TITUS 3:2

In Titus 3:1 believers were told what their attitude should be to those in authority. Verse 2 of this chapter tells us how to treat all people. It says, “To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.” The phrase that is translated “to speak evil” is a word that is more commonly translated “to blaspheme.” We should not blaspheme God or man, because man was created in the image of God. Every person is an honorable creature worthy of great honor because every person was created by God in His image. Sometimes human beings create systems where only a few people are honored, but God wants all human beings to be honored, to be treated with courtesy and respect. How we speak of others is a very important part of showing an understanding of life and where it came from. The devil speaks against man. The word “devil” means “slanderer.” The devil is the accuser of the brethren. You are like the devil when you speak against the pinnacle of God’s creation: a human being.

We should not speak against other human beings, and we should not strive against other human beings either. We live in a world where too often man is against man. There should be cooperation, not competition against others. One person should be helping another, instead of opposing another. Too many people have the wrong idea that the way to get ahead in the world is to bring others down. That may be the way of the people of the world, but it must not be the way of the people who follow Christ. Titus 3:2 says “to be no brawlers.” This means literally to not be someone given to fights. This refers to physical fights as well as just striving against others. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Anyone can get into a fight. It happens all the time. It takes a godly person who can take a contentious situation and be a peacemaker. Sometimes we have bad habits still left over from our days away from God. If we approach each other in the wrong way, it will lead to more contention and more fighting. That is why this verse says to be “gentle, showing all meekness.” Anger begets anger. Opposition begets opposition. To be meek does not refer to allowing people to run over you. To be meek means that you are surrendered to God and His ability to work in the lives of others. When we react aggressively in opposition to others even when they are wrong, it shows our own selfishness and lack of faith. This happens often in politics. Just because you think someone is wrong, does not mean that you can treat them with disrespect.

Titus 3:3 says, “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” Even if we are right and others are wrong, we need to show some understanding of the fact that we were once where they now are. We must never forget that we are sinners save by grace. The only difference between us and that person is the grace of God. We have done the same things that we now see them doing. We are certainly no better than they are.

One of the things that can be seen concerning unspiritual people is that they are “foolish.” The word that is translated “foolish” means literally “not thinking.” An unspiritual person is a foolish person, in that he is not using his mind properly. He is not thinking about the real situation that he is in. Anyone is foolish who does not bow before the great all-powerful Christ and seek His assistance. Anyone is foolish who does not give serious consideration to his or her own eternal destiny. Anyone is foolish who thinks that they can do wrong and get away from it. Notice that their foolishness is defined by what they think about. By definition anyone who is not spiritual is foolish, because life is made up of the material and the spiritual. Those who only give attention to the material side of life do not know as much as they need to know. The real problem involves not what they know, but also their attitude toward God. They are “disobedient.” In order for a person to get right with God through Christ, that person must have a desire to start serving God. The word that is translated “disobedient” means literally “not persuaded.” Remember that true obedience has to do with persuading yourself that you are going to fall in line and help those in authority to accomplish their goals and their will. Someone who is not spiritual has not persuaded himself that God is right, and has not persuaded himself that it is critical to seek God and Christ with all the heart. In other words an unspiritual person is disobedient.

One of the problems that the unsaved have is that they are “deceived.” The word that is translated “deceived” means literally “made to wander.” In other words they are lost, like a ship lost at sea. They do not have a rudder. The winds of human ideas are blowing them here and there. If they continue on their wandering course, their soul will end up a ship-wreck. The great Deceiver has captured their minds, and their minds wander around in the world of ideas because they do not know the truth. They have no anchor to keep them from wandering. Often an unspiritual person has heard ideas that have confused the issues or that have given them excuses to not seek God. These unspiritual people are often held captive by the wrong ideas. They are deceived. This deception is a spiritual deception. We must remember that we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and against spiritual wickedness in high places. We must remember that in the case of an unspiritual person, they are the objects of spiritual forces that are actively trying to keep them deceived.

The next phrase in Titus 3:3 that describes the condition of unspiritual people is that they are “serving divers lusts and pleasures.” The word “serving” comes from the verb that means to be a slave. Unspiritual people are out of control. They cannot control themselves. Strong desires and physical and emotional pleasures pull them constantly away from God. The word that is translated “pleasures” is the same word that Jesus used to describe people who do not come to the truth when Jesus gave the parable of the sower and said in Luke 8:14, “And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” Paul wrote in Second Timothy 3:4 describing people in the last days and saying that they would be, “Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.”

