The Grace of God in Redemption

Transcript

GR 752
10/26/1986
The Grace of God in Redemption
Titus 3:4-7
Gil Rugh

The Book of Titus in your Bibles. Titus and the 3rd chanter. Paul opens up the 3rd chapter in his letter to Titus by drawing attention on how we as believers are to conduct ourselves in relationship to unbelievers. We as believers really have two realms or spheres of contact and influence. One is with other believers. Our interaction with those who are of like faith. The fellowship we have in the Body of Christ, the ministry we have to one another, etc. But then there's that whole sphere of influence and contact that brings us into contact with the world of the unbeliever. Those who have not yet trusted Christ. Yet we live under their authority, the government to a large extent, we work them, we live in neighborhoods with them, etc. How are we to conduct ourselves in those relationships? And in Titus chapter 3 Paul began the chapter by saying to Titus, "Remind them (believers) to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men." So in our relationships with unbelievers, in our contacts with them, we are to show them all courtesy, kindness, goodness. It doesn't mean we accept their sin, but it does mean we treat them with honor and respect in light of the position they have if they're in government or in light of the fact they are fellow human beings. Now there are two reasons given by Paul for treating the unbeliever in the way that he has just described. The first is, we were once just like them ourselves. We too are fallen, sinful human beings. So he said in v. 3, "For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another." So that reminder, that I was once just like them. As I look at them and find their sin so despicable, their attitudes, their speech, their conduct repulsive, I need to remind myself, I was once just like them, I'm no better as a person. I'm a fallen sinner, given to all the depravity that they are. That reminder of what I once was will help me in my dealings with them.

And then the second reason is the one we want to develop together in our study. In vs. 4-7 of Titus chapter 3 Paul gives one long sentence, the purpose of which is to unfold the great grace of God in providing redemption. And a key reason why we as believers ought to treat with kindness and goodness and all courtesy the unbeliever is that we are what we are solely by virtue of the great grace and kindness of God toward us. Tremendous section here. Vs, 4-7 are all one sentence in the Greek text and in most of your English Bibles, and it is a sentence that is built around one verb--it begins in v. 5 in our English Bible, "He saved us." This is the heart of what he is saying in vs. 4-7--"God saved us," How did He save us? What was the basis of His saving us? What did He do when He saved us? What was the goal that was accomplished when He saved us? Those are the factors that he wants to develop. How keen it in the proper context and the proper framework. There's a great danger when we come to a great theological passage like Titus 3:4-7 and that danger is we get so involved in the great theology of this text, the tremendous truths here, that we forget WHY God placed it here. This great theological declaration is given in Titus chapter 3 as a reminder to us as believers to treat the unbeliever properly and with dignity, to not say evil things about them. But to treat them with kindness. So keep that in your mind as we work through this. For many of us who have been believers a long time we say, Oh yes, Titus chapter 3; I'm well familiar with all the theology there. And these are basics, but the point being driven home is not to get familiar just with the theology here, but to adjust my life now to live according to the theology especially in my dealings with unbelievers.

Four key words you ought to mark because we'll keep coming back to these through these verses. Circle them or underline them, but you ought to have these identified: Vs. 4, two words: Kindness and Love. Vs. 5, about the middle of the verse, the word "mercy." And then in v. 7, the word "grace." Those four words go together to constantly draw our attention to the fact this is the foundation of our salvation. This is the basis of God's dealing with us. Not our good deeds, but God's kindness, God's love, God's mercy, God's grace! When recognize that, that puts my life before conversion and after conversion into proper perspective.

Look at v. 4. "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us . . ." So he starts out by drawing attention to ideas or qualities or characteristics of God in His dealings with men. God's kindness and God's love. "When the kindness of God our Savior . . . appeared." That word "kindness," goodness, generosity, denotes a kindness which is always ready and eager to do or give what's ever necessary. So the idea of a generosity in kindness. This would denote a person when he recognizes that there is a need here or something that should be done, he is eager to extend a kindness or generosity to that person in meeting the need. Now that's the point being drawn out about God's character in dealing with us. It was the kindness of God our Savior that appeared, that generous kindness that dealt with us in our great need. Our need is focused in v. 3 on what we were, and God's kindness was manifested to us. Look back in Romans chapter 2, this word is used by Paul.

