Titus 3:5, commentary and pictures

God saves people not because of any righteous works they have done but purely according to His mercy, shown abundantly through Jesus Christ who bore the world's sin, met the law's claims, and died on Calvary so that sinners justified by grace become heirs of eternal life. The washing of regeneration is the cleansing and new birth of the heart, represented in burial with Christ in baptism, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost is true conversion in which the whole person is made new. This renewal is God's work alone and not human effort, changing the heart of stone to a heart of flesh, putting self and sin to death, and giving love for what was once hated and hatred for what was once loved. The Spirit makes Christ's sacrifice effective by convicting of sin, drawing the sinner to Calvary, purifying the heart, overcoming evil tendencies, and fashioning the life after Christ in love, meekness, obedience, and self-denying service. Those thus saved are freed from hateful, disobedient living to a life of kindness, mercy, forgiveness toward others, subjection to authority, and readiness for every good work, for good works are the fruit and not the basis of salvation.

Words and Setting

Paul sets the mercy of God against a remembered past when people were foolish, disobedient and deceived, enslaved to varied lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. Into that condition broke the appearing of the kindness and love of God the Saviour toward man. The saving that followed came not because of righteous deeds done by men but because of His own mercy, by a washing that brings new birth and by renewal of the Holy Spirit. That mercy and Spirit were poured out abundantly through Jesus Christ the Saviour, so that being justified by grace believers are made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The free gift is free forgiveness of all sins with man giving nothing in return.

The same context calls believers to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey, to be ready for every good work, and to be careful to maintain good works as things good and profitable. It calls them to speak evil of no one, to be gentle and to show all meekness to all men. Remembering the former life of lust, malice, envy and hatred belongs with that lowly conduct, and obedience to the cleansing Word is the way to the highest Christian experience. Receiving love shown while men were hateful and unloving makes them kind and tender even toward the faulty, erring and sinful.

The washing of regeneration is burial with Christ in water in the likeness of His death, which is baptism. It represents that all who repent of transgression of the law of God are brought again into favor with God and receive purification and cleansing through the work of the Holy Spirit. The renewing of the Holy Ghost is true conversion. Regeneration itself remains a biblical subject too deep for the human mind to explain or fully comprehend, and what Scripture reveals about it is to be accepted as true on God's authority even where no explanation of why or how is given.

Salvation by Mercy

Salvation comes not by works of righteousness that human beings have done but according to God's mercy, and sinners have nothing in themselves to recommend them to God. Human helplessness is what makes redeeming power necessary, and unworthiness does not bar anyone from seeking help, for need itself is the plea that calls for Christ's saving strength. The way to come is to give up dependence on self and on personal goodness and to trust Christ as Saviour, trusting His mercy and the cross rather than one's own deeds. This was illustrated when others called the centurion worthy yet he counted himself unworthy, trusted Jesus' authority and power rather than his own goodness, and pleaded need, faith, and mercy until Jesus spoke and the servant was healed. Faith thus connects the soul with heaven and gives strength to resist evil and temptation, because works of human righteousness cannot provide a sure foundation and salvation depends on Christ, with the Holy Spirit giving power to oppose sin and to trust God rather than works for salvation.

Salvation rests on God's purpose in Christ, and those who trust Him are accepted without merit, so reward is given through God's generosity rather than according to the amount or visible results of work. It is God's free gift of complete and free forgiveness of all sins without man giving anything in return, given through cleansing new birth and renewal of the Holy Spirit poured out abundantly through Jesus Christ the Saviour. Christ as the great Sin-bearer bore the sins of the whole world, voluntarily meeting the claims of the violated law, joining divinity to humanity to exalt the human family, grasping the throne of the Infinite on man's behalf, dying stricken of God and afflicted on Calvary's cross as substitute, and now interceding before the Father. His sacrifice is all-sufficient, so that the poor, tried, suffering soul loved by Jesus can be complete in Him, since no one can save his own soul in any other way. God justifies freely and fully, not sparingly, by His grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, and in giving Christ He gave all the treasures of heaven, so believers have unlimited resources and need not falter or fail or be discouraged but can grow in grace and spiritual knowledge and press forward toward the mark of the prize of the high calling.

