“Saved for a Purpose” – FBC Morning Light (10/11/2023)

Titus 3 and the Glory of God’s Grace

Well a good Wednesday morning to you. Today we're again in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is a long book, isn't it? We're reading two chapters at a time, but Jeremiah chapters 23 and 24, the last chapter of Titus, Titus chapter 3, so we're finishing up another New Testament book today, and then Ecclesiastes chapter 1.

I want to look at this wonderful section of Scripture in Titus chapter 3 that tells about the glory of God's grace in saving sinners. We see the description of our lives prior to the experience of that grace in verse 3 where Paul says, we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

And you go through that list, you say, well, you know, I don't think I was really very hateful, and I know I wasn't, I was a pretty nice person. Well, there may not be a description of all of your character in that verse, but you can at least say this.

You were foolish outside of Christ, you were disobedient to God's Word, you were deceived, you thought you were okay, you didn't think you needed God, you served your various desires and passions and pleasures, you did what pleased you, did what you wanted to do, and so on and so forth.

Salvation by Sovereign Grace and Mercy

This is the old life, this is the way we used to be before Christ, before God worked and did something to us. What did he do? Well, in verses 4 and 5, we have the answer to what he did. He exercised kindness and love toward us.

When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, then he saved us. But notice, it says in verse 5, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.

In other words, it is by the sovereign grace of God that he, in his mercy, reached down and saved sinners like you and I. He saved us, and we did not deserve to be saved. We didn't do anything to merit it, not by works of righteousness, he says.

Not by works of righteousness, which we... In fact, the fact of the matter is, there is nothing you can do to ever merit this glorious gift of salvation that God has given. He has given it to us solely by his sovereign grace, based on no merit of ours whatsoever.

None. Even faith is not meritorious. No. It is by no work of righteousness that we have done that he saved us. Well, what's the so what in all of that? Okay, he goes on to say, we have been justified by grace, and he has done so that we should be heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Good Works as the Fruit of Salvation

We have been saved from the penalty of the sin that was plaguing us, and we have been saved unto eternal life, and we are heirs of all that that involves. How do you respond to that? What does that do to you, if you have come to faith in Christ?

Does that move you in any way? Verse 8 says, this is a faithful saying in these things, Paul says to this Pastor Timothy, or Pastor Titus, he says to him, these are the things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God, in other words, those who have been the recipients of that saving grace, those who have believed in God, should be careful to maintain good works.

These things are good and profitable to men. Well, given that, in other words, given that, I am the recipient, the undeserving, unworthy recipient of God's amazing love and mercy and grace, that he would save a sinner such as I, I should respond to that grace with the desire and the effort to maintain good works.

Why? Because that will help me get more grace? No. Because it is in the maintaining of those good works, it's the living out of those good works, that I reflect the family that God's placed me in. I want to be like my Heavenly Father, I want to be like the family a member ought to be to be like.

Be careful to maintain good works. Are you in that family? Has God in his grace reached down from heaven and convicted you of your sin, and by his mercy saved you, by no merit of yours whatsoever, his mercy has saved you?

Well, if so, that should motivate you to want to live like you're a part of the family, maintaining good works. Our Father and our God, I pray that we would be overwhelmed with your marvelous grace, your mercy, your love, that you have reached down and you've saved sinners such as we are, and I pray that that wonderful understanding of your grace would motivate us to be careful and diligent to maintain good works.

This we pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Wednesday, and I trust the Lord will bless you in it. Good day.