Titus 3:4-8
~16 min read
💭 Consider this: How are you different now compared to the person you were before your conversion? How can you “maintain good works” for God in gratitude for His saving grace?
TRANSCRIPT
I greet all of you in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our text for today's message is taken from Titus 3: 4-8. In our previous message, we learned how we can witness for God more effectively as good citizens. Before we start to slander the authorities that God has set above us—whether it be kings, presidents, prime ministers, including our bosses and employers—we remember our former conditions. We remember we were once just like them.
As verse 3 says, "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another." In other words, before our conversions, we were once just like them. We were dead in trespasses and sins. We were walking according to the ways of the world, according to the prince of the power of the air, that is, Satan. We were by nature the children of wrath. If nothing happened, we would still be spiritually dead. We would still be living in wickedness and still be under the wrath of God.
And what is the thing that so dramatically changed our lives? It is this wonderful word: "but." So in verse 4, Paul says, "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared." It is all because of God, how He has amazingly intervened in our lives, which otherwise, you and I would be in a most hopeless situation. That is why Martin Lloyd-Jones rightly said, ‘The word 'but' in and of itself, in a sense, contains the whole of the Gospel.’ This is what we want to learn from today's passage, and the title of our message is: Remember How We Were Saved. By remembering how we were saved, it will teach us two important lessons. Firstly, it will remind us of the salvific work of God, and it will re-motivate us to live for His glory.
I. Reminds Us Of God's Salvific Work
Let us first be reminded of God's salvific work, beginning with verse 4: "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared." We all understand what kindness means. It speaks of God's goodness and generosity. But the original Greek word for love is very interesting. It is from where we get the English word for ‘philanthropy.’ When we think of the word ‘philanthropy,’ we think of great acts of charity.
For example, multi-millionaires giving huge amounts of money to the orphans, the poor, and the homeless. No doubt, feeding the orphans, the poor, and the homeless are wonderful acts of charity. But those acts of charity can only feed the physical body. The greatest act of charity and philanthropy is to feed the spiritual body—the soul—because the soul is that part of us that will last for all eternity.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He came into this world and became a man to save us from our sins, that was the greatest act of charity. It was at a point in history when Jesus Christ came at an appointed time, at a certain place, for a divine purpose. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into this world and became a man. He was born in a manger. He lived a perfect life and suffered the worst form of punishment when, at the cross, He bore the sins of the whole world. He came for one sole purpose: to save sinners from their sins. He came to pay the price of sin that men could not pay. Through His life, through His death, through the shedding of His precious blood, and His resurrection, He brought salvation to those who place their faith in Him.
Verse 5 says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." What is righteousness? To be righteous means to have a right standing before God and be accepted by Him. First of all, we must understand that God's standard of righteousness is perfect, and anyone who fails to meet that standard deserves to be punished and be separated from Him forever and ever.
There are some people who cannot accept this teaching, and they would say, ‘How can God have such a standard required of us?’ But these people fail to recognise that there are so many things in our lives that have requirements and standards, and we accept them willingly, naturally, and spontaneously.
Take, for example, today there are some medical doctors in our church. No one would ever question the state government to have the requirements for the practice of medicine. The state government sets the standard, and anyone who wants to be a doctor must meet that standard. If you want to be a doctor, you must graduate from college. After that, you must graduate from a recognised medical school and hold a degree. This must be followed by an internship under the supervision of experienced doctors, and then perhaps you have to pass an examination to be given a license, and so forth.
No person in the right frame of mind would trust another person who claims to be able to practice medicine when he or she has not passed those requirements. And that includes the other vocations as well: accountants, mechanics, technicians, and so forth. Nobody would question all those worldly requirements, but people would always question God's requirements.
