He Saved Us!
October 3rd, 2000He Saved Us!
Titus 3:3-8
“Are you saved?” I can remember growing up as a young boy on the East Side of Greenville and having that question put to me by Bob Jones students. My mother would take us grocery shopping with her each week at the Bi-Lo store right beside Bob Jones University. The parking lot seemed to be full of girls in long dresses and clean cut young men. Back then it was safe to leave your children in the car while mom bought the groceries. From time to time a Bob Jones student would come up to the car and ask, “Are you saved?” and then hand me a tract. I was pretty much clueless about what they meant at the time. I didn’t understand the question, much less the answer!
Let me ask you two questions right now: 1) Do you understand what it means to be saved? 2) Are you saved? Today we will look at what it means to be saved. The key phrase in this entire passage is “He saved us”. If you are saved, it is because God saved you. There is one thing that the Bible teaches from cover to cover - that “salvation is of the Lord.” These six verses in Titus chapter three form one of the most comprehensive statements in the entire Bible about salvation. We could spend weeks and weeks on each of these aspects of salvation. So we don’t miss the forest for the trees, we will take a broad overview of salvation this morning and survey the basic elements of it.
If you are here today and you have not been saved from your sins, God wants you to know what this salvation is all about, that you might come to possess it yourself. If you are a Christian God wants you to know what He has done to save you. If you as a believer do not regularly remember what God has done in saving you, then there is a danger that you will forget and become proud, thinking that you have somehow deserved or contributed to your salvation. You ought to regularly give thanks for your salvation and remember what great things God has done.
Those whom God saves, he blesses abundantly with the riches of His grace. The very blessings that God gives you can become an occasion for pride if you forget the source of those blessings. The temptation for Christians is to begin to have an attitude that looks down on others who are still lost in sin. A self-righteous disposition, however, is not pleasing to God and it does not attract others to the gospel. Remember that the overall purpose of the book of Titus is to encourage good works among the Christians on the island of Crete so that unbelievers would inquire about the gospel. So remember that God has saved you! Let that fact produce in you the attitude that Paul exhorts you to have in Titus 3:2, “To speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.”
Let’s study this salvation that we have from God. Remember, first of all:
I. GOD HAS SAVED YOU FROM YOUR SINFUL DEPRAVITY
Verse 3 says, “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts, and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.” If you are saved - if you have come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then remember why it was that you needed saving in the first place. Before you were saved your heart and life were full of sin. Isaiah 51:1 says, “Look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.” What was that pit like? What were you like before Christ saved you? You were foolish - you lacked good sense. Your mind was warped by sin and you believed things and did things that were irrational. Why do people today call psychic hotlines or turn to the New Age movement? They are foolish and ignorant of the truth.
But not only is the unsaved person foolish and ignorant, he is disobedient Paul says. Not only did we not know better, we didn’t want to do right. What we did know was right we deliberately disobeyed. We were deceived - by the false reasoning of the world and by the temptations of the devil. We were enslaved to our passions. Those who are still in the world think that freedom is to be able to satisfy their desires in whatever way they choose. But they don’t realize that they are actually enslaved by those desires. The unsaved person is also, “living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.” This is why there is conflict in the world. This is why marriages break up.
John MacArthur said, “Husbands and wives divorce because their egos clash, each wanting his or her own way, even at the cost of their marriage and the welfare of their children. Children raised by hateful parents will themselves likely become hateful, of each other, of their parents, of their teachers, of any person who threatens their freedom and self-will. Hatred is perhaps the loneliest of sins.” Why do fights, feuds, quarrels and wars exist? Because by nature, we have hatred in our hearts. Before God saved you, this was what you were like. If your life is still characterized by the description Paul gives in verse 3, then you have not been saved. Don’t kid yourself. Because Paul said, “we ourselves once were” like this. Paul was no longer the man he used to be after God saved him. If you have been saved, then you have been freed from slavery to sin. Your life will change and you will not be the same. Christ changes you from the inside out. You begin a process of change by putting off the old ways and putting on God’s ways. Your life is no longer characterized by depravity and sin, but by growth in righteous character.
So, remember what God saved you from. Remember that at one time you were totally depraved and controlled by sinful desires. This should cause you to be humble and to glorify God because of His grace. This will help you to be more compassionate and prayerful toward those who are still foolishly living in disobedience to God.
