TITUS 3 TREAT PEOPLE BETTER THAN THEY DESERVE2017 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Titus 3 Treat People Better Than They Deserve

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2017. This morning, as we look at Titus chapter 3, I want to have you begin by thinking in your mind...

One person, maybe two people, maybe half a dozen people, I don't know. But think in your mind of someone that is really, really frustrating. Do you have anybody in your life that's really frustrating?

Anybody in your life that is really hard to love, anybody that you find it challenging to be patient with, and the people in our lives many times can be such a challenge for us. And here in Titus chapter 3, the Apostle Paul, through Titus, or in his writing to Titus, he's going to be calling us to treat people better than they deserve. And so I've titled that, I've set that for the title of the message this morning.

That you and I are called to treat people better than they deserve. And that can be especially challenging for those who are

Man, they're so frustrating to us, aren't they? Those people perhaps who should know better but do those irritating things anyways. Those people that we want to, you know, get on the right track, but they just continue to live the way that they want and do the things that they want. The people that we can butt heads with and fight with. And there's those frustrations within our families.

or within the workplace or within everybody that we come in contact with. You know, it can be so challenging to minister to people or to deal with people. And the amazing thing that we look at here in Titus chapter 3 is that God calls us to treat people better than they deserve. And that's not just our favorite people.

It's easy to treat Pastor David better than he deserves. Actually, it's kind of hard because he deserves so much goodness, right? I mean, it's kind of hard to measure up to how, no, I'm just kidding, right? There are our favorite people and the easy people for us to relate to. And then there's those who are more challenging, right?

And perhaps they don't deserve good treatment as we esteem it, as we look at it. And yet what God calls us to is to treat them with his loving kindness and

regardless of whether or not they deserve it. That God calls us, I'm going to put it this way a little bit to match the picture a little bit, that God calls us to be little rays of sunshine in people's lives. That even if they want to bring the dark storm clouds of hatred and confusion and all kinds of trouble, but God calls us to be these bright lights, bright shining brilliance of his love and mercy to the world around us.

If you think about in Matthew chapter 5, you might remember that Jesus taught us. He said, look, you've heard it said that you should love your neighbor. But I tell you, not only do you love your neighbor, Jesus says, you shall love your enemies also. That you should do good to those who hate you and to those who curse you and those who spitefully use you. Do good to them that you would be like your father who is in heaven.

He goes on in that passage in Matthew chapter 5, verse 46 and 47. He says, look, if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? Now for them, the tax collector, that was their categorization of like the worst of the worst. And so you can substitute anything that you want in there. Any, you know, worst of the worst type of person, put that right in there. The worst of the worst evil person loves those who love them.

Jesus says, there's nothing special if that's what you do. But if you love those who hate you, well, then you're like your father in heaven. He says, if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do that? Again, the worst of the worst do that. And I think it's interesting that he uses the idea here of greeting.

greeting. Now, he's just not talking about, you know, from a distance, like, I love you in the sense, like, I'm not going to kill you. But he's talking about going out of your way, showing warmth, being hospitable, having friendship, maintaining fellowship with people. He says, if you only do that with people who are already your friends and your favorite people, he says, the worst of the worst evil vile people can do that.

But you are to be different. You're going to be like your father in heaven. And he is friendly and gracious and warm and welcoming and hospitable even to those who are not so favorable towards him. God treats people better than they deserve.

And this morning, as we look at Titus chapter 3, it may not be obvious as we initially start, but as we work our way through the passage, we'll see that that's what God does, and that's what he calls us to do, to treat people better than they deserve. And so this is the call, and this is what we must do. Why? Well, point number one this morning is we must do this because it's what God wants. Verse 1 and 2, we find that God wants us

to treat people better than they deserve. Again, verse one says, "'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.'"

Here is, we look at Titus and Paul gives these exhortations to Titus. He's been talking to Titus about the church in the first couple of chapters and establishing leadership within the church and the relationships between and what he should be teaching to the church members.

But now he begins to address how Titus should encourage the church to relate to and deal with the world around us. We're not just talking about fellow Christians. We're talking about family, friends, unbelievers in the workplace, wherever we might be. And there are some ways that we are called to relate to them in a way that is better than they deserve. And it's what God wants for us.

One of the themes here in the book of Titus is this concept of good works, right?

Titus, like Timothy, was left behind in a location to pastor a church and set things in order. Titus was on the island of Crete, which was notorious. It was filled with people who were selfish, self-centered, people who fought against authority, people who were stubborn in turning to the things that were good and right.

