Good Morning
Friends,
“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, whom he
poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having
been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal
life.” (Titus 3:5-7)
Paul includes
several of the most impressive and important words in all language.
Saved: that’s
what God has done for us. He did it, not us nor anyone else. We were doomed and
He rescued us. We were headed for the pit of hell and He turned our destination
around. We were lost, in every sense of that word, and He found us.
Mercy: someone
defined that as “not getting what we deserve.” We deserve hell, in Christ, we
won’t get it. We deserve to be punished for our sins, but Someone else got what
we deserve and let us go free from our rightful consequences.
Justified: that
is to be given right standing before God. Someone simplified the definition for
it to say it means, “just as if we’d never sinned.” That is the way God sees us
through Christ. Our sin goes onto His account and His righteousness is
transferred to ours.
Grace: there’s
almost no greater word than this one. It means to “get what we don’t deserve.” Because
of mercy, we don’t get hell. Because of grace, we get heaven instead. Grace is
derived from the word for “gift.” That’s what God has done for us, given us a
gift, the most generous gift imaginable. In fact, it’s so generous it’s
unimaginable!
There are more
words in those few verses, too. Words like: heirs, hope, eternal life,
generously, and more. Let me mention one more:
Jesus. Now, that’s
the most impressive and important word you’ll ever know, because everything God
has done for us is because of Him. All of the other impressive and important
words are firmly and forever attached to Him.
His, by Grace, Steve
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