. He comes right down to the ground. He lands the plane. The letter concludes not with a grand theological flourish, but with travel plans, logistics, and a charge to get two men the supplies they need for their journey. Some might be tempted to skip over these verses as mere personal postscripts, the ancient equivalent of "P.S. tell Aunt Mildred I said hello." But to do so would be to miss the point entirely.
Theology that does not result in a packed lunch for a traveling brother is not Christian theology. Faith that does not translate into practical, tangible, material support for the work of the gospel is a dead and useless faith. Paul has just spent three chapters laying the doctrinal foundation for the church in Crete, a foundation of pure grace. Now, he shows us what that grace looks like when it puts its boots on and goes to work. It looks like diligence. It looks like hospitality. It looks like providing for pressing needs. It looks like fruitfulness in the mundane, ordinary course of life.
Our secular age has a deep suspicion of doctrine. They want a disembodied "spirituality" that makes no demands, has no content, and costs nothing. They want the feeling of religion without the substance of it. But biblical Christianity is relentlessly earthy. It is about God becoming flesh. It is about faith becoming works. It is about grace resulting in observable, practical goodness. These final verses are a crucial test. Do we see the connection between the glorious grace of God in verse 5 and the need to help Zenas and Apollos on their way in verse 13? If we do not, then we have not understood the gospel. The gospel is not a ticket to heaven that we tuck in our pocket while we live for ourselves. The gospel is a commission. It is a summons to a life of fruitful labor for the King and His kingdom.
Paul is closing his letter, but he is not winding down. He is winding the Cretans up. He is giving them their marching orders. The doctrine has been delivered; now the duty must be done. And it is a duty that flows directly from the delight of being saved by grace.
The Text
When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Diligently help send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them. And our people must also learn to lead in good works to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful. All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.
(Titus 3:12-15 LSB)
The Apostolic Relay Race (v. 12)
We begin with the apostle's logistical plans.
"When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there." (Titus 3:12)
Paul is a general deploying his lieutenants. Titus is currently the man on point in Crete, tasked with the difficult job of setting the churches in order and appointing elders. But he is not a permanent fixture. Paul intends to send a replacement, either Artemas or Tychicus, to relieve him of his post. Once his replacement arrives, Titus is to "be diligent" to join Paul in Nicopolis, a city on the western coast of Greece. The word for "be diligent" is the same root as "zealous" or "eager." This is not a reluctant shuffle; it is an eager hustle. The work of the kingdom requires promptness and diligence.
This verse gives us a glimpse into the apostolic machinery. The gospel did not spread through mystical happenstance. It spread through strategic planning, hard travel, and the faithful execution of duties. Paul is coordinating his team, ensuring that the churches are not left without oversight. Tychicus is a familiar and trusted figure, a beloved brother and faithful minister who carried Paul's letters to Ephesus and Colossae. Artemas is less known to us, but he was clearly a man Paul trusted for this critical assignment. The point is that the church is a team, and the mission requires coordination. There is a time to stay and a time to go, and godly leaders must know the difference.
Paul's decision to winter in Nicopolis was a practical one. Sea travel in the Mediterranean was treacherous and often impossible during the winter months. But it was also a strategic decision. A whole winter in one city was an opportunity for extended teaching and evangelism. Paul did not do downtime. He was always on mission. For Titus, this summons was both a debriefing and a new assignment. He was to report on the work in Crete and receive his next set of orders. This is the rhythm of faithful service: deploy, work, report, and redeploy.
The Nuts and Bolts of Mission (v. 13)
Next, Paul gives a very specific and practical command regarding two other brothers.
"Diligently help send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them." (Titus 3:13 LSB)
Here again is that word "diligently." The Cretan believers are to make a concerted, earnest effort to support these traveling ministers. Zenas and Apollos are passing through Crete, and the church there has a responsibility to facilitate their mission. This is not about giving them a few coins for the road. The phrase "send on their way" was a technical term in the early church for fully equipping and supplying missionaries for the next leg of their journey. This meant providing food, money, supplies, and whatever else was needed so that "nothing is lacking for them."
Notice who these men are. Zenas is called "the lawyer." This likely means he was an expert in Roman or Jewish law before his conversion, and now his sharp mind was being used for the kingdom. Apollos, as we know from Acts and 1 Corinthians, was an eloquent man, mighty in the Scriptures. These are high-capacity, gifted men. But their gifts do not pay for their boat fare. Their eloquence does not fill their stomachs. The work of the gospel has a material backbone. Preachers need to eat. Missionaries need to travel. And it is the church's job, not just the pastor's, to ensure these practical needs are met.
