Pith sayings are popular. They often express something important. They can be persuasive, and influence the way people think. They also help us to remember things.

The early church seems to have had some important sayings. The Apostle Paul mentions five of them in his letters to Timothy and Titus. He calls them “faithful”, or “trustworthy”. Some are short, e.g., “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Others are longer, the sort of thing a child might be asked to memorise. One of them is this (taken from Titus chapter 3):

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, 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, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

That’s a lot for just three sentences. So let’s break it up. The main thing is the statement, “He saved us.” Then Paul refers to the reason he saved us, the method he used, the basis for what he did, his purpose, and what all that implies for how we should live.

The fact⤒🔗

Paul is speaking to Christians here. He would never say that to someone who did not believe in Christ. The idea that everyone is going to heaven is a myth.

Believers in Christ need to remember the difference between what God did for us, and what he has done to us. Christ died for our sins. That was before we were born. But what he does to us is something in our lifetime. When Paul says, “He saved us”, he is speaking about something in our life.

Changes have taken place. The relationship with God has changed. Instead of being hostile to him (and in danger of his punishment) the believer has become a child of God. No longer on the road to hell there is now the expectation of heaven. He describes what we used to be – “foolish, disobedient” etc. The believer’s character and conduct is not all that it used to be, for the image of Christ is beginning to appear.

The change was God’s doing, and it was a great act of mercy. “He saved me.”

The reason←⤒🔗

We make a huge mistake if we think we can earn his favour by doing good. Our best work is imperfect, it is erratic, and is no more than we ought to do. It is also a mistake to think it’s all our doing – as if we could reform ourselves, or make ourselves his children. No. He does not save us “because of works done by us in righteousness”. Instead, “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared.” It is “according to his own mercy.”

He took pity on us. He saw us suffering from a spiritual disease – sin. He saw us accumulating punishments. And he took pity on us.

That led him to make his Son our Saviour and send him into the world to die for us. It led him to accept Jesus’ offering. And it led him to apply the benefits of Jesus’ obedience, and change our lives.

The method←⤒🔗

How does God make someone a “new creation in Christ Jesus”? It is “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit”.

People talk about old urban areas being ‘regenerated’. It means they are brought back to life again. That is how God saves us. No one can define life, but we usually know it when we see it. There is a new awareness of God. The person begins to love what is holy, and hate what is sinful. They have a longing for God they did not have before. There is an appreciation of Jesus Christ and what he did at Calvary for sinners. He becomes their only hope, and in gratitude they are eager to obey him.

This new life is the result of the Holy Spirit starting to work in their soul. When humanity fell into sin in Adam’s day we lost the Spirit of God. In a sense, that is what distinguished us from animals – do you notice how atheists emphasise our similarity to animals, as if that is all it means to be human? But Jesus spoke about being “born of the Spirit”.

It is a “washing”. Newly alive to the things of God the person receives Jesus in his capacity as the Saviour. In that way they become ‘clean’ in God’s eyes – their guilt is washed away. The new birth has a cleansing effect in other ways.

Conscience is no longer in denial. Mixed motives give way to sincere love of God. Liking for sin is replaced by loathing of sin.

The basis←⤒🔗

People have asked, “How can a good God turn a blind eye to sin?” The answer is – he doesn’t. He saves people on the basis of what Christ did for them.

God appointed him a representative, to act on behalf of others. He was so much one of them that he could also suffer on their behalf. Calvary was an act of human wickedness. Allowing it to happen was a judicial act on God’s part. As Jesus said, “Now is the judgement of this world.”

He “bore our sins in his own body on the tree.” He offered himself to God for others, and God accepted that. God is not turning a blind eye to sin. Justice has been done. And God can freely forgive anyone who comes to him in Jesus’ name. They are then “justified by his grace”.

The purpose←⤒🔗

Since God’s mercy is so great we must believe that he has a great purpose in mind. Our writer tells us it is that we “might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life”.

An heir is someone who will inherit what someone else possesses. The Spirit is telling us that if God has saved someone, that person will be blessed with all that God is. His wisdom, goodness, power, will be used on that person’s behalf. And God is unlimited – there is no end to what they will receive. He is incomparably better than his gifts, and to know the love of God should be our great aim. “No good thing will he withhold from them that live uprightly” (Ps. 84:11).

It involves being a “son of God” (1 John 3:1). It includes resurrection, and a place at the side of Christ (Rev 3:21).

The implications←⤒🔗

If God has saved us, that should motivate us and constrain us to do good. “I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.” Doing good is more than not doing bad – a dead donkey doesn’t do anything bad!

If God has saved us we should make it our aim in life to follow Jesus in cheerful faith and obedience to God, and to share his love for others. “These things are excellent and profitable for people.” The spirit of a child of God should be the opposite of discontented, mean, quarrelsome, or selfish.

If our experience of God’s grace does not impel us to do good, then we need to pray for the Spirit of Christ, and make these things a matter of conscience.