In a similar fashion, anyone who wants to enter into heaven would have to meet God's standard. God has the right to set the requirements. The difference between God's requirements and all the requirements we face in this world is that no one has ever met that standard, and no one ever will. The Bible says, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
Some people may think, ‘Well, I've always been good and righteous in my lifetime. I've done many good works, and I have received many awards for my good works, for my contribution to society, to charity.’ Yes, in the eyes of the world, you may be good and righteous. Even if the world may award you with a Nobel Prize, but the world is not the ultimate judge. Hebrews 9:27 says, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." The day will come when we will have to stand before the Almighty God, who will judge us according to His standard, which is perfect.
And we can never be righteous by God's standard. You and I can never be perfectly holy. We can never be without sin on our own. No one can ever stand before God and be declared righteous because there will always be traces of sins found in our lives. We may do acts of righteousness here and there, but they are always intermingled and mixed with sin. The Bible says, "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). Our so-called righteousness and good works are corrupted with sin: all the jealousies, envies, pride, anger, malicious thinking, hidden agendas, and so forth. Indeed, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). That is why Romans 3:10 declares, "There is none righteous, no, not one."
The only way for us to be declared righteous is for our sins to be removed, and the only way for our sins to be removed is that the penalty of our sins has to be paid. Our Lord Jesus Christ paid the penalty of our sins with His death and the shedding of His precious blood at the cross. Jesus carried our sins, and those of us who believed in Him, we receive His righteousness—not the works of our righteousness, but His righteousness.
And at the cross, there was this transaction which Martin Luther called ‘the wonderful exchange.’ As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." In other words, our Lord Jesus Christ took our place on the cross of Calvary, and the repentant sinner's sins were imputed unto Christ, and Christ's righteousness was imputed unto him. This is the heart of the Gospel. That is why Acts 4:12 says, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." There is only one name, one person, one way: only Jesus saves. Jesus Himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). Only Jesus saves.
God demands from men what man could never achieve on his own. God demands perfect holiness. Again, some people may say, ‘But that is not fair. Why doesn't God just lower His standard a little bit?’ Well, let's say God lowered His standard. Let's presume God says, ‘In order to be saved, you just need to be intelligent.’ Would that be fair? No, that would not be fair to the intellectually challenged. If God says, ‘In order to be saved, you just need to be rich,’ would that be fair? No, that would not be fair to the poor. What if God says, ‘You need to be moral?’ Then what about those people who struggle with immorality?
Well, the Almighty God set a standard that no one could qualify, no one could boast, and then He sent His only begotten Son to come into this world, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). And He says to you, ‘I will give you My righteousness, no matter who you are, if only you believe in My Son.’ So it is not because of us, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
The word “washing” speaks of being washed and cleansed of our sins, and the word ‘regeneration’ speaks of being born again spiritually. This is a reference to the Word of God. It is a supernatural work. It is the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God who convicts our hearts, transforms our lives, gives us this new life in Jesus Christ, and continues to sustain our spiritual lives. The indwelling Holy Spirit not only saved us, but verse 6 tells us, "Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." In other words, the indwelling Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee of our eternal life.
Dear friend, you and I do not deserve to be forgiven. We do not deserve to go to heaven, to be justified, to be sanctified, and one day to be glorified in the very presence of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is all because of God. It is all because of His grace that you and I are saved. In God's eyes, we are justified—as in, we are clothed with the righteousness of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And not only that, He pours His kindness and love upon us so abundantly that we are made heirs—which means we have this inheritance of all His eternal blessings.
Once, there was a large, prestigious church in England which had three mission churches under its care. On the first Sunday of the New Year, all the members of the mission churches came to the big city church for a combined communion service. Those mission churches were located in the slums outside the city. Most of their members were living in the slums, and they had some amazing cases of conversions: people who were once criminals, robbers, prisoners, and so forth. They were converted. When they came together in the mother church, everyone knelt side by side for the communion service.
On one such occasion, the pastor saw a former robber kneeling on his knees, and beside him was the judge of the Supreme Court in England. And he was the very judge who had sent him to prison, where he served seven years. After his release, this robber had been converted, and he became a Christian worker. Now, in the same worship service, they knelt there side by side—the judge with the former robber beside him.