And so here is Paul is writing to Titus. He's been talking a lot about good works, that we as believers in Jesus Christ, we don't work in order to be saved, but there's a flow of works that comes out of us and we need to stir that up.

In Titus chapter 2 verse 14, as Paul is talking about the work which Jesus has done for us, he says that Jesus gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people. And notice, zealous for good works. The purpose in which Christ has redeemed us is

was so that we would be set apart, a special group of people who are zealous, excited about, fans of doing good works, of doing good things. And this is talking about, again, not just amongst ourselves and to each other. Of course, we're called to do that.

As Pastor Dave read earlier, that the world will know that we're his disciples by our love for one another. And yet that same type of behavior and love and good works, God calls us to do to everyone around us. And he has redeemed us for the purpose that we would be this special group of people that are fired up and passionate about doing good things for the people around us.

Paul put it another way in Ephesians 2, verse 10, where he said, You see, the outflow of our life is part of God's purpose in saving us.

What he produces through us and how he ministers to the world around us is part of his work in our lives. It's not just saving us from the destruction that we deserve, but he does so so that we can pour out his goodness to the people around us. We are to treat people better than they deserve because, well, it's what God wants. And Paul will list here

Several different things that we're called to do and what God wants us to do. First of all, we're called to be subject to rulers and authorities. One of the ways that we treat people better than they deserve is that we are subject, that we obey those in authority over us. Now, we are fiercely independent many times in our lives and in our culture, and we are

Don't always like to be told what to do or to have authority over us. But Paul says as believers in Jesus, the appropriate role for us is to be in subjection to those authorities. Again, the Cretans, that is what they called the people who lived on Crete. Now we use the word Cretan. That's like an insult, right?

You know where that came from? It came from the people on Crete where Titus was ministering. This is a group of people that did not want to submit to authority. And yet Paul said, you need to remind them. You need to stir up the remembrance and continue to exhort them that there needs to be the proper submission to authority. You can find this all throughout the scriptures. It's what God calls of his people. Now, one of the ways that we try to excuse ourselves from this concept is, well, we're

You know, this ruler, this authority is not that good. My boss, he doesn't know what he's doing. And so I don't have to obey him or I don't have to be in subjection or to honor that role in the position of authority. But God has declared, and you can check out Romans chapter 13 later, where it's abundantly clear that God has appointed every position of authority. There is no position of authority that is not put there by God.

Sometimes those positions of authority are filled with people who are what we might consider worthy or less worthy. But the position itself is ordained by God and he calls us to obey those positions of authority and our obedience to those positions of authority is obedience to him. And when we would

kind of excuse ourselves from that because, well, this authority is not so great. I would call your mind to the fact that Caesar Nero was the emperor of Rome at this time. And as Paul is encouraging and calling people to be obedient and subject to authorities, he's

He's doing so in a context where the authorities were wicked and evil and persecuting Christians. And it's not limited to when you have a good president or when you have a good boss, when you have someone that you totally agree with and have no disagreements with, then you should be subject. No, the reality is,

There's always going to be those in authority over you that think differently, that do things differently, that maybe abuse their authority and use their authority for things that are not appropriate and all of that. And there still needs to be a subjection and obedience and an honor more than they deserve. That's what Paul is calling us to here as he calls us to be subject to rulers and authorities.

He also goes on to say we need to be ready for every good work, ready to jump in and to participate whenever there is an opportunity to do something good. We need to be on alert for those opportunities that God gives us. Now, we can't do every good work that there is option to do. It's just not possible. But we do need to be ready for good work.

ready to jump in and engage in those opportunities that God sets before us. I was thinking about my days at the Boys and Girls Club over here in Corona. And there was this one time where I was standing at the door and I saw a situation happening. And so I looked back to some of the guys that, you know, kind of hoodlum gangster guys, but we were friends. And so I said, hey guys, come on, we need to help with this situation. And so they jumped up and they're walking with me out the door. And

until they see what it is that needs doing. And that is someone's car had broke down and I was leading them out to go help push the car to where it needed to be. Now, as soon as they hit the door and they saw the situation, they were out. They thought I was leading them into a fight. And if I was leading them into a fight, they were with me and they were going to throw blows. They would take hits. They didn't, they would be, they were eager to be part of that.

