MERCY
Titus 3
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 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.”
Firstly, we must be clear that Christians are to be good people at heart: “subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.”
This is God’s intention for us. This is why he saved us, so that we may become good even though we were once “foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another”.
The core difference between God’s way and other religions who also teach us to be good people is God’s mercy. He does not merely tell us to be good people but he also gives us what we need to do so.
The presence of the Holy Spirit gives us a new start and will work in us to renew us, and this was made possible because of the sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
This is going to take time and it will be a challenging process because God does not treat us like robots, removing our corrupted software and installing a new and better operating system all at once. The rebirth that Paul talks about is spiritual, that now our spirit is reconnected to the Holy Spirit and as we give him control more and more, he is able to help us. But, we are living beings and this process takes place as we seek to follow Jesus and walk in his ways. We are not going to succeed all at once but we put our faith in God and we do not give up in despair.
Our hope of victory is secure because God has given us the Holy Spirit.
“This is a trustworthy saying.”