A Complete Salvation
Sunday, November 23rd, 2025
Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA
Titus 3:1–8
Prayer
Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and lovingkindesses, for they have been ever of old. Lead us now in thy truth, and teach us, for You are the God of our strength, and for You we have waited all the day. We ask now for Your Holy Spirit, through Christ Jesus our Lord, One God forever, Amen.
Introduction
In Matthew 5:5, the Lord Jesus proclaims to the world, Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. And in Psalm 25:9-10 it says, The meek will he guide in judgment: And the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
- Last week we said that here in Titus 3, the Apostle is teaching us how to become meek and gentle even as Jesus was meek and gentle.
- What is gentleness? Gentleness is that virtue of moderation that seasons us, tempers us, makes us courteous and kind. Gentleness transforms the inner spirit and attitude from which all our words and actions come forth.
- And thus, it says in Proverbs 15:4, A gentle tongue is a tree of life.
- So gentleness is like a filter that purifies the streams of our heart. Without it, we end up polluting ourselves and defiling the people around us.
- And then connected with gentleness is this special virtue of meekness, which has as its goal and object the moderation of anger. Meekness curbs our natural desire for vengeance and keeps it within the bounds of God’s law. Meekness causes us to slow down and listen before making a snap judgment.
- As we just heard from Psalm 25:9, Who is it that God guides in judgment and teaches his way? The meek.
- Likewise in Proverbs 19:11 it says, The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
- Without meekness we can easily become tyrants, bullies, passive aggressive or just active-aggressive. Without meekness we punish people from unjust anger rather than sincere love.
- And if you are uncertain about which spirit you are of, James 3:14-17 gives us a picture of this difference between a meek person and a self-willed person. He says,But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Do you see the difference that meekness makes?
- And so against the pettiness of our own flesh and the world outside, Paul says here in Titus 3:2 that Christians are, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. And so the question before us is this morning is: How do you acquire these virtues of gentleness and meekness, when you live in Crete (or America), with liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons as your neighbors and rulers? How can you not be angry all the time when people are promoting such evils in the public square, promoting abortion and the murder of the innocent, lauding sexual perversion and the corruption of children, and blaspheming our thrice Holy God who holds their life in His hands? Is this really the time for meekness and gentleness? Are such virtues even worth having in our day?
- Well Paul has already anticipated our objections (our whattabouts and what ifs). Paul knows firsthand the evil and obstinance of the unbelieving world, of corrupt government officials, of false friends and deceivers inside the church and outside it. He has fought with beasts at Ephesus. He’s been stoned and imprisoned multiple times. He has been unjustly arrested and falsely accused as a “disturber of the peace.”And yet Paul has somehow not become jaded. He has not become insensitive or unfeeling; he has not lost his love or compassion for others.
- Instead, he is able to say in 2 Timothy 2:10 with chains on his wrists, I endure all things for the sake of the elect that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Paul did not know who the elect were, but he knew the means by which God calls the elect to Himself, namely though the preaching of the Word. And so this he does.
- He says likewise to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:23-24, 31, the Holy Spirit testifies [to me] in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God…Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.
- O to be like Paul, to be unmoved by trials and difficulty, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing. O to be like Paul, and to have counted all things as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ. Don’t you want that for yourself? Because God wants it for you. God wants you to be conformed to the pattern of Jesus so that your gentleness and meekness and joy can go undefeated.
- So if you desire that (as you should), Paul explains how you can become that kind of person here in verses 3-8. And here he gives us four reminders that if you take to heart, will make you gentle and meek towards all.
- Now the first reminder we considered last week is to remember your own weakness/fragility. Remember your life before you met Jesus. And if you’ve always known Jesus then just imagine what life would be like without Him. Paul says in verse 3, For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
- And therefore, however evil and perverse that other person may be, or the world outside may be, that is the world of which you yourself were once a part. That is the world which you would still be living like, but for the grace of God. Moreover, that is the world that God so loved, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
- So how do you conquer your anger issues? How do you overcome your bitterness towards your parents, your sibling, your spouse, your co-worker, or whoever? The Bible says, the first step is to acknowledge who you were without Jesus, who you are now with Jesus, and who you would be today apart from Jesus. Because if you can start to really see that other person you don’t like the way God sees them and God sees you, as a great sinner in need of greater mercy, then there is a place for meekness and gentleness to grow.
- Now that’s just the first step towards meekness and probably the hardest one, “to know thyself truly and know thy sins really.” But we don’t stop there, because God does not stop there or leave us in our sins. What does He do?
- This brings us to the outline of our text wherein Paul reminds us of the total salvation that God has wrought for us in Christ. And there are three glorious aspects to this salvation which He extols for us here in this text.
Outline of the Text
- In verses 4-5a, Paul reminds us of the reason why God saved us.
- In verses 5b-6, he reminds us of the instruments God uses to save us.
- In verses 7-8, Paul reminds us of the evidence or results of God’s saving work.
- Why does God save us, How does God save us, and What results from that salvation. These truths we need to be reminded of.
Verses 4-5a – Why did God save you?
4But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.
- First observe the source of your salvation, it is nothing less than the kindness and love of God. And because God is unchangeable (He says in Malachi 3:6, I am the Lord, I change not), therefore God’s essential love for you does not wax or wane, increase or decrease depending on the day of the week, or the hour.
- Just as the clouds do not actually change or affects the sun’s heat or stop the sun’s shining from itself, just so your sins cannot stop God from loving you. What sin does is blind your eyes, obscures your vision, sin deceives you into thinking that God is something other than a God of pure love. This was the devil’s deception in the garden, and he never stops telling this lie: “God is not actually good.”
