SERMON: “Good News from Our Great God” (Titus 3:3–7)
“Good News From Our Great God”
(Titus 3:3–7)
Series: Easter Text: Titus 3:3–7
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date: April 5, 2026
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion: AM Service
Introduction
Easter is a time to celebrate the good news of the
gospel! The only problem is that
Christians don’t always know how to articulate the gospel message, even to
themselves. They know essential truths,
but sometimes, they can’t always piece them together to be able to deal with a
doubt about their own spiritual lives, let alone tell others about the grace of
God.
The problem is made worse by the fact that many churches
today mess up the gospel message, forgetting that the word gospel literally
means “good news” (whether we’re looking at the word in English or in Greek). Some might share essential biblical elements
of salvation like Jesus dying on the cross and rising again from the grave, but
they make it a call for personal good works, which isn’t the gospel
message. They might say that a person
needs to live according to the Ten Commandments, to receive an infusion of
righteousness through the sacraments, to live out a life of worship to receive
gradual healing from sin, etc. The hope
is that, at the end of life, a person’s good deeds and righteousness will
outweigh the bad, and then Jesus will make up for any remaining sin after we
have shown Him our love for Him. That
sounds like the best we can hope for, but such isn’t good news when all is
considered, as it turns the gospel into “strive to save yourself to receive
salvation.”
The good news of salvation is certainly something we learn
more about over time, and it can continue to transform us. However, it also is something God grants in a
moment in time, and we can know that we have it. The gospel is good news in that we do nothing
to earn it in the end, and we receive it when we don’t deserve it. And knowing that can begin to transform our
lives and our church.
On the other hand, not knowing the gospel can lead to
serious ramifications. Highest among
these would be that we might become false converts, meaning that, while we
profess to be Christian, we trusted in a perversion of the gospel message. There also may be genuine converts to God
through Christ, but they may not grow in their knowledge of salvation and
experience true, ongoing sanctification to help them live holy lives.
That’s what we see here in the Book of Titus. For context, Paul is writing to Titus so he
can instruct and correct the churches on the Isle of Crete, for they needed several
reminders of the truth. For instance, in
vv. 1–2, we see that they were disobedient and not ready for good works, and
that they spoke with malice, were fighters, harsh, and generally discourteous. Yet, Paul doesn’t just say they needed
command — they needed to be reminded about the gospel, as did Titus himself. Ultimately, it’s the good news of the gospel
that changes lives, not simply a list of dos and don’ts.
We also need to know the good news of the gospel, and it’s
news so great that it involves every aspect of our Triune God! The gospel saves us through the kindness of God
the Father, through of the washing of God the Spirit, and through the
justification of God the Son. Let’s
consider the first of these.
First, the Gospel Saves Us Through the Kindness of God
the Father (vv. 3–5a)
For we ourselves
also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and
pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, despicable, hating one
another. But when the kindness and
affection of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not by works which we did in
righteousness, but according to His mercy,…
Remember that the word “gospel” means “good news.” To understand that, though, we must
understand the bad news. Scripture tells
us that we’re not worthy of salvation in ourselves. Because we all descend from Adam, we’re all
sinners, and our former lives outside of Christ prove that through our
sins. Things begin to change for people
who encounter the living God and believe in the gospel, but we must reckon with
our state first.
That’s why the Apostle Paul begins explaining the gospel by reviewing
the “bad news” of the old life. As this
is the larger portion of the text this morning, this is where we will spend
more of our time. First, Paul says believers
were once “foolish,” meaning that they were willingly ignorant of the truth. He also says they were once “disobedient” (the same word used in 1:16 to
speak of unbelievers) — toward parents, rulers, and authorities, and God. That might sound childish, but adults are not
free from this spiritual condition.
Paul continues; he says they were once “deceived” or “being
led astray” (ESV). Heather and I were once
talking about a poor woman we know. A
fortune teller told her that she would find the man of her dreams in
Europe. She met a man in Spain, married
him, gave birth to his baby, and spent several tumultuous years with him. That then turned into a divorce and her
eventual return to America, but not before a bitter, international custody
battle over the child. Before Christ,
we’ll believe all manner of foolishness, open to any reality but one in
Christ, and our willful disobedience to the things of God leaves harsh
consequences.
Paul doesn’t stop there, though, saying they were once
“enslaved to various lusts and pleasures.”
Just as children become fixated on some desired toy or treat and are
willing to fight for it, adults get fixated on some lifestyle or habit, even as
it begins to destroy them. Yet, this is
what Christians are set free from, according to Romans 6:6, 12.
Again, Paul describes our lives before Christ, not
afterward, and he says they were once “spending our life in malice and envy.” The Reformers talked about our depravity
outside of Christ, calling it “total,” meaning any person can engage in any sin
and take it to its wicked extreme, especially coupled with the jealousy in our
hearts. Scripture says those continually
suppressing the truth about God in unrighteousness will become full of evil and
envy (Rom. 1:29) and will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:21). This mindset leads to troubled relationships
for everyone and criminal activity in more severe cases.
