Titus 3:4-7 ● 2025-01-12 ● Series: Epiphany Moments ● Listen
About one hundred years ago Erik Erickson, a prominent psychoanalyst, coined the phrase “identity crisis.” He laid the framework for what is now used to describe when someone struggles to hold onto their identity. It can play out in several ways for people in different stages of life. A teenager going through the challenges of adolescence might have an identity crisis as they struggle to see how they fit or don’t fit in with their peers. Some teenagers will have such a minor identity crisis that they are convinced simply getting a piercing or tattoo will resolve all their problems. Today’s youth face the additional pressures of being lied to by those saying they were born in the wrong body. And the struggle is not just for youth. Many people who have lost their wealth have committed suicide because their identity was tied in with their wealth. Still others have a crisis when they have been married for several years. Sadly, their marriage became shattered while attending to their career or their children. An identity crisis can even occur as retirement looms on the horizon and people prepare to end their time in the workforce. I don’t know how much stock you put in the work of psychoanalysts like Erik Erikson and others like him. But he certainly got one thing right: our identity has a big impact on our lives.
Today we begin the first Sunday in the season of Epiphany. An Epiphany is a revelation or sudden shedding of light on something. And for the next few weeks we’ll be looking at some important realizations that come from knowing Christ Jesus. We might call those things epiphany moments. Today we’ll shed some light on the cure for an identity crisis.
The apostle Paul was someone who had a sudden identity crisis. He once fought against Jesus. He saw himself as a Pharisee and saw his mission was to extinguish the light of Christ. But he found this impossible; his identity changed. That’s why he writes over and over in his letters how God had called him from his former identity to be an apostle. Paul wrote to a young pastor named Titus. He referred to Titus by a new identity, “my true child in our shared faith.” Titus wasn’t really Paul’s son. But as a minister of the gospel taught by Paul, Titus was as close as family with a new identity.
Paul’s short letter to Titus stands as a witness to the importance of a new identity for those who are in Christ. In this letter Paul contrasts what the people once were and what they now are because of Christ. But an identity crisis was emerging for these new Christians on the island of Crete. The island had once been a center of piracy. And by the time Christianity came it still had a reputation. The Greeks even had a word built off the island’s name that meant to lie like someone from Crete. Would these early believers ever revert to their old ways? The reason Paul wrote to Titus was to stave that off.
But this letter is for us too. You might not be living in ancient Crete. But you have the same struggle with identity as these early believers. Paul wrote with instructions for the older men, the older women, the younger men, the younger women, and those who were servants. He wrote to everyone including Titus. He wrote regarding their change in life. Paul described their situation saying, “For at one time we ourselves were also foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by many kinds of evil desires and pleasures, living in malice and jealousy, being hated and hating one another.” Tt 3:3.
I hate to say it but it’s true when Paul says, “We were hated and hating one another.” Paul includes everyone, even himself. We all know what this struggle with identity is like. It is the human condition enslaved by its passions and desires, foolishness, and hate. It affects us all. Just consider how the rate of divorce has been increasing year by year for as long as we’ve all been alive. Just over the past generation divorces by people over fifty-years-old have increased by over thirty percent. People who have known each other for decades, raised children, and even see retirement veering on the horizon are still having struggles with their identity. That can be a tough period in life. A new identity is emerging, children are leaving the home, retirement is veering on the horizon, the effects of aging are beginning to take a greater toll on the body, health struggles can begin to take over. What is the identity? Selfish. Evil desires. Filled with malice. Sinner.
Satan succeeds in preying on the identity of those who ought to have it figured out. How much more won’t he cause confusion for the identity of younger people! Look at what he has done to sow seeds of gender confusion, sexual attraction to the same sex, to children, to multiple partners, to beasts, and now even AI and robots. What is the identity of someone with changing work, changing family, changing career studies, changing politics? Is your identity secure or does it struggle with foolish desires? Paul sums it all up when he describes our life and the way we are by nature: Our identity was once: “Enslaved by many kinds of evil desires.” We all were once this way. Is a crisis on the horizon?
But our state of crisis changed. It didn’t change by worldly methods. It wasn’t because we divorced, discovered mindfulness, or dyed our hair. It wasn’t some superficial change like wealth, plastic surgery, or a new career. Our identity changed because of God’s faithfulness. He never changed who he is. And his identity remains: God our Savior.
In a world filled with hatred and foolishness, malice, and hatred came one man who had none of those things. “The kindness and love of God our Savior appeared.” This is the word in Greek for “Epiphany.” He appeared. And he appeared in this world with such a different identity from us all. He appeared with love for mankind and kindness. That appearance happened first when he set aside his glory and came to identify with sinners. Not by sinning, but by taking on human form and humbling himself. God our Savior came and appeared lowly in a manger.