That mercy and favor is also the pattern for treating those who err, teaching that as God for Christ's sake has forgiven sins so men must forgive erring brethren with mercy and forgiveness rather than harshness or partiality. Final victory and being an overcomer at last come not through personal righteousness but through the righteousness of Christ and the long forbearance, mercy, patience, and forgiveness of God, and those who do not cherish kindness, love, and a forgiving spirit toward brethren will not receive forgiveness from God. Salvation and the grace grounding Christian hope are not earned by prayers, fasting, alms, or self-denial, nor by rites, ceremonies, creeds, theories, outward forms, or religious ordinances even when administered by saintly people. The Holy Spirit renews the heart, and this renewal bears fruit in obedience and a self-denying life conformed to Christ's example, so strict, self-denying conduct is the result of faith and not its basis, and the Spirit's regenerating power distinguishes those who serve God from those who do not.

Everything in salvation is owed to grace, free grace, sovereign grace. Grace in the covenant ordained adoption as sons of God, and grace in the Saviour effected redemption, regeneration, and adoption to heirship with Jesus Christ. While character is now being formed for eternity in training for heaven, this grace is to be revealed to others in patience, compassion, and love, reaping the harvest that is sown. No one can save his own soul and no one can cleanse away even one sin, for even the noblest powers have become enfeebled and the Lord alone can lift the sinner up. Jesus would carry the human mind with His mind and bring every thought into captivity to Himself, and the regenerating Spirit of God works to restore the sinner to himself and to God and to make him one with God through submission of the will, so that even the expulsion of sin is the action of the soul itself through the office work of the Holy Spirit.

Living in an earthly atmosphere in thoughts, words, and actions keeps a person unsaved like the common sinner, even with great light and knowledge of the truth, without being sanctified through the truth. Christ has paid the ransom with His blood, making it possible for people to be united with God and separated from sin, and when the heart is opened to Christ the Holy Spirit renews it with power. Receiving this provision calls for full surrender to God and faithful service, while human effort does not earn salvation but responds to what God has done.

Washing of Regeneration

A soul corrupted by sin is like a dead body in putrefaction, unclean and spreading uncleanness to everything it touches. Its washing is a work of regeneration in the heart that purifies the soul dead in trespasses and sins. That washing and renewing describe God's power to transform those dead in sin, restore the lost image of God, and make believers obedient servants. This change is being born again and sanctified through the truth, and its renewing is the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit.

All the washings and sprinklings commanded in the ceremonial law were lessons in parables teaching the necessity of both washing and renewing. Through this renewal people receive forgiveness of sins, become cleansed and sanctified, and are made fit for the Master's service, while the Spirit's daily presence brings eternal life to the soul. Possessing a heart thus cleansed from sin and renewed makes a person happy when, seeing a sin-pardoning Saviour, the burden of sin is laid at the foot of the cross. Leading souls still in the darkness of error to that experience is doing good for them, and seeing them enter it increases the joy of those who led them.

Salvation involves regeneration and a renewed heart, not merely repentance for particular wrong acts, because wrongdoing flows from an unconverted heart. When sin is removed through Christ's blood, the soul is moved by Jesus' love and comes to hate sin, and true repentance brings newness of life in which the Spirit changes the mind and character and removes pride and mistaken self-reliance. The renewing has transforming power upon the mind that produces a new creature like God representing in life the life and character of Jesus. This requires deep searching of the heart, afflicting the soul before God, harmony with the Word and with Jesus, prayer, and self-examination, and if after professing Christ a man still manifests fretfulness, peevishness, faultfinding, envy, evil surmisings, jealousy, and impure thoughts, he has exactly the same old character with every rough and uncomely trait revealing the Satanic rather than the divine, showing Satan still has power over mind, affections, and character.

