NOT WHAT WE USED TO BE!
Titus 3:3-7
One of our favorite pastimes is trying to impress one another by telling people what wonderful things we have accomplished.
We enjoy telling others how good we are.
The Bible makes clear that one place where that won’t stand up is when we stand before God–at the final judgment.
God isn’t going to be impressed with all the great things we have accomplished!
Scripture refers to its message of salvation as “the Gospel”–the good news.
Before we can understand how good the “good news” is, we must first understand how bad the “bad news” is. That ISN’T good!
Just how bad off were we before we received the good news?
When our first child was still a toddler, Helen was casually talking to her one day about God and a few simple spiritual concepts.
She happened to mention that “Everybody does bad things.”
Our daughter responded: “I don’t do bad things!”
Helen answered her: “Well, yeah, everybody does sometimes.”
Deanna responded, “But mommy, I don’t want to do bad things!
We may not want to do bad things.
But we all struggle with that problem.
Before coming to Christ, we didn’t have much to brag about!
Our life was marked by foolishness, disobedience to God, and self-delusion.
While still at our worst, we tried to convince ourselves that we’re pretty good!
While rebelling against God, we kept comparing ourselves to the wrong standard.
What IS the standard?
Most people use one of TWO STANDARDS MAN PROPOSES: Man’s scales—
1. The balance scale
God has a balance scale.
He piles good deeds on one side, bad on other. If good outweighs bad, we pass!
2. The relative scale: Beat your neighbor!
“I’m not so bad. Look at how my neighbors live!”
The problem is we use the wrong standard!
What standard should we use to evaluate our condition?
What really matters is GOD’S SCALE!
He’s the One who sets the standard.
God measures with an absolute scale!
God Himself IS the standard.
He requires absolute perfection! Nothing less is acceptable!
Problem with both man’s scales: Standard is man-centered;
it accepts and rationalizes the fact that everyone fails sometimes.
That’s just the problem!
We’re not comparing ourselves to failing people.
We’re measuring ourselves beside a perfect God who never fails, who is absolutely holy; absolutely just, absolutely perfect, and who requires the same from us.
“Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect!” Matt. 5:48
God’s standard calls for absolute perfection.
So how are you doing?
NOBODY makes it!
Anyone who breaks a law (even ONE!), pays the penalty for his offense.
“But Judge, look at all the laws I obey. I only broke ONE!”
On the basis of God’s standard, we all have a problem:
Not ONE of us can make it!
We may not WANT to do bad things.
But we’re all trapped under sin’s control.
J. Vernon McGee’s game: "Jumping to Catalina Island. No one can jump the 26 miles to Catalina!
“Person who leaps farthest gets just as wet as the person who barely clears the pier.”
"Nobody makes it....Some people outjump me. But...(they) won't make Catalina.”
All come short."
Living for self:
Popular view of sin—which even many Christians accept—is that sin’s fun.
“Christians never get to have any fun!”
The world calls it “pleasure.”
Paul calls it slavery.
We’re “enslaved . . . by . . . pleasure!” It’s a slave driver. Result is bondage!
A friend’s comment: If at the end of life we were to discover that it’s all a lie, there is no eternal life and the gospel is all a fairy tale,
I still wouldn’t change places with those who “enjoy all the FUN this world offers!”
* Alcoholic who “enjoys” drinking and “feeling so good.” Wouldn’t it be great if I could have all the “fun” he gets to have—especially when he gets up with a hangover the next morning, or when his family falls apart.
* Adulterer who gets to have all that “fun” with other women (men). Wouldn’t you like to be able to do that? Especially when your spouse leaves you, and you have to deal with all the heartache of divorce or the pain that lack of trust creates.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to have all that fun?!!!! That’s the deception!
This is slavery; it’s bondage—NOT freedom! –it can’t satisfy!
It certainly will never serve as a means to “make it” with God!
Paul points to one other problem: Some say:
“I just try to live by “the Golden Rule.”
“Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you!”
That’s cool! That’s a good standard to live by! How are you doing at it?
We say we want to live that way.
But in reality, how DO we live?
Before we can appreciate what Christ has done for us, we need to remember what He has saved us from (out of).
B.C., we were in pretty sad shape.
OUR REBELLIOUS PAST 3:3
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
The picture of how we come to God is pretty grim.
There’s no hope in ME! What I am will never cut it with God.
