Salvation: God’s Gift to His Church

Introduction

Gifts are a blessing to receive! Think about a gift that you’re received recently. Maybe it was a gift card for a birthday. Maybe thinking back to Christmas, you received a gift from a family member. Gifts come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and monetary amounts as well… some gifts are easy to get, others are much harder. Some gifts are easy to accept, others are much more difficult.

Imagine an aging man whose hearing is failing but who is in denial about it. He usually complains that it is other people who are mumbling. But finally, his wife gets him to go get his hearing tested.

The clear verdict is that he needs hearing aids, but when he sees what they cost, he is taken aback. He says, “We can’t afford that.” But his wife counters and says, “Buy the best ones and consider it a gift from me.”

That sounds nice, but the man realizes that to accept this gift is to admit weakness. It would be like saying, “Thanks so much for this. Indeed, I am an aging man who can’t hear what people are telling me!”

To receive certain gifts, sometimes, will require us to admit our own weakness and our need for the gift in the first place. If someone came to you with a gift of $1 million, how would you respond to that gift? Many of us would be taken back with gratitude for such a generous gift… but there are others who would reject the gift. Maybe out of obligation… pride… charity. Some have a hard time accepting gifts for this same reason, because they don’t want to admit their need for a gift. I don’t need the hearing aids, my hearing is fine. I don’t need the money, I’ll earn it myself. Maybe that works in some areas… but there is one area where we know this isn’t true: Salvation. We can never earn salvation. And we all need the gift of salvation. As hard as it might be for us to admit that we have a weakness and a problem, it is crucial in order to address the problem.

This morning as we enter the last chapter of Titus in Titus 3:1-8, we’re going to see that God didn’t leave us where we were at, but graciously sent His Son to seek and save sinners just like you and me and to change us from the inside out. Let’s read this wonderful passage together in Titus 3.

Titus 3:1–8 CSB

1 Remind them to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2 to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people. 3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another. 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 5 he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6 He poured out his Spirit on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life. 8 This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone.

What a convicting and encouraging passage! If you are saved, you once were foolish but because of Jesus, you are now considered faithful… not because of your awesomeness, but because of the finished work of Jesus! This is what our good God does, for 2000 years He has provided this gift of salvation. Let’s pray and thank Him for this gift

Remember Your Past, Don’t Live in Your Past! (1-3)

Authority and structure are often under attack in our world. People question authority. People want to “burn structure to the ground.” Yet, in God’s Word, we see that God has all authority and that He has a purpose behind various structures that we find throughout Scripture. As we think of people and positions of authority, maybe we think of a principal or teacher if we’re in school. Maybe we think of a parent in the home. Maybe we think of a boss at our job. A senator or a president in the government. We know that there are many different kinds of authority and we see this outlined in the Bible - there are 3 distinct spheres of authority in the Bible

The Home

The Church

The Government

God established the home before sin even entered the world in the Garden of Eden as Adam and Eve were “one” flesh. We see this marriage union before sin. God gives Adam the responsibility to lead and exercise authority in the home - something the New Testament dives into. There is also the church. In the New Testament we know that Jesus ascends into heaven and as He does, He promises that the Holy Spirit will come and sure enough, Acts 2, the Holy Spirit does come and we see that the church begins to grow throughout the book of Acts! In the New Testament we see 2 offices in the local church - Deacons who serve and Pastors/Elders/Overseers who lead the church. We see authority in the church - we see a leadership team and in the Bible they’re called elders, men who meet the Biblical qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 to lead God’s church. Then we see the government. The book of Daniel tells us in chapter 2 that governmental leaders are only in place because God puts them into place

Daniel 2:21 CSB

21 He changes the times and seasons; he removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.

Romans 13 says the same thing

Romans 13:1 CSB

1 Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God.