Renewing by Spirit

Spiritual renewal is God's work and not the result of human effort, devices, or natural inclinations. God alone can change a heart of stone into a heart of flesh and make the mind willing to obey heaven's commandments, cleansing the soul and bringing change of life through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the mind by the Holy Spirit. Without this divine work the hostile will and the influence of evil cannot be overcome, for human beings need the Spirit's regenerating power. This change must take place before taking a position of leadership or sacred responsibility, otherwise the person's own spirit, sentiments, character defects, and human ideas will prevail in place of God's sacred work.

Conversion is not merely improving the old nature but a transformation in which self and sin die and a wholly new life begins, coming through God's mercy and the effective work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's regeneration changes the heart and the whole moral taste, so that people come to love what they once hated and hate what they once delighted in. Being born again means a thorough change in mind, judgment, speech, and spirit that enables discernment of light from darkness and living with Christ's character.

Regeneration to become a new man in Christ Jesus does not make another man but renews the same man, working not by creating new faculties but by a decided change in the employment of those faculties. When mind and heart and soul are changed, no new conscience is given but the will is submitted to a renewed conscience whose dormant sensibilities are aroused by the working of the Holy Spirit. This work is to be met while the Spirit works upon heart and character by taking a full stand on the platform of truth rather than regarding it indifferently without change in individual experience.

The renewal is the work of the Comforter bringing the sinner to Christ, who fashions the soul anew after His own perfect holiness and gives all excellence needed for perfection of character. It makes sinners children of God, born of God, one in Christ, delivered from sin to bear Christ's character as new beings in Him and members of His family. This becoming children of God requires reconversion that remakes crooked characters and hearts made new, with each person humbling the heart and confessing personal sins. The change must be complete, with the spiritual life made new and restored in all its parts and no diseased part left, so that every spiritual organ and faculty lives to God. The new life is seen in sanctified activity through the whole person, unselfish service, self-denial and sacrifice, meekness and lowliness, faithful and trustworthy words, and good works, with no deception or falsehood.

The Spirit makes effective what Christ accomplished by humbling Himself, enduring temptation, and dying the Just for the unjust so humanity might not perish, without whom that sacrifice would be of no avail. As the constant working, regenerating agent and promised grand helper to those wrestling for victory, the Spirit purifies the heart, enables sharing in the divine nature, and gives power to overcome inherited and acquired tendencies to evil. The Spirit endows the human agent with supernatural power, instructs the ignorant in the mysteries of the kingdom, draws constant attention to Calvary, unfolds God's love, opens Scripture to convicted souls and darkened minds, presents the moral standard, convinces of sin, produces godly sorrow working repentance, inspires faith, withdraws affections from temporal things, imbues desire for the immortal inheritance, and recreates, refines, and sanctifies agents to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. Working through the Word, the Spirit impresses truth on the heart, exposes error, and shapes Christ's character in His people.

This renewal transforms character by union with Jesus and Christ abiding in the heart, so that as a person is drawn to Christ and yields to His influence, self-centered and resentful traits give way to Christlike love, patience, tenderness, and meekness. It develops Christlike kindness, gentleness, and refinement that superficial social polish cannot produce, with intellectual growth and refinement of sentiment and manners into the likeness of God. God's renewing grace also changes children and strengthens their principles, without which their good resolutions to obey and be kind will fail. The renewing power prepares minds and hearts to submit to God in actions agreeing with His law, including kindness, patience, and love in family life, and parents who submit are led to sanctify themselves so their children also may be sanctified.

Regeneration is an inward work in the heart and conscience by the Holy Spirit's power, not brought about by councils or by a community merely accepting the reformed faith. Cleansing and regeneration come through the Spirit in the heart, not through outward forms or religious ordinances even when administered by saintly people, and this regenerating power distinguishes those who serve God from those who do not. This renewal bears fruit in obedience and holiness, in a self-denying life conformed to Christ's example, where strict, self-denying conduct is the result of faith and not its basis. Saul's change illustrates this renewal bringing conviction of sin, a sense of the beauty of holiness, clearer understanding of salvation and duty, and strength from God to resist sin and obey.