but jump in and help push a car? No thanks. You could do that by yourself, Jerry. We need to have a zeal and earnestness and eagerness to jump in, not to the fight, but to the good work, to jump in and help people and to meet needs and to be part of bringing blessings and goodness in people's lives. This is what God wants from us. He also goes on to list the

need for us to speak evil of no one. Another thing we need to be reminded of, like the Cretans, we need to be reminded that God does not want us to speak evil of anyone. Now, this is interesting because this word, speak evil, it's the Greek word blasphemeo, which we get the word blaspheme from. And we're familiar with that word in the context of God, right? And maybe there's a

a severe sense of like, ooh, yeah, don't blaspheme, you know, like blaspheming God and, oh, it's like so a horrible thing to do. And we have that sense perhaps, but we think nothing of blaspheming someone, especially someone we disagree with, especially someone who has hurt us, not a big deal. And yet God calls us not to blaspheme him. Of course, that's wrong.

but it is also wrong to blaspheme other people. And we would put those kind of in different categories, right? It's like, well, you know, that's not as bad to blaspheme someone else as it is to blaspheme God, but it's just as wrong. The word blaspheme, it means to hurt the reputation of someone, to smite with reports or words. It's to hit someone or to hurt someone with what you say.

or to harm the reputation. So other people are esteeming this person too highly, you think, you know, in your estimation, like, yeah, you shouldn't think so highly. Let me tell you about this person and give you a better understanding of how they really are and who they really are and what their motivations really are. And we can, with our words, hurt people's reputation. It's blasphemy. And Paul says, God doesn't want you to do that. There's nobody who

that God says, it's okay for you to go ahead and blaspheme that person. Go ahead and hurt their reputation. Go ahead and talk about how horrible they are and tell everybody the evil that they did. It's okay, go ahead, just do that. That is not what God calls us to as believers. Speak evil of no one. To not hurt or harm the reputation. Now, there's some contexts where it is necessary to report on

things that were done wrong. And it's not a forbidding against that, but it is a forbidding of attacking a person's reputation or character and bringing that reputation down, hurting and harming them in that. And so we need to be careful with our words in bringing those accusations and bringing those attacks that are not appropriate. He says we need to be peaceable.

In Greek, the word is amachos. It's the word a, which means not. So literally, Paul says, don't be macho. Don't be macho. Again, eager to jump into the fight. That's not how you're to be. Instead, you should be amacho. That is, it is really hard to get you to fight. How hard is it for you to get into a fight? Again, putting into the context, we're not thinking about one another as believers necessarily, right?

Although there can be fights and there can be issues there, but dealing in the context of that family member that is, oh, so, it just like, you know, right there under your fingernail, you know, just putting the bamboo shoots right in, just like, like every time they talk, it's just like, oh, it's painful. It's hurtful. Oh man, why do they have to be so dumb? You know, and, and it could be easy for us to get into fights, can't it? And yet as believers in Jesus,

What God wants is for us to be peaceable, for us to be in a position and a condition where it is so hard to get us into a fight, where it is absolutely difficult. Now, we fight for justice. We fight for rights of people who are being taken advantage of. That's a different kind of fight. But to get involved in a fight, oh, it should be so difficult for us, right?

For us to start lashing back and fighting back, we are to be peaceable. And along with that, he says we're to be gentle, mild, not spicy, right? Mild, gentle, tomato sauce, you know? Like, well, maybe that's a little bit acidic, but you get the point, right? It's not...

Not some spicy peppers, but we're to be mild and easy and easy to relate to and easy to deal with. And then he finishes it by saying, showing all humility and notice here, to all men. Again, the context of what Paul is talking about here in these behaviors that God wants from us is not just amongst our favorite people, but it's amongst everybody. Everybody.

That with everyone, God wants you to be subject to those authorities and rulers that he has appointed over you and to be obedient and to be ready for any good work, whether it be someone that you know or someone that has hurt you or someone that is your favorite person in the world, that you would be ready to jump in and participate in good works in the lives of the people around you and that you would speak evil of no one and be peaceable and gentle and showing all humility or meekness.

That meekness, which is that softness, that holding back. This is the way that we are called to relate to the world around us. And Paul tells Titus, remind them, remind them. Literally in the Greek, it's in the present tense, which means keep on reminding them because they're going to forget these things and need to be reminded of them. Because you know, those Cretans, they're just like the Californians. They need to be reminded of these things, right?

They're going to slip back and begin to treat people more in agreement with what they think they deserve. But instead, we need to treat people better than they deserve. And you may look at the rulers in authority and say, they don't deserve it. They don't deserve me to honor them or support them or to do what they're asking me to do. You may look at the people around you and think, that guy deserves that flat tire. He doesn't deserve for me to help him fix the flat tire.

You might look at the family member and think, they need to be brought down. They need the blasphemy that's coming out of my mouth right now. Everybody needs to know how bad they really are and what's going on in their heart. That person needs to be beaten, you know, so I'm not going to be gentle. And they deserve a good beating. And all of that may be true. But even if all of that is true, God would still say, but treat them better than they deserve. Don't give them what they deserve. Don't give them what they deserve.

