Titus 3:1-7 Saved By Grace
Tom Shrader walks through Titus 3:1-7, grounding the call to submit to authority and pursue good deeds in the theological reality of salvation by grace alone. He traces the contrast between humanity's natural condition — foolish, disobedient, enslaved to sin — and the transforming kindness of God, who sent Jesus to justify and regenerate believers through the Holy Spirit. Because salvation is entirely God-given and not earned, believers are left in the world not as an afterthought but as salt and light, empowered by the Spirit to live with the gentleness, peace, and self-control that reflect the Gospel.
“God loves you in spite of you, not because of you.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Redemption Gateway
Recorded: 2016 at Redemption Gateway
Duration: 38 min
Themes: grace, salvation, submission, good deeds, transformation, humility, holy spirit, obedience, struggling with pride, feeling unworthy, new believer, questioning their salvation, young adult, navigating authority, seeking purpose, returning to faith
Scripture: Titus 3:1-7, Titus 1:4, Titus 1:10, Titus 3:5, 1 Timothy 1:2, 2 Timothy 3:1-2, John 3:16, Galatians 5:22-23
Theological Themes: soteriology, saved by grace, justification, regeneration, sanctification, holy spirit renewal, total depravity, imputed righteousness
Full Transcript
Introduction
Good morning. It is great to be with you, to see some old friends, and to meet some of you for the very first time. Every time I get the opportunity to teach, I am grateful for it. I used to teach every Sunday morning — in fact, at one point someone reminded me of it this week — I taught seven times on Sunday. That is a lot, and I cannot do that anymore. I get periodically invited to speak, and this is a sign of where I am in my life: usually the topic they assign me is either legacy or suffering. So I am winding it down.
But Luke called, and I love coming to Gateway. I feel comfortable here, and I know that is totally subjective, but it feels right. I also have such a fondness and admiration for your leadership team, and especially for Luke. I have had the opportunity, as he said, to watch how God has gifted him, used him, and developed him in a way that is only the beginning — it is trending that way. I can only imagine what it will be like twenty years from now. It will be remarkable.
When Luke called, I asked him what I always ask: what is the date, and what is the passage? I had another guy a couple of weeks ago give me a date, and I said we could do it, then he told me the passage and I said I had it. Two weeks later he called and switched to some other passage — I know I have read it, but I did not know anything about it. He did a bait and switch. Luke did not do that. He gave me the passage that he read to you, and I said I was there immediately.
This Passage and What I Care About
I do not know how it sounds to say this, and I do not mean it in a self-serving way at all, but this passage is right in my wheelhouse. This is what I really, really care about — the overarching principle here.
It was twenty-five years ago, literally this week, that a group of guys got together and started talking about whether God would start a church. That church began in November, twenty-five years ago. It was called East Valley Bible Church, and we did not know anything. We did not have structure. We had this big black book and we did the best we could with it. We did not have anybody in the community come alongside us. I am not saying woe is me — I am just saying we had to figure it out.
So we thought a mission statement would make sense, and we developed what I think is one of the greatest mission statements of all time — maybe because I wrote it. We simply said this: we will help one another study God's Word and live biblically changed lives. From the very beginning, we were about two things — studying this Word, but not for the sake of being able to say we could run a category on Jeopardy in Bible trivia. I got invited not long ago to somebody's house where they pulled out a Bible board game, and I am useless at that. I want to study the Word so that I know the God of the Word, and so that He transforms my life. This book, and this passage, fit right into that.
Paul, Titus, and the Context of the Letter
Paul writes to Titus, and I realize you are roughly two-thirds of the way through your study of this book. This is about the time you forget why you are studying it, or you do not remember all of the introduction. But I love this. We talk about mentor and protégé, and we use Paul and Timothy as the iconic example — but Titus is right there too. In chapter 1 of Titus, verse 4, Paul says "to Titus, my true child in a common faith." He says essentially the same thing in 1 Timothy 1:2, calling Timothy "my son." These were men who came alongside Paul, and their letters are part of the pastoral letters, which are a little different from the rest of Paul's writing. One author notes they are very personal and very affectionate.
Titus joined Paul, in all likelihood, on the second missionary journey. There is a piece of folklore — I like this kind of thing, but it is hard to verify and there is no way to prove it — that suggests Titus may have been Luke's brother. Luke, of course, wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. He accompanied Paul, and now Paul writes to Titus. Paul mentions Titus nine times in the book of 2 Corinthians, and the parallel between the church at Corinth and this island church at Crete is quite familiar.
