God Acts to Save Sinners
The wonder of God’s undeserved favor is that He acts to save sinners, and He acts in two ways. First, God gave Himself to save us. Notice Paul’s language in Titus 2:14: We await the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, “who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” We must never get beyond the wonder of divine generosity. Because God so loved the world, He gave. He gave Himself in the place of sinners so that those who were spiritually dead might become spiritually alive.
There is a second part to this. God acted to save sinners not because there was anything morally worthy in us, “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.” Remember who you were—a rebel who was spiritually ignorant and morally enslaved, engaged in destructive relationships. Even our best acts are tainted (Isaiah 64:6). There was no reason for God to show grace and mercy, but He did. Paul tells us that God’s grace, goodness, and loving kindness are essentially the same (cf. 2:14; 3:4). Grace appeared; goodness and loving kindness epiphanied. When? Where? In whom? In Jesus Christ, on the cross, and at the empty tomb.
Notice too how God saved us. According to the text, the movements of His grace:
Regenerated us. He did this through “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ” (3:5b-6). The Spirit acts to enlighten our minds and renew our wills so that we embrace Jesus freely. This rescue—the new birth worked in our hearts by God—is what enables us to believe and be saved.
Justified us. According to Titus 3:7 we are justified by His grace. God declares us right with Him not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus has done. He credits us with Jesus’ righteousness; for us, it is undeserved favor.
Adopted us. Verse seven continues, saying, “ … we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” With Jesus, God’s Son, we have become sons and daughters of God the King; the riches of inheritance belong to us. We don’t deserve this; we will never deserve it; we can never repay and we shouldn’t think we can. This is grace.
In my part of the country—south Mississippi—people talk about lagniappe. When we buy a dozen doughnuts and someone throws in a 13th, or hands my kids a free sample, that’s lagniappe—an undeserved blessing. When we marinate in the gospel—mulling our condition, God’s action, and the movements of His salvation—we see that it is lagniappe, blessing that’s far beyond what we deserve.
But there is more. This grace that moves toward us to regenerate, justify, and adopt us is the same grace that does something within us. God’s grace transforms us so that nothing about us remains the same.
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