Treat them better than they deserve. The Bible knowledge commentary puts it this way. A Christian citizen should be an influence for good in the community in every way, demonstrating the loveliness of Christ to all through courteous and gracious behavior. And I like that phrase there, the loveliness of Christ. That is what we are to demonstrate. That's what we are to model, to show. Let me show you the loveliness of Christ today.

You know, we have the shirts, ask me to pray for you. Maybe it should say now, let me show you the loveliness of Christ. And would you walk around with that shirt? You know, would you wear that? Would you say, yes, I am going to show you the loveliness of Christ through my courteous and gracious behavior. That's what God calls us to.

to treat people better than they deserve. Not treat them so well because they're so deserving, but recognizing and understanding, yeah, they're not deserving and they're unbelievers. And many times they deserve many of the things that we would love to unleash upon them. But to hold back,

and treat them better. That's what God calls us to. Again, in Titus chapter 2, Jesus gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous, excited, passionate for good works, passionate for doing good to people who don't deserve it.

Now, this can be a difficult thing for us and troublesome to us. How could we treat people this way? Well, we need to because God wants us to, but also it's helpful to remember that we were just like them. That's point number three. Treat people better than they deserve because you were just as bad. You were just as bad. Now, this could be a little bit hard for us to swallow, but try to be mature and

And think realistically about your life. And again, as you have in mind that person who is so frustrating and annoying and irritating, and it's such a struggle, would you come to terms with the reality that you were just as bad as they are? Oh no, I can't accept that. Check out what Paul says in verse three.

For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

We look at a person and are annoyed and irritated and frustrated, and we think that we are nothing like that person. And Paul looks at us and says, actually, we were exactly like that. We were in the same place as they are. Now, of course, we may struggle with a different sin. All of the details may not be exactly the same. And yet the issue of sin is the same.

You probably remember, of course, when Jesus talked about when you look at your brother and the speck that's in his eye and not realize that you have a plank in your eye, right? That's that judgment that we pass on other people when we have these huge glaring issues and we're seeing their issue and say, let me help you with that. But I have this huge issue in my life. And usually in that

situation, although Jesus described it as a speck in their eye and a plank in my eye, that's not the way that we see it. I see a plank in your eye and I see a speck in my own eye. That is, I've learned how to water down and soften my sin and

So that it doesn't sound so terrible to me. And it's, you know, yeah, I struggle with this and I had this and I was in that situation. But, you know, I've softened it so much. I've watered it down. But your issue, oh my goodness, that is horrible. No excuse for you. Lots of excuses for me. That's the way we are, right? Jesus describes as a speck in the eye, but we see the plank and we say, that's a plank. You know, that is worse than what I did and what I was. And Paul says, you need to remember that.

One of the key elements of treating people better than they deserve is you need to remember that you are in the same boat, that you are in that condition as well. Notice he says, for we ourselves were also once foolish. And he goes on to list the rest.

The reason why we are able to be subject to rulers and speak evil of no one and be peaceable. The reason why we're able to do all of those things is because we've come from the position where they are. G. Campbell Morgan puts it this way. In order to fulfill these ideals, that is from verse one and two, those things that God wants of us. He says, Christian people should remember their own past and

and treat with pity those who are yet foolish, disobedient, and deceived. Remembering where we came from should stir up within us some compassion for the people that are so difficult for us to relate to today. Because you look and you can recognize, man, I remember. I remember being miserable like that.

I remember being miserable in those kinds of circumstances and that kind of situation, caught up in sin and trapped in the clutches of the enemy. I remember that. And so out of compassion, we're able then to treat people better than they deserve because we remember what it was like to be in their shoes. But I think another aspect that this stirs up within us is hope. Hope. Hope.

Because as we look back and remember, I was like that and I was in a similar circumstance. As bad as the people in your life are, God can transform them just like he's transformed you. And so remembering where we've come from and remembering how bad we were helps us to have compassion and to have hope.

as we relate to the people around us. And so we need to treat people better than they deserve because, well, I was just as bad. And Paul goes on to list some examples. He says, you were foolish. And that is true of every one of us. Before Christ and apart from Christ and sometimes even in Christ, we are foolish. It speaks to the idea of being unbelieving. We're foolish because we don't know the truth.

