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.”

B.             Results

• Regeneration – A new birth and a new life. Jesus said it clearly to a religious man named Nicodemus, who came to Him at night in John 3:3: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” We’ve all been born once physically but in order to enter the kingdom of God, we must be born spiritually. No matter how religious we might be, we are dead in our sins and therefore need the regeneration that only the Redeemer can give us. If you’re born once, you die twice; if you’re born twice, you only die once.

• Made right in God’s sight – “Justification is the gracious act of God whereby He declares a believing sinner righteous because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. God puts to our account the righteousness of His Son, so that we can be condemned no more. If you are saved then when god looks at you he sees a saint not a sinner because he sees His son. 

• Riches of righteousness. Not only do we have hope but we are heirs. If you’re saved, you are in line for an incredible inheritance? We are beneficiaries of His blessings. This word in the Greek was a legal term.

In verse 3, Paul describes what believers used to be. But right now some of you are still stuck in your sins because you have not yet received the gift of eternal life. God has done everything for you but you need to respond to Him by placing your full faith and trust in Him. What side are you on? Pre-Conversion Condition or Post-Conversion Condition. Because if you are saved then Paul says you have a responsibility to:

3. Share the Savior

Are you telling and teaching the truth? What are you going to do with God’s gift of grace? Are you going to share it or be selfish and silent with it? Why are people sucking in sin and dying in depravity when we have the solution? Because instead of sharing the life giving water that can save we sit and watch while they struggle and suffocate on sin. Jesus called us to be fishers of Men. You will never love fishing until you learn to love fish. Imagine if I had a bowl of gold fish, as long as they are living in the water they have life but if I were to throw them out they would suffocate and die unless they one of you came up and saved them. Why would you sit and watch them die when you could save them? Maybe you are embarrassed, worried about how silly you would look running up to save a fish. The truth is you cared more about how you look than you do about other people’s lives. Can I share a secrete with you, spending your life saving fish is going to look foolish to the world. It’s not about how we look but about how we live. Some of you might think it’s only a fish I mean he is only worth 10 cents, you are content to sit in your comfortable chairs because you don’t think they are worth it, because Christs work is not as important as yours. Some of you might not respond because you were shocked, because we focus on the sin and not the sinner, we get frustrated by all the flailing and we just want people to stop sinning. There a fish flailing around in your schools at your work and all over this world and we are annoyed with their blatant sin but we are not moved to share the message of God’s mercy. We have become satisfied with being good instead of sharing God.

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.”

It’s here that Paul reveals the:

• Kindness of the King – Some of us only view God as angry and judgmental and therefore want to avoid Him. But Christ is kind

• Lavish Love – God not only feels love toward you but He focused His love on you through sending His Son as the substitute sacrifice to die for your sin. When you are struggling to see and feel God’s love hold onto the promise of Zephaniah 3:17: “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

• Magnificent Mercy – Verse 5 is an excellent verse to remember when someone says that they are trying to get to heaven by their own efforts: “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” We need mercy because as we learned in verse 3, we are in a miserable condition. Instead of moving toward God, we are actually moving away from Him.

• Greatness of Grace – Grace is God’s unmerited favor that pardons us from our guilt. You and I don’t deserve to be forgiven but grace grants us freedom. You see the bible reveals that we are far worse off than we ever thought, and yet far more loved than we ever dreamed. Grace teaches us that God does for others what we would never do for them. We would save the not-so-bad. God starts with the scum and then works downward from there. Grace is a gift that costs everything to the giver and nothing to the receiver. It is given to those who don’t deserve it, barely recognize it, and hardly appreciate it. What about you, are you grateful for grace? In the end grace means that no one is too big a sinner to be saved. Do you have some things in your background that you would be ashamed to talk about in public? Fear not. God knows all about it, and His grace is greater than your sin. Grace also means that some people may be too good to be saved. That is, they may have such a high opinion of themselves that they think they don’t need God’s grace. God’s grace cannot help you until you recognize that you need to receive it.