Paul tries to show why we should be kind to our neighbors, as he asked in 3:2.
We treat pagan neighbors with kindness because we used to be just like them!
It’s not hard to be considerate to godless pagans when we realize we were once just like them, and still would be, if it weren’t for God’s grace.
“Don’t be too critical of your pagan neighbors.
Remember what YOU were before God saved you!”
Look at what used to be true of us:
4 in each sentence:
We were
1. foolish,
2. disobedient,
3. deceived,
4. and enslaved.
We were slaves, not just to those awful passions and pleasures that all those nasty people our there live for
We were enslaved by the things WE desire out of life, and by the things that we delight in–the things we enjoy and find pleasure in.
Before Christ came into our lives, those desires and things that bring us joy, had made us their slaves. We lived for THEM!
We went through life
5. doing bad things
We were led around by evil and by jealousy–they controlled out lives!
6. jealous
7. hated (hateful and hated)
8. and hating each other Not a pretty picture!
Lives marked by foolish thinking, trying to establish ourselves as in charge, disobeying God’s standards, deluding ourselves, and hating each other!
People live hating each other!
“We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.”
Helen’s friend Beatriz: “Helen, before I came to Christ I was always angry!”
Unless Christ changes our lives, we live self-centered—looking out for # 1!
We become angry people, judging everybody else!
We hate other people and other people hate us!
We have “a chip on our shoulder!” And it’s a BIG one! We were angry and we hated everyone.
If you doubt that look at the way people DRIVE!
That should be enough to convince anyone just how bad our problem is!
What a hopeless mess! That’s the BAD news!
We’ve seen how bad off we are, especially from perspective of a God who is absolutely holy.
We were the opposite of everything God wants us to be!
Instead of being submissive, we were rebels
Instead of being ready to do good deeds, we were predisposed to do bad.
Instead of loving each other, we hated one another.
Fortunately, the story doesn’t end there!
God didn’t leave us that way!
God changed all that!
GOD'S PRESENT TRANSFORMATION 3:4-7
What a difference the kindness and love of God has made!
That’s what God’s AMAZING GRACE is about!
He has taken all the ugliness and made something beautiful out of the broken fragments and smashed dreams of our lives.
That’s another reason we ought to live a different lifestyle!
We’re motivated by the change God made in our life!
THE FACT OF OUR TRANSFORMATION 4-5a
4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us,
Easy to miss essence of sentence: “But . . . God . . . saved us!”
He changed what we used to be and made us new creatures.
When did this happen? It happened “when the kindness and love of God were revealed.”
“God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!” Rom. 5:8
He did it at the cross—where Christ died for us, when we didn’t deserve it!
THE MEANS OF OUR TRANSFORMATION 5b-6
5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
Why did God save us?
He did NOT save us because of our good works!
He didn’t base His gift on our good works; we didn’t have any!
We were characterized by evil deeds–the opposite of what God required.
We’d have never made it on basis of our works.
We deserve death!
H. A. Ironside: new convert gave his testimony during church. Told how he’d been delivered from life of sin.
Person in charge, "You say that God did everything. Didn't you do your part?"
New Christian responded "Oh, yes! For over 30 years I ran from God as fast as my sins could carry me. That was my part. But God took after me and ran me down. That’s His part."
He DID save us because of HIS MERCY
We’re saved by grace, through trust in Christ and His finished work.
God gets all the glory.
Article about David Robinson in USA Weekend a couple of years ago: There’s something different about his life. He was first in series on Olympic stars. His focused on “Grace.” He defined it: “kindness given to someone who doesn’t really deserve it.” He made clear that’s what God has given him.
That’s what God did for us all.
He showed kindness to people who don’t deserve it!
How did God save us?
3 THINGS GOD DID FOR US TO SAVE US:
1. He saved us by cleansing of the Holy Spirit 3:5b-6
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously
Spirit was poured out abundantly on us to wash us, to cleanse us from everything that might contaminate us.
Every stain is washed away!
Like an abundance of water poured out on us in a luxurious bath, the Spirit has been poured out on us, producing cleansing.
2. He saved us by giving us a new life and a fresh start 3:5b-6
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously
Washing by the Spirit resulted in a new birth and a renewed life.
Only way to holiness: to be born all over again,
to be given a new start.
3. He saved us by Christ’s completed work 3:6
“ . . . [He did this] through Jesus Christ our Savior,”
It’s not our works that produce salvation; it’s HIS work!