Paul is warning those who are exposed to the Word of God about the danger of not believing in Jesus Christ which will result in judgment. And in Romans 2, v. 4, "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness ..." Let me just say something because it's going to keep coming UP. That word 'rich' or 'riches' or 'richly' is going to be used of God's kindness, God's mercy, of God's grace and that whatever God does, He does it abundantly and generously. And here, "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness (there's our word kindness), and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" The kind generosity of God in dealing with mankind, not according to his sin, not according to the sin of mankind, but in patience and 1ongsuffering was so that mankind, men and women, might be drawn to repent of their sin. To recognize that they are sinners and that God is the Savior and believe in Him.

So God's kindness operates to that purpose, to bring men and women to repentance. Why does God put up with all He puts up with? Ever watch the news or read an article and you get so worked up about the vileness of something that's been done that you find yourself thinking, This is what I'd do to them. Just stop and think, why does God tolerate that? I get so worked up over this, and I have no power to do anything about it. Boy, if I was God I'd just zap them right there that would be it! Then they'd know who's in charge here! But God deals richly in kindness, forbearance and patience. Why? That men and women might come to salvation in Jesus Christ.

Look over in Ephesians chapter 2. Here's another one of Paul's long sentences that he's famous for. Picks up in v. 4, and we'll pick it up there to get the idea of the flow, but the word we want is down in v. 7, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us ..." You note here. "Rich in mercy." We saw "rich in kindness," and this word 'mercy' will come up in Titus 3. He's rich in mercy. "His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness (so rich kindness, rich mercy, now rich grace!) toward us in Christ Jesus." We sometimes say that we've been saved to be trophies of God for all eternity. That's the verse that lies behind that. Were to be trophies of God's grace because for all eternity we'll be those that demonstrate and manifest the riches of His grace in kindness. So it was in that kindness, that generous kindness, that He manifested to us and we experienced His salvation. Come back to Titus.

So that's one of the foundations, you have to understand, when we talk about man's salvation. We talk about my redemption. It was in kindness. His love for mankind appeared." We're familiar with this word. It's one word in Greek, a compound word, "love for mankind." Philanthropic. Philanthropic deeds, deeds that are done, a love for mankind? Greek word philos is love; anthropos is man. Philanthropic is love for man. Now here, when this word is used of God it denotes love toward someone in distress. Here is God's love reaching out to man in his distress. This consent of God's love manifested to man becomes a key one in the Bible. Nov/ I want to note another word here, then we'll look at another passage. It says this "love and kindness appeared." I take it what he's talking about is, at a point in time in history God unveiled or revealed His kindness and His love for mankind. When did that occur? The focal point is in the coming of Jesus Christ and His providing salvation. 8ack in Titus 2:11, we read: "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to or for all men." The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation. That has to do with the coming to earth of the Son of God, His dying on a cross and being raised again from the dead. That's when God's love appeared; His grace and kindness appeared. It all focuses in that one dramatic and great event.

Look over in 1 John chapter 4, toward the back of your New Testament. John talks about the love of God. He uses a different word for love, not philos but agape. That would be the word he uses here. And in 1 John 4, v. 9, "By this the love of God was manifested in us (or to us)." So you see, here is the revelation, the revealing, the making known the love of God. "That God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." The word 'propitiation' means 'a satisfaction.1 He sent His Son to be the satisfaction for our sins. To satisfy the just, holy and righteous demands of God. For the penalty of sin is death, and Christ by His death satisfied God's justice in paying our penalty.

