Titus 3:1-8 – Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

 

INTRODUCTION

This is an absolutely remarkable passage of God’s grace and its effects. The point of the passage in simplest terms is that God’s people are to conduct themselves in ways that are pleasing to God, and that God has provided sufficient and glorious help for them to do so.

In simplest terms, the point of this sermon, then, is that Titus 3:1-8 offers four significant contrasts as one means of help for Christians to conduct themselves in ways that are pleasing to God.

To rightly understand this passage, and to find the help and strength God offers to his people in it, then, we need to really understand and appreciate the four contrasts presented in it.

1. The gospel allows us to see the contrast between the way we’re naturally inclined to treat others and the way we ought to treat others (3:1-2).

2. The gospel allows us to see the contrast between how we view others and how we view ourselves (3:3).

3. The gospel allows us to see the contrast between how we deserve to be treated and how we are treated by God in Jesus (3:4-5).

4. The gospel allows us to see the contrast between why we imagine God treats us kindly and why he actually treats us kindly (3:5-7).

Let’s pray that God would delight to help us see the glorious truths presented in these few verses, that our amazement at them would be properly enhanced by the contrast, and that they would compel us to lives of joyful obedience.

 

THE GRACE OF CONTRAST

One definition of the word contrast reads as follows: the state of being strikingly different from something else, typically something in juxtaposition or close association.

We’ve all experienced contrast—strikingly different things next to one another. Experiencing sharp contrast can be painful; like when someone flips on a light in the middle of the night or when your alarm blares early in the morning or when someone you love passes away suddenly and unexpectedly. Other times, experiencing sharp contrast can be pleasant; like when you stop running after a long race or when you take a cold drink on a hot and humid day or when you find grace in Christ after being overwhelmed by your sin.

One thing that contrast does really well (perhaps better than anything else), though, is to make us aware of our condition. We might not even realize how poorly we’ve been sleeping until we get a good night’s rest. We might not even realize how much our back has been hurting until we get it fixed. We might not even realize how stressed we’ve been until we take a vacation.

God designed the world in such a way that when we experience sharp contrast, we’re inevitably made more aware of our condition. Again, to help us understand our condition and find help in our calling as Christians, God has provided us with four sharp contrasts in Titus 3:1-8.

Because we looked at the first two contrasts last week, we’ll only briefly look at them this morning. Because the next two are new and, more importantly, because they’re unbelievable glorious and powerful for our salvation and sanctification, we’ll spend the rest of the sermon unpacking them.

 

THE GOSPEL ALLOWS US TO SEE THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE WAY WE’RE NATURALLY INCLINED TO TREAT OTHERS AND THE WAY WE OUGHT TO TREAT OTHERS (3:1-2).

Again, as I said last week, we need to feel this first contrast to really understand it.

Titus 3:1-2 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Who among us is naturally submissive to political rulers and authorities—particularly some of the rulers and authorities in power today? Likewise, who among us defaults to obedience, selfless good works, encouragement, peacefulness, gentleness, and courtesy, even to our friends, much less our enemies?

These verses provide great help to us as we seek to honor God when we feel the stark contrast between what we are naturally inclined towards (rebelliousness, disobedience, laziness, slanderousness, quarrelsomeness, abrasiveness, and rudeness) and what the gospel calls and empowers us to (submission obedience, readiness for all good works, gracious speech, peacefulness, gentleness and courteousness).

This passage is full of grace in that God tells us what he requires of us in it. And there is great power to obey it—to put to death our sinful tendencies and grow in our desire for righteousness—in seeing the contrast it provides. Let me very quickly explain how…

If our understanding of the righteous living that God calls us to is just a smidge beyond what we’re already doing (which, if we’re honest, is how most of us define righteousness—modesty is clothing ourselves just a little less revealingly than the world, generosity is giving just a bit more than our neighbors, service is sacrificing ourselves for the sake of another just a tad more than the people around us), it that’s our understanding of righteousness, we’ll be far more inclined to take a casual approach to obedience, believing ourselves to be nearly there. If, on the other hand, we’re able to see the stark contrast between the reality of our natural inclinations toward others and the reality of what God really calls us to in light of the gospel, we’ll be much more likely to throw ourselves upon God for mercy and grace and into action. This passage helps us see that contrast and, therefore, helps us fight for righteousness.

That’s the first helpful, gospel contrast in this passage.

 

THE GOSPEL ALLOWS US TO SEE THE CONTRAST BETWEEN HOW WE VIEW OTHERS AND HOW WE VIEW OURSELVES (3:3).