We don't have the light. We don't have the light of God's word and the light of the Holy Spirit. We're foolish, unaware of what is really going on. And sometimes in our interactions with people, part of the frustration for us is, why don't they see it? Why don't they get it? Why don't they understand? And Paul says, you need to stop and go back and remember, you've been foolish. You've been confused. You've been misled and

Well, deceived is another one on the list. You've been in that position of being deceived and blinded by the enemy. The scripture talks about the idea of Satan having blinders upon the eyes and the hearts of unbelievers. Last week, we talked about in 2 Timothy, that the idea of they're the people who are in the clutches. They've been snared by the devil. They're caught up. They're trapped by the devil. You've been there.

You've been in that condition, trapped by the devil, deceived, foolish. Paul also says disobedient. I like that word disobedient because literally it means unpersuadable. This is not just like, you know, you do things in disobedience out of ignorance or you just didn't know any better or whatever, but it's unpersuadable. That is, you're being told what to do.

And you're saying, nope, I refuse. I will not be persuaded. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to do what I want. I'm going to do my way. I'm going to do, you know, we've all been like that. And there are people in our lives that are like that. They're unpersuadable. But Paul says, don't be short with them and lose your temper because they're unpersuadable. But stop and think back and recognize that you, you've been there also.

It's amazing how when we're in that state of being disobedient or unpersuadable, we can be so convinced about all the freedom that we have because I'm my own man and nobody tells me what to do. And we think that there's freedom in that, but it's really bondage and miserable in that condition. Being obedient is actually more freeing than being unpersuadable.

He goes on to say we were serving various lusts and pleasures. And again, this speaks to the understanding that the things that we did in our sinfulness, the details might be different than the person that we're relating to. And we magnify that because their issue is, you know, really horrendous. And, you know, mine was much less severe. But that's not the accurate perspective. That's our skewed perspective. And so you can fill in the blanks, but

The bottom line is we were enslaved to various lusts. And your lust might be different than my lust. Your pursuit of pleasure might be different than my pursuit of pleasure. That we seek after and we're craving different things, but it comes from the same place. And it's a place of bondage. This idea of serving various lusts, more accurately could be said, we were enslaved to various lusts.

Solomon described this whole concept very well in the book of Ecclesiastes. As he set out on a journey to find fulfillment, to find satisfaction for his heart apart from God. And he gave himself. He had unlimited resources. He had unlimited power. He could do whatever he wanted to do. And so he gave himself fully to wealth. And he found that craving, that thirst, it didn't fulfill. It didn't satisfy.

And so he gave himself fully to accomplishment, achievement. He got to the end of that road and found it doesn't satisfy, it doesn't fulfill. And on and on and on, the book of Ecclesiastes goes through all the things that Solomon tried. And we all know what that's like. We still might be foolish enough to think, well, if I had unlimited resources, then I could pursue that and really find fulfillment. But

But if we're wise, if we understand the truth, we would recognize even if you had all the money in the world and could do whatever you wanted to do anytime you wanted it, wherever you wanted, you could full reign, it would still be an enslavement to various lusts and pleasures that will never satisfy. Let that memory stir up some compassion for you, for the people in your life that are so aggravating and frustrating and hard to deal with because they're caught up

in serving various lusts and pleasures. And you know what that's like. You know how miserable that is to finally get to that place that you've been fighting and struggling and working to get to, and then find this isn't really satisfying, but not then giving up, then going, but maybe that's satisfying. And so I work and I fight and I work and I fight and I finally get there. And I find that that's not really satisfying. I was happy for a couple of weeks.

Didn't really fulfill that. It's not lasting. Maybe that. And then we, and we, we, we've been in that pattern. We've been in that trap. So have some compassion for those who are in that trap, but also have some hope. God intervened and broke through that cycle to get to you. At least I hope he did. If not, there's still opportunity. God can break that cycle. You don't have to continue chasing that and be enslaved to the various lusts and pleasures.

He goes on to say that we were living in malice and envy. That's talking about the hatred towards one another and hating, being hateful and hating one another. Envy also is the idea of being upset and frustrated when someone else gets good things in their life, you know, so that person that you're frustrated with and then God blesses them and does amazing things and you're like, oh my goodness, it's so frustrating. We all know what that's like to be miserable at

God working in other people and other people receiving good things. We all know what it's like. We've experienced hating others, but also being hated. We know what that's like. And Paul's saying, look, this is the condition of the world of the people around us. And so we can look at them and have compassion and remember to treat people better than they deserve.

Because we've been in their situation. We've been in their shoes. We were just as bad as them. They're not worse than we were. It's easy for us to categorize them as, oh, they're worse than I ever was. But that's not the reality. Don't forget that. Remember, let that stir up within you some compassion because you know how miserable it is. And if you would say, well, I wasn't like that. I wasn't that bad. Then why did you need to be saved?

