BIG IDEA:
GOOD DEEDS (INCLUDING KINDNESS TOWARDS OTHERS) ARE THE NATURAL EXPRESSION OF A CONVERTED LIFE, NOT THE BASIS FOR SALVATION
INTRODUCTION:
Paul Zehr: Titus 3:4-7 is one sentence in the Greek NT. Scholars debate whether these verses are an early Christian hymn or whether they are a confessional statement. Its nonrhythmic style and lack of poetic elements (Fee 1994: 778-79) suggest that it may be a confessional statement expressing Pauline thought in a form amenable to Hellenistic Judaism (Fee 1988: 203). This confessional statement is not speaking about Christian baptism, as some interpret it. Rather, it declares God’s great work of salvation in bringing about a change in one’s life before water baptism. The unit of thought closes in 3:8a by identifying the confession as one of the faithful sayings.
William Barclay: Here is laid down the public duty of all Christians; and it is advice which was particularly relevant to the people of Crete. The Cretans were notoriously turbulent and quarrelsome and impatient of all authority. Polybius, the Greek historian, said of them that they were constantly involved in “insurrections, murders and internecine wars.” This passage lays down six qualifications for good citizens.
- Law-abiding — They recognize unless the laws are kept, life becomes chaos.
- Active in service – Cure for boredom.
- Careful in speech – Slander no one.
- Tolerant – not a fighter; allow for others to have convictions
- Kind — describes someone who does not stand upon the letter of the law.
- Gentle – temper is always under complete control.
David Platt: Paul was vitally interested in both the nature of the new birth and the results of the new birth. He was unalterably convinced that the new birth would be evident in a new life—a new life exploding in good works. Good works form a sandwich or inclusio for our text as they begin the discussion in verse 1 and conclude it in verse 8. Regeneration is the apex of the text appearing in the middle of the passage in verses 5-6. Thus the two are essentially related to each other as we consider the full dimension of our salvation.
I. (:1-2) REMINDER TO PURSUE GOOD DEEDS CONSISTENTLY —
DON’T FALL BACK INTO THE OLD WAYS
A. Genuine Submission to Authority
- “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities“
Robert Yarbrough: Paul’s directive implies that “rulers and authorities” are not commanding rebellion against God but generally fulfilling their God-ordained duties (see Rom 13:1–7). They are upholding social order. .. Sometimes it is necessary to go against earthly authorities to uphold the divine will, as when the Hebrew midwives “feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do” (Exod 1:17); when Moses defied Pharaoh (Exod 7–12); when Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego would not bow down (Dan 3); when Daniel prayed, despite the king’s edict (Dan 6); and when Peter and John kept preaching after being ordered to be silent (Acts 4:18–20).
- “to be obedient“
R.C.H. Lenski — Christians should be the best citizens — We have the very highest motive for this, namely our Lord’s will. This makes the very best citizens, such as obey for Christ’s and for conscience’s sake.
David Platt: Christians are not anarchist or rebels. We do not subvert the government or disobey the government unless it brings us into direct conflict with the commands of God (Acts 5:29). And even then our disobedience is passive not active, and we willingly accept the consequences of our actions. This submission is evidence of submission to and trust in God.
B. General Summary
“to be ready for every good deed“
William Hendriksen: forms a natural bridge between the duties which believes owe to their government and those which they owe to their neighbors.
C. Gracious Speech
- “to malign no one“
John MacArthur: We are to malign no one, not even those who contribute most to the assault on biblical standards. Even while contending against the worst of sins committed by the worst of sinners, we must never stoop to maligning those whose sin we detest. Malign is from blasphēmeō, from which we get the English blasphemy. It is to slander, curse, and treat with contempt, and it can never be done from a righteous motive. It is tragic that many Christians speak contemptuously of politicians and other public figures, not realizing that in doing so they hinder the work of redemption. “I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,” Paul admonishes, “for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1-4).
