But He Saved Us

As we come to the Word this morning, I want to begin with a question.

Do you remember what life was like before you came to know Jesus?

Before you became a Christian?

Now I know that there are some of you who might be thinking,

well I'm here today and I'm actually not a Christian.

Maybe you've thought about fully embracing the Lord Jesus as your Savior and your King,

but you just haven't brought yourself to do it.

And if that's you this morning, then this question is not really for you.

But most of us here are Christians.

Do you remember what life was like before you came to know Jesus?

Some of you have been a Christian for decades.

Perhaps it was so long ago that you can barely remember what it was like back then,

especially if you were raised in a Christian home

and regularly attended church from the time that you were little.

Maybe others of you have only been a Christian for a few years.

Maybe for you it's easy to remember what life was like before you became a Christian

because it wasn't that long ago.

And for some of you, maybe how long it's been doesn't really matter

because you've never forgotten what life was like before you surrendered to Jesus.

Maybe the way you lived and some of the choices that you made

left such a mark that even the consequences of those old decisions are still felt even today.

Do you remember what life was like before you came to know Jesus?

Well, this morning as we come to God's Word,

Jesus wants us to be reminded of what it's like to not be a Christian.

He wants us to remember how life was before we believed.

He's going to tell us how life is right now for all who are not his people.

And he does this through the words of his Apostle Paul to Titus.

We've been working our way through this book, and we're in chapter 3.

Let me just read the first few verses of our passage for us this morning.

Titus chapter 3, starting in verse 3.

Titus 3 · chapter mention

Paul writes,

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.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,

he saved us.

Not because of righteous things we had done,

but because of his mercy.

So Paul, speaking for Jesus, has written this letter to Titus.

For those of you who are visiting with us and haven't been here for the whole series,

Titus is on the island of Crete,

and Paul has left him there to put things in order in the churches on the island.

Titus is to install qualified elders in each of the churches.

He's to rebuke false teachers who have crept into the churches,

and he's to teach about God's salvation,

and about how to live good, holy, and upright lives.

Paul has just finished urging Titus, here in chapter 3,

to teach the people to be subject to rulers and authorities,

to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,

to slander no one,

to be peaceable and considerate,

and always to be gentle toward everyone.

And now as Paul has been urging Christ's people to live good,

holy, upright lives,

he now points us back for a moment to reflect on what life was like

before we came to believe in Jesus.

He says,

At one time, we too were foolish.

When it came to spiritual things,

when it came to the truth,

we were senseless.

We were stupid.

Like fools, we weren't seeing things clearly.

We weren't thinking straight,

and it led us to do many foolish things,

senseless things.

At best, just wasting our lives.

And at worst, like fools,

doing damage and harm,

not only to ourselves,

but also to the people around us.

We were foolish.

At one time, we too were disobedient.

The overall way that we lived

was not in submission to God.

We were disobedient.

We were doing the things that God said not to do,

and we were neglecting to do the things

that God said we ought to do.

We too were deceived, he says.

This is a powerful word.

In our lives before Christ,

we were bought into lies,

and we didn't even know it.

We were like people who had gone off the path of truth

and had wandered away and were lost,

and we were unable to see

even where we had taken our many wrong turns.

In fact, we maybe even thought

that we were on the right path.

We were deceived.

And if that wasn't bad enough,

he says,

we were also enslaved

by all kinds of passions and pleasures.

It's another powerful picture here.

He says,

we were like slaves.

We were like people reduced to servitude

and serving our masters.

And who were our masters?

Well, the various passions and pleasures

that we had back then,

they were our masters.

We were like people out of control,

ruled by our desires,

helpless to say no to them.

We were just kind of driven

by this insatiable thirst

for pleasures and comforts.

It was our passions.

It was our cravings

for which we lived.

And the decisions that we made,

by and large,

reflected these enslaving desires.

And here again,

we notice one of the strong themes

of this letter,

which we've highlighted a few times.

Crete is the island

that's known for laziness.

It's the island that's known

for a lack of self-control,

for gluttony,

for drunkenness,

as we've heard throughout the letter.

And Christ has been urging

his people there on Crete

to live self-controlled lives.

Don't live that way anymore.

And so here Paul is saying,

we used to be just like them.

We used to be just like everyone else

there on the island of Crete.

We too were just living

to please ourselves,

living to indulge our cravings,

living to satisfy our lusts.

And we were powerless to do otherwise.

He says,

we too lived in malice and envy.

And it's maybe a little bit flat

of a translation.

I think some of the other ones

you guys may have out there

capture it better.

We were spending our lives,

we were spending our lives

in malice and envy.

This was an ongoing thing.

This was day after day,

spending our lives in malice.

And malice maybe is not even

the right word

because we always think malice today.

We think of intention to harm others.

But this is a more general word.

Refers generally to wrongness,

badness, wickedness.

So we were just kind of

sort of spending our days,

day after day,

in sin.

And in envy.

We were always looking at

what others had.

And coveting.

We were always wishing.

We were always wanting.

We were always desiring

what they had for ourselves.

Hardly content

with what God had given us.

Always seeing.

Always wanting.

We were hated

and hating one another.

We come to the realm of relationships.

This is how relationships were like

before Christ.

Now hate is a very strong word today.

And another way

this could be translated perhaps

is we were despicable

and despising one another.

The second statement is quite clear.

Despising one another.

Hating one another.

So the normal pattern

of relationships for us

before Christ

was for envy,

was for strife,

arguments,

conflict,

competing desires,

lack of respect,

and all of these things

boiling up

and growing to the point

where we frequently,

often,

just despised

other people.

And of course,

we felt justified

in doing so,

but probably the first word

reveals the truth.

We ourselves

were acting

despicably.

We were inviting

that hatred

and despising

of others

in the way

that we were living.

now this is quite

the picture.

This is quite

the reminder

of how life was

before these people

came to know Jesus.

And I think

a couple thoughts

are in order here.

It might be difficult

to relate to this list

if you came to faith

as a child.

If you were saved

as a child

and most of your life

all you've known

is the Christian life,

then this list

might almost feel

otherworldly.

But know this,

if that's you,

if you had not

come to know Jesus

at a young age

and you had grown up

like everyone else,

not believing in Jesus,

not living for Jesus,

then this is what life

would be like

for you

through all that time

before you met him.

And if there's any doubt here,

I just encourage you,

ask some of our

newest members here,

those who more recently

came to faith in Jesus,

ask them if this description

in verse 3

captures what life was like

just a couple years ago.

Next, I think we need

to remember that

this description

may not appear

on the exterior

of our lives

as much as it's

on the interior

of people's lives.

Amazingly,

Paul includes himself

in this description.

He says,

we too,

and then he gives this list,

which may be a little

shocking to us,

but at the least,

this means that

he's confessing

that he himself

was also like this

before he was born again.

And if you know

Paul's story,

I mean,

this is kind of surprising.

He was one of the Pharisees.

He was one of the

religious leaders

of his day

who had mastered

the art of living

the righteous life,

the good,

the holy life,

at least on the outside,

on the exterior.

But inside his heart,

he says,

we too,

I too,

was foolish,

disobedient,

deceived,

enslaved to passions

and pleasures,

spending my days

in sin and envy,

hateful and being hated.

he was just keeping

that all on the inside.

He was putting on the facade

for others to see.

And there's one more reason

why some may see this list

and just feel like,

ah, there's something

not right about this.

Let me ask it this way.

If a person doesn't

believe in Jesus

and they read this list,

this description

on the screen,

do you think that

they would say,

oh, yeah,

that's me?

Well, unless God's Spirit

is convicting them of this,

probably not.

Did we think

that we were foolish

before we came

to believe in Jesus?

Probably not.

We thought we were smart.

We thought we were wise.

We thought we had it figured out.

We were proud.

Did we think

that we were enslaved

by all kinds of passions

and pleasures

before we came

to faith in Jesus?

I mean,

all we have to do

is look at a person

who's addicted

to something today

and how many

of those people

are unwilling

even to admit

that they have a problem?

And that's just

an addiction.

I mean,

there's other kinds

of passions and pleasures

as we've talked about.

Passions is a very

broad word.

It refers to those

worldly desires.

It could be greed.

A person could be

enslaved to that desire

to get more

of the stuff

of this earth,

thinking this will

make me happy.

And on the outside,

everything might

look pretty good.

But if you were to look

at their bank statement,

you might see

that there's this

massive pile of debt

all piled up

because they've been

just buying,

buying,

buying,

buying stuff

that they don't need

in order to scratch

the itch of greed.

So all of these things

in this list

can exist beneath

the surface

to a measure,

beneath the surface

of a person's life.

And some of us

had learned

to hide these things

pretty well

when we were

around other people,

when we were

outside our homes

before we came

to know Christ.

And on top of all this,

it says right here

that we were deceived.

We didn't think

we had this problem.

This isn't the description

that we would have

said,

yeah,

that's me.

But according to God,

this was our life.

This is how it was

until the kindness

and love of God

broke through

and he saved us.

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.

But when the kindness

and love of God,

our Savior,

appeared,

he saved us.

not because of

righteous things

that we had done,

but because of

his mercy.

So Jesus wants us

to remember

what life was like

before we came

to know him.

Or in some cases,

what your life

would be like today

apart from Christ.

But that's not all

he wants us to remember.

He also wants us

to remember

that God

saved us

from all that.

He saved us.

And he wants us

to remember

why he saved us,

how he saved us,

and for what purpose

he has saved us.

And we see these

a little bit

in verses 4 to 7 here.

Let's start by looking

at the why.

But when the kindness

and love of God,

our Savior,

appeared,

he saved us

not because of

righteous things

we had done.

So the first reason

he gives us,

not quite the first,

but very early on,

it's a reason

that we're not to think.

It's not because

I've lived such a good life.

It's not because

I've done so many

right things

that I deserved it

or that I earned it.

Get that out of our heads,

he says.

This is why

when the kindness

of God,

our Savior,

appeared,

he saved us.

He saved us

because he is

kind.

Not because of

who we are,

but because of

who he is.

He is a kind

hearted

God.

He is eager

and willing

to do good

to people,

to help us,

to meet our needs.

It was kindness

that sent

the Lord Jesus

down from heaven

to earth

to save us.

And not just kindness,

but love also.

When the love

of God,

our Savior,

appeared,

he saved us.

God saves us

because

he

loves us.

Do you know

that God

loves you?

That this is why

he sent his son?

Because he loves

you.

So these are

the first two reasons.

God is kind.

God is love.

And at the end

of the verse,

he saved us

not because of

righteous things

we had done,

but because of

his mercy.

His mercy.

Mercy is that

part of God

that sees us

as we are,

undeserving,

and yet gives

to us anyway,

meets our need

anyway,

despite what

we deserve.

And if we look

ahead a little bit

more,

there's one more

reason in verses

six and seven

where it talks

about how he

poured out

the Spirit on us.

It says that he

did that generously.

He poured out

the Holy Spirit

on us generously

so that having

been justified

by his grace,

we might become

heirs.

God is a

gracious God.

He is a

generous God.

He's not a

stingy God

who just wants

to withhold

from you.

Just the opposite.

He is eager

and happily

gives generously

for the benefit

of those

that he has

created.

So this is

the why

he saved us.

And it's

wonderful.

The reason

is not anything

to do with us

and what we

have done.

It has to do

with who he

is.

Because of who

he is,

he saved us.

Because he is

kind.

Because he is

loving.

Because he is

a merciful.

Because he is

a gracious

God.

God.

So Paul

wants us

to remember

how we

used to

live before

we were

in Christ.

Then he

wants us

to remember

what God

did through

Christ to

save us.

He wants

us to know

the why

of it.

Not because

of good

we had

done,

but because

of who

he is.

And we

just talked

about his

kindness,

his love,

his mercy,

and his

grace.

And now

we come

to the

how.

How did

God save

us?

Paul wants

to remind

us about

that a

little bit

too.

And we

read this

in verse

5,

kind of in

the second

half of

verse 5.

He saved

us through

the washing

of rebirth

and renewal

by the Holy

Spirit,

whom he

poured out

on us

generously

through Jesus

Christ,

our Savior.

Paul tells

us some

of the how

that we

were

saved.

And there's

a couple

things here,

at least

three things,

if not

more.

And maybe

what's surprising

to us is

that as he

tells us

this,

we're kind

of almost

expecting that

he's going

to say

the cross,

blood,

the death

of Jesus.

And he

doesn't.

Those things

are mentioned

in other

places,

and they are

part of the

how.

But Paul

wants to

focus here

specifically

on one

thing,

and it's

the work

of God's

Holy Spirit

in his

people when

they first

come to

be saved.

He wants

us to

know about

that,

to be

reminded

of that.

And so

we see

three things,

three works

of God's

Spirit here

mentioned.

He saved

us first

through

the washing,

the washing

of rebirth.

As I've

said on

other occasions,

sin is

that which

defiles us.

It makes

us unclean.

It makes

us dirty

in the

sight of

a holy

and perfect

God.

And so

we have

this need

to be

cleaned,

to be

washed,

to be

cleansed,

not

physically,

but

spiritually.

God

saved us

by washing

us

clean.

And there

are some

who think

at this

point that

Paul is

talking about

water

baptism.

I don't

think that's

right.

I think that

Paul is

talking about

the thing

that water

baptism

points to

and that's

the washing

that the

Holy Spirit

does to

each of

us when

we are

saved.

Do you

remember what

John the

Baptist said?

John the

baptizer said,

I baptize

you with

water,

but there's

one who's

coming after

me,

talking about

Jesus.

He will

baptize you.

He will

wash you

with the

Holy Spirit,

in the

Holy Spirit.

water

baptism is

the lesser

thing,

the physical,

the outward

thing,

and it

points us

to that

kind of

washing that

the Spirit

will do

for all

of Christ's

people when

they first

put their

trust in

him.

So that's

the first

thing,

washing.

The second

thing,

he saved

us through

the washing

of rebirth.

There's

talk of

rebirth here.

Now,

maybe your

translation is

a little

different.

There are

quite a few

that say

regeneration,

but I

actually think

that rebirth

is such a

good,

insightful

translation

here.

This is

probably all

Greek to

you,

but the

word used

here,

it's a

compound

word.

It's a

word made

up of two

pieces,

and if you

would just

go with the

literal meaning,

again,

born.

born.

It's just

stuck on the

front is the

word again,

and then it's

the verb to

become,

which usually,

in reference to

people,

it's to be

born.

It's the

again birth,

and so

rebirth,

it really does

fit here.

Regeneration,

it works too.

It captures

that idea of

new life,

but it's

maybe a

little less

personal in

our day

today.

When we

regenerate,

we might

think of

charging up a

device or

something like

that,

but rebirth,

on the other

hand,

I mean,

what's the

metaphor that

Jesus himself

used when he

was talking to

Nicodemus?

You must be

born again to

enter the

kingdom of

God,

said Jesus.

So I think

this is a

great translation.

This is the

second thing

that God has

done to save

us.

He has

caused us to

be reborn,

to be born

again.

He has given

us a new

life by his

Holy Spirit,

and the

emphasis here

is on the

complete and

total change,

utter transformation

by the Spirit

working in us.

