You can read the verses around this Bible passage from the Internet Bible: - in English, and many other languages
Many people assume that if you are born in a particular country or particular area or, indeed, have a particular name, then that dictates your religion. However, God did not send the Lord Jesus Christ to the Christians because when He came there were no Christians! It was only after His death, resurrection and ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit that His church was formed. And on that first Pentecost Sunday people from many different nationalities were converted (Acts 2:9-11) including some from Crete where Paul had left Titus in charge of the developing churches.
Despite the many cult religions which abounded in Crete, and the large number of Jewish worshippers, Paul emphasised to Titus that the grace of God in Christ was for people from every nation. None were excluded from the gospel opportunity and all should be invited to receive salvation. So the gospel was not bound to any culture, national or family identity. Neither was it a right that came through birth or an automatic faith because of the accident of where one should happen to live. That is one of the exciting things about the gospel: Jesus Christ is appointed as the Saviour of people from every nation, language and culture; and they should be invited to repent and believe in Jesus.
Of course, it is important to respect everybody and not to abuse or ridicule their cultural background or identity. The Apostle Paul never did that when preaching the gospel: instead, he preached Jesus who was crucified to take the sins of the world and raised to lead His people in a new life for ever. That message was preached to Jews and Greeks, those who had been pagan worshippers or occultists. It reached slaves and kings with equal power and changed the lives of the educated and un-educated whatever their age or gender. The gospel still operates in exactly the same way today. We should never assume that somebody does not have the right to know about Jesus because of where they live or the religion of their parents. Nobody is too old or too young, too clever or too simple to come to Jesus. Neither does any previous belief system exclude them from the privilege of hearing the gospel. So, wherever we live or work there are people who have the right to hear about Jesus because He took the bold step of dying for every one of them.
Prayer: Dear Saviour God. Thank You so much that Jesus Christ came to die for the sins of every single person in the world and that You will forgive everybody who trusts in Him. I am sorry when I have assumed that some people should not know about Jesus or when I have failed to speak about Him because I believed that they did not have the right to know. Please help me to see everybody I meet with new eyes, as people for whom Jesus Christ came to earth so that He might become the sacrifice for their sins. Then please give me boldness to speak of Jesus so that I do not deprive those He loves from the possibility of being saved. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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