Titus 3:3-8

“At 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. ⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he 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, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. ⁸ This 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.”

After reminding us of the importance of having right relationships at home, in the church and in the work place, Paul now reminds us of the importance of having a right relationship with God and a right response to the world. 

Paul starts with reminding us of both our past and our problem as he tells us about the seriousness and sickness of:

1. Sin – problem

In Titus 3:3, Paul leaves no room for misunderstanding in regards to our crippling condition before conversion: “Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other.” It’s here that Paul talks about both our response to sin as well as the results of sin.  

1. Response

We were:

• FOOLISH” – 

A foolish person lacks understanding, Sin makes us senseless. Ephesians 4:18 describes the life of a lost person: “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.” No matter how smart someone is, if they are not alive spiritually and forgiven they will follow what is foolish. 

• DISOBEDIENT

A person apart from Christ is by nature rebellious, willfully disregarding God’s laws and authority. 

• DECEIVED 

This Greek word describes a wandering and is the root for our word “planet.” We are all prone to wander, 1 Peter 2:25 says that before we are saved, we were “like sheep going astray…” The Devil is the ultimate deceiver, who works to keep people in the dark as stated in 2 Corinthians 4:4: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

• DEPRAVED

Sin wants to make you a slave, and hold you hostage, a prisoner to all kinds of passions and pleasures. Like the country of Crete, our culture is filled with “all kinds” of passions and pleasures, and these sins will enslave. The phrase, “many” reminds us of the diversity of depravity. Sin comes in many sizes, but no matter what you pick its all poison. The word “Pleasure” here is from the root word that is translated “hedonism,” which is the belief that indulgence is the chief end of life. We hear this all the time, don’t we? People say things like, “I just want to be happy” or “I deserve to have fun” or “I just gotta be me!” Those who want freedom to do whatever they want but instead of finding freedom they eventually end up in the prison of what they are pursuing. It’s the story of the prodigal son who went in search of pleasure and found the pig pen. When we aligning our conduct with that which was false, we became entangled and ensnared by passion and pleasure.