You cannot understand God's love. All discussions about the love of God that do not associate it with the death of Jesus Christ are discussions about warm, emotional feelings that we may get from time to time. The only way that we really know and understand that God does love us is that He had His Son die for us. People talk about God is the God of love. How do you know He's a God of love? How do you know He's not a vindictive, spiteful God looking forward to the joy o^ making everyone suffer for eternity in hell? How do you know that? Oh, I don't think my God would be like that. Well, maybe I think my God would be like that. How do we know? Do we vote? We don't know apart from what God has revealed about Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. There's no question that God loves us with an overwhelming love. How can we be so sure? He had His only begotten Son, His unique Son, die for us! Can there be any question about the depth of that kind of love? That He would have His only begotten Son die for me? Is there any question about the reality and validity of that love? None whatsoever! Any time a person wants to talk about the love of God, you have to talk about the coming and dying of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Now you come back to Titus chapter 3. So when this kindness and this love appeared, at the coming and dying of the Son of God, "He saved us." In our English Bibles, the verb appears at the beginning of v. 5. "He saved us." But you know, in the Greek text we still don't get to the verb. It would read something like this: "But when the kindness of God our Savior appeared and His love for mankind appeared, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy HE SAVED US." The verb appears after "according to His mercy." In the middle of v. 5. You know why Paul does it that way under the direction of the Spirit? He wants to build, putting emphasis on the kindness and the love of God and the fact it wasn't based on our works but on God's mercy. And on the basis of God's kindness, on the basis of God's love, not on the basis of our deeds, but on the basis of His mercy, HE SAVED US! You see the tendency among fallen humanity is always toward thinking they can do something to make themselves acceptable before God. So the stress of Scripture is always on the fact that there is nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable to God. He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness. That puts it in proper perspective. It's not on the basis of our good works done in righteousness. Now that's important because it's deeds done in righteousness. That means this is my best effort! This is giving it my best shot, so to speak. The best that I could possibly do! And now say, God, here it is; I've tried my hardest with every ounce of my being, the depth of sincerity, here's the best I could do. God could not bring us salvation on that. That's the point here. And yet all the religions of the world, most people, the majority of people who would call themselves 'Christian' in the broad sense of that word really think when it comes down to it, God's going to accept them on the basis of their good deeds. The Bible is so clear! In saying that God cannot do that in any way, shape, or form. There's nothing we can do to earn or merit God's salvation.

Now this fits if what He said about us in v.3 and our former condition is true, "foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved, hateful, envious, committing wickedness," etc., how can a person like that be saved by what they do? God says all have sinned. Now people say, Well, I'm going to try my best; none of us are perfect. That's like me standing up and saying, you know what? I murdered 37 people and I did it in gross ways, but I'm going to try my best from here on out, so I'm sure you'll just forgive and forget. You say, That would be a terrible miscarriage of justice. Yet people say, that’s what God's going to do with me. He says I'm a sinner; I'm depraved, but I'm going to tell Him, God, I'm going to do my best from here on out, and He's going to forget. That would be a terrible miscarriage of justice. Because the penalty for sin is death. I'm already guilty. I'm already condemned! Like a man on the way to the electric chair saying, I'm going to be better tomorrow! You say, it’s too bad. You're already under condemnation for what you've done. That's where I am as a sinner! Already under condemnation. To talk about the good I'm going to do is too late. That's even giving the point that I could, but the Bible indicates very clearly that I couldn't just jot down, we don't have time to turn there.

Isaiah 64:6, a great verse. You know what Isaiah says? "All our righteous deeds are like filthy rags." That's how God sees all my righteous deeds, my best effort. They're like bloody rags. They are polluted and defiled. Now God, here is my righteousness. People say, When I get to heaven, when I stand before God, I think He's going to put it on a scale and He'll put my good works and He'll put my failures there, and if the good outweighs the bad, I'll make it. If not, it's going to be rough sledding. But let me tell you, when God puts it all on the scale, you know what? From His perspective nothing is going on the good side! That doesn't take a lot of perception and insight to know how the scale is going to tilt! Because He says all my righteousnesses are viewed as polluted before Him! Defiled! And unacceptable.

Look back to the Book of Romans, chapter 3. Paul is making this point in ch. 3 and what he does is collect a series of statements from the Old Testament, so all that's said in vs. 10-18 of Romans chapter 3 is quoted from the Old Testament. You can look at the source of the quote in the margin of your Bible and trace them back there to see what God said. But you note the purpose of his marshalling this evidence. V. 9, it's to demonstrate that everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, are under sin. There are no exceptions. No one is better than someone else in this sense. We're dealing with a group of people who are defiled by their sin. It'd be like if we all in this room had a dread, communicable disease. We might say some have a worse case of the disease than others, as far as its manifestation, but the dread fact is we're all going to die of this disease. That's the way it is with our sin. We look around and say, well, here's somebody who looks like they have a worse case of it. No, its manifestation is just more clearly come out. But we all have the consuming terminal disease of sin. So he says in v. 10, of Romans 3, "There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understand, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Now the reason God said all this, note v. 19, is to shut everybody up. "That every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God." So what God has done is reveal our true character so everyone who thinks they're goody-goody can be shut up. Isn't it amazing. This is not really new! It goes back for thousands of years. Yet there are still people who have the misconception that by doing the best they can God's going to accept them.

