August 25, 2022 – Thursday
Titus 3:3-7 NIV
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,
5 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,
6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Comments
I provided all five verses above primarily for context when we look at 5b-7, 5b He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. And even there our focus is on verse seven, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. In the NIV this is the end of a sentence beginning in verse 5b, not so in some other versions.
Consider the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) which reads, He did it so that by his grace we might come to be considered righteous by God and become heirs, with the certain hope of eternal life. Then the KJV, That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The New English Translation (NET), And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life. And one more, the Worldwide English (WE), He did this so that we can be put right with God, by his kindness. He did this so that we can become his children. So now we can look forward to everlasting life. These and many more may be found here.
The above versions are provided so we can see how verse seven could have been a completely separate sentence remembering there was no real punctuation in the original Greek (NT) and Hebrew (OT) of the Bible. You may like the NIV and others as I do that show it as part of a long ‘run-on’ sentence. Looking at the various versions in the paragraph above we can find out what justified means as the CJB instead of saying justified says, come to be considered righteous and the WE says, we can be put right with God.
All of which boils down to us accepting the free gift of grace when we repent of our sins and believe Jesus died as payment for our sins and rose on the third day, we find ourselves justified (made right) before God. As a result, we have the hope of eternal life or as the WE puts it, we can look forward to everlasting life. This is God’s gift offered to all of mankind, made available to all of mankind, if they will but accept it. It is not earned, it is not deserved, instead it is ours because of God’s love and mercy.
There is a reason Paul sought to make this clear which he describes in the very next verse, 8 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. We have this hope, this certain hope of eternal life so let us devote ourselves to doing what is good. This is good for us to know as a reminder of the type of life we should be living.
Bottom Line: Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross we have been justified before God. Let us make the most of that in our daily lives.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Your lovingkindness knows no bounds such that You would save such sinful souls as us. We can only humbly thank You. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek