Christianity In A Nutshell

“Can you describe Christianity in a nutshell?”

That made me wonder where the phrase "in a nutshell" originated. I discovered it alludes to the Roman writer Pliny's description of Homer's Iliad being copied in such tiny letters it could fit in a nutshell. It came to mean anything compressed or summarized in a few words. In Titus 2:11-14, Paul summarized the Christian faith "in a nutshell." With minimal words, Paul described the core of Christianity.

Paul presented a transformative view of Jesus's message, which revolves around the word "grace." Paul writes that the grace of God has “appeared.” The Greek word means an epiphany, a shining forth. Like the sun's brightness on a clear day, Jesus Christ appeared in our world with a message of God's grace.

This grace brings us salvation, which we all need! We are like a drowning person too far from shore to swim to safety and save ourselves. It will do no good for those on shore to shout to us, "Save yourself, swim to safety!" We cannot save ourselves. Our only hope is that a lifeguard will reach us before it is too late.

In the spiritual sense, Jesus is our lifeguard. He jumped into the water and brought us to safety. This is the salvation noted in our text. Paul elaborated on this when he reminded us how Jesus saved us. He "gave Himself for us" by going to the cross to "redeem us from every lawless deed (v. 14)."

The next thing we need to know about Christianity is stated first in the form of a negative. The grace of God, when it gets ahold of us, does not leave us as we were. It teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. The implication of the word is "to deny once and for all." Those who come to Christ do not need to get up each day and decide whether to engage in ungodly behavior. We made that once-for-all decision to turn away from ungodliness, which can be any thought, word, or deed that is contrary to the will of God. When ungodliness does sneak into our lives, we are to turn away from it immediately.

The final piece of the structure of the Christian life is seen in these words. We are "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (v. 13)." The foundation of our faith is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We build on that foundation, living lives characterized by godliness. The roof over the structure is the return of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Titus 2:11–14 is an excellent "nutshell" at the heart of Paul's pastoral letter to Titus. These verses are remarkable because they constitute one of the most precise summaries of authentic first-century Christianity we have in the New Testament.

And they still resonate very clearly with our world today. They give us God's master plan as he lays out what He desires from us in plain and straightforward language. He desires that we come to Jesus and be saved. He desires that we grow in him and live lives of righteousness and godliness. Finally, He wants us to anticipate with joy the final fulfillment of God's plan, the return of our Lord in clouds of glory. In a nutshell, "Maranatha!"

Blessings,
Pastor David