The government is only in place because it is instituted by God - in other words, God is not taken by surprise whenever an election takes place. Whether your candidate wins or loses, that’s God’s plan. We can look in the Bible at times whenever there were wicked leaders and that was still God’s plan and the reason why was to bring judgment upon the people… there were other times whenever a godly person would come into government leadership. Regardless, we see in Romans 13:1 that the government is instituted by God and God gives the government its authority… and, the pesky part at the beginning of Romans 13:1 and Titus 3:1 - God’s people are called to submit to rulers and authorities. Authority by itself isn’t a bad thing - it is a God-ordained thing. God establishes authority in the home, in the church, in the government… but why is it at times a bad thing? Josh Howerton once shared, “What God creates, Satan tries to capture.” Think about in the home - God creates the home and it’s a good thing! But what happens? Instead of Adam leading his wife as God ordained, Adam was a weak and passive husband who allowed the serpent to lead his wife. He abused God’s authority. Guess what? We see the same issues in the home today! What about the church? We’ve read in Titus of leadership problems in the church because of a lack of a plurality of elders in these churches and a rise of false teachers who are distorting and disregarding God’s Word - guess what? We see the same issues in the church today? Lack of Godly leadership and a rise in false teaching as the Bible is distorted and disregarded. What about the government? The same thing. This God given authority has been abused and weaponized throughout the centuries. So, what are Christians supposed to do regarding the government? 4 things:

Submit Obediently

Serve Eagerly

Speak Gently

Show Humility

Why on earth would we do these 4 things? Verse 1 - remind them to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey… Why? Because this is the constant teaching of the New Testament. Christians live in this world and in this world, God gives authority at times to non-Christians. What is our response to this authority? To obey in so far as obedience leads us to sin. If the government says to pay taxes, as much as we might not like that… Christians obey. If the government says that it’s illegal to worship Jesus, we can’t obey and we accept the consequences just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3. Not only do we submit, but we serve in our world - we are to be ready to do every good work. Titus is reminding us once again that we are saved in order to serve because God’s grace generates godliness in our lives. Verse 2 reminds us to not slander and to avoid fighting - to speak gently… and to show humility as we are kind and gentle towards others. This is what Titus is to remind these believers to do… but why these things? In a world that loves to tear one another down, why does God expect us to take the high road and submit to authority whenever it might be difficult or whenever other people don’t? Verse 3 - because there was a time whenever we didn’t do these things. A time whenever we also tore people down.

If you are saved today, aren’t you thankful that you no longer are who you used to be? 2 Corinthians 5:17 is a wonderful verse of encouragement

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

Praise God for this truth! We are a new creation… but what do we do with that old person? There are 2 extreme positions that people have when it comes to who we used to be - some try to identify with who they used to be. They want to continue to live that life. That’s not an appropriate response for a born again believer because we are a new creation with a new identity, why would we be set free and walk back into a prison cell!? That’s not right… but neither is the response that refuses to acknowledge our past. Kind of like the movies where a person grew up and wasn’t very popular but became popular and suddenly forgot the friends that they used to have because now things are totally different - they forgot their past. That’s not where it’s at either. As believers, what do we need to do? We need to remember our past, but also remember not to live in our past. There was a time in all of our lives whenever we were separated from God because of our sins. Ephesians 2:1-3 tells us that we were dead in sins, walking in darkness, and children under wrath - this isn’t a good situation and it makes sense that as those who are now saved, we would want to forget it! But forgetting where we used to be can make us forget how great God’s grace truly is. Living in your past isn’t healthy, but looking in your past can be helpful. Think about driving a car down I44, going 70mph, but doing so looking only in your rearview mirror! That’s about as dangerous as it gets for yourself and others… if all we’re doing in life is looking backwards, we’re going to get in trouble! But the rearview is there and is necessary at times to calibrate us and help us know our surroundings.