Next, from this passage,
II. REMEMBER THAT GOD HAS SAVED YOU BECAUSE OF HIS MERCY
Mercy is “kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.” The misery and suffering of man is due to the reality of human sin. But God is merciful. According to this passage God is merciful, kind, loving and gracious. Yes He is just and holy, but it is the kindness and love of God that moved Him to save you if you are saved. If He were only motivated by justice, He would have sentenced you and everyone else to eternal condemnation. If he were only motivated by holiness, He would never have bothered to try to be reconciled with us.
Why did God save us? Paul said it was “not by works of righteousness which we have done.” In other words, we could not save ourselves. No matter how many good works you perform in your life, they are not enough to gain an entrance into heaven. One reason why this is so is because before you are converted to Christ you have a depraved heart! And no good thing can proceed from a wicked heart. As Isaiah said, “All our righteousness are as filthy rags.” As a lost sinner, you could present nothing to God that He would accept - not even a prayer, until He changed your heart! Listen to Daniel 9:18: “For we do not present our prayers before You on account of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercies.”
Unlike the capricious gods of pagan religion, and unlike the impersonal god of New Age religion, the God of the Bible is kind and good and loving. He truly cares about men and women. This God cares about the world. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Mercy and grace, kindness and love came through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. God can be merciful to you a sinner, because He showed no mercy to His Son on the Cross! The Father turned his back upon the Son as He took our sins upon Himself. By the cross, God saved you - not because of what you were, but in spite of what you were. He saved you, not because He saw or foresaw something good in you, but because He is good and kind and merciful.
Salvation is totally undeserved, so it has to be a completely free gift of God’s mercy. Have you received that free gift of salvation? Have you ever prayed, “God be merciful to me, a sinner?” That is the prayer that opens the door of salvation. God gives salvation freely to those who repent and believe in Him. And even repentance and faith are His gifts. It is salvation by grace alone, and therefore He receives all the glory.
Next from this passage, if you are a Christian,
III. REMEMBER THAT GOD SAVED YOU THROUGH THE WORK OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT
“He saved us, through the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” God the Father planned our salvation in eternity past, Christ accomplished our salvation by His death and resurrection, and the Holy Spirit applies salvation to the hearts of His elect. The Holy Spirit regenerates us by His mighty power - the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
You were born dead in trespasses and sins. Your heart had no life in it until the Holy Spirit regenerated you. Therefore, until God changed your heart, you could not and would not come to Christ. The Lord must open a sinner’s heart prior to faith, and in order that the sinner may believe. Take the example of Lydia, whom Paul met by a river along with some other “God-fearing women.” Acts 16:14 says of Lydia that, “The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” Would Lydia have responded to the gospel if the Lord had not opened her heart first? No. Would you have come to trust in Jesus Christ if God had not opened your heart first? No, you would not have. Without the prior work of the Holy Spirit, who like the wind, blows when and where He will, you could not and would not have believed. Ephesians 2:1 says, “And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins.”
Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draw him.” You were going your own way, and would still be going that way today if He had not turned your heart to go His way and to trust in His Son. Regeneration is the same thing as being born again. Have you been born again? Has God so changed your heart that you have turned from your sin to Jesus and now you have a desire to please God in everything? The New Birth is the very first act of God upon your soul in conversion. Everything else flows from it. When God the Holy Spirit regenerates you, giving you a new heart, then you will repent and believe the gospel. When you believe the gospel you are immediately justified and adopted. As Paul said in verse 7, “Having been justified by his grace.”
Paul mentions regeneration and renewing. Regeneration is the beginning of the ongoing renewal in the life of a believer. New life emerges from a new birth, and in that new life we are constantly being renewed. We call this the process of sanctification. The Holy Spirit dwells in you and empowers you to put off old ways and put on new obedience to God’s Word.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “if any one is in Christ, he a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” If you have truly been born again, you will become a new person and live a new life. Have you had such a change of life and are you daily being renewed by the work of the Holy Spirit?
All Christians must struggle against sin and put it to death. The Holy Spirit will enable you to do this as you hide God’s Word in your heart. Some Christians struggle and do not seem to be able to overcome sin and grow in grace. I remember talking to a college student who was struggling. I had just spoken at a meeting on campus about the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians. He and I sat in the car and he shared his struggles with me and asked how it was that he could really overcome sinful habits? I simply told him that he had all he needed to do so because he had the Holy Spirit within him. But I could tell that he just somehow didn’t think that was enough. It was as if God hadn’t given him enough resources for him to have victory. But verse 6 says that the Holy Spirit was “poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” No Christian ever sinned for lack of grace or of the Holy Spirit’s power. No - if you sin it is because you did not act upon the Word of God and because you did not rely on His power to obey.