After the service, the judge was walking out with the pastor, and the judge said to the pastor, ‘Did you notice who was beside me during the communion service this morning?’ The pastor replied, ‘Yes, I noticed.’ The two then walked in silence for a short moment, and then the judge said, ‘What a miracle of grace.’ The pastor nodded in agreement, "Indeed, what a marvelous miracle of grace." Then the judge said, ‘But to whom do you refer?’ And the pastor said, ‘Why, of course, to the conversion of the former robber.’ The judge said, ‘No, I was not referring to him. I was thinking of myself.’
The pastor was surprised and said, ‘You were thinking of yourself? I don't understand.’ The judge replied, ‘Yes, it was natural for the robber to receive God's grace. When he came out of jail, he had nothing but a history of crime behind him. And when he saw Jesus as his Saviour, he knew there was salvation, hope, and joy for him, and he knew how much he needed that help. But look at me. I was taught from infancy to live as a gentleman. I was taught to say my prayers, to go to church. I went through Oxford, obtained my degrees, was called to the bar, and eventually became a judge. Everything was working well with me, and I trusted in myself so much that I trusted in no one else. Pastor, it was God's grace that drew me. It was God's grace that opened my heart to receive Him. I am the greater miracle of grace.’
Though the judge might insist that his life is the greater miracle of grace, contrary to what the world may think—most certainly, the world will think that the former robber was the greater miracle of grace—but my friends, in both cases, it was God's grace. It was the Almighty God who brought them unto Himself. By the grace of God, both were saved. Every one of us sitting in this room, if we have faith, it is a miracle. No matter who we are, no matter what background we come from, no matter what is our past, no matter what is our culture, it is God's kindness, love, and grace that brought us salvation.
It is so wonderful to know that we are saved, but our salvation cannot stop there, and it does not stop there. If God's purpose in saving us is just for the sake of sending us to heaven, then He would have done so at the very moment He saved us. Why would He allow us to continue living on the face of this earth if heaven is a better place? Why would He not just take us home right at the moment when the Holy Spirit convicts our hearts of our sins, and we embrace Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, and that would be the moment we draw our last breath?
II. Motivates Us To Live For God's Glory
Well, God saved us for a purpose—for His glory. And He wants us to be reminded of how He has saved us so that we will be motivated to live for His glory. That was why Paul went on to say in verse 8, "This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men."
"This is a faithful saying" refers to what Paul has said in the preceding chapter and verses. Remember how we Christians ought to live and behave toward one another in the church: as aged men, aged women, young men, young women. How we ought to live and behave in the society, in this unbelieving world, as good citizens. This is a faithful saying. To "affirm constantly" means to speak confidently of all these truths. If we are truly saved, if we truly believe in God in the Saviour who died on the cross and shed His precious blood to wash away all our sins, then we must live and behave in such a way that we must be careful to maintain good works.
I would like all of us to take note of the phrase, "maintain good works." You cannot maintain something unless you have already started doing it. In other words, after we were saved, through our transformed lives, we are already performing good works. We are already practicing good works, and so the command was given that we ought to maintain those good works. The good works would include everything that glorifies God: our worship, our services, our singing, our giving, our evangelism, our discipleship, our visitation, our hospitality, and so forth.
Dear friend, let us honestly ask ourselves this question: Since the day of our conversions—if you remember the day when you committed your life to the only Saviour of the world and received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour—what are the good works you have done? What are the things you have done for the glory of His precious name? How can we be careful to maintain good works unless we are already doing that?
If you are serving as a Sunday school teacher, continue to maintain that good work. If you are giving to support the mission work in Myanmar or Cebu, Philippines, continue to maintain that good work. If you are visiting the sick and the elderly to encourage them through the Word of God, continue to maintain that good work. If you have been evangelising to your unbelieving colleagues and friends, continue to maintain that good work. Even if you are weak, frail, and sick, and lying on your bed, and you think you cannot do anything, you can still maintain that good work. Do you know how you can do that? You can lie on your bed and pray for the church, pray for the people around you, pray for those who are still outside the kingdom of God, that they will turn to Jesus Christ for salvation.
