Titus 3:4-8

Titus 3:4-8 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

From the beginning of time, God planned our salvation through Jesus Christ, his Son. He did not save us because we deserved it, for humans are a rebellious creation. We are made in the image of God, but we can choose not to be like God, which is sin. In many ways people do not want to acknowledge God as the supreme authority in their lives. This "wildness" is endemic. Yes, we even wear our religious robes and establish a catechism of worship, but basically we establish our own rules and live as we desire. Each of us knows, we have only one life, so why not reap the best of it while we can. Some of us do it in religious tones of conformity, others in bright colors of rebellion, but all of us have a self-serving nature desirous of doing things our way. Now, this is hard for most of us to admit, especially Christians. We look at our dedication, our "servanthood," our commitments, and we say, "Hey, I am doing pretty well." Don't I tithe, don't I try to express love to people I dislike, don't I sing on the worship team, don't I commit my Sundays to the Lord and not to myself, don't I. . . Yes, we Christians do all of those things and at times much more, but we still are a rebellious lot, for we are human. Our human nature often rules our minds and actions even when we don't want it to. Then we fall into condemnation. However, God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17)

Yes, we might explode too often, we might complain too much, we might think thoughts we shouldn't, we might be too materialistic, we might lie when backed into a corner, we might deceive others, we might do many things that are not God-like, but praise God the love of God our Savior appeared and He redeems us every day. Yes, we are a rebellious lot, for everything that is not of faith is sin. However, his cleansing blood flows through us every day. The renewal process is happening constantly on our behalf because of our faith in the One who is the renewer, the One who possesses righteousness and eternal life. God has poured out generously his Spirit on us through the gate of heaven, Jesus Christ; the Holy Spirit now enlivens our spirits and reveals to each of us our place In Christ. Each of us is now considered worthy to approach the throne of God because Jesus Christ is worthy.

We are like sheep who have entered into the safety of God's sheepfold, not because we are intrinsically worthy or beautiful in any way, but because unmerited grace has been meted out to us in abundance. As sheep in a pen, we still butt others, still demand our own space, still want our own way, but God has displayed mercy on us and has brought us into his fold because of Jesus Christ's work on the cross. Are we changed? I hope so, in many ways, but we are still sheep. Yes, for sure, we are heaven-bound creatures because of Christ's life within us, but we are still sheep here on earth. But praise God, we are his sheep, the sheep of his pastures, who are constantly being washed by the blood of the Lamb. Our wool is being made as white as snow by the Shepherd's daily washing. We are changed, here a little, there a little. Are we going to stay in that pen? No, there is a heavenly transport coming down the road. Our final destination is to be with God in eternal bliss. Since we are heirs of heaven because of the generous mercy of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, we should devote ourselves to doing what is good and to display God's kindness and love to the world, regardless of our human flaws and failings. In the meantime, we rejoice in his work in us and just as the early believers were careful to devote themselves to doing what is good, we share the kindness and love of God our Savior with a needy world.