Unspiritual people live “in malice and envy.” The word that is translated “malice” comes from the word for evil. Malice refers to the fact that not only is someone evil, but their evil is directed against others. Envy refers to the fact that unspiritual people are so selfish that when someone else does well, the malice against that person only increases. That is exactly why if you are beautiful or rich or talented, there will always be a number of people who will hate you for it because of their envy. A good-hearted person loves to see others do well, but unspiritual people are not good-hearted because of the envy that they have.

Notice that Titus 3:3 also says that unspiritual people are “hateful, and hating one another.” To say that someone is hateful describes the type of person that they are. They have hatred inside of them. What is inside of someone comes out. They have feelings of hatred, and the hatred motivates them to action against others, and thus unspiritual people are described by the Holy Spirit as “hating one another.” They hate “one another.” That is one reason that marital problems cannot usually be solved by talking to just one member of the marriage. Marriages sometimes break up because love turns to hatred. They who claimed to love so much end up hating much. How can this happen? It can happen because unspiritual people are described by the Holy Spirit as “hateful and hating one another.”

That was not a very flattering picture of human nature as given to us in Titus 3:3. Let’s read it again. It says, “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” What is the solution to such a sad condition? What help is there? What can be done for anyone in such a spiritual condition? The Bible has the answer and it is described very clearly in Titus 3:4-7.

Titus 3:4 says, “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared.” What a contrast between God and man. Verse 3 tells us of the malice and hatred of man. In contrast to that is “the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man.” The phrase “love toward man” actually comes from a word that can be translated “philanthropist.” God is the greatest philanthropist. He loves man in spite of man’s faults and failures. These verses, like the rest of the Bible, make it very clear that Jesus is the One who saves man because of the kindness and love of God. Man cannot save himself because man is too sinful. One of the things that we see from this verse is that in spite of the fact that man is sinful and has all of the problems described in verse 3, God still loves man. Do not ever forget that. Do not ever look at the sinfulness and wickedness of mankind and think that God wants to punish them for their sinfulness. God loves them and wants to forgive them, just like He forgave you. God is love. What does a sinful human being need? They need to come into contact with the “kindness and love of God.”

Titus 3:5-6 tells clearly how a person becomes saved from their sins. Verse 5 tells how a person does not become saved. It says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, an renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Do not make the mistake of thinking that God blesses you or helps you or loves you because you deserve it or because you have earned it. These verses make it clear that all human beings are sinners. The apostle Paul includes himself because he spoke of the things that “we” have done. Do not ever look out at the world and say, “Look at the awful things that they are doing.” You also have done those things. You are as guilty as they are. If you do not understand that, then you cannot be right with God and you may have never been saved. It is the lost people of the world who go about to establish their own righteousness. The saved people of the world, and there are very few of them, were brought to realize by the Holy Spirit how sinful they were, and were brought to bow at the feet of Jesus and trust in Him. The saved ones do not trust in themselves or in their own righteousness. They trust in Jesus. The unsaved people do not understand Titus 3:5. They have never experienced it.

The constant emphasis of Titus 3:4, 5, and 6 is that God does everything and man does nothing in regards to salvation. If you are saved, Jesus did everything to save you. You did nothing. After the terrible sinfulness of you and me is described in Titus 3:3, the next set of verses start with the word “but.” Man sins….”but“ God did something to take care of the problem of man. The second phrase of Titus 3:5 says, “according to his mercy he saved us.” Mercy has to do with God not giving you what you deserve. If you got what you deserved, you would die this instant and end up in hell. That did not happen because God is very merciful. Salvation is based upon His mercy. Do not pronounce God’s wrath upon the world because you see some things that you do not like or that you know are wrong. God’s wrath will come when He sees fit, but until that day the world is showered with His mercy. Anyone who was saved, was saved only because of the mercy of God.

When a person is saved this is what happens: “the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost.” The word that is translated “washing” is a word that refers to being set free. A person who is saved by Jesus is set free from sin, set free from guilt, and set free from judgment. It is an act of God that sets us free. This is done by regeneration. A person is alive on the earth because they have been generated. Their life came from God. But through their own moral and ethical failures, they became corrupted. What they need is to be generated again. That is exactly what happens with regeneration. A person is generated again: for the second time. Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” When we are saved, we are given a new life: a spiritual life. This is entirely the word of God. Man does nothing for this to take place other than trust in Jesus.

God does everything. Man believes, and then God acts. God gives us regeneration, and He also gives us a “renewing.” This means to make new again. It contrasts the new life to the old life. The new life is a spiritual life. The new life is a life that knows God. The new life is clean and pure and holy and without corruption in God’s eyes. This new life could never be created by man who is corrupt and sinful. This new life is created by the Holy Spirit at the moment that a sinful person bows down at the feet of Jesus and believes on Him.

___________________________________________________