- “to be uncontentious“
John MacArthur: We are to be uncontentious, meaning friendly and peaceful toward the lost rather than quarrelsome and belligerent. In an ungodly, immoral society it is easy to become angry with those who corrupt it, condemning them and writing them off as hopeless and beyond the pale of God’s grace. But we have no right to become hostile when unbelievers act like unbelievers. “If possible,” Paul admonished believers in Rome, “so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men” (Rom. 12:18). If God so limitlessly and unconditionally loved the world that He sent His sinless Son to redeem it, how can we, as sinful recipients of His redeeming grace, be callous and loveless toward those who have not yet received it?
- “gentle“
- “showing every consideration for all men“
William Hendriksen: to show all mildness to all people, even to all those Cretan ‘liars, evil brutes, and lazy bellies,’ was an assignment impossible apart from God’s special grace!
II. (:3) DESCRIPTION OF PRE-CONVERSION DEPRAVITY —
MOTIVATES US TO CONTINUE IN GOOD WORKS AND SHOW KINDNESS TO OTHERS
Christopher Hutson: Believers should recognize their own former sorry state and God’s gracious intervention to regenerate, renew and reorient them. The reminder comes in the form of a dense, quasi-poetic statement, probably quoted from early liturgical tradition:
But when was manifested the kindness and philanthropy of God our Savior,
not by deeds that we did in righteousness,
but in accordance with his mercy,
[God] saved us
through a washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
which [God] poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
So that we might become heirs
having been justified by his grace,
in accordance with the hope of eternal life.
Trustworthy is the saying. (3:4–8a)
This is one sentence with three clauses, arranged above in three triplets, so the main line of thought is clear in the first line of each triplet: “When was manifested the kindness and philanthropy of God . . . [God] saved us . . . so that we might become heirs.” The other lines expand on these three points. The main clause is at the center: “[God] saved us.” The first clause explains when God saved, while the third explains why.
A. Our Hazardous State
1. Foolish — “For we also once were foolish ourselves“
Paul Zehr: Foolish means unintelligent, without spiritual understanding, and insensible to spiritual values.
- Rebellious — “disobedient“
- Ignorant of the Truth — “deceived“
B. Our Habitual Slavery to the Lusts of the Flesh
“enslaved to various lusts and pleasures“
C. Our Hateful Spirit Directed Towards Hurting Others
- Jealousy
“spending our life in malice and envy“
Paul Zehr: Malice means ill will and is used in other NT lists of vices (Rom 1:29; Eph 4:31; Col 3:8; 1 Pet 2:1). Envy also appears in NT vice lists and means the kind of attitude that leads to hatred of persons who have what we desire (Rom 1:29; Gal 5:21; 1 Tim 6:4; 1 Pet 2:1). I. H. Marshall concludes, “Malicious and envious people are odious; they cause other people to react with hatred, and they respond in kind. Community and society collapse” (1999: 311).
- Hatred
a. “hateful“
b. “hating one another“
D. Edmond Hiebert: The remembrance of our own past should be a powerful motive for gentleness and consideration toward the unsaved.
Paul Zehr: being the subject of hate and hating one another. Despicable in classical literature carried the sense of being hated or abominable, which is the opposite of Christians loving one another (Collins: 359).
III. (:4-5A) SALVATION ON THE BASIS OF GRACE (NOT GOOD WORKS) — MOTIVATES US TO CONTINUE IN GOOD WORKS AND TO SHOW KINDNESS TO OTHERS
A. (:4) Kindness of God Contrasted with Meanness of Our Depravity
- Kindness — “But when the kindness of God our Savior“
- Love — “and His love for mankind appeared“
William Barclay: The dynamic of the Christian life is twofold.
- It comes first from the realization that converts to Christianity were once no better than their non-Christian neighbours. Christian goodness does not make people proud; it makes them supremely grateful. When Christians looked at others, living life by the standards of Roman society, they did not regard them with contempt; they said, as the Methodist George Whitefield said when he saw the criminal on the way to the gallows: “There but for the grace of God go I.”
- It comes from the realization of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.
