Series: New New
Titus 3:5 ESV
If I had to name one issue that emerged again and again in fifty years of ministry I’d say works righteousness would be really close to the top of the list.
The issue may not emerge with that actual wording, but as a ‘people’ we tend to think we need to work to earn our way. While that may be true in the sense of working to get paid on a job, the opposite is true when it comes to salvation.
Titus 3:5 tells us, “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,”
Works righteousness is also the number one detergent I’ve come across when helping people who are struggling with life. Many times when I’ve told people Jesus wants to help they’ve told me they simply aren’t “good “ enough to be a Christian. Somewhere somehow they got the idea they have to work (or be really really good) in order to be a Christian.
Even when I explain the Biblical text on salvation they hold onto what they were told as a child or by someone they knew well.
I don’t know how we (as a people or a culture) got on the works righteousness track but it seems like we did.
The most concerning part of that is the question about the love track.
I’m not saying everyone is not on that track. I’m saying the unchurched unbelievers have not experienced love that knows no boundaries.
That could mean we (believers) are possibly headed for a place in time where Christians are not seen as loving children of God.
It also makes me wonder if that is the case, can we reverse the cultural shift? While I realize that is a rhetorical question, I do wonder. For certain those are are questions I would pose to Christian sociologists.
So, back to Titus 3:5 where we are told that we are saved by God’s mercy.
We are regenerated by the Spirit.
We are renewed by God.
That gives us Hope…great hope.
Know why?
Because even though we fail miserably and miss opportunities to love as Jesus loves, God continues to be merciful. The Spirit picks us back up and regenerates us.
Daily by the mercy and love of God we are perpetually renewed.
Knowing we are given eternal grace daily gives us pause to hope. Even though we may fail to love and show unbelievers the true meaning of being Christian, we are not in charge.
God sees us and loves us anyway. So really ultimately our very failure is our best defense against works righteousness.
When we encounter unbelievers who say they fail and they aren’t good enough or consistent enough to be a Christian, we can honestly and openly tell them we aren’t either.
By being honest about our failures we level the playing field.
I’ve said before that I love love movies and my favorite genre is historical drama. I grew up watching cowboys because my dad was a huge fan of cowboys. We had one television in the living room. We never missed Gunsmoke or Bonanza.
I think one of the reasons I love cowboy shows and movies is because cowboys are who they are. They aren’t cowboys on the outside who dream of being an executive manager in New York or Boston. Cowboys generally like wide open spaces. They aren’t fond of being in a crowd of thousands.
They are who they are.
I think that’s what God wants most for us. God wants us to be who we were created to be. God wants us to love who we were created to be. That’s one of the best ways to love.
Love yourself and love others.
And when we run across someone who has been told Christians have to be perfect, we can admit we are not perfect and God loves us just the way we are.
That’s the great thing about God. We were created in the image of God but we are human and we are not perfect.
Turning to God IS our hope.
Spiritual Practice: Turn to God
Be real. Receive God’s love.
In God, Deborah
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