When the whole point God had in making this revelation was to reveal, NO ONE IS ACCEPTABLE! And yet we're all accountable as guilty before Him. Now that's the point. That's why the beginning point in God's salvation is dealing with sin. Until a person recognizes and comes to grip with their own personal sinfulness, there can be no salvation. Because if you're not a sinner, you don't need to be saved. We've had people who have sat under my ministry for years who to this day as far as I know are not saved. I've talked personally with some of them. Part of the reason that they give us, I'm not that bad. I'm a relatively decent person. And I have to say, you are. You are relatively good and decent. Compared to me, you are relatively good and decent! Compared to some people I know, you are very good and decent! But compared to God, you are a wretched, depraved sinner. And the point of the matter is, God is not comparing you to me. He is comparing you to Himself. He's comparing me to Himself. And the standard is PERFECT HOLINESS and PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS! So to talk about being saved by my best efforts, come back to Titus 3, is an impossibility. I cannot happen.

So he says, "Not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy." According to His mercy. Now mercy is something by virtue of definition is undeserved. Right? When someone asks for mercy, they're not saying 'Give me what I deserve.' They're saying 'Give me what I don't deserve.' Some people say they just want God to be fair. All I want is what I deserve. Let me tell you something. I don't want God to be fair to me; and I don't want Him to give me what I deserve, because He's already told me. You know what He said? It would be fair if He sentenced every single human being to eternity in hell. Because every single human being is a sinner. So if I say, All I want is what I deserve; what I'm saying is, All I deserve is hell. All I want is God to be fair. It would be fair if He sentenced every sinner to hell. I don't want God to be fair. I don't want God to give me what I deserve. I want mercy. Don't deal with me according to my sin, according to what I deserve. Deal with me according to Your mercy!

Now this means God is a dilemma, if I can speak from a human perspective.
He is perfectly holy, perfectly righteous, perfectly just. For Him to say, Gil, you ain't so bad, we're going to forget it, would be a terrible miscarriage of justice because I'm a sinner under condemnation. I could say He showed mercy, but He did it at the expense of justice. What God must do is show mercy consistent with justice. That's why His Son leaves glory, comes to earth and dies on a cross. Because the penalty for sin is death. God Himself paid that penalty! So now He can reach out to us in mercy and say, you can be forgiven. I've paid the penalty with the death of My Son. If you will believe in My Son and accept Him, I can justly declare you forgiven on the basis of mercy and grace. Look at a couple of passages with me. Back in Romans chapter 3 again.

This is a consistent emphasis of the Scriptures. Romans 3:28, Paul says, "For we maintain that a man is justified (we're going to come to that word in Titus 3:7, declared righteous, is what it means)." "A man is declared righteous by faith apart from works of the Law." In other words, righteousness comes to me through believing what God has done, not by doing something to please God. Down in Romans chapter 4, verse 5, "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness." So it's not a matter of working to please God, it's a matter of believing what God has done. God credits that to me as righteousness.

Over in Romans chapter 11, v. 6, we're going to come to the word 'grace,' in v. 7 of Titus 3. And here he tells us in Romans 11:6, "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace." You know what happens when you say, well I think that God will be merciful when He sees I've done my best, you're saying grace is not grace. Grace is something undeserved or unearned. Now if you can contribute something to your salvation, it means it's no longer of grace. That's the point here. If it's of grace, it's of grace. If it's of works, it's not of grace; otherwise grace wouldn't be grace. I mean, let's let words mean something. That's the point he's driving home.

Other verses, Gal. 2:16, Eph. 2:8,9--"By grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not on the basis of works, lest any man should boast." You know the thing that amazes me? That after having the Bible for centuries and millenniums, the vast majority of the people still believe that they'll be accepted by God on the basis of doing their best. Or being religious, or joining a church, or doing what the church tells them to do. When the Bible is so clear that that is hopeless. It's on the basis of what God has already done.