To break the book down simply: chapter 1, verses 1 through 4 are an introduction. Then Paul writes in chapter 1, verses 15 through 16, about orderliness in the church. In chapter 2, he moves to godliness at home. And where we are today is righteousness in this world.
The Island of Crete
Crete was an island 155 miles long, ranging in width from just a fraction up to 35 miles wide. It was taken by the Romans in 65 BC as a military strategic position. Paul is strategic. He understands that for the spread of the gospel, this would be a wonderful jumping-off point.
Imagine an island filled with sailors and military men, and then all that goes with that — it would be a tough place, a difficult place. Not unlike Corinth. Whenever a Corinthian was depicted in a Greek play, if he was a male, he was portrayed as a drunkard. If he was a woman, she was portrayed as a loose woman. That training in Corinth prepared Titus perfectly for this place. The people there were a group who had just come to Christ. When Suzanne was speaking and sharing her testimony, she mentioned that she had been around church but was not really a believer — that experience would not have happened there.
Living in a Pagan World
The believers in Crete had nothing to do with church. They were totally pagan, and they came out of that background. Now Paul is ministering to those people and saying, here is this life — and we live in this crazy, secular, pagan world. How do I operate in that world? The answer Paul gives them is the Scripture. The Bible is real and relevant.
Howie Hendricks, an old professor at Dallas Seminary, had a saying that still rings true: we are not excited by truth, we can be embalmed by it. I can study the truth and take it in, but never let it transform my life. Paul says how we live is important.
I have had so many physical problems in the last four years, and I probably say too much about it, but six weeks ago I had prostate cancer surgery — so it just keeps coming. I have a granddaughter who just had a birthday yesterday, and when she was born I said to her mom, "About the time she gets out of diapers, I'll be going into them." We are both right on schedule.
I was talking to a man the other day who used a phrase that makes total sense: lifestyle medicine. He said, "Tom, you've got your pills and your surgeries and all your issues, but there is lifestyle — there is something beyond what the surgeon can do." He got into things like eating and exercising. I tell you, I had been home and pretty well locked down for three or four weeks, and I was getting ready to get in the car when I looked down and saw I had my phone, my glasses, a book, and the TV remote control. That is just what had happened to me.
Different, Not Odd
When God saved me and delivered me, He told me through His Word that because I was His child, I had to live like it. I am supposed to be different. Now, this is really important for Christians to understand — different, not odd. We date differently. We work differently. We act differently at the gym. We drive differently. Jesus said that people should see our good works. I am supposed to be able to look at you and see your faith.
We do not want to focus only on these works, however, because these works flow from sound doctrine. Right in the middle of this very practical book, in chapter 3 verse 5 — and really starting at verse 4 — Paul talks about the incarnation, the fact that we have been saved, and why, and how. Our purpose now is to live a life that reflects that.
Earlier in chapter 1, around verse 10, Paul warned about rebellious men, empty talkers, deceivers, and false teachers. Sound doctrine is so important to us — getting it right so we live right. He did not deliver us to be good. He delivered us to be holy. The parallel between the reception of the people of Crete and the world we live in today seems remarkably close.
The Command to Submit
Paul begins our passage, chapter 3 verse 1, with an imperative: *remind*. This imperative applies not just to this section but to the entire book. It is continuous and persistent — we live this way all the time. He says, "Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authority, to be obedient, to be ready for good deeds." That phrase, "good deeds," is one Paul uses — I counted six or seven times in this book alone.
The moment I read this, I saw the rabbit trail: government, politics, especially in the environment we are in now. I have never seen it like this, and I am a fairly political person. Paul is not saying, "Stay out of all that." He is saying that your relationship to government — and frankly to all authority in your life — is to submit to the role you are in.
Now, that is a problematic word. I have taught on wives submitting to their husbands in ladies' groups. On one occasion the topic was what a husband needs from his wife, and I started by opening it up for discussion. Hands went up immediately, and every answer was exactly what I had in my notes. So I said, "It sounds like you already know what they need. Maybe the question is, why don't you do it?" That changed the entire tone of the room.