Believers must be careful to maintain good works. It is not a loving matter; it has everything to do with our eternal salvation. I'm not saying that we are saved by our good works. No one can be saved by the works of righteousness. It is only the righteousness of Jesus Christ that can clothe us and enable us to stand before God. But if you and I are truly saved, we cannot help it because God has a purpose in saving us. It is for His glory, and everything we do, we must consider: What has it got to do with the glory of my God? How can I glorify my God by the words I speak, by the actions I commit, by the thoughts I think? Everything has to be considered in view of the glory of God.
So when the believer lives his life for the glory of God, when the believer demonstrates the transforming power of the Word of God to his or her life, these things are good and profitable unto men. First, to the believer himself, because he is living a life that pleases the Almighty God. But more significantly, to the unbelievers around him, because through his love life, he will encourage and point the people to the only Saviour who is able to save their souls.
Dear friend, remember how you and I were saved. It is all because of God's kindness, love, and grace. It is in spite of who we were, and it must motivate us to live our lives for the glory of His precious name. And we will continue to maintain that good work. We will continue to worship and serve Him and glorify Him, whether through our actions, through our words, through our behaviours, or how we communicate with one another, until the day the Lord calls us home—whether it is by way of death or by the rapture, when Jesus comes in the clouds to receive us unto Himself. That will be the moment our Lord Jesus will say to us, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" (Matthew 25:23). May the Lord help us to apply this truth into our lives, for this is a faithful saying. Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven, indeed, once again we are reminded of how Thou hast saved us. It is all because of Thy grace. It is all because of Thee and what our Lord Jesus has done for us on the cross of Calvary, where He died and shed His precious blood, which is able to wash away all our sins. And it is through Thy precious Word and the wonder-working of the Holy Spirit that our hearts are convicted of our sins, knowing that our works of righteousness cannot save us. None of us can be declared righteous on our own. It is only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And we praise Thee, and we give thanks to Thee, how Thou hast reminded us how we were saved, and it must motivate us to live our lives for Thy glory.
We do not know how many days, months, or years we still have on this earth. For some of us here, it could be just days. Oh Lord, no matter what it is, no matter how many days, months, or years we have, we want to live for the glory of Thee. Whatever we do, say, or think, we want to consider what it has to do with the glory of God, because Thou hast a purpose in saving us: it is to glorify the one living and true God. So help us, that we as believers will live such a life to the glory of Thy precious name. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.
THE BOOK OF TITUSThe Commitment Of A Faithful ServantThe Commitment Of A Faithful ServantTitus 1:1
The Hope Of Eternal LifeThe Hope Of Eternal LifeTitus 1:2-4
Why Do We Need Godly Leaders?Why Do We Need Godly Leaders?Titus 1:5-9
How To Deal With Church Troublemakers?How To Deal With Church Troublemakers?Titus 1:10-14
The Product Of Who We AreThe Product Of Who We AreTitus 1:15-16
What Legacy Are You Leaving Behind?What Legacy Are You Leaving Behind?Titus 2:1-3
How Should Young People Live?How Should Young People Live?Titus 2:4-8
How Can You Witness For God More Effectively At Work?How Can You Witness For God More Effectively At Work?Titus 2:9-10
The Wonderful Grace Of GodThe Wonderful Grace Of GodTitus 2:11-15
How Can You Witness For God More Effectively As Good Citizens?How Can You Witness For God More Effectively As Good Citizens?Titus 3:1-3
Remember How We Were SavedRemember How We Were SavedTitus 3:4-8
Divisiveness Calls For Strong ActionDivisiveness Calls For Strong ActionTitus 3:9-11
We Need Faithful MenWe Need Faithful MenTitus 3:12-15
Message 6: To Fight the Good Fight of Faith is to Hold Fast the Faithful WordMessage 6: To Fight the Good Fight of Faith is to Hold Fast the Faithful WordTitus 1:9-11