Let's look back and see how He describes this process in Titus 3. "According to His mercy He saved us." Now what does this salvation involve? Well, He saved us by the washing of regeneration. You know, I was amazed at how many commentators said, Now obviously this is talking about baptism. Now all you have to do is read the context. What did he just get done telling us? That it's on the basis of God's kindness, the basis of God's love, the basis of God's mercy, and we're coming to grace. NOT on the basis of our deeds. And then somebody reads the word 'washed' and says, Oh yes, you're saved by being baptized! That's ridiculous! No one was ever saved by being baptized! We've looked at the details of this when we studied baptism, so we won't pursue it. We were in Romans chapter 4--you read that to find out how God saves people. It's by faith! Abraham's the example. You find out when Abraham was baptized, and then I'll talk to you about whether you can be saved by baptism. But let me tell you, you'll never find it because Abraham never was baptized! How was Abraham saved? By faith! That means you can't be saved by baptism. By faith! Washing here has nothing to do with water baptism. What's he tell us? "The washing of regeneration." Not the washing of water baptism! The washing of regeneration. The word 'regeneration' means exactly that. Two Greek words, again and born or generated. Generated again, born again. This isn't the word that is translated in some other passages as born again; this is used one other time in the Book of Matthew where Jesus speaks of those who will be with Him in the regeneration. When the earth is reborn under His rule and glorious reign. But the idea is familiar in other passages of Scripture. When you are reborn, you are washed, you are cleansed. All the defilement, all the filthiness, all the guilt is washed away. You're cleansed. You know the thing that amazes me the most about God's salvation is that He can take a defiled, filthy, guilt-ridden sinner and make him pure and clean before God. That's remarkable! That's amazing! People laden under the burden of guilt, trying to talk to psychiatrists and psychologists to explain away the guilt. And you know the problem? We are really guilty!!! That's the problem! I'm a sinner! I'm guilty before God. What God has to do is wash me, cleanse me, make me pure before Him. That happens through the new birth.

He goes on. "And renewing by the Holy Spirit." Talking about a similar idea or the same idea, I take it, a little different emphasis. Being made new. Renewing is being made new by the Holy Spirit. What happens when I believe in Christ, I am washed, I am cleansed from all defilement. I am made new by the Spirit of God. You think this is the old me, but it's not. Same old body, but it's a new me. A new me in this body. I've been made new by the Holy Spirit. In 1 Cor. 6 Paul has talked about the defiling sins that characterize unbelievers. Then he says in v. 11, "And such were some of you; but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." What
happened when I believed in Jesus Christ? He gave me a bath spiritually! He washed me. Don't talk to me about what I've been, only to remind me that I'm not that any more. I was filthy; I was vile. But that's no longer an issue. I'm clean now; I've been washed. Then He sanctified me, means to set apart. Then He justified me; He declared me righteous. What a beautiful picture! God takes this filthy, defiled sinner and washes him clean; sets him apart over here as His own possession, and then declares him to be righteous. What a glorious salvation that we have experienced by faith in Jesus Christ. He describes us as being made new by the Holy Spirit in Titus chapter 3, v. 5. Second Cor. 5:17 "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, or a new creation." That's remarkable. He is a new creature! A new creation! Now, note what that means. "Old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come." That's the point in Titus chapter 3. When He cleanses and washes me, it's not to go back and live in the mire anymore! It's to set me apart for Himself to live for Him now as a new person, as a new creature! The old things are gone; new things have come! Number of passages we've already read where he emphasizes the new life. Eph. 1 does. Romans chapter 6 draws that analogy of our death, burial and resurrection with Christ to newness of life. So you're washed, then you're made new. It all happened in the new birth, the regeneration. He's just emphasizing different aspects. When you were born again, you were washed clean; you're also made new. And it's all by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So he elaborates on the Holy Spirit in v. 6.

The Holy Spirit is the One "whom He poured out upon us richly ..." Good study for you. Look through the New Testament on the word rich, richly, or riches as used in the context of what God has done for us in salvation. It's a constant reminder we didn't get a stingy portion of salvation! What God has done for us in every area, He did richly, rich kindness, rich mercy, rich grace, rich bestowment of the Holy Spirit! "He poured out the Holy Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ." Two things you need to have salvation: You need to have the Word of God, and you need to have the Spirit of God.

When we talk about the new birth, in John chapter 3, Jesus said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again, born from above. Unless a man is born again he can never see the kingdom of God." First Peter chapter 1, v. 23 says, "We have been born again by the living and abiding Word of God." No one ever can be saved who is not exposed to the truth of God's Word. You may read it, someone may tell it to you, but you have to hear the message of the Gospel--that Christ Jesus died for your sins and was raised from the dead. So this is the seed for the analogy of the new birth. So without the Word of God there is never a new birth; but without the ministry of the Spirit of God, there is never a new birth either.