Conversion as a renewing work means the sinner comes to Christ, confesses and repents, gives up wrong habits, and brings unchristlike tendencies under Christ's control. Pardon does not give permission to continue in sin, but Christ works in the person and the person responds until the human life is fashioned like Christ's. No one can save his own soul or cleanse away even one sin, for even the noblest powers have become enfeebled and the Lord alone can lift the sinner up, restoring him to himself and to God and making him one with God through submission of the will. Even the expulsion of sin is the action of the soul itself through the office work of the Holy Spirit, and living in an earthly atmosphere in thoughts, words, and actions keeps a person unsaved like the common sinner even with great light and knowledge of truth without sanctification through the truth.

Christ's grace has power to regenerate those who earnestly seek truth, bringing a new spirit and regenerated heart with the peace-giving love of Christ coming to the soul. Those who are contrite are renewed by the Spirit and become torch-bearers on the road to heaven. Sinners may be rescued from iniquity and reclaimed and regenerated through Christ's sacrifice, and through repentance and conversion can day by day form a character like Christ's and live Christlike lives. God changes the person by daily renewing grace so the body is converted and the soul brought into harmony with His law, and righteousness through Christ gives a claim to eternal life and an immortal inheritance. The Spirit renews people and gives practical, saving energy to learn from Christ, gain wisdom through Scripture, and speak to others about Him, so that daily consecration makes them effective in leading souls to Christ.

Life of Good Works

Salvation by mercy frees from slavery to sin and makes a transformed life of service possible, for the life granted is a period of probation to develop complete loyalty to God. The real Christian is zealous of good works, working in cooperation with God to build character fit to unite with the royal family in the kingdom. This call is to life and liberty, freedom and happiness, to be subject to authorities and obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be gentle and show all meekness to all, and to be careful to maintain good works as good and profitable. It follows the contrast between once being foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another, and the appearing of the kindness and love of God the Saviour toward man by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost shed abundantly through Jesus Christ, so that being justified by grace believers are made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

God showed kindness and love while people were hateful and unloving, and receiving His love makes them kind and tender even toward the faulty, erring, and sinful. Those saved by mercy are joined to God in Christ and called to show mercy and tender compassion following Christ's example as fruits of the Holy Spirit's work. The free gift of complete forgiveness given without any equivalent from the sinner is the pattern for how to treat those who err, with mercy and forgiveness rather than harshness or partiality. As God for Christ's sake forgave sins, so men must forgive erring brethren, for being an overcomer at last comes not through personal righteousness but through Christ's righteousness and God's long forbearance, patience, mercy, and forgiveness, and those who do not cherish kindness, love, and a forgiving spirit will not receive forgiveness.

The verse exposes those who enjoy the privileges of the banquet of truth without eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God, who claim to believe and teach the Word to others while working unrighteousness, showing they have not been regenerated and renewed. Living in an earthly atmosphere in thoughts, words, and actions keeps a person unsaved like the common sinner, even with great light and knowledge of truth without sanctification through the truth. No one can save his own soul or cleanse away even one sin, for even the noblest powers have become enfeebled and only the Lord can lift the sinner up to restore him to himself and to God and make him one with God through submission of the will, with even the expulsion of sin as the action of the soul itself through the office work of the Holy Spirit.

The verse is a charge to leading men in every line of God's work that conversion of heart must take place, the Spirit of Christ must come in, and selfishness, envy, and jealousy must be put away. This thorough change in mind, judgment, speech, and spirit enabling discernment of light from darkness and life with Christ's character must occur before taking leadership or a responsible position, for regeneration is God's work by the Spirit rather than by human devices or natural inclinations. Without vital connection with God and heeding the Spirit's warnings and entreaties, the person's own spirit, sentiments, character defects, and human ideas will prevail instead of God's sacred work, they will be left in darkness, and Christian unity and faithful service cannot be restored. Leading souls still in the darkness of error to see a sin-pardoning Saviour, lay the burden of sin at the foot of the cross, and receive a cleansed, renewed heart is doing good for them. Possessing that cleansed, renewed heart makes a person happy, and seeing them enter it increases the joy of those who led them.