Here is how that plays out in real time. Wives, submit to your husband. I already hear the questions: What if he is a jerk? What if he is wrong? What if he is not wise? Submit to your government. Again, the questions come: What if it is bad government? What if it is wasteful government? And I realized the problem is not the government or the husband — the problem is the word *submit*. It does not say, "Submit when," or "Submit if." It exposes the problem of my heart. That is what Paul is getting at.
Submission at Work
This is not just about government. It is about the workplace too. Tomorrow, when you are at lunch and there are five of you from the office and everyone is talking about how stupid the home office is, how dumb the new policy is, how this system is obsolete — you do not participate. That is really tough.
Living Differently in a Contentious World
Be ready for every good deed. Malign no one. Be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. You are to live differently. That does not describe the world we live in. One of the problems with the presidential election is how childish and immature it is — "if he punches me, I'll punch him back." The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. It is not "I fight back." That does not mean I do not take a stand, but generally it is repulsive to watch the whole exchange.
I was in a conversation the other day, and this guy was going off — funny and clever, really nailing it. But I kept thinking, "That's really rough." After about five minutes, I realized the guy talking was me. Now, let me step back, because I need to protect my reputation a little bit. I was talking to a man who has been a friend of mine for over thirty years, in a private conversation, so I was very loose with my communication — not in terms of vulgarity, but in thoughts and expression. That does not justify it, but what a peek into my heart.
Secular historians tell us that the people on the island of Crete were notoriously turbulent, quarrelsome, and impatient with authority. Does that sound familiar? To malign no one — literally, there is no malice here. To be uncontentious, to be friendly. That is a radical life.
What We Once Were
Now let us get down into the details. Verse three: "For we also once were foolish ourselves." That is us. The word "foolish" is an interesting word. It means, literally, to have no sense of perspective — to not see things as they truly are. "We were foolish ourselves, and disobedient, and deceived, and enslaved to lust and pleasure, and spent our lives in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another."
After the first service, an older gentleman came up — about my age — and he said, nearly in tears, "It was this passage that when I read it, I said, 'That's me.'" Paul tells Timothy, "In the last days, people will be lovers of self and lovers of money." That is what Paul is describing here. The key is that he is not describing the world out there. He is describing you. It is a complete lack of understanding, total ignorance regarding how to live, seeing everything from a purely worldly perspective — vanity of vanities, as Ecclesiastes puts it.
Here is the problem with church people: they become church people, and they forget this. I was talking to somebody this week, and they mentioned a restaurant. I said I had been there one night and found it a lonely place. He said he had been there once too, and it was a long story, but he ended up in jail. We started trading stories — "You think that's bad? Let me tell you." That is exactly how it goes. We look at the world and say, "The world is screwed up," but we forget who we were.
The Danger of Drifting Back
I spend time around a lot of older people, and here is what I observe — every one of them, every day. They get up, they have coffee, they watch the news, they complain, and they buy gold. And if they have been priced out of the gold market, they have moved into silver. My own life changed when I turned off talk radio, and I am not putting that down. If you listen to it, that is fine. But when you take that in constantly, listen to how conversations shift — it becomes one grievance over another, over another, over another. It is a zero-sum game.
The reason I raise this is not to start a dialogue about talk radio — if you feel strongly about it, please do not email me. What Paul is saying to Titus is this: you are one generation away from that. That is who you were. You are going to drift right back.
But When the Kindness of God Appeared
Here comes the great news. "But when the kindness of God our Savior appeared, and His love for mankind" — what is that? Jesus. "He saved us. He delivered us."
We look around, and you do not need to be a sociologist to see it. The world is a mess. The country is a mess. The state is a mess. The county is a mess. The city is a mess. And then we get to the core problem: you are a mess. The problem is sin. I sat with a man about six months ago — one of the top three or four most politically and influentially significant people in the state — and he said, "Here is the problem. The government is not equipped to handle the breakdown of the family." You saw that illustrated in both baby dedications today: families stepping in because the government cannot solve it. The government is not equipped to handle the breakdown of the individual. They spend all day managing sin, making rules, making laws.
When you come to the realization that you are messed up, your instinct is to fix it. That is called religion. I am absolutely certain there are some of you in this room right now who are here, with relatively good motives, wanting to clean your act up, to get right. Here is what you have: two choices.
Biblical Christianity and Everything Else
You have biblical Christianity and everything else. Those are your two choices. Biblical Christianity is a holy God who appears to mankind to save mankind. Everything else is a sinful man trying to please a holy God.