Why did you need what Christ has to offer if you're not that bad? See, that's the point. And we easily forget. And so we need to be reminded. I might struggle with a different sin, but that doesn't make it better than the sin that that person struggles with. No, we need to recognize we come from the same place, caught up with the same issues.

Moving on to point number three, found in verses four through seven. Here we see we need to treat people better than they deserve because God was kind to you. First of all, because God wants you to, that's important. Second, because you were just as bad, that's important. But now comes kind of the climax and the main point. And that is, this is how God has treated you. Even though you are as bad as that person is.

And your heart was wicked, just like that person's heart was wicked. Yet God was kind to you. Verse 4 says...

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. Now here in these verses, Paul gives us

powerful gospel truth. I mean, it's like incredible doctrine of salvation here in these verses. And there's no way we're going to, you know, get to the depths of these things. And so I would encourage you to make a note of these verses and come back and revisit and consider the amazing, powerful truth of the gospel that's found here.

But just kind of touching some highlights in verse four, he says, but when the kindness and the love of God, our savior toward man appeared. Now, remember the context in which Paul is talking here. He says, first of all, this is the way that we need to behave towards the people around us because we were in their shoes and as wicked as they are. And yet, even in that condition, God was kind to us.

The kindness and the love of God, our savior toward man appeared. That word kindness, it speaks about the grace which pervades the whole nature, mellowing all which would have been harsh and austere. The idea of mellowing all that would have been harsh and

Now, when you think about God, and of course we know that God is love, right? And some people like to focus on that and exclude all other characteristics of God, that God is only love, but that's not the reality. God is also just. He's righteous. And there is a righteous wrath of God against sin. There is a righteous judgment of God, a punishment from God that is right and appropriate and fair.

Because of our sinfulness. Because again, that's where we once were. And we deserved the righteous wrath of God. But although we deserved the harshness and sharpness of the wrath of God, God has clothed himself in kindness. Smoothing out and removing all that would have been harsh in the person of Jesus Christ. So that those who believe in Jesus...

And those who receive the forgiveness that Jesus offers, they experience not the harsh judgment of God, not the wrath of God, but the kindness of God. There is the harshness of God. There is a right and appropriate wrath of God. But for the believer in Jesus, that's been mellowed out because all of that harshness and all of that sharpness and all of that judgment, Jesus received instead of us upon the cross.

And so this is the kindness of God, the mellowing out of his harshness, the righteous wrath of God covered by the cross. So God was kind to us and he loved us, Paul says here in verse four also. The love of God appeared. This word love, it's not the typical agape love. This is a word love that we would translate or transliterate to philanthropy, right?

And the idea here is friendship, doing good things in a friendly way. It's goodwill manifest in a friendly, considerate demeanor. And especially in the practice of hospitality, readiness to help, tenderheartedness, cherishing and maintaining fellowship. And boy, that is such an accurate description of the way that God relates to us, isn't it? He is friendly, right?

And with a friendly demeanor, he approaches us with hospitality and he's ready to help. He is tenderhearted and oh, does he cherish our friendship, our fellowship. That's what matters most to him. And even when we've hurt him and maligned him and rebelled against him, God will still make attempts to reconcile, to maintain that fellowship.

This is the way that God has treated us. He has approached us with kindness, with love. Why? Why did God choose to relate to us this way? Well, first, Paul tells us the reasons why, well, the reasons that were not the reason why God chose. In verse five, he says, not by works of righteousness, which we have done. Why did God treat us with kindness and love? Paul says, well, I'll tell you one thing. It wasn't because of your righteousness.

It wasn't because you were so good. It wasn't because you were amazing and did good things. No, instead he goes on to say it was according to his mercy. Mercy is the withholding of judgment. It was because he chose to hold back and say, you deserve wrath. You deserve sharpness. You deserve harshness. But I'm gonna hold back. It's according to his mercy that he saved us through the washing of regeneration.

regeneration that speaks to us the reality of being born again. For those who believe in Jesus Christ, there is a rebirth that takes place by the Holy Spirit where we are given spiritual life by faith in Jesus Christ. And that comes with a washing that is all your sin, all of your wickedness, all your filth, all the things that you once were from verse three, it's washed, completely removed from you.

but then also comes with a renewing of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is not just given, you know, here's a little tiny drop of the Spirit for you. He says in verse six, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. God was kind towards us. He loved us. He washed us, gave us new life, filled us with the Holy Spirit. And none of that was earned or deserved or because of our righteousness.