That's what

rebirth is,

it's complete

overhaul.

And just as

with the

washing,

this is

something that

God does

in everyone

who he

saves.

He changes

us by his

Spirit's

power.

He makes

us radically

new.

The third

thing mentioned

here is that

he saved

us through

renewal by

the Holy

Spirit.

I think

this is just

another way of

saying the

same thing,

just kind of

coming at it

from a

parallel wording.

God has

saved us by

going to

work on

us, in

us, by

his Holy

Spirit in

a way that

makes us

new.

We are

renewed.

The old

way of life

that he's

been describing

in verse

three, the

way that we

once were,

well that no

longer fits

with who

we now

are because

we've been

made new.

This is how

Paul puts

it in his

letter to

the Corinthians

in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:17

chapter 5

verse 17.

He says,

therefore, if

anyone is in

Christ, the

new creation

has come.

The old

has gone.

The new

is here.

And it's

wonderful.

When we're

newly saved

and converted

to Jesus,

boy do we

feel it.

Old desires

begin to

die.

New desires

come in and

take their

place.

The allure

of what is

dark and

evil

diminishes

and our

love for

what is

good and

right

increases.

Now it

doesn't mean

that every

temptation goes

away or

that we

never sin

again,

but it

does mean

that we

just no

longer fit

that old

way of

living anymore

because we

have been

deeply and

profoundly

changed

by God's

Holy Spirit

who has

come to

live inside

of us.

And this

is what

happened when

each of

us first

believed in

Jesus.

I mean truly

believed in

Jesus.

We were

changed.

We were

renewed by

the Holy

Spirit.

We were

reborn.

And I'm

just going to

quickly pick

on Thomas

Hoffer here.

Just a

few, well

it's a little

ways ago,

over a month

now.

He was

baptized in

January and

shared his

testimony with

us.

And hopefully

I'm capturing

it right,

but you fell

on the bed in

the hotel room

in utter

desperation,

sick and

tired of the

emptiness and

hopelessness of

that old life

described in

verse 3 here.

You called out

to God and

when you woke

up you felt

like a brand

new person

because God

had done that

work of making

you new.

That's what it

looks like.

Such an utter

change and

transformation

that even

Tom's wife

Alicia was

thinking,

what on earth

has happened

to him?

He's not the

same person.

That's what

rebirth and

renewal of the

Holy Spirit

looks like.

And that's

what God does

in our lives

when he saves

us.

So the

picture that

we get here,

let's bring in

that little extra

bit that comes.

Renewal by the

Holy Spirit

whom he poured

out on us

generously

through Jesus

Christ our

Savior.

The picture

that we get

here is God

up in heaven

above pouring

out his Holy

Spirit down

from heaven

to earth

on us.

Both Father

and Son

working together

giving the

Spirit in

order to

save us.

And notice

the metaphor

here.

He poured

out on us

richly,

generously,

I know I

kind of

mentioned this

before,

but when

God saves

us,

he's not

stingy.

He doesn't

look at you

and say,

oh, I see

the life that

you've lived.

I'm just

going to give

you a little

bit of my

Spirit.

No, he

pours the

Spirit on

us lavishly,

generously,

richly.

He's a

gracious,

giving God

who loves

to give.

He doesn't

think about

the cost.

He says,

it's absolutely

worth it

because I

love you.

I want

you.

So these

are the

three things

mentioned here

God has

done for

all of us

who have

put our

hope in

Jesus,

who have

come to

believe in

Jesus.

And these

are works

of God's

Spirit in

us at

that initial

point when

we first

become a

child of

God, when

we first

believe in

Jesus.

Lastly, we

want to

notice that

final thing.

He has

saved us.

We saw

the why.

we saw

a little

bit of

the how,

and now

he's going

to tell

us for

what purpose.

For what

purpose?

In

verse 7,

he has

done all

this so

that having

been justified

by his

grace, we

might become

heirs, having

the hope of

eternal life.

think of

the richest

man in the

world for a

moment.