The gospel makes this second contrast, which builds on the first one, clear as well.

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

How we feel like treating others is contrasted with how the gospel calls us to treat others (last contrast). And here, the reason we feel like treating others wrongly is contrasted with what the gospel says about the reason we ought to treat others rightly. In other words, when we feel like treating others wrongly, it’s usually because we feel like our motives are somewhat just. They are sinners, it is what they deserve (or so we think).

However, this verse provides crucial contrast with this unbiblical way of thinking by reminding us that whatever sin in them causes us feel justified in treating them wrongly was once (and to some degree still is) in us. Seeing this contrast helps us live obedient lives which are glorifying to God in that it humbles us and causes us to be gracious.

When government officials act in unjust ways we feel right about speaking disparagingly about them, but this passage reminds us that we too were unjust. When our boss selfishly orders us to do frustrating tasks, this passage reminds us that we too were selfish. When we get frustrated because someone close to us commits adultery, this passage reminds us that we too were led astray as slaves to various sinful lusts. When we get burned by someone taking advantage of us, this passage reminds us that we too were malicious. And when we get angry because someone attacked us, this passage reminds us that we too were hateful people.

Judah learned the power of this contrast through Tamar in Genesis 38. David learned the power of this contrast through Samuel in 2 Samuel 12. Paul described the power of this contrast in Philippians 3. This is an important, humbling, grace-producing gospel contrast. It’s always easier to treat people kindly when we realize they’re doing what we did (and do). Seeing this contrast helps us treat others as God has called us to in light of the gospel.

Again, these first two contrasts we saw last week. Let’s now turn our attention to the third and fourth gospel contrast and the glory that shines brightly in them.

 

THE GOSPEL ALLOWS US TO SEE THE CONTRAST BETWEEN HOW WE DESERVE TO BE TREATED AND HOW WE ARE TREATED BY GOD IN JESUS (3:3-5A).

Again, what an awesome display of grace this contrasting passage is. What amazingly good news is the contrast between what we deserve and what we get by grace through faith in Christ.

Titus 3:3-5 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us…

Grace, hear this clearly: before we can ever truly appreciate amazingness of the grace of God we must first see it in contrast to the depth of our sin and rebellion and depravity.

We were sinners, we were enemies of God, we were darkened in our hearts, we were in rebellion against our Creator, we were “foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” And therefore, we incurred God’s wrath and earned eternal conscious torment for our sin and rebellion.

At this point, careful thinkers ask two questions: 1) Really? Was I really that bad? and 2) Even if I was that bad, is hell really a just punishment for it?

To further emphasize the need to come to terms with these questions, consider your non-Christian neighbor, your nice neighbor, in your nice suburban neighborhood, who waters his lawn and keeps his trash out of your yard and plays with his kids and pays his bills. He doesn’t seem like an enemy of God, in outright rebellion to God, does he? In fact, he even claims to believe in God and has mostly fond thoughts concerning God. He remembers nostalgically the neighborhood VBS he went to as a kid. Sure, he finds church a little boring and Christians a little stuffy and God a little intolerant, but he certainly doesn’t consider himself at war against God. Obviously, he’s sinned (just like we all have), but he really seems like…like an OK guy. Hell just doesn’t seem appropriate for him, does it?

R.C. Sproul was asked a question like this one time. He said,

This creature from the dirt [Adam as a representative of all mankind] defied the everlasting, holy God after God had said “the day you eat of it you shall surely die.” And instead of dying that day, he lived another day and was clothed in his nakedness by pure grace. He had the consequences of a curse applied for quite some time, but the worse curse would come upon the one who seduced him, whose head would be crushed by the seed of the woman…and the punishment is too severe? What’s wrong with you people? This is the problem with the Christian church today. We don’t know who God is and we don’t know who we are. The real question is: why wasn’t it infinitely more severe? If we have any understanding of our sin and any understanding of who God is, that’s the question, isn’t it?

In another place Sproul writes,

“Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself. Have you ever considered the deeper implications of the slightest sin, of the most minute peccadillo? What are we saying to our Creator when we disobey Him at the slightest point? We are saying no to the righteousness of God. We are saying, “God, Your law is not good. My judgment is better than Yours. Your authority does not apply to me. I am above and beyond Your jurisdiction. I have the right to do what I want to do, not what You command me to do.”

Apart from God’s intervention, that’s who we were, that’s what we did, and that’s what we said, and therefore, what we deserve is everlasting punishment.

