Reading: Titus 3:3-8

Titus 3:5 – “He saved us because of his mercy, not because of righteous things we had done.”

Stepping into Paul’s letter to Titus in 3:3, Paul acknowledges their (and our) former state. Before professing faith in Christ and committing to follow his teachings and example we were “foolish, disobedient, deceived” people who were enslaved to the desires and pleasures of this world. We were filled with jealousy, yes, but with many other things too: greed, pride, lust, judging… We lived a very self-centered and self-focused life until we encountered Jesus.

When we met Jesus, we met kindness and love. We found salvation through Christ’s grace. Our sins were not held against us. In verse 5 we read, “He saved us because of his mercy, not because of righteous things we had done.” Paul is addressing the false ‘balance scale’ theory that we can try and live by early in our faith journey. A part of that self-centeredness is still hanging on. We think that we can do enough good to outweigh all of the sin that we commit. In time, as we mature, we realize that this is an impossible equation to balance in our own.

Jesus helps us out. Through the washing of “new birth” and through the “renewing” of the Holy Spirit we are “made right” and we “inherit the hope for eternal life.” This is partially an ongoing process. We may sin less as we mature in faith but we do still sin. That is our human nature. The hope we find in Christ sustains us in our times of struggle and it encourages us in times of doubt. This is also a completed process. Our inheritance is kept safe for us by the Lord our God. Our response to all of this? As Paul writes, we “give careful attention to doing good.” May it be so.

Prayer: Lord God, humble us day by day. Seeing ourselves honestly, guide us to bow before your throne of grace. Admitting our limits, lead us to yield our will to your will. Call us to these acts of surrender again and again and again, over and over until they become second nature to us. Amen.