“We also once were foolish ourselves!”

“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”  (Titus 3:3-7 ESV)

The last chapter of this letter is one of great encouragement to Titus. Paul tells him to remind the church, the "called-out" ones, the saints “…to be ready for every good deed…”. Then in verse 3 Paul tells Titus why we should always be ready, he says “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” Wow, I don’t know if you said, “That was me!”, but that was me!  Focused on what I thought was right and what I wanted to do, not concerned with what God said was right and what He wanted me to do.

Verse 3 is the perfect description of all of us, before we changed our minds (repented) and accepted the gift of eternal life offered by God’s grace, through faith in our Savior. Never forget, “For we also once were foolish ourselves.” When you are tempted to look at the lost and think, “How come they can’t see the pure truth of God’s gift?” When we start forgetting how strong the pull of our old master was when we were enslaved to various lusts. Remember, they are as we were before Jesus.

Now comes one of my favorite words in all of Scripture, “But,” the first English word of Verse 4. This word highlights the contrast between what was true and what is now true. “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not based on deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” [emphasis mine] (vv. 4-5).

Remember back in verses 1 and 2, Paul instructs believers to be ready for every good deed? Here, in verse 5, he clarifies any confusion about the need to work for salvation. “He saved us, not based on deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy.” I’m not sure why humans keep thinking that we must earn God’s love. We don’t and we can’t earn it.

God loves us with an everlasting love. The Holy Spirit convicted us of sin and drew us to Jesus. God gave us the ability to understand salvation by grace, so that it makes sense to us; we didn’t figure it out on our own. As believers in Christ, we can’t earn God’s love. He loves us because we are in the “beloved”; we are in Jesus. God can no more turn his back on us than He can on Jesus. We are God’s own possession because He has redeemed us with His own blood. We need to remember what we once were, so we can continue to focus on who we are now, and be ready for every good deed, bringing honor and glory to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"