This command is a direct application of the gospel of grace. Because God has been lavishly generous to us in Christ, we are to be lavishly generous to His servants. This is not about tipping for good service. It is about investing in the advance of the kingdom. The Cretans' support for Zenas and Apollos was a direct participation in their ministry. By supplying the need, they were fueling the mission.
The School of Good Works (v. 14)
Paul then broadens the specific command into a general principle for all believers.
"And our people must also learn to lead in good works to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful." (Titus 3:14 LSB)
This is a foundational statement about the Christian life. Notice that good works are something that must be learned. We are not naturally good or generous. Our default setting, thanks to the fall, is to be curved in on ourselves. We have to be taught, trained, and discipled into a lifestyle of practical godliness. The church is the school where we learn this. We learn by instruction, but we also learn by doing. The visit from Zenas and Apollos is a pop quiz, a practical exam in the subject of good works.
And what are these "good works"? Paul defines them here with beautiful simplicity: they are works that "meet pressing needs." This is not about abstract virtue-signaling. It is about seeing a real, tangible need and taking practical steps to meet it. Is a brother hungry? Feed him. Is a sister in financial trouble? Help her. Are missionaries coming through town? House them and supply them. Good works have dirt under their fingernails. They are concrete, specific, and aimed at the real-world urgencies of life.
The goal of this learning is explicit: "so that they will not be unfruitful." A Christian who is not engaged in good works is an unfruitful Christian. Jesus uses the same metaphor in the parable of the vine and the branches. We are saved for fruitfulness. We are redeemed in order to do good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10). Faith without works is not just weak; it is dead. It is a barren tree, useless to the master of the vineyard. Paul is not teaching a works-based salvation here. He has just spent the entire letter demolishing that idea. He is teaching a works-confirming salvation. The fruit does not make the tree alive, but it proves that the tree is alive.
Family Business and Final Blessing (v. 15)
The letter concludes with greetings and a benediction, which are far more than polite formalities.
"All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all." (Titus 3:15 LSB)
The exchange of greetings is a vital sign of the church's corporate life. "All who are with me greet you." Paul is not a lone ranger. He is surrounded by a team, a band of brothers, and they are all invested in the health of the church in Crete. This reinforces the interconnectedness of the body of Christ. The church is not a collection of isolated individuals; it is a family, and family members greet one another.
Paul then instructs Titus to "Greet those who love us in the faith." This is a beautiful definition of a true believer. A Christian is one who loves the apostles and the apostolic doctrine they carry. It is a love rooted "in the faith," the objective body of truth that has been delivered once for all. This is a family mark. We love one another not because we all have the same hobbies or political opinions, but because we are united by a common love for the Lord Jesus and the gospel He has entrusted to us.
Finally, the benediction: "Grace be with you all." This is Paul's signature sign-off, but it is no mere platitude. It is the bookend to the entire letter. The letter began with grace and it ends with grace. Everything in between, all the commands to appoint elders, to rebuke false teachers, to live orderly lives, and to be zealous for good works, is suspended between these two poles of grace. Grace is the foundation, the motivation, and the goal. It is the unmerited favor of God that saves us, and it is the divine enablement that empowers us to live for Him. It is not grace then works. It is grace that works. This final prayer is that the divine reality of God's favor would be with them all, empowering every act of diligence and every good work done to meet a pressing need.
Conclusion: The Grace that Gets its Hands Dirty
This closing section of Titus is a profound reminder that the Christian faith is a thoroughly practical affair. The grace that saves us is the same grace that sends us. It sends us to our Nicopolis, to our specific place of duty. It sends us to the docks to make sure that Zenas and Apollos have everything they need. It sends us into our communities to look for pressing needs that we can meet.
Theology that stays in the head is no better than the theology of demons, who also believe and tremble. True, saving theology always makes its way down into the hands and the feet and the wallet. It learns to be diligent. It learns to be generous. It learns to be fruitful.
We have been saved by a grace that was not afraid to get its hands dirty. The Son of God did not love us from a sanitized distance. He entered into the muck and mire of our fallen world. He touched lepers. He ate with sinners. He washed feet. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. He met our most pressing need, the need for a savior, with the ultimate good work, His substitutionary death and victorious resurrection.
That is the grace that is now to be with us all. It is a grace that transforms us from being fruitless consumers into fruitful contributors. It is a grace that teaches us that the most spiritual thing we can do on any given day might just be packing a lunch for a brother, writing a check for a missionary, or showing up with a hot meal for a family in need. This is the grunt work of grace, and it is glorious.