As believers, what do we see whenever we look at our past? What we all experience in our past. We see a list of 7 descriptions of our past selves

We once were:

Foolish

Disobedient

Deceived

Enslaved

Living in Malice/Envy

Hateful

Detested one another

Now, this isn’t exactly an encouraging list, is it? We see the damaging effects of sin as sin causes problems. It deceives and it destroys. Before salvation, we were fools. Psalm 14:1 says this

Psalm 14:1 CSB

1 The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.” They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.

Again, not very positive, but very important. In a world that is absorbed with self, and pretends that everything is fine - ask someone how their day or week is going, what do you hear back almost always? It’s fine. I’m doing good. Why? Appearances! We have to pretend that everything is good. Friend, today you can stop pretending. The Bible reminds us that before Christ, things weren’t good. They weren’t fine. We were in darkness. We were separated from God. That’s our past, but it doesn’t have to be your present! Remember your past, don’t live in your past.

Rejoice in God’s Gift, Don’t Reject God’s Gift! (4-7)

As we remember our past, we can’t help but see the desperate situation that we were in. While the average Joe will say that he is pretty good with a few weak areas that he needs to improve upon, the Bible tells us something different entirely. We weren’t pretty good. We were bad. We weren’t living life to the fullest. We were dead. We weren’t all that in a bag of potato chips. We were separated from God. Sometimes whenever we have a big decision to make, we make a list of pro’s and con’s - have you ever done this? I remember doing this several years ago whenever Lindsey and I got married and I was trying to figure out what to do for seminary - what are the pro’s and con’s for doing my MDiv online through Midwestern versus moving to Kansas City?

Online would be more convenient… Pro.

Online doesn’t have the same environment as on campus… Con.

So on and so forth - and eventually I had a list of several pro’s and con’s for both sides and it helped make that decision making process easier. Let’s look at our text this morning and do a pro’s and con’s list when it comes to God’s decision to save us.

Con:

We were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved, living in malice, hateful, detested one another

Pro:

Nothing

I don’t mean to burst your bubble this morning, but as we look at Scripture this is the bad news of the Gospel… we have nothing to bring to the table other than our sin. It’s not like God has a difficult decision to make based on our actions before we were saved. This is the key issue that many in our world face - they think that they are morally neutral or morally good… but the Bible reminds us over and again that we are morally dead. Separated from God. Unable to save ourselves. Into this tragic situation, verse 4 reminds us, that God sent His Son. There were a thousand reasons for Jesus to not come, but God poured out His kindness and grace and sent forth His Son to

Luke 19:10 CSB

10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

How does this salvation happen? This is God’s gift - salvation. How are we saved? Some say that you have to do x, y, or z. You have to go to church. You have to walk an aisle. You have to pray a prayer. You have to give this or do that… Ask yourself this question: How Do I finish this sentence: God accepts me because…? Or, if you were to die today and stand before God, and He asks you why should you enter into heaven, what would you say?

Alistair Begg is one of the most powerful and faithful preachers of our time and he shares this illustration regarding the thief on the cross next to Jesus. What did Jesus tell this thief? Today you will be with me in paradise! So, imagine this thief passes and arrives in heaven and he is asked, “Why are you here?” The thief answers, “Well… I don’t know!” What do you mean you don’t know? “I don’t know!” Let me go grab a supervisor real quick… “Ok. Do you understand the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone?” “I’ve never heard of that in my life!” “Ok… What do you believe about the inerrancy of Scripture?” “I’ve never heard of that in my life!” “On what basis are you even here!?” “BECAUSE the man on the middle cross told me I can come!” South Gate Family, the only appropriate answer to the question of our salvation is NOT in the 1st person, BECAUSE I, but in the 3rd person, BECAUSE HE.