Paul also says they were once despicable (some translations
have “hateful,” a synonymous term). If
we read it as hatred, it’s vertical; Clement of Rome, writing in the
first century, uses this word to speak of an unbeliever’s hatred of God
(1 Cl 35:645; 1 Cl 35:6). It’s also a
general description of one’s low estate before God, as the Lord looks
down and sees all of this and more about each and every one of us. In fact, Scripture says our despicable invite
the wrath and hatred of God, which people don’t always consider.
Finally, Paul says they were once “hating one another,” a horizontal
hatred. James 4:1–3 states that
lusts warring inside drive people to war with each other — even
Christians. Sin separates, it always
separates. The Jews hated the Greeks,
the poor hated the rich, slaves hated their master, and vice versa to all. When we see it, something in us tells us we
need God.
Wow, that is a lot of bad news. It gets worse when we take in the rest of
Scripture, for the Bible tells us that God is also a righteous judge, meaning
He must judge each of us according to the works we have done. The point is that none of us are worthy of
salvation — quite the opposite.
So, what’s the “good news” of the gospel?
We read that something “appeared” in the next verse. Of course, any time we read about this
appearance, we would rightly think of the incarnation of Christ at Christmas,
though that isn’t quite the focus of this verse. Rather, it says that it was “kindness and
affection of God our Savior.” God the
Father initiates salvation for the sinful and despicable, for people like us!
This salvation comes with two aspects of God’s nature. First, we read that the kindness of God
appeared. He takes pity upon us and
moves to help us. We read elsewhere that
the kindness of God leads people to repentance (Rom. 2:4), and that’s what He
wants us to do in His care — turn from our old self toward Him.
Second, related to that, His love or affection
appeared. This is actually the Greek
word from which we get philanthropy, which is why the NASB translates
this, “His love for mankind.” As such, we could call the gospel “the
philanthropy of God” — it’s an undertaking solely on His part, showing care toward
those who would have no hope outside of His mercy and grace, and He decided
before the foundations of the earth to set this plan into motion.
Now, what can we do to earns God’s kindness and affection? There’s a similar passage to this, talking
about our lives before Christ and salvation, and it’s in Ephesians 2. In vv. 8–9 there, we read, “For by grace you
have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God; not of works, so that no one may boast.”
Salvation is unearned; God grants it wholly by His grace!
That’s what we read here in Titus 1:5 — “He saved us, not by
works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy.” In the original Greek, word order doesn’t
matter as much, and Paul actually begins v. 5 with the words “not by works which we did in
righteousness.” It’s almost as if
he is emphasizing this thought, fronting it before talking about salvation.
Is it really not by works?
In Romans 3:27–28, Paul explains clearly that salvation is not through
works of the Law, and then he follows it with an Old Testament example. In 4:2–6, he says it was Abraham’s belief
in God that justified him, not this leaving Ur of the Chaldees or obeying
God. (Incidentally, that intersects with
different aspect of salvation — we can stand before the judgment seat of God
completely justified by faith, but not by works.) Paul further explains it’s not through
circumcision or other works; as 4:16 says, “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be according to grace.” Human merit can never earn justification and
salvation — we are saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone.
God saves us without our help (and, honestly, we’d mess up
if we tried). He does so “according to
His mercy” or “because of” it. It’s His mercy
because we are in a desperate situation, deserving wrath, but He provides us a
stay.
The gospel is something we need to hear. While it’s true we’ve sinned, we don’t need
to clean up our act before God will do anything for us. And, just as we can’t earn our salvation, we also
can’t keep it through our good works. The good news of the gospel is that salvation
is entirely based upon the mercy of God the Father.
How do we learn about this salvation? Some might say through the church or through
people, but that doesn’t go far enough.
Our knowledge ultimately comes through the work of the Holy Spirit who inspired
this text. He’s also the one who
delivers this message to our hearts. So,
let’s briefly consider the Spirit’s contribution next:
Second, the Gospel Saves Us Through the Washing of God
the Spirit (v. 5b–6a)
… through
the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out
upon us richly …
These words can be confusing, but they are explaining the means
God uses to save us. Scripture doesn’t
just talk about God saving, but through which means God saves. For instance: We are saved through Christ in John
3:17 — “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but
that the world might be saved through Him.” In Romans 5:9, we read that we’re justified
by the blood of Christ and “saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
We are also saved through the preaching of Scripture; 1 Corinthians 1:21
says, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased, through
the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe.” (also cf.
15:1–2). That makes sense because we
hear about the saving gospel message of Christ through the Bible.
Here, we read that we’re also saved through a washing. Some contend that the apostle speaks of
physical baptism. That seems to go
against everything we have already said about human works and merit, though. If circumcision never saved anyone, how can getting
dipped or sprinkled with water accomplish salvation?
Well, we can’t read our ideas onto God’s Word. It describes this process elsewhere; consider
the new covenant promises in Ezekiel 36:25–29.
Note how many “I wills” are there.
Yahweh says,
Then I will
sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will
cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new
heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the
heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within
you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to do My
judgments. And you will inhabit the land
that I gave to your fathers; so you will be My people, and I will
be your God. Moreover, I will
save you from all your uncleanness …
There are different metaphors used here, but we see first
that the work is monergistic — it’s the working of God alone. Second, note also all the references to water
in this passage — God promises to cleanse His people from their sins. Third, this is linked to the giving of the
Holy Spirit.