It was all because of his choosing and his goodness. Verse seven, that having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Justified. He says, look, you've become justified. That is, you have a right standing with God where God relates to you as if you have never sinned, not even once.

I mean, that is really incredible. You are justified as a believer in Jesus. That is your position. That is your standing. God relates to you as if you have never sinned, not even once. He did this by his grace. And grace is God's goodness towards us that we cannot earn and would never deserve. It's just God being good to us because he wants to be good to us.

And in his goodness to us, he's shown kindness. He's shown love. He's washed us. He's poured out his Holy Spirit upon us. He's given us the standing of being right with God. And he's called us to be or made us to be heirs according to the hope of eternal life. He's given us the promise of everlasting life. As you look at these things, again, there's incredible depth and truth and powerful gospel message in here about all that God has done for us.

but attaching it to the context of what Paul is talking about. Paul is saying, this is how God is related to you. And that is why you must relate to others in the same way. You remember the parable of the forgiven servant? There was the servant, it's found in Matthew chapter 18. You can check it out later. But there was a servant who owed his master more than he could ever possibly repay.

Even if he won the lottery, you know, several times in his life, he owed his master more times than he could ever possibly repay. And it's time to pay the debt. And so the master, the servant stands before his master and he says, I'm sorry, master, I don't have the money. Give me more time. Even though the debt is impossible to pay, the servant says, I just need a little bit more time. Can you give me more time and I'll repay. And the master says, you know what? I'm not just going to give you more time. I'm going to forgive the debt.

You're never going to pay me back. I don't want to keep this kind of relationship with you all the time. Let's just forget the debt. And he forgives that servant his debt. But then as Jesus goes on in the parable, that servant goes outside and he finds Richard Bueno who owns him five bucks. He grabs him by the collar and he shakes him. He says, give me my $5 before I throw you in prison, you scumbag. And the master hears about this servant who had been forgiven so much, but was so harsh towards someone who had done so much less good.

And he said, nevermind, your debt's not forgiven. You're now accountable for that debt that I once forgave you. You're accountable for it. And I'm throwing you into prison because you would not forgive your fellow servant such a little amount when I have forgiven you such a great amount. And Jesus says, in the same way, we are called to forgive the people around you who have hurt you, who have harmed you, who have done so much damage to you.

In relation to what you have been forgiven by God, it's nothing. It doesn't feel like nothing. And I'm not trying to minimize the hurt that you feel. But when you understand what God has forgiven you of, it puts things back into perspective to help you remember, this is the way that God has treated me with kindness and love and grace and forgiveness.

And so he calls me now to treat other people the same way. God was kind to you. And so you should treat people better than they deserve. It's what God wants. You were just as bad as they are. And still, even in that condition, God was kind to you. Well, finally, finishing it up with verse eight and point number four, treat people better than they deserve because it is profitable.

Or another word you could substitute in there, because it is effective. Verse 8 says, Paul says, here's a faithful saying.

We've looked at a couple of these. He says that several times in his letters to Timothy and Titus. These are sayings that you can bank your eternal condition on. These are sayings that are absolutely true. And what are these things? What is he talking about? Well, you could attach it to the gospel message that he's just been saying, and that is absolutely true. That is something you can count on. But also, again, considering the context, he's attaching this

to the reality then that since we have received that, it should then outflow in our lives in the way that we relate to others. He says, this is a faithful saying, these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. We've believed in God, we've received this from God. And now Paul says, we need to be careful to maintain that same type of approach to

to the people around us. God treated you better than you deserve. And it's not just that God did that for you. And so as like a matter of a payment, right? So someone in front of you at Starbucks paid for your coffee. So you should pay for somebody else's coffee. Like just, you know, pay it forward. You know, that kind of, it's not, it's not just that mentality. That's part of it. But, but here's the reality. The reason why God treated you better than you deserve is

is to model for you the most effective way of reaching people. It's not just, he did something nice, so you should do something nice. He says, look, I'm going to show you how to reach people. I'm going to show you how to break through all of those patterns of sinfulness and destructiveness that we've been talking about. I'm going to show you how to change that. And our tendency many times would be to approach someone who's caught up in those things differently.

in a different method than God used in reaching us. Again, you were just as bad, but it was God's kindness that was effective in reaching you. It wasn't the law, and it wasn't screaming and yelling, and it wasn't hatred, and it wasn't guilt trips, and it wasn't these heavy burdens, and it wasn't, that's not what reached you.