Do you know why believers need the Gospel every Sunday? Because I sounds a lot better than HE if we’re not careful. Because there’s a part inside of each one of us that wants to take credit for something that we don’t deserve the credit for! “Why am I saved? Because I’m a good person! Because I go to church. Because I prayed a prayer. Because ME.” Friends, Titus 3:4-5 humbles us by reminding us that we are not saved through any work of our own… but only through HIS mercy. HIS grace. HIS gift of salvation. You and I were on a one way road towards eternal separation from God… BUT GOD sent His Son to save us. You and I were living in darkness… BUT GOD saves us and allows us to finally walk in the Light. You and I were abandoned and hopeless… BUT GOD adopts us into His forever family. Church, these 2 tiny words change everything

Ephesians 2:4–5 CSB

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

HE SAVED US - this is the Gospel in 3 words. We were hopeless. Foolish. Deceived. Separated. Under condemnation. But, HE saved us. He rescued us. Why? Not because of works. Not because we deserve it. Not because of anything inside of us. But because of His divine kindness, grace, and mercy. So how does God do it? How does He save us? Verse 5 - through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

The word regeneration means that you are born again and Spurgeon shares this, “Adoption gives us the rights of children, but regeneration alone gives us the nature of children.” God changes our hearts whenever we are regenerated or born again. He changes everything inside of us!

John 3:3 CSB

3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

We must be born again. The only way this can happen is through God’s Work, not our own. We can’t save ourselves. We can’t earn our own way. This is what God alone does. We receive this gift through faith. We don’t add to it. We don’t do anything extra. We don’t earn anything. We respond to God’s gift of salvation by recognizing what Jesus has done and placing our faith solely in Him. Sadly, there are many who reject this gift of salvation. Some reject it because it sounds too good to be true. Again, we live in a world where people want to earn their own way, often times, and the idea of not having to work for your salvation sounds too good to be true. They want credit for their actions. They don’t want to have to depend solely on anyone else, even Jesus. Many reject this gift, thinking there is another way that they can find… but this demonstrates their own foolishness.

What does Jesus do for us?

Saves Us

Regenerates Us

Renews Us

Justifies Us

Comforts Us

We must respond to this wonderful gift and rejoice in what Jesus has done… as verse 7 tells us, through Jesus, we are justified by God’s grace and we are heirs of God. Remember last week we looked at what is called the Great Exchange - in God’s cosmic courtroom, every sin must be punished because God is just. We all stand guilty before God… but on the cross, God treated Jesus as if He lived your sinful life, so that He can now treat you as if you had lived Jesus’ perfect life. Jesus got your sin, so that you can get Jesus’ righteousness and stand before God “justified” legally. This is great news… but this isn’t where the good news stops. We also become heirs with the hope of eternal life because of Jesus, so we can say this.

We avoid death (v. 7) because Jesus took our place

We receive life (v. 7) because Jesus took our place

This is God’s gift of grace. This is the good news of the cross and the empty tomb. This is the Gospel that we celebrate and share today - have you rejoiced in this gift, or have you rejected this gift?

There is security found in the finished work of Jesus. No more waiting. No more wanting. No more doubting. No more uncertainty.

Our Salvation is Signed, Sealed, and Settled! As one pastor recently shared, “If you could lose your salvation… You would!” What a blessing that whenever our head hits the pillow, we can sleep with confidence in the finished work of Jesus. I have no confidence in myself. My feelings. My heart. But I have complete confidence in my Christ. We once were without hope, but now we have living hope. We once were separated, but because of God’s mercy and kindness, we are adopted. Rejoice in God’s gift!

Resolve to Work Hard, Don’t Stop Now! (8)

Hard work is something that most of us would say is important. We also know that hard work stands out because many want to do the bare minimum. With the introduction of AI, it can look as though a student has done a lot of hard work and research on a topic, only to have actually clicked a single button on a computer. With advances in technology, many people who clock in and clock out for their job now do so online through an app on their phone… Some have figured out, though, ways to make it appear as if they arrived earlier and stayed later - showing that they are working hard, when in actuality, they aren’t even working at these times! Hard work matters and hard work stands out. Why are we as Christians called to work hard? Why would Titus 3:8 say that we are to devote ourselves to good works? Because working hard glorifies God and is good for others. God has all power and all authority… God doesn’t need our good works! But our neighbor does. Good works are profitable because they allow the light of Jesus to shine through us.