One of Satan’s greatest successes is convincing people that we’re basically good, that sin isn’t really that bad, and that hell is too severe. Only once we come to understand this universal teaching of Scripture (that we really are that bad in contrast to God’s holiness and that, therefore, hell is an absolutely just punishment), only then do we have any hope of rightly seeing the contrast between what we deserve and what we get because of the grace of God in the cross of Jesus. And only then will we have access to all the thankfulness and humility and help that comes with it.

Feel the contrast, Grace. We deserved only wrath and we received only grace; amazing grace.

One more time, listen to the words of R.C. Sproul on this,

“When we understand the character of God, when we grasp something of His holiness, then we begin to understand the radical character of our sin and hopelessness. Helpless sinners can survive only by grace. Our strength is futile in itself; we are spiritually impotent without the assistance of a merciful God. We may dislike giving our attention to God’s wrath and justice, but until we incline ourselves to these aspects of God’s nature, we will never appreciate what has been wrought for us by grace.”

Again, it was while we were still sinners, while we were still enemies of God, while we were darkened in our hearts, while we were still in rebellion against our Creator, indeed, while we were still “foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another,” that God sent His one and only Son to save us.

We deserved only wrath and we received only grace.

Grace, let this contrast awaken you to the holiness of God and the sinfulness of your heart. Let this contrast awaken you to the mercy of God and the bigness of the gospel. Let this contrast awaken you to the shocking realities that we really, really deserve hell and the great, great glory of God’s grace that comes instead. And let all of this awaken you to the need to walk in holiness and gratitude and love, in the power supplied by Christ.

 

THE GOSPEL ALLOWS US TO SEE THE CONTRAST BETWEEN WHY WE IMAGINE GOD TREATS US KINDLY AND WHY HE ACTUALLY TREATS US KINDLY (3:5-7).

And this leads us to the last contrast of this passage, one that has been misunderstood and misapplied from the beginning, the contrast between why we imagine God treats us kindly and why he actually treats us kindly.

Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The main question here is, how do we move from being God’s enemies to being people of God’s favor?

Everyone you meet is trying to earn God’s favor in some way. Every one of us is trying to earn God’s favor in some way. It doesn’t seem possible that we could move from rebellion to friendship apart from earning it, apart from working hard to make things right, does it?

But Grace, look at what the text says. Look again, as if for the first time. It does not say that we’re saved by the good things we do. It does not say that we are saved by cleaning ourselves up or dusting ourselves off. It does not say that we are saved by obeying sufficiently. It does not say that we are saved by listening to our parents or going to church or taking part in a bible study or having a daily time of prayer or telling people about Jesus or…

What does it say then?

It says that God “saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior…”.

It says that God saved us not by our own good deeds, but by his mercy. It says that in His mercy God gave us the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Spirit. And it says that all of this came to us in abundance through the work of Jesus Christ our savior.

Do you see the contrast here; the contrast between our desperate but futile attempts to earn God’s favor and the free grace that actually brings it to us? Truly seeing this contrast, then, frees us from trying to earn God’s favor with good works, and at the same time it frees us to do the good works that God requires of us because we already have his favor. What’s more frustrating than trying to stay motivated to live up to a standard that you already know you can never keep? On the other hand, what’s more freeing than living to bless someone who you already know loves you relentlessly and unceasingly?

Indeed, the gospel allows us to see the stark contrast between why we imagine God treats us kindly and why he actually treats us kindly.

 

CONCLUSION

Paul shares quite a few things with Titus in this passage. According to 3:8, Paul wants Titus to insist that those in the church believe and put all of them into practice. And when they do, Paul says, they will find excellence and profit for their souls. In our passage for this morning God has provided four contrasts to help us understand and obey these truths and therein find excellence and profit for our souls.

Therefore, Grace, let us fight to understand and then obey these things in joy. The point of understanding Scripture is to put it into practice. The goal of Christian knowledge is never knowledge for its own sake. The goal, rather, is knowledge for obedience. And the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that God is already working all of this out in all of his people. Jesus died on the cross, the goodness and loving kindness of our savior appeared, not merely to secure a spot for us in heaven, but also to transform us and make us obedient to God’s gracious and life-giving commands. The contrasts of this passage make all of this even more clear and help us apply it to our lives.

Let’s devote ourselves to the careful study of God’s Word and to obeying it, then, and in so doing (and only in so doing), find help from God and excellence and profit for our souls. Amen.