Titus 3:3-8: Justified by His Grace
The reason for the behavior discussed in Titus 3:1-2 is to display the transforming power of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ to the world. Over these next several verses, Paul rehearses to Titus (and us) what the Lord did for us, taking us from enemies of God to children of God.
Titus 3:3
First, the Lord shows us what we were before our encounter with the Lord. We were foolish. This means stupid. We might have been considered wise in the eyes of the world, or perhaps we were not. Without Christ, we are unintelligent. Romans 1:14 translates this “unwise.” Now we are wise. Whatever the world calls us, we are wise because we know and believe and act on the truth found in Jesus Christ.
We were disobedient. We could not be persuaded to obey the truth or do what is right.
We were deceived. We were seduced by the lies from the world. It is also translated elsewhere as “gone astray,” “err,” “are out of the way,” “wandered,” and “seduce.” Being deceived is a major aspect of being a part of the world. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9). The whole world is under the power of Satan. To be saved is to be set free from this deception.
We were “serving divers lusts and pleasures.” Like animals, we followed every instinct that we had. Consider the works of the flesh described in Galatians 5:19-21. Whatever feels good and advances my own agenda, do that.
We were “living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” This follows the lusts and pleasures that we followed. Other people were obstacles to what we wanted. Even friendship had ulterior motives to advance self. Think of Cain in Genesis 4:1-9. We see the progression of these traits here. We see Cain’s rejection brought about malice. He was envious of his brother. “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous” (1 John 3:11-12). He hated his brother, and showed no remorse when God confronted him: “And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9).
Titus 3:4
Since the verse starts with the adversative “But,” the rest of the verse will contrast with the previous. After years of being like the world system, “the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared.” It was not that we were seeking some deeper meaning to life. It was not with human reasoning that we came to some spiritual conclusion. God may have used such circumstances, but these were not the real reason for any change in us. God, the Savior of humankind, revealed His kindness and love to us, and by the power of His Word, He ran us over. The young Saul of Tarsus was not looking for truth on the road to Damascus. He was marching contrary to God’s will when the Lord Jesus ran Him over (Acts 9:1-4). Maybe it was not so dramatic with us, but this is the pattern. We were doing our own thing, when the Lord burst into our lives without any invitation from us.
It was because of His kindness and His love that God acted in our favor. The phrase “love... toward man” is one word from which we get the word “philanthropy.” We think of philanthropy as giving money to causes. God’s philanthropy is to give His own Son for our eternal life.
Here, we see the “God” half of our third “Savior pair.” We will discuss this when we get to Titus 3:6.
Titus 3:5
Here we see the heart of the Gospel. The Gospel is the vicarious death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is not mentioned here, but Paul alluded to it. He reemphasized that salvation is not accomplished or elicited by our works of righteousness.
Consider Isaiah 64:1-7. There was an anticipation of the Lord coming down from heaven. However, when the Lord came down, no one was looking for Him. For example, the priests and scribes would not even investigate the Lord’s birth, even knowing full well that He would be born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2). God would acknowledge if there were any without sin, but there are not any. Anything we do that we would call righteous is unclean and filthy. Nobody seeks Him.
Because nobody can seek God, He sought us. This is out of His own mercy. We did not even want Him, but He knew what is best for us and had compassion. Grace means no intrinsic merit or action on our part accomplished our salvation.
How did God accomplish this in us individually, in space and time? “...by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” What is “regeneration”? Consider Matthew 19:27-28. The regeneration here means a time when the effects of sin have been reversed, when the groaning of creation (Romans 8) has stopped. It is once the Day of Christ has passed and the wrath of God is finished, and when the Lord Jesus reigns from Jerusalem.
This time is also described in Acts 3:19-21. It is a time that will come when Christ returns and restores everything to an Edenic state.
This regeneration has already been accomplished in us spiritually. Physically, we still have a sinful nature and we long to be free. However, spiritually, we already have every spiritual blessing, and our life is hidden in Christ. Spiritually, we have been regenerated, restored, and refreshed by God.
What is the “renewing”? The word is used for renovations. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). But it is more than renovation. A related verb is used pertaining to the new man:
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)
And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him (Colossians 3:10)
It is beyond renovation. It is a new creature: the new man and the inward man. God made us into new creatures by this regenerating and renewing of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit always works in tandem with the Word; the Gospel is preached, and the Word works with the Spirit in one to regenerate and renew somebody.
Titus 3:6
The Spirit was sent to us from the Son. “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” (John 15:26). “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” (Revelation 5:6).
The Spirit was “shed on us abundantly.” The word “shed” means a pouring and gushing out. The “abundantly” is redundant, probably for emphasis. He did not hold any bit of the Spirit back from us. We received Him in full.
Here we see the second half of the “Savior pair.” Because God the Savior’s kindness and love appeared to us, the Spirit was shed abundantly on us because of Jesus Christ our Savior.
Titus 3:7
As we read the previous verses, we learn that we did not contribute to salvation. The Lord did it all. The use of the word “justified” shows us that He declared us righteous. This is a judicial term. We saw that we were not righteous, but God dismissed all charges because Christ paid them in full. His life was given in place our lives.
In addition to being justified, “we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Previously, we discussed the meek inheriting the earth. An heir means we are the children of God: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:16-17).
We are also heirs like Israel was in the Old Testament. Consider Galatians 3:28-29; 4:1-7. There is no partition between the Jew and the non-Jew. If you are in Christ, you are the children of Abraham and “heirs according to the promise.” In Galatians 4:1, the word for “child” is an infant. Being born again, with the Spirit of God in us, we are now “sons” which is tantamount to being an heir.
The “hope of eternal life” is something that we anticipate. It is true that we have eternal life now, but in this instance, considering this is something we anticipate (hope), this is life that begins after we die or after the Lord’s coming (whichever is first).
Titus 3:8
Here, we see the fourth time the phrase “faithful saying” is used, only used in the Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy 1:15; 4:9; 2 Timothy 2:11; Titus 3:8). What follows is something significant that we should ponder often. Paul even stated the subsequent idea will be repeated often.
It is imperative that “they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.” Previously, we saw how God’s people were purified to be “zealous of good works.” These are “good and profitable unto men.” Faith that is stagnant and inactive does not help anybody. Because we are called to love others, faith must be active to help others. “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6).
Consider James 2:14-17. When the word “save” is used, you can tell by the context that the saving is the person being helped. My faith “saves” or helps somebody else when I do something for them. If we do not do any good works, it is alone and dead.
This verse on good works returns us to why we do good works in Titus 3:1-2: Good testimony in the world and being compassionate to others.