I’ve shared before that my dad has been a pastor my whole life… but my dad’s family was largely lost. Whenever I was in 6th grade, my uncle was going through some serious challenges in Oklahoma City and my parents welcomed him to come and live with us with some ground rules and one of those was the need for him to come to church. I went from an only child living with mom and dad to suddenly having a roommate in our downstairs! Over the weeks, months, and years to follow, I saw Jesus change my uncle as only Jesus could. I saw someone broken be built back up by the grace of Jesus Christ. I got to see a life be transformed and someone catch a fire to witness and minister to other people who are hurting and in need. My uncle, Craig, knew that the same Jesus who had saved and changed him, could save and change other people too. Friend, it doesn’t matter who you are, where you’ve been, or what you’ve done, you are not too far gone for the grace of Jesus Christ!

Why do we share this message, church? For one, it’s true… but for two, we’ve experienced it. Titus 3:8 tells us that for those who have believed God - for those who have responded to the Gospel with repentance and faith, we now have a responsibility. Yes, we believe in God’s sovereignty as Titus 3:4-5 clearly explains to us! And Yes, we believe in Man’s responsibility to believe and trust in the Lord as Titus 3:8 tells us. As those who have done this, we realize that salvation causes good works… our good works don’t cause our salvation. As those who are saved, we work FROM salvation, not FOR salvation. And we are expected to continue working hard for God’s glory and the good of those around us. In your school, you live your life in a way that brings God glory and points your classmates to the truth of God’s Word. You do this by choosing words that speak life, not death. You do this by living with integrity and not joining in on foolish debates and gossip. In our homes we do the same thing - we talk to others in a way that glorifies God and is for the good of others.

We work hard because, as Bryan Chapell shares, “The doctrine of grace leads to the duty of gratitude.” Because we’ve been saved by grace, we display grace with how we live. We are a grateful people! It’s not like we get saved and then we suddenly stop living for Jesus. It’s not like there is an early retirement opt-out clause that says that once you’ve been saved for 40 years you can stop being devoted to good works for God’s glory and the good of others. Friends, we’ve saved for eternity and that means that we have our entire earthly lives to live for God’s glory and the good of others. Not to save ourselves… but because God has graciously saved us.

Aren’t you thankful this morning that we aren’t saved by our works?

In the 19th century, there was a pastor named DL Moody who shared, “I'm glad we are saved by grace and not by good work because I don't want to sit in heaven and listen to everybody brag for eternity on how they got there.”

Whenever we get to heaven, we’ll gather around the throne and worship Jesus because the only way that anyone gets to heaven is through the finished work of Jesus. And the only thing that separates you as a believer from a non-Christian is the saving grace of God. That’s it! Whenever you enter into eternity, our response will be Thank You Jesus for the Blood, because that’s the only reason that we can stand before our Father. It’s always been and will always be Jesus. Just Jesus. This is God’s gift of salvation and He gives it to us generously. Have you responded to God’s gift today?

If you have not, God’s Word is crystal clear in its command for you: You need a new birth for a new life. God is holy and your sin leaves you guilty. It can either be paid in eternity as you will be separated from God… or it can be paid on the cross through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ as you place your faith in Him and He takes that sin. You need a new birth for a new life today and that is only found in Jesus!

If you have responded in faith to God’s grace, remember that you are here on a mission (v. 1-2). God’s command for you today in light of this passage is to glorify Him and live a life for the eternal good of others who are lost… just like you used to be. Remember your past. Don’t live in it, but remember it. Rejoice in God’s gift of salvation that you have embraced. Resolve to work hard because the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.

As we pray, I pray that you have responded in faith to God’s gift of salvation… but maybe you haven’t. I’d love to pray with you. Maybe you know someone today who has not yet trusted in Jesus for salvation. Pray for that person! Pray that God would break your heart for their salvation! Where you are, at the altar, pray that God would help us remember how lost we used to be and break our heart for the lost around us today.