Look back in 2 Thess. 2:13 to see these two concepts brought together. In 2 Thess. 2:13 Paul says, "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation..." Salvation is a sovereign work of God. He has sovereignly elected, chosen for Himself from among sinful, fallen human beings some to experience His glorious salvation. How is this carried out? "Through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." The Spirit of God worked to set us apart when we believed the truth. Now, if you don't have the Word of God, the Spirit of God never works to accomplish salvation in a life. But many people are exposed to the Word of God who are not saved. You know why? When a person is exposed to the Word of God, their sinful response is always rebellion. There are always reasons--their own goodness. Some people sit and hear what we've said about sin, and they put up the wall. That's not me, I'm not that bad. He can believe it if he wants, but I know myself. That's the way sinful man always responds. But God often graciously through the ministry of the Holy Spirit takes the Word of God and pierces through that rebellion and sovereignly draws an individual to salvation in Jesus Christ. That's why I can present the Gospel, the Good News of the Word of God to person after person after person and seem to get no response. It's only when the Spirit of God takes that Word and drives it home to the heart and accomplishes God's work of setting that person apart for Himself that salvation occurs. That's a testimony to how sinful we really are. Given the Word of God and me, I'd say no. I need the dimension of the Spirit of God to break through that rebellion to bring me to faith in the truth.

I want you to note that God says He has poured out His Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ. So it's through Christ, His finished work, that we have the Spirit. Back in John 16, v. 7, and in that whole chapter, Jesus is talking about the Spirit. He said it was good for His disciples that He would go to glory, because when He went to glory He would send the Comforter to them, the Holy Spirit. So when Christ returned to glory after His resurrection and ascension, He poured out the Spirit of God upon those who believed in Him. That began in Acts chapter 2. Same word there is translated "poured out." The Spirit of God was poured out upon believers. So that from Acts chapter 2 on, every person who comes to believe or has come to believe in Christ as Savior receives the richness of the Holy Spirit being poured out upon him. That's why Paul can write to the Romans and say in chapter 8, v. 9, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." Passages like 2 Cor. chapter 1, vs. 21, 22. Eph. 1, vs. 13, 14, that we who have believed have been "sealed with the Spirit of God." The Spirit of God has been given as a pledge to us. A pledge is a down payment. Like when you're going to buy a house, they ask for earnest money for a down payment? That's a guarantee that you'll go through with the transaction. The Holy Spirit is God's guarantee to me that He's going through with the transaction of my salvation. I will be brought to completion in Jesus Christ. That's where Paul is building in Titus chapter 3. So everyone who has come to believe in Jesus Christ has received the Holy Spirit richly poured out upon him. God doesn't dole out the Spirit in little drips and drabbles. That's why I get terribly upset when people tell me there is something more. 'It's great you've been saved, but God has something more for you.' Well my Bible tells me God has given me everything RICHLY in Christ, including the Holy Spirit who indwells me. Eph. 1:3, Paul says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ." I want you to note how many blessings you got when you came to believe in Christ--EVERY spiritual blessing. You say, Wait a minute, there's more blessings.

There's additional blessings. No, I've got them all in Christ, and you got them all too if you really believe. Second Peter chapter 1, v. 3, Peter says that God has given to us by His divine power EVERYTHING pertaining to life and godliness. EVERYTHING pertaining to life and godliness has been given to us in Christ by the divine power of God. Now we're like newborn babies. When a newborn baby is born into the world, he is born with all the parts he's going to get. You don't add things after your birth. You don't add parts to this body. But you know what it is? It's growth in using the parts! It's a growth in appreciating what you have, and as you grow to maturity and to an adult you grow to appreciate and avail yourself of all that you have in this body. So you look at an adult who can take his hands and do things with, take a month old baby and you say, he doesn't have what he needs. He has everything he needs. He just hasn't learned how to use it and appropriate it yet. So that's what's going on in my Christian life. I don't need more of the Spirit. I don't need more of the blessings of God. I need to mature in my walk with Him so that I know how to use what He's given me. Appropriate it! And experience the fullness of the power of the Spirit who indwells me. That's why we can be called upon to live the Christian life. God resides within us. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and by His control we can now live lives that are honoring to Him.