He’s the source of salvation. He’s the One who earns eternal life.
Paul tells us: GOD DID IT!
What the Father has done = loved and saved us
What the Holy Spirit has done = cleansed us and gave us new life
What the Son (Christ) has done = died to save us. IT’S ALL ABOUT GOD!!
No mention is made of what we have done.
What did WE do?
We’ve done NOTHING!
We’ve done nothing to earn salvation, nor even help God out!
He did it ALL!
Man’s name printed in obituary column by mistake. Disturbed, he went to newspaper and complained, "Your error will cause me no end of embarrassment and may mean loss of business.
How could you do such a thing?"
The editor apologized, but the man remained angry.
Finally editor said, "I know. I'll put your name in the birth column tomorrow and give you a fresh start!"
That's what happens when we find new life in Christ.
“The church is the only organization that has as indispensable prerequisite for membership that the candidate not be worthy to belong.”
We are saved by God’s grace
We don’t deserve His kindness.
We have nothing to brag about. —It’s His work! We just enjoy the benefits.
The change in our life shouldn’t make us proud;
it should make us grateful!
The Message: “It was all His doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. “
THE PURPOSE OF OUR TRANSFORMATION 7
“so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”
God’s purpose was to make us His heirs,
He wants to give us the hope of eternal life
As members of God’s family, we already ARE His heirs.
But reception of our inheritance is yet future.
Legal position we have as heirs, is consistent with hope God gives us of receiving eternal life.
Do you have that hope this morning?
Do you know you belong to Him?
Do you know that if you were to die today, you would go to be with Him?
That’s what grace is all about.
God has given us what we could never earn for ourselves, as a gift.
All He asks is that we stop trying to do it ourself—that we trust His Son, that we reach out and take the gift of eternal life He wants to give us free!
In Titus 3:3-7, Paul has been presenting the . . . Cause of our godly lifestyle —God has changed our lives.
Logical implication: the change in our life should be visible in our lifestyle.
Message shows why we ought to live different lifestyle than others.
We used to live the same way as everybody else. We were no better.
God didn’t save us because we were better than everyone else.
He saved us to demonstrate what He can do! He has transformed us.
When people mistreat us, when they act like pagans around us, we need to remember what God has saved us from.
We need to remember: “There, but for the grace of God, go I!”
When impressed with ugliness of our society, pause a moment and remind yourself: “that’s what God saved me from!”
It ought to produce gratitude!
It ought to produce a changed lifestyle!
Thank God for what He’s done in your life.
Ask God to continue work in your life to make difference obvious.
It may be that this sounds strange—you’ve never experienced this change in your life.
This isn’t a gift for a privileged elite.
God has promised eternal life to anyone who calls on Him
He only asks that we stop trusting our efforts to earn eternal life, and receive gift He wants to give us.
God has accepted His Son’s death as payment in full, for all the wrongs we have ever committed.
His life is that valuable, now He waits for us to trust Him.
Arthur spent 42 of his first 53 years in prison. He began at 11. He served 24 years in solitary confinement. 17 months on death row. He participated in riots, broke a guard's arm, another guard's collar, and killed a sheriff. He stole 40 pounds of cyanide while working in prison to poison entire staff. He spent 31 months confined in a 5x7 cell, chained by his neck. Society had no hope for him, they just tried to confine him.
But something changed. One day a visiting preacher brought his 14-year-old son. As Tim followed his dad down the cells, he paused by Arthur's cell, and smiled. Arthur called him and began to curse, to swear, to call him everything he could think of. The boy broke down in tears, but stood his ground. Finally he simply said, "I love you."
Arthur said later, "That was the first time in my life anyone ever told me that."
Arthur began to receive letters from Tim. Tim also prayed for him. For 7 years he sent letters. Arthur finally broke. "Every letter was stained with tears. I couldn't take it anymore. I got on my knees and came to the Lord." God transformed a hate-filled, violent man into a man of love and grace able to care for others.
That’s what God has done for us.
He’s taken people filled with rebellion and hatred, and made something beautiful of our lives. That’s why we’re different!
Has He done that in your life?
Have YOU been transformed?
What difference has it made in your life?
Do you have a reason to thank God that “there, but for the grace of God, go I?”
–BUT cause to celebrate because you DON’T go there anymore!