“For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
– Titus 3:3-7
The Apostle Paul has been called a “genius” and a preeminent debater. He often demonstrates his brilliance in his arguments. It is no different here, and we find it interesting where the Apostle places this statement. Directly after instructions to others.
Titus was instructed to remind those in Crete to be obedient and subject to the authorities placed over them. Not because they were so deserving of it, necessarily. Paul was looking beyond the horizon of selfish ambition toward what obedience yields; proper order in the local church. The Apostle Paul kept the emphasis on others first, then self. A practical application for those in authority to practice. It produces empathy.
God saved us through the miracle of the new birth. We are born-again of the Holy Spirit. We recall what Jesus has saved us from, an eternity in hell! We can better identify with those who do not know Christ when we remember that. Jesus won us through His kindness and love. As the prophet wrote, “I drew them with gentle cords. With bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them” (Hosea 11:4).
Walking in this knowledge should place on us a yoke of holiness. To walk in His will and in His way is to follow a pattern of obedience. Not in an attempt to earn a way into heaven. That work is finished. So that others might come to know Him through the examples of those who make up the church. The best way a local church has to witness to the lost is through the “sacrificial service of its members.” Grace demonstrated through our lives inside the church carries a sweet smelling aroma to those outside of the fellowship. What an opportunity we have to be a shining light to our community and the world!
“The witness of the Christian church is most effective when she declares rather than explains, for the gospel is addressed not to reason but to faith.’
– A. W. Tozer
surrendered devotions 