You’ve probably all seen the humorous credit card commercials where some celebrity shows up to a fancy resort talking about how great the credit card is. Then when he gets to the counter the person asks for some identity, evidently not recognizing them or believing them to be the celebrity. But Jesus has his credentials cleared. After living humble and perfectly for about thirty years he appeared publicly to make himself known. Thankfully we don’t have to ask him to verify his identity. The prophets and holy Scriptures made it clear who he is. He is Emmanuel. And when God with us appeared publicly we had his identity marked. At his baptism the Holy Spirit came in what looked like a dove and remained on him. And the voice of the Father spoke from heaven to identify him. “This is my Son who I love.”
And God our Savior appeared in a way that we never would have guessed. He appeared to surrender himself to a group of soldiers who had come to arrest him. He appeared before Pilate and the chief priest. They fulfilled Scripture by condemning him to death. Then on the cross the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared so that he could save us from our evil desires and deeds. He appeared to take our punishment and take our place.
And imagine how the disciples felt when he appeared once more on the third day. He was alive! He appeared victorious over sin, death, and the devil. He appeared with kindness and love proclaiming peace. He appeared to tell them, “Go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
You see, he appeared to save us and give us a new identity! Paul continues in Titus 3 “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit.” We were saved when he came into our lives and with the rebirth of baptism and renewal worked by the Holy Spirit. He saved us and made us his own.
Can you be sure? Is your identity in Christ secure? Once, while I was working a job in retail one of our customers came to me with a question. “Are you saved?” I don’t remember my exact answer, but I recall telling him yes. He said, “Are you sure?” I assured him that I was a baptized child of God. He didn’t accept that. He drilled me further saying my baptism didn’t matter and wanted to know if I was really saved. What was his purpose in getting me to doubt if I was really saved? Did he want me to prove it by speaking in tongues? Was I not saved unless I could do miracles of healing? Was I not saved unless I felt a burning in my bosom or had some sort of personal revelation? Why did he want me to doubt my salvation? Was I not really saved until I had done enough righteous things to secure my identity?
That man was trying to create an identity crisis for a young Christian. He no doubt wanted me to affirm his superior way of salvation. I don’t know if you’ve ever faced that type of a challenge, but you might. And I’m sure your identity has been challenged whether as a Christian or as how you live your life as one. But let me assure you what the Scriptures declare.
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” You can look at your life and try to form an identity. But it won’t produce confidence in who you are. Instead of looking at what you’ve done, look at these two unshakable truths. “He appeared, and he saved us.” This is an undeniable fact of history. The man Jesus appeared. And he appeared as God our Savior. He died. And by faith you can take hold of the promise he did that to save you. He appeared alive again. By faith you can believe the promise you are forgiven and will rise to life. He appeared to save you!
But how do I know he saved me? 1) Jesus appeared to save you. 2) You were baptized. Both are historical facts. When the water was poured or washed over you and the Word of God was spoken, you were baptized. “He saved us.” Your identity is not based on your failings or past life. It isn’t even contingent on you paying God back. He saved us. He appeared. You were washed and reborn and made new in baptism. You are connected to Christ and clothed in him. You have the gift of the Holy Spirit. You are saved! There is nothing greater you can ever say you received than what you already received in your baptism! The gift of faith and the renewal of Spirit! And you received it as “He poured out (the Spirit) on you abundantly by his grace.”
And the result is a whole new identity! You are justified, declared not guilty before God. And the result is that you are an heir of eternal life! You are saved from sin’s curse and given eternal life. If that isn’t saved, then what is?
Besides coining the term identity crisis, Erik Erickson’s is known for his book which examined the life of Martin Luther. He examined how Luther became such an influential figure in history. He noted Luther’s childhood, his life in the Roman Catholic Church, and his position as a Roman Catholic priest and professor. He used psychoanalysis to explain how someone like Martin Luther could end up influencing so many generations. But I think Erickson failed to pinpoint precisely what drove Luther. Luther never stopped talking about how Jesus had appeared as a lowly man to save us all. Luther never stopped talking about the significance of the only man who never questioned his identity as the Son of God. And he never ceased taking comfort and strength from his baptism. He knew that he was a baptized child of God. That’s what drove Luther. That’s what drives any child of God. It doesn’t matter what your wealth is. It doesn’t matter what your career or family life is like. These two truths guide your life into godliness and shape your entire identity today and forever. 1) Jesus appeared, and 2) you were baptized by his grace, saved by him. When you’ve realized the importance of those two truths you’ve had an epiphany moment, you have the cure for an identity crisis.
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