That's not what transforms a life. What changes a life, what breaks through and reaches us in that condition is the kindness and the love of God. God says, I related to you this way because it was the best way to reach you. I could have brought down judgment, but that wasn't the best way to reach you. I could have brought down more laws, but that wasn't the best way to reach you. Instead, I brought down my son to die upon the cross.

so that I could offer to you mercy and grace and kindness. And you could experience that mellowing out of all that once was harsh. Paul tells us in Romans 2, verse 4, he says,

He's talking about just pressing on in sin and rebelling against God. And he says, that's a despising of God's goodness and his patience with you. And you need to know that God's goodness towards you, it's what's leading you to repentance. God is giving you opportunity and space to repent with his goodness towards you. That's what's effective in

for reaching people who are hardened in sin and caught up and trapped and ensnared in the traps of the enemy. That's what's effective at reaching people who are in authority. And that's why you need to treat them better than they deserve. That's what's effective at reaching people who are caught up and ensnared in pursuing various lusts and pleasures. And that's why you need to treat them better than they deserve. That's what's effective at reaching people who are, again, caught up in all of these things.

It's the way that God related to us because it's profitable. It's effective. And God is able to break through with his goodness. But again, so many times we receive the goodness of God and then we turn around and we try to do that same kind of work with law, with judgment, with criticism, with guilt trips, with harshness, with fighting, with screaming, whatever. We try to do it with a different approach. And it's one that God didn't use towards us.

And so Paul says here in verse 8, you need to be careful to maintain good works. Those who have believed in God, those who have received this goodness from God, here's what you need to do. Be careful to do the same thing that God has done towards you, to maintain good works. That word maintain is interesting. Why is it necessary to maintain something? Why is maintenance required?

Well, maintenance is required because things do not naturally just continue. Your car needs maintenance because it's in the process of breaking down. And so it needs to be maintained so that it continues to run smoothly. Your home needs maintenance because it's in the process of being broken down. But maintenance is the idea of coming in and bringing a revival to those things that need attention so they don't run dry, so they don't run out of

In a similar way for us as believers, maintenance is required and needed for good works because we can start doing good works, but the natural course is for us to get tired of doing good works. I think it's to the Galatians, might be one of the other letters, but Paul says to not grow weary in doing, in well-doing, especially to that household of faith, that there's a tendency for us to get tired of doing good works, right?

Maybe we don't see the effectiveness. We don't see the results. We don't, whatever. We get caught up in our own ideas and selfishness and we forget to do good works. We're not at the ready, you know, ready to jump, ready to jump into a fight maybe, but not ready to jump up and get involved in good works and doing good to the people around us. Paul says you need to be careful to maintain that. It's not going to happen automatically.

And if you're just waiting for some, you know, thing to just strike you and all of a sudden you just want to do a bunch of good works, Paul says, that's not going to happen. You need to stir that up within yourself. As you look back to what God has done for you, as you look back and remember how you were in the same condition, as you look at those things and recognize and appreciate what God has done for you, let that stir you up to the maintenance of good works that you would keep a watchful eye on yourself to continue to

to press on and to keep on doing good and treating people better than they deserve. Because it's what God wants you to do. And you are just as bad as they are. Yet God was kind to you and it was effective at breaking through and reaching you with the gospel message. Again, what God wants us to be is little rays of sunshine. Even when that person wants to be your enemy and wants to rain down thunder and hatred and storms,

You be that bright light shining the goodness, the kindness and the love of God to the people around you. Even the most frustrating, the most difficult, because you know what it's like to be in their shoes and to be miserable and to be lost. And God reached you with his kindness. So he now calls us to then go forward and reach others just as bad as us with the same method, his love, his kindness and his mercy. Let's pray.

God, I pray for each one of us as we consider these things. And what, as I mentioned at the beginning, these are challenging truths, challenging concepts, because dealing with those people can be so difficult. And yet, God, I pray that you would help us to remember, to consider how we were and your incredible goodness towards us and your offer of salvation, which is incomparable and how much more

we had done to you and towards you in our sinfulness. Lord, it doesn't compare to what has been done towards us. And so Lord, I pray that you would help us to look to you and to receive from you all of the resources that we need to be able to reflect your love and character and nature to the people around us. Lord, sometimes we are desperate. We are longing to reach people and yet we still use resources

methods and means that you didn't use towards us. Help us, Lord, to adopt your ways, to use your kindness, your mercy, your love, your grace, to maintain good works, trusting that, Lord, you, you can use those as effective tools far more than any burdens that we could place, arguments that we could present, lectures that we could offer, debates that we could win, guilt that we could bring. Lord, those aren't your methods. Amen.

Those are ours. Help us, Lord, to take on your methods to love people in the same way that you've loved us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.