Come back to Titus 3. The goal of this, to summarize it, in v. 7, to draw it to a conclusion? What God accomplished by this kind, loving, merciful salvation was the justification "by His grace that we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." That we might be justified by grace, or having been justified by grace, declared righteous by His grace. There it is again. Always God's grace, God's mercy, God's kindness, God's love. That we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. You know what God wanted? He wanted to make me an heir according to the hope of eternal life. Now I have eternal life by virtue of my faith in Jesus Christ, but I haven't entered into the appropriation of that eternal life as yet. I'm like someone who perhaps was the heir of a very wealthy parent and that parent died, and perhaps when that person is 25 they are going to enter in to the inheritance. But they're already the heir. It's just a matter of time. I have the eternal life, it's just a matter of time until I enter into the full realization of all that entails. My glorified body and the enjoyment of the presence of God for eternity. So that's coming. It's just a matter of time.

We talked about this back in chapter 1, v. 2, "in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago." In chapter 2, v. 13, "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus." Romans chapter 8, vs. 16-25, the same development. Moving toward that time when this physical body will be transformed, glorified, made suitable for the glorious presence of God. That's when I will enter in to the full realization of my inheritance. The glory of God's presence for all eternity.

That's the goal God had and that God accomplished in providing redemption and salvation for fallen, sinful human beings. Now. We have to go back and remind ourselves. Why did God give this great theological discourse? To show why we must live godly lives in our dealings with the unbeliever. Why we must be submissive to governmental authority and respect them. Why we shouldn't speak evil of them or any other unbeliever. Now again, when we're dealing with false religious teachers, they're dealt with in a little different way. But in the general realm of the unbeliever, we're dealing with people just like ourselves-- misguided, deceived, enslaved. I recognize, I am what I am by the grace of God. By His kindness, and love, and mercy, and grace I'm not enslaved and in the mire and muck of sin; but I should have an arrogant attitude that I'm better than them? As though it were something I had done that had brought about this great change? I need to go back and remind myself what I was, and remind myself of the greatness of God's grace. That will give me a proper attitude toward the unbeliever. A recognition of what he is and what he needs.

How are you doing? Some of you rub shoulders with some pretty crude people. You are constantly thrown in in your job situation, etc., with people you feel like you need to go home and take a bath after you've spent a little time. It's easy in that to begin to despise them. You say, there’s no excuse for that. Pretty soon they become despicable, and I look down on them. All of a sudden, I've forgotten, that’s me! That's me, apart from the grace of God. Then I can understand. That doesn't make their sin any more acceptable, but it makes me more appreciative of what God has done. It gives me a better understanding of why I ought to treat them with love and kindness, with all courtesy.
My desire is that they come to know this Savior. Their problem isn't that they're so much worse than me. Their problem is that they have not yet experienced the grace of God in their lives. Why should I have experienced this and not them? Why should the roles not be reversed? And they be the redeemed child of God and I be the enslaved, despicable sinner? There's no good explanation, except God in kindness and love saved me. That will affect the way that I deal with them. How I talk about them. Somebody's going to get elected that I don't like to an office. How do I talk about them? With malice? Speak evil of them? Run them down? Talk about the bad decisions they always make? What kind of decisions do you expect unbelievers to make who are enslaved to their sin? Deceived? Hateful and hating one another? So I need to talk about them in that framework, recognizing what they need. Their problem isn't that they're bad rulers. Their problem is they have a bad heart. We need to pray for them, deal with them in kindness, always toward the goal that they come to know this marvelous and loving Savior.

That's the goal. That's what I want to see happen. We ought to take it one step back. Have you experienced this redemption? Not unusual for people to sit and listen, be part of this group, but not to have experienced God's salvation. Because they've not really come to grips with the reality of their own sin. Ask yourself the question, When, go back in your mind in time, did you really recognize, when was it brought home to you clearly that you were indeed a sinner guilty before God? That Christ was the Son of God who died for you personally? This is a personal issue. Who was paying the penalty for your sin?

In light of that, you placed your faith in Him? Has that ever occurred? Could it be possible that you sit here self-deceived thinking you're all right. "I was baptized here. I've been a part of this church for years. I've been active." None of that has anything to do with getting you to heaven. You have to get things in order. First you must be redeemed, you must be washed, you must be cleansed. You must be made new! You must be declared righteous! Then you can live a life that is pleasing to Him in the power of the Spirit who will indwell you. Let's pray together.