Grace from Grace

Titus 3:1-8

1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,

2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.

3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

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

5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

These verses remind us that since we received undeserved grace from God, we should be giving that same grace to those around us.

To our rulers, or those in authority is the initial example in these scriptures, but this grace involves more than we may think of on the surface.

Let's look at these ideas.

Verse 1 says we are to be subject to those in authority.

This means obeying the laws of the land and working within the law to do good works.

These good works can involve a lot of things, from charity to actual societal and governmental change.

Good works, things that help our fellow citizens, that benefit the people in our world.

There's a lot of room for a lot of good ideas in the notion of "good work".

Remember that best way to promote the gospel is through our actions, our good works.

Notice in verse 2, we are to speak evil of no one.

"No one" means nobody, anybody, no person, ever.

We cannot be a good example of God's grace on this earth and speak evil of others.

The word for "speak evil" is the same word for blaspheme, but in this context, it means to slander or revile anyone.

To revile is to speak in an abusive and insulting manner.

Think of it as dripping in anger and hate, a poison we should avoid in our lives.

In that same verse we are told to do the opposite.

Be peaceable, gentle, and to show humility to "ALL MEN".

Think on that for a moment, not just fellow Christians, but even those who would be our enemies.

Those who hate us and hate God.

No matter the person, we are to be gentle, peaceful, and humble to them.

We are not to be contentious, or argumentative.

We are to be patient and kind and humble, considering them to be more important than ourselves.

This does not mean we cannot present the gospel or correct someone, instead it is how we do that.

A kind, soft word goes a long way, a lot farther than a harsh rebuke or insult.

Verse 3 tells us why we should be this way to all people.

Simply put, because we were once just like them.

We were "in their shoes", and we are no better than any other person, saved or unsaved.

We are all sinners and have the same ugly issues and problems and flaws.

Verses 4 through 7 tell us of the solution we were given, the solution we need to share with everyone.

The kindness and love of God, His grace coming to us through Jesus.

We have been changed and saved, not by our works or good deeds, but by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

When we are baptized, we are forgiven because God is merciful, and wants us to be His children, heirs with Christ.

We are saved by that "washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit".

That's when we begin the Christian journey, the new life as a new creation, following Jesus.

We start weeding out the sinful things from our lives as we learn from the Lord in His word.

God justifies us so that when He looks at us, He sees Jesus, whose body we are in.

He sees our sin nailed to the cross, the debt paid by Jesus.

So, we have no reason to feel superior or better than anyone.

Even the person we think is the worst sinner, we are no better than they are.

We have no right or authority to be abusive or insulting, to speak evil of anyone.

Instead, we are charged, ordered, to do the opposite.

And to be ready for "every good work", this means our every act should be virtuous, beneficial, generous, helpful to everyone.

Including what we speak.

In verse 8, we are reminded that as we have believed in God and received His mercy and grace, we should also make sure that our actions, our deeds, what we say, are always of this virtuous, beneficial nature.

Because it is a good and beneficial for everyone around us.

Keep these Godly thoughts in mind and be a blessing to the world around you.

Share God's love and mercy, this is what everyone needs.