Today’s reading is Titus 2:1-3:15.

Titus 3:3-8 really hit me today. Consider what it says:

• vs. 3–We were once filled with bad works.
• vs. 4–God is good and loving and His goodness appeared to us.
• vs. 5–When His goodness appeared, He saved us. However, He didn’t save us because of our works done in righteousness. No, He saved us by His mercy. He saved us by a change brought about by the Holy Spirit.
• vs. 6–we received this Spirit when we entered Christ.
• vs. 7–having been justified by His grace, we have become heirs to eternal life.
• vs. 8–Because all this happened, we must devote ourselves to good works.

First, we see the contrast between us and God. While we were evil, God was good. While we rebelled against Him, He still loved us.

Second, we learn that we were saved because of His goodness and not because of our own.

Third, we learn that God changes the saved. He renews them through the Spirit that only those who are in Christ Jesus receive. 

Fourth, because God is doing this, we must devote ourselves to good works.

If you are like me and just read those statements above, with at least some of them you are probably saying, “Yes, but…” “We are saved by God’s goodness and not our own. Yes, but we had to obey to be saved.” “God renews us through the Spirit He gave us when we entered Christ. Yes, but that is about how much time we spend studying the Bible. The Spirit works in us through His word.”

If you are not like me, you probably said, “Wow, Edwin is finally getting it. We don’t do anything. It’s all about God working in us. If He works, we come around and work. If He doesn’t, we won’t.”

Once again, this is simply one of those passages that brings together what seems to be incongruous ideas. Depending on our perspective we’ll grab the parts we like and discount the parts we don’t, explaining them away.

What we need to notice is this passage contains both the idea that we can’t work to be good, rather God’s goodness works in us to change us. At the same time, it also contains the idea that we must devote ourselves to good works. We are responsible to devote ourselves to good works. If we don’t, we won’t have that change. 

Sadly, many religious people argue these two sides back and forth as if they are a dichotomy. The fact is the Bible presents both. If you and I are going to be saved, it will not ever be because we were good enough. It will be because our God is good enough. However, we are supposed to devote ourselves and work at doing the good works God has planned for us. We won’t ever accomplish that unless God is working in our lives. Yet, God will not accomplish that in us if we are not working.

We need to quit arguing these principles against each other and just accept them both. If you don’t accept that God must be merciful and work, then you will spend your entire life spinning your wheels wondering why you can’t ever seem to become good enough and despairing that God will ever save you because you aren’t good enough. On the other hand, if you don’t accept that you must devote yourself to good works and work at them because you are responsible, you’ll spend your life blindly thinking everything is okay while Satan is secretly having his way with you, leading you down the wide path to destruction. You’ll have a sad judgment day surprise. Only when we accept both can we continue on growing in Christ, having a certainty of salvation through the grace of Jesus.

As the old saying goes, “Without God, I cannot. Without me, God will not.” We need to understand, we can’t save ourselves. We can’t earn it. We can’t good works our way into heaven. However, God will not save us without our commitment and devotion to good work. We have to accept both of these if we are going to be saved.

 Enough Theory, Let’s Get Practical

What does this mean in my life? It means I have to spend time making a constant connection with God. God wants to change me. I’m given over to sin, to the flesh, to lusts. God, however, wants to correct all that. I don’t have to wait to correct all that myself in order to be saved. No, I can enter Jesus Christ and God will start working on all that if I’ll let Him.

However, I can’t merely say, “I believe in Jesus,” then walk on my merry way thinking God is just going to miraculously turn all the buttons in my head, heart, and hands to do the right things. I have to devote myself to God and His good works. I have to commit myself to growing in Christ. 

Will I be saved because I’ve done that enough? No. My salvation is not about me being good enough. I simply can’t be that good. My salvation is about God working in me to satisfy my hunger and thirst for righteousness. The problem is, if I’m not hungry and thirsty for righteousness, God won’t satisfy me. 

What do I need to do today? I need to connect with God. I need to pray for God’s renewing power through His Holy Spirit. I need to get into God’s word so I can understand His will. I need to surrender my will to His. I need to let Him have control. Then I need to be committed to whatever He asks of me.

This is Him and me together. It’s not God by Himself or me by myself. It’s both of us.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

I clearly recognize that following a different gospel leaves someone accursed (Galatians 1:9-10). I also recognize that not abiding in the doctrine of Christ means we will have neither the Father or the Son (II John 9). Thus, getting the gospel and doctrine of Christ right is important and necessary to our salvation. 

However, I can’t help but notice when Jesus very specifically talked about the sheep and the goats and who will be allowed into heaven and who will be cast into hell in Matthew 25:31-46, He didn’t talk about those who got the gospel and doctrine of Christ right. He talked about those who did good deeds for others. He talked about those who fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, visited those sick and in prison. Now, I recognize this is not talking about just general welfare. This is talking about love among brethren. 

We need to recognize however that it is not enough to know and teach the right gospel and doctrine. The gospel and doctrine of Christ must impact our lives such that we humbly submit to others around us and do good for them. If we close our benevolent hand to others around us, we are closing it to Jesus. In that case, we may be the soundest teachers in the whole world. We may debate with excellence and shut the mouths of all false teachers and yet we will still be cast into hell. 

If you want to go to heaven, take some time to get out of your study and off the debate podium and do some good works for those around you.