Once Foolish

"For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another." (Titus 3:3 ESV)

The last chapter of this letter is one of great encouragement to Titus; Paul tells him to remind the church, the "called-out" ones, the "saints," in verse 1, "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work," (emphasis mine). 

Then, in verse 3, Paul tells Titus why we should always be ready; he says, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” Wow, I do not know if you said, “That was me!” but that is how I used to be. I focused on what I thought was right and what I wanted to do, not concerned with what God said was right and what He wanted me to do. Verse 3 is the perfect description of all of us before we changed our minds (repented) and accepted the gift of eternal life offered by God’s grace through faith in our Savior. Never forget, “For we also once were foolish ourselves.” 

When you are tempted to look at the lost, think, “How come they cannot see the pure truth of God’s gift?” When we start forgetting how strong the pull of our old master was when we were enslaved to various lusts, remember that they are as we were before Jesus.

Now comes one of my favorite words in all Scripture, “But,” the first word of Verse 4. This word contrasts what was true and what is NOW true. "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. "

Remember, in verses 1 and 2, Paul instructs believers to be ready for every good deed. Here, in verse 5, he clears up any confusion about having to work for salvation. "he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy." 

I’m not sure why humans keep thinking that we must earn God’s love. We do not, and we cannot earn it. God loves us with an everlasting love. When we were saved, the Holy Spirit convicted us of sin and drew us to Jesus. God made salvation by grace make sense to us; we didn’t figure it out on our own.

As believers in Christ, we cannot earn God’s love. He loves us because we are in the “beloved”; we are in Jesus. God can no more turn his back on us than He can on Jesus. We are God’s own possession because He has redeemed us with His own blood. 

We need to remember what we once were so we can continue to focus on who we now are. We must be ready for every good deed which will bring honor and glory to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"