- But against such demonic lies it says in 1 John 4:8, God is love. And in Numbers 23:19 lest we imagine God to be just like us it says, God is not a man, that he should lie; Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
- And so to scatter those clouds of sin and deception that were obscuring our vision of Who God truly is, the Son of God came down from heaven to be the light of the world. As it says in John 1:4-5, In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
- This is what Paul means when he says,the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared. What God always is, was, and shall be, appeared in a new and more powerful way by the incarnation of that God in the man Christ Jesus, in his life, his death, in his triumph over the grave. And so now wherever and whenever this gospel is preached and believed, there is a new appearance/epiphany of truth, of God’s love and kindness being made known.
- This is the gospel of God, and it is the immoveable ground that made Paul unmoved in adversity. By believing this truth we cast our anchor in the most secure harbor: in Christ, in the love of God, in heaven where our hope and treasure remain.
- And then lest we forget this holy ground and source of our salvation, Paul then refutes a common error. An error we too often mutter to ourselves, although we are usually too pious to ever say it out loud. And that error is to think something like, “Yah know, I’m a Christian, and I’m not really that bad, or at least I’m not as bad as him, or her. And God, He’s pretty blessed to have me as one of His people. I guess I kind of actually deserve this grace.”
- Isn’t it amazing how quickly we can forget the absolute gratuitous nature of grace, that we did nothing to deserve it, quite the contrary, we did everything to not deserve it. What are the wages of sin? Death. Did you sin? Yes. What did God give you? Eternal life, forgiveness, the promise of resurrection glory. Does that follow given your sins? No, not unless grace has intervened.
- It says in Romans 11:6, And if election is by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.
- And so lest we ever forget the graciousness of grace, Paul says in verse 5, [salvation is], Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.
- So to connect this back to becoming meek and gentle with others. How does this help us? If it was according to God’s mercy that He saved you, and not because of any inherent goodness or loveliness or actions on your part, then the only thing that separates you from an unbeliever is the mercy of God. And therefore, it would actually be unjust for you to not be merciful to them, when God has been abundantly merciful to you. Bceause to whom much has been given, much is required, and look at all that God has graciously given you?
- Jesus says in Matthew 5:45, God makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust alike. And so, be merciful, just as your Father in Heaven is merciful, then you will called a child of God.
- Summary: This is the second step in becoming meek and gentle. First you remember your own sins, and second you remember the mercy God showed to you in spite of your sins.
- This brings us then to verses 5b-6 where he answers the question…
Verses 5b-6 – How Does God Save Us? Or, What instruments does He use to bring our salvation about?
5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
- Observe the three instruments of God’s mercy:
- 1. The washing of regeneration
- 2. The renewing of the Holy Spirit
- 3. That Spirit is given through Jesus Christ our Savior
- What is this washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost? This refers to baptism and all the spiritual realities God gives us in baptism.
- Here Paul is describing the fulfillment of what was promised in Ezekiel 36:25-26 where God says, Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
- What does God do for us and to us in baptism? He washes away our sins, He removes our iniquities, He gives us a new name, a new nature, so that we are as re-born, re-generated into spiritual children of God.
- Recall what Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:3, 5)
- So when the Apostle Paul was converted, what did Ananias tell him? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord (Acts 22:16).
- And at Pentecost, what did the Apostle Peter proclaim to the Jews, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38).
- So baptism is not merely an external ritual of washing with water, it is also the interior washing away of your sins. And when your sins are washed away, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your heart, God makes His home within you, and as it says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, God makes your body to be a temple of the Holy Ghost. If you are baptized, what are you now? You are a sanctuary for God’s presence.
- Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:11, But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
- So consider then how unfitting it would be, to have God dwelling within you, the whole Trinity of persons sealed upon your forehead, and then as God’s holy sanctuary, to then go out and sin against someone else.
- And so if you would become meek and gentle as Christ is, Paul says, first remember your fragility, second remember God’s mercy, and then third remember your baptism. Remember your regeneration and rebirth in the Spirit.
- In Romans 6:2-4 it says says, How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
- So if you still struggle with anger and impatience and other works of the flesh, then return to the truth of your baptism. Have you forgotten that your identity is Jesus, and that Jesus and sin are mortally opposed to one another? How long will you go on quenching the Holy Spirit, ignoring his inner promptings to stop compromising, to stop flirting with sin and to surrender to Jesus completely?
- It says in Galatians 5, that gentleness and meekness are the fruit of the Holy Spirit, whereas the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
- So what spirit are you of? The world, the flesh and the devil, or the Holy Spirit which was given you in baptism?
- Finally, in verses 7-8, Paul tells us what results from our baptism.
Verses 7-8 – What are the results of our baptism?
7That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
- Observe there are three results/effects of Christ baptizing us in the Holy Spirit.
- 1. First, we are made just by His grace.
- 2. Second, we are made heirs of eternal life.
- 3. Third, we are made careful to maintain good works.
- You can see also the pattern here of faith, hope, and love.
- By faith we are justified and enabled to live a life of justice, rendering to God the worship and honor due to him, and to our neighbor the debt of love.
- And then what grows from that gift of faith is hope: That we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. As it says in 1 Peter 1:4, He hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.
- And then because our hope is secure in heaven, love compels us to be careful to maintain good works. Because by them we do what is good and profitable for everyone.
- This is the divine logic of why we, speak evil of no man, are no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
Conclusion
So as we close I want you to think about that person (or persons) you struggle to be patient with. Who do you need supernatural strength to love, with meekness and gentleness? And then go through these four reminders:
- 1. Remember the old you, and all your sins.
- 2. Remember God’s mercy to you in spite of your sins.
- 3. Remember your baptism, and all that it signifies.
- 4. Remember the promise and future hope that awaits you, eternal life.
God says these things I will that you remember and affirm constantly. And so may we, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