Do you see how rich God is toward us in salvation? Realize that we were rebellious bums who did not have anything and did not deserve anything. We were rebellious, homeless, dirty, criminal bums yet God showered us with His riches! He gave His only Son to die for us and He poured out His Holy Spirit abundantly upon us. He washed us clean through regeneration and counted us clean through justification. He applied the salvation to our hearts that Christ purchased on the cross.
Next, from this passage, if you are a Christian,
IV. GOD HAS SAVED YOU UNTO THE HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE
“That. we should become heirs of eternal life.” You were a bum, now you are an heir of the eternal riches of heaven! You were on death row awaiting execution as a sinner but God has made you an heir and given you an inheritance worth far more than Bill Gates could ever dream of. Do you have this hope of eternal life? The word hope means a sure and certain expectation. Do you know for sure that you would go to heaven if you died right now? If not, then go back to step one - see yourself as a sinner deserving condemnation. See God as a merciful, loving Father who has promised to save all who call upon His Son. Then call upon Christ, right now and ask Him to save you. Ask Him for the free gift of eternal life.
The Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the hope or assurance of eternal life. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” The next verse in Romans 8 says, “And if we are children, then we are heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ; so that if we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together.” You will share in the inheritance of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are a joint heir with Him. All that He has as the very Son of God you have a share in as one of His own children.
God has saved you unto this hope of eternal life. This is the goal of your salvation. It’s all about eternal life. Our salvation at present is only a down payment and a taste of what is to come. So, keep the hope of eternal life before you at all times. When you are tempted to doubt, remember that God has promised eternal life and has saved you for this purpose - to give you an eternal inheritance with Him in heaven.
When you are going through trials, remember that God has saved you unto the hope of eternal life. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. When you think of others who don’t have this hope, then remember that God has saved you and give you this hope in order to share it with others. There is more than enough inheritance for all. IF you have the hope, share the hope. Remember that you were a bum and didn’t have anything. There are lots of other bums out there that need what you have. Do you care enough to share with them where you found salvation?
The last aspect of salvation from this passage that you need to know is,
V. GOD HAS SAVED YOU IN ORDER FOR YOU TO DO GOOD WORKS
You are not in heaven yet. God saved you in order that you would do good works on earth until you receive the inheritance. These works are to be done, not in order to receive the inheritance, but because you already are an heir! Paul said, “Those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.” Who is able to do good works? Paul says, “those who have believed in God.” Until you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to save you, then you cannot do one single thing that is good or acceptable in God’s sight.
He said that believers should “be careful to maintain good works”. The word for “careful” in this verse means to think or be thoughtful. Good works cannot be done in a shoddy or haphazard manner. These works are such that require serious thought. Have you given much thought to what kind of good works you can do for the Lord in your life? IF you have begun serving Christ and doing good works, be careful to maintain these works. Don’t get slack or grow weary in well doing. Keep up the pace! Many Christians think that in order to please God they have to do something really big for Christ. Consequently, some Christians try to do so much for the Lord that they burn out. It is not so much how big or spectacular your work is, but how faithful you are with the opportunities God gives you each day.
Paul said that these works are “good and profitable to men.” Do good works out of gratitude for your salvation, and do them in such a way as they do people good and bring benefit to others. These good works are done at least partly in order to influence others for the sake of the gospel. These should be good works that are done because He saved you and to show others that He has saved you. Good works are the evidence that God has saved you! Unbelievers will see your transformed life and will be attracted to the message you proclaim and the salvation you profess to have.
So let good works be a fixed goal of your daily walk with God.
In conclusion, Paul told Titus in verse 8 “This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly.” This actually should be attached to the ending of verse 7. Here Paul is speaking about the salvation in verses 3-7. It is the gospel message that needs to be affirmed constantly. Why? Because we are in danger of forgetting it and there are always those in our midst who need to hear it again because they have never heeded it.
Has God saved you? If so, then He has saved you from sin, because of His mercy, through the work of the Holy Spirit, unto the hope of eternal life, in order to do good works. What a comprehensive view of salvation! Don’t take it for granted! Don’t become puffed up, but humble yourself and give thanks always to the Lord, for Great things He hath done.
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