Saved by the Love of God
Here is what the Bible tells us it means to be saved. That word — do we even know what it means anymore? Saved from what? From the wrath of God, the punishment of God, and the bondage of sin. But God is motivated — and what a powerful word this is, right there in verse four — by love.
My wife Sandy teaches a Monday morning women's Bible study. Whenever she is gone, I teach. I am really in my wheelhouse with seventy-five-year-old women. They had been working through some complicated material, so she said, "Do whatever you want to do." I said, "Well, we know that's not true, or I wouldn't be going out there to begin with." I thought, they have been dealing with really complicated stuff — I am going to give them theology that will blow them away. So I gave them John 3:16: "For God so loved the world." He is motivated by His love. He loves you perfectly.
Sandy and I were at dinner not long ago — we have been married forty-seven years. I said to her, "I love you." And she said, "Why?" I was not prepared to open that topic. You go to Walgreens, get a card, and let some guy from Kansas City handle it. So I collected myself. There are the obvious things — she is attractive — but she would feel trivialized. I said, "You are a godly woman." She said, "Okay, that's good." I said, "You are very bright, very disciplined, you are in great shape." And she said, "Would you love me if I was ugly?"
I was not prepared for wherever that was going. I said, "Yeah." And here is what she got at. It took about two seconds to unravel it. I love her a great deal — I have learned a lot about love and life — but that love is still conditional. She has done things for me in the last four years, personal care and things you cannot even imagine, and yet love like ours can always come with conditions attached.
Some of you right now love this church deeply, and six months from now you will be frustrated because of something someone did, or they did not sing the right song, or something did not go the way you expected. That is how it goes. We love conditionally. God loves you unconditionally. Write this one down: God loves you in spite of you, not because of you. That is what this verse says.
Washed, Regenerated, and Justified by Grace
God loves you. He washed you. He regenerated you. He poured out on us richly Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace, we are saved by God's grace. Look back at verse five — not based on our deeds, not based on what we did, but by God's grace. No one argued anyone into the kingdom. God gave us grace.
Max Lucado writes this in his book *In the Grip of Grace*: "Ponder the achievement of God. He doesn't condone our sin, nor does He compromise His standard. He doesn't ignore our rebellion or relax His demands. Rather than dismiss our sin, He assumes our sin and, incredibly, sentences Himself."
Lucado also writes this about salvation: "Please note — salvation is God-given, God-driven, God-empowered, God-originated. It is not a gift from man to God, but from God to man. Grace is created by God and given to man, and on the basis of that point alone, Christianity is set apart from every other religion in the world." Every other approach to God is a bartering system. If I do this, God will do that. I am either saved by works — what I do — by emotions — what I experience — or by knowledge — what I know.
But then Lucado writes this sentence: "By contrast, Christianity has no whiff of negotiation at all. Man is not the negotiator. Indeed, God has no grounds from which to negotiate."
Heirs of Eternal Life
And He made us heirs to the hope of eternal life. Eternal life begins now. I look back and I see He has saved me from sin. He is transforming my life. He is saving me now. In this letter, Paul is telling these people: in this world, you are different. You are godly. You have the fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. The reason you have that is not because you are disciplined or wired that way, but because you have the Holy Spirit. And then, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Last week I attended three funerals — for a twenty-four-year-old, a seventy-four-year-old, and a ninety-four-year-old. I conducted two of the three. The service for the ninety-four-year-old was particularly striking. When you reach that age, not many peers are left. But some older people were there, and during the share time a man stood up and said, "I was Dr. Pertzer's mentor." I thought, now there is someone I need to seek out. Think about this as we close: a week before that service, Dr. Pertzer took his last breath on earth and his first breath in heaven. That is what Paul is saying to Titus — and that is what he is saying to us.
Saved by Grace Alone
Paul's saying to us: you have been saved by grace. You have been delivered. You didn't do anything. God did it all. He sent Jesus. He died for you. The Holy Spirit caused you to be born again. You are in His kingdom today by grace, and by grace alone.
If all God wanted to do was get you to heaven, He would have taken you there twenty or thirty years ago. But He left you here for a reason, and it is to be salt and light. In the midst of this world, as it gets tougher and tougher, more combative, more on edge, you bring a calmness. You know Jesus. You are indwelt with His Spirit. Because you are different, you live differently. And it all goes back to that cross.