Titus 3:1-8·~1 min

Heirs of Grace

Paul tells Titus to remind believers to submit to rulers and authorities, obey, be ready for every good work, and speak evil of no one. They are to be peaceable, gentle, and fully considerate toward all people.

R¹emind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work, ²to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone.

Paul says believers were once themselves foolish, disobedient, enslaved, and hateful, but then the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared. He saved them not because of righteous deeds, but according to mercy through new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, so that, justified by grace, they might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

³For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures — living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, ⁵He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. ⁶This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life.

Paul says this trustworthy saying must be stressed so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good works, which are excellent and profitable for people.

⁸This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize these things, so that those who have believed God will take care to devote themselves to good deeds. These things are excellent and profitable for the people.

Section summaryPaul tells Titus to remind believers to live in submissive, peaceable, and considerate ways toward rulers and everyone else, not because they were always such people, but because God's kindness and love appeared to save them by mercy. He describes that salvation as the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, poured out richly through Jesus Christ, so that believers become heirs of eternal life and therefore should devote themselves to good works.

Role in the chapterThis opening section gives the theological ground for Christian conduct in public life. It moves from who believers once were, to what God has done in mercy, to the kind of fruitful life that mercy now produces.