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“According To His Mercy He Saved Us (Tit. 3:1-8) – Part 1”
According To His Mercy He Saved Us
(Tit. 3:1-8) – Part 1
Wade Webster
In the opening verses of the book of Titus, Paul gave his son the threefold greeting of grace, mercy, and peace. In the verses that follow, Paul elaborates on these three wonderful things - grace (Tit. 2:11-14), mercy (Tit. 3:1-8), and peace (Tit. 3:9-11). Our focus is the mercy of God.
The Reminder of Mercy
“Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another” (Tit. 3:1-3). Paul told Titus to remind the brethren to be merciful. They were to be careful how they treated others. Later, in the context, he spoke of affirming or reminding them of God’s mercy constantly or confidently (Tit. 3:8). They were to be subject to rulers and to obey them (Rom. 13:1-7). Furthermore, they were not to speak evil of any man. They were not to be brawlers or looking for a fight. They were to be gentle and meek toward all men. They were to remember that they had been in need of mercy in the past. They had been at times foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. Of course, they would also need mercy in the future. In order to receive mercy, they had to show it. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matt. 5:7). James wrote, “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment” (Jas. 2:13). No doubt, you recall the Parable of the Unmerciful Judge (Matt. 18:23-35). The man who had been shown great mercy lost it when he refused to extend a modest amount of mercy to another.
The Revelation of Mercy
“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared” (Tit. 3:4). Appeared is a word of revelation. You may remember that Paul used it of the grace of God in the second chapter of Titus. We read, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Tit. 2:11). Here, in our text, it is used of the kindness and the love of God. Later, in Hebrews, it will be used to refer to Jesus. We read, “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Heb. 9:24-28). We have three appearances of Christ mentioned here. He appears now in the presence of God for us. He appeared in the past to put away sin for us. He is appearing in the future to save us eternally. The kindness, love, and grace appeared when Jesus appeared the first time. They are manifest now as He appears in God’s presence for us. They will ultimately appear when He comes again to receive us to Himself.