Now, this is what the New Testament is talking about in many
places. In Ephesians 5:26, metaphorical
water from Christ cleanses the church with “the washing with the Word.” Both James 1:18 and 1 Peter 1:23 says that
God gives us new life through the Word.
The water is spiritual, meaning that it comes through the Holy
Spirit. In other words, this is the
promised baptism of the Holy Spirit.
What does the washing or baptism of the Holy Spirit
accomplish? Here, this washing leads to
regeneration, meaning rebirth or renewal of life. Regeneration speaks of the new world (Matt.
19:28), a world to come with the restoring of all things (Acts 3:21), but here
the reference is to people. As one study
notes, “This phrase refers to the work of the Holy Spirit, who in a moment
makes a person new by the cleansing of regeneration (the new birth). This new nature is the ground for living the
Christian life and performing good deeds.”[1] Thus, this is exactly what the Cretans needed
to hear.
There have been errors concerning the baptism of the Holy
Spirt. Again, some people thought this
referred to a physical water baptism. Others
though this referred to a second work of the Holy Spirit after salvation, that
Christians can get saved, but they need a second baptism. Instead, this happens at salvation and makes
salvation possible — a point we remember when we get physically baptized in
water, and one we ponder when we repent of sin and try to follow after the
Spirit’s leading.
As we continue to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in
Scripture, He renews us. Romans
12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is
good and pleasing and perfect.” A study
notes that this is the “continual process of Christian living is enabled by the
Holy Spirit, resulting in growth in character and good works.”[2] So, the Holy Spirit not only makes it
possible for us to live holy lives, He is constantly at work to cause us to
think differently.
God the Father pours out the Holy Spirit upon all
believers. The Spirit is immaterial as
we understand matter, of course, so there are lots of images of Him in
Scripture. In this case, as is often
used of Him in Scripture, He’s compared to a liquid that can be poured upon
believers. Those who fear they may need
more of the Holy Spirit need not be concerned — God in his kindness, affection,
and mercy pours Him out “richly” upon us.
Again, that’s the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which happens at
conversion.
So, God has done quite a bit for us in these verses. Yet, we still have two more, and we see that
there is special focus on the Son there.
Let’s consider that now.
Third, the Gospel Saves Us Through the Justification
of God the Son (vv. 6b–7)
… through Jesus
Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace,
we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
This salvation of grace only comes through Jesus Christ our
Savior. In v. 4, we read about “God our
Savior,” and now we read about “Jesus Christ our Savior” — He is on the same
level as God the Father. It’s here that
we see all three members of the Trinity active in just this verse: the Father
pours out the Holy Spirit through His Son.
All the members of the Godhead work our salvation!
To be clear, this is the moment of justification, an
important point in our salvation process that wipes clean our judicial debt
against God. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore,
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ.” One preacher put it like
this: Imagine you’re a convicted inmate
sitting on death row, awaiting your execution in twelve months, and you get a
visit from a doctor. The doctor tells
you that you have an advanced stage of cancer and will be dead in six
months. Now, the doctor has a treatment to
cure you, but what does it matter? You’re
dead either way! But, what if you also
get a call from the governor, who is not only putting a stay on your execution,
but has decided to grant you pardon. You’re
now justified, and the cancer-treatment has granted you new life.
Justification occurs because of the finished work of
Christ. People imagine the cartoon of
Saint Peter standing at the pearly gates with a scale, judging the works of
those who have died to see if they can go into heaven. Many teach like that, saying justification
comes at the end of a life that earns it through good works. That would be bad news, because we could
never know if we have done enough to outweigh the bad in our lives.
However, justification was won (past tense) for believers
with the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
That’s why the text in v. 7 is in past tense — “having been justified.” Justification
is based on God’s grace, not on our works.
In fact, there’s an intensified pronoun there — this is “by His, His grace.” Mark it, underline it, for whatever is
happening here has nothing to do with us.
The verse also says that we are justified that “we might
become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” This is what the resurrection of Christ on
that Sunday morning won for us. We’re so
secured that we can know that we’re safe into all eternity. We have eternal life now because of what
Christ accomplished for us.
Conclusion
We’ve only scratched the surface as to what the Triune God
does for us. The biggest thing to
remember is that the gospel is good news for those who need it. Those who haven’t believed it yet should
simply pray, asking the Great God of grace to save them by His mercy, through
His Spirit, through Jesus Christ. The
God who takes pity upon us, who is full of kindness and affection, will not
turn you away from Him when you come in repentance and faith.
Christians must also keep their minds fixed on the truth of
the gospel. Never forget that our salvation
and cleansing are from God alone. Don’t
turn to works as a means of preserving your salvation if you are trusting in
the good news of undeserved grace — it is inconsistent. Our God wants us to walk in worship and good
works, but not to earn salvation, but from a place of gratitude.
May we all take regular rest in the good news of the gospel
message!
[1] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne
House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King
James Version, (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Tt 3:5.
[2] Ibid.