Titus 3:3-8

³At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. ⁸This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

In v1-2, Paul issues some commands regarding our behavior in the world. In v3-7, he gives motivation, or reason, for exhibiting such virtuous behavior. In these verses, we see the human problem, God’s solution for the problem, the method for solving the problem, and the reason for solving the problem. And v8 offers a trustworthy saying.

In v3, notice first our situation (Ephesians 2:1-4). We ought avoid arrogance toward the world by living rightly in the world, because we were once like the world. Ligon Duncan says, “Paul is saying, ‘Look, Christian, if you say ‘Well, I’m not going to live with this kind of kindness and generosity towards the world because the world is sinful…wicked…filled with wrongdoing…’’ Well, Paul has this to say to you: that’s just like you.” And he points to v5 – God’s mercy. When we were like the world (dead in trespasses and sin), God dealt with us mercifully (He made us alive in Christ “through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit”). So in our approach to the world, we ought to deal in mercy. We shouldn’t give the world what it deserves, because God didn’t give us what we deserved.

Calvin says, “Nothing is better adapted to subdue our pride, and at the same time to moderate our severity, than when it is shewn that everything that we turn against others may fall back on our own head… Ignorance of our own faults is the only cause that renders us unwilling to forgive our brethren. They who have a true zeal for God, are, indeed, severe against those who sin; but, because they begin with themselves, their severity is always attended by compassion… In order that believers, therefore, may not haughtily and cruelly mock at others, who are still held in ignorance and blindness, Paul brings back to their remembrance what sort of persons they formerly were.”

Look further at Paul’s description of the world: Calvin comments, “First, he calls unbelievers foolish, because the whole wisdom of men is mere vanity, so long as they do not know God. Next, he calls them disobedient, because, as it is faith alone that truly obeys God, so unbelief is always wayward and rebellious.” Third, Paul says they are deceived. And fourth, they go astray, and can do no other, being estranged from God and hostile to Him, enslaved to passions and pleasures that are not what they seem. These four descriptions are of the nature of unbelief. But what of its fruits? In Romans 1, Paul gives a lengthy list. Here he mentions malice, envy, and hatred, and contrasts those fruits with the kindness, or goodness, and love of God in v4.

Notice the solution (2 Timothy 1:9-10) to the human problem in v4-6. God does it all; it’s our problem, but God fixed it. He has saved us (John 5:24). The Trinity is mentioned in v4-6 and reveals the Covenant of Redemption. It’s the kindness of love of God the Father, our Savior, who saved us because of His mercy, and not because of anything we did; it’s the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (the symbol of which is baptism), whom God the Father poured out “generously,” or abundantly, speaking of fullness, to save us (Ezekiel 36:25-27); and it’s through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that our adoption and partaking of the Spirit came to pass.

When Paul speaks of the grace of God having appeared, he is speaking of the moment that believers were enlightened in the knowledge of the gospel, for he could testify that, though chosen from his mother’s womb (Galatians 1:15-16), he was a stranger to God, hostile toward Him and His people, until that grace did shine in glorious appearance to him on the Damascus Road (Acts 9). And then v7 gives God’s reason for solving the human problem by the application of God’s grace by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. It is so that we (His people) might become heirs through adoption. God wants an eternal living relationship with us, and so He solved our problem. The only way our problem of sinful unrighteousness could be solved justly was for God to justify (forgiveness of sins and imputation of Christ’s righteousness) us by His grace. Calvin says, “The meaning may be thus summed up. ‘Having been dead, we were restored to life through the grace of Christ, when God the: Father bestowed on us His Spirit, by whose power we have been purified and renewed. Our salvation consists in this; but, because we are still in the world, we do not yet enjoy ‘eternal life,’ but only obtain it by ‘hoping.’’”

Finally in v8, Paul refers to a trustworthy saying. He tells Titus to “stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” Essentially, Paul issues some commands, tells us why we ought to obey them, and then says what will be the result – that those who trust in God will devote themselves to good works, or more literally, “that those who trust in God, the hyper-conquerors of Romans 8, the pre-eminent ones as co-heirs with Christ, would strive and go forward in the work of God.”

Live rightly because of the grace of God, and you will be devoting yourself to good works. Ligon Duncan says, “Grace does not free you from obedience: it frees you to obedience… The grace of God which saves us does not free us from obedience, it frees us for obedience… Christian freedom is delighting in doing what God delights in.” Saving faith is a fruitful faith – that’s the trustworthy saying of Paul here, and teaching “these things” is “excellent,” “profitable for everyone.”