Humility in God’s Mercy

Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. Titus 3:1-8


This passage of Scripture is very interesting for me to think about. First, I consider who wrote it. Paul, when speaking of his past said to the Philippians “concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” and here he says speaking of his past “we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another”. How many think they are righteous in their own eyes --as Paul once thought before really knowing God-- not realizing that they are as Paul wrote of his past days in the epistle to Titus? Many really believe they are doing God service being very righteous in their own eyes and also putting others down for not following their man made rules of righteousness. All the while they have yet to come to know the Living God and His Salvation from this very deep and sick sin of self-righteousness.

If it isn’t by grace then it isn’t from God. Man has in many ways attempted to mimic the work of God’s grace so as to appear to the eyes of others to be righteous. But they all fall far short of God’s righteousness because man has no ability in himself to imitate God without the true grace of God affecting this change. As Paul also says in the above passage “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit”. This is when the eyes of those --having been believing they are righteous in themselves-- are opened by God’s mercy and they see that they are actually as sick and sinful or even more so and in need of a Savior as those which Paul describes as “foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another”. In God’s sight this is their real state of being even though they may have practiced well at appearing godly in the sight of men. You can fool many men but you won’t fool God and the time will likely come --if it hasn’t already-- that our Lord will expose you and you will know your shame unless you repent beforehand.

As believers truly born of God’s mercy and grace, we must always keep in mind --when we are relating to others who don’t yet know this grace-- that we ourselves were lost and in the dark spiritually. Whether in the form of obvious carnal worldliness or in the form of deceptive self-righteousness which denies the power of God’s grace to save and keep us, either way we were lost. And we should pray for these people who are where we were and also “be peaceable, gentle, and showing all humility to all men”. May we pray for God’s grace to prevail in the lives of those we know personally. Family members, neighbors, associates, and all who we regularly come in contact with need God’s grace and mercy as much as we have and do. We should be praying that God's "kindness and the love of God" would appear to them--as we have received it-- “according to His mercy” that “He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life”.

Let us not be arrogant nor selfish in this mercy and grace from our Lord and Savior.