Think of

Elon Musk.

I know that

he just got

passed by

someone else,

but it

changes so

often.

Just everybody

knows Elon

Musk.

Think of

what it would

be like if

he called

you up on

the phone

this afternoon

and he

said, I'd

like to put

your name

into my

will so

that you

would inherit

a portion of

my $200

billion fortune.

You wouldn't

even believe

it.

You'd think

it was a

scam.

Something too

good to be

true.

And it is.

He wouldn't

do that.

He doesn't

even know

us.

But God

would do

it.

He would

put your

name in.

He wants

you.

This is the

whole goal.

He saved

us so that

we might

become heirs.

He wants

you to

inherit

many wonderful

blessings,

many good

things, and

Paul just

puts the

spotlight on

one.

eternal

life.

What is

God known

for?

He is

known for

being the

everlasting

God, the

one who

lives forever.

And he

wants to

give of

that, that

life to

you.

That's why

he has

done all

this, so

that we

might become

heirs, so

that we

might be

able to

look forward

to

inheriting

this

wonderful

gift of

life forever

with him.

I love

this.

Sometimes we

just get it in

our heads that

God just hates

our sins so

much that he

just wants to

get it out of

his sight.

And that's

why he died

for us.

That's why he's

done all this

washing for

us.

But it's more

than that.

He's made us

clean.

He's washed

us.

He's utterly

transformed

us so

that we

can have

this new

life with

him forever.

He wants

you.

Verse 8,

this is a

trustworthy

saying, says

Paul, 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.

So Paul

says, Titus,

teach these

things.

Stress them.

Emphasize

them.

Declare

them.

This is the

wonderful truth

of our

salvation.

Tell the

people that

God has

done this

for them.

Remind

them again.

Remind

them of

the why.

Remind

them of

the how.

Remind

them of

what for.

And then

at the end

he comes

full circle

again to

this little

bit.

Teach

these things

so that

those who

have trusted

in God

may be

careful to

devote

themselves

to doing

what is

good.

The

gospel

leads us

to then

live out

a life

of goodness,

kindness,

love towards

others.

That's one

of the

themes of

this book.

The grace

of God

teaches us

to say

no to

ungodliness

and yes

to a

self-controlled

upright

holy life

in this

present age.

And so

I want

to just

remind you

today

of who

you used

to be

before you

met

Christ.

I want

to remind

you of

what you

would be

today

apart

from

Christ.

And I

want to

remind you

of what

God has

done to

save you.

He loves

you.

He is

kind.

He is

merciful.

He is

gracious.

He poured

out his

spirit.

He caused

you to be

reborn and

renewed

Christian.

And he's

done this so

that you can

be his

heir and

enjoy life

with him

forever.

This is the

gospel as

we see it

here in this

passage.

church.

We're going

to go to

the Lord's

table now.

And I

don't want to

preach a

whole other

sermon on

top of

this but

this gospel,

these wonderful

gifts, this

good news, it

was bought and

paid for for

all of us at

the cross.

He didn't

mention the

blood but we

know from other

passages that we

would not have

this right

standing, this

justified, having

been justified by

his grace apart

from the blood of

Jesus, apart

from his death

to atone for

our sins.

And so that's

what we're going

to reflect on

for a few

moments here as

we go to the

Lord's table.

And if you're

visiting with us,

feel free to

partake.

If you believe

in the Lord

Jesus and he

is your savior,

feel free to

partake.

And if not,

then just let

the cup and

the bread pass

you by.

We're going to

take a couple

minutes to just

pray and reflect

quietly.

And then after

I've done that,

we'll have

Charles and

Rod come up

and they will

serve us the

bread and

the cup.

The bread

represents Jesus'

body and the

blood, the cup

represents his

blood.

So let's reflect

on what Jesus

has done for

us and then

we'll partake

all together once

everyone has been

served.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.