Paul Zehr: The Roman emperor appeared to a given city in the vast empire and gave beneficence (gifts) to the people as savior. In direct contrast, Paul refers to God as Savior rather than the Roman emperor. And the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Savior appeared in the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. . . By using well-known terms in the Greco-Roman world, Paul informs the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Crete that the living God of history, rather than the Roman emperor, is the Savior who offers goodness and loving-kindness. God’s goodness and philanthropy have appeared in the coming of Christ into the world. Titus 3:4 is like Titus 2:11 and 2 Timothy 1:9-10, which say that Christ manifests God’s grace by his incarnate appearance. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news about God’s goodness and philanthropy.
B. (:5A) Key to Salvation
- Not our Works
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness“
- His Grace
“but according to His mercy“
Thomas Lea: Paul could not be more clear in addressing the matter of the basis of salvation: People cannot save themselves! Salvation depends solely and completely on God’s grace, displayed in “his mercy,” revealed and achieved by his Son, Jesus Christ, and applied to humankind by the Holy Spirit.
IV. (:5B-6) REGENERATION ACCOMPLISHED BY THE GODHEAD, NOT BY GOOD WORKS
A. Work of the Holy Spirit in Accomplishing Salvation
- Rebirth / Cleansing — “by the washing of regeneration“
- Renewing — “and renewing by the Holy Spirit“
Homer Kent: refers to something which is entirely new in kind (root kainos), not merely new in time (neos, young, recent). The impartation of the Holy Spirit makes us new creatures, in contrast to the old condition of life.
Paul Zehr: It is more likely that the author is describing one event from two different angles (I. H. Marshall 1999: 321). These twin angles (rebirth and renewal) of inner transformation are seen in Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 3:5-8; and 1 Corinthians 6:11. Taken this way, the word and links two aspects of the one event of Christian conversion (Mounce: 449). Also, only one preposition is used. Ordinarily, if two separate activities are meant, the preposition would be repeated to ensure that the distinction is made by the reader. If two separate events were in the author’s mind in Titus 3:5b, he would have used the preposition through two times in the phrase. . .
The work of the Holy Spirit in Christian conversion consists of cleansing one from the defilement of sin and renewing or re-creating the inner person. These two aspects take place simultaneously in the one event of normal Christian conversion. The thought is similar to Colossians 3:5-10, which speaks of putting off the old self and putting on the new. Through the work of the Holy Spirit in rebirth and renewal, the Christian believer comes to a new awareness of the self as belonging to God. Christian conversion is change from self-centeredness to God-centeredness as the Holy Spirit cleanses from sin and renews one’s life.
B. Work of the Entire United Trinity
- God the Father — “He poured out“
- God the Holy Spirit — “whom He poured out upon us richly“
- God the Son — “through Jesus Christ our Savior“
V. (:7) ETERNAL DESTINY SECURED BY JUSTIFICATION
A. Foundation for Justification = God’s Grace
“that being justified by His grace“
B. Favored Standing in God’s Family Secured
“we might be made heirs“
C. Future Expectation of Eternal Destiny
“according to the hope of eternal life“
Robert Yarbrough: For Paul in New Testament terms, with fulfillment of messianic promises in Christ, believers are “heirs” of age-old promises made by this God to his people, who through faith now live in “the hope of eternal life” (see Titus 1:2 above). The assurance of a secure spiritual inheritance, the result of divine adoption (Rom 8:14–17), should empower Titus and Cretan believers to trust God for their future in the face of the possibly discouraging social situation faced in Crete.
Thomas Lea: The soteriological and eschatological aspects of Christians’ being “heirs” is readily apparent in this final phrase. Paul asserted that “he saved us” (v. 5) “so that…we might become heirs” (v. 7). Christian salvation results in adoption into God’s family, which in turn makes believers “heirs.” This is the soteriological aspect. The eschatological aspect of Christians’ being “heirs” is understood in the fact that all believers still await their final future redemption and the full realization of eternal life. What has been promised by God in Christ to his heirs has not yet been experienced in the fullest measure (Rom 8:23-25). In becoming “heirs” (through salvation), Christians become possessors of a guaranteed future referred to as “the hope of eternal life”