Titus 3

Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. Crete’s reputation for insubordination makes the reminder pastoral, not theoretical. Readiness for good work is as much the charge as civil obedience.

Grace that appeared for all people (2:11) now trains a people who do not treat the magistrate as an enemy by default. Submission here is limited by the same “without sin” Wesley named for bondservants; it is not a blank check for tyranny. The church can neglect this readiness; the reminder exists because they might.

Civil order belongs to the same holy pattern as the household of chapter 2. Submissive, obedient, ready for every good work: Paul will not let the gospel look like rebellion.

God ordains rulers; He also ordains a people ready for good work under that order. The reminder is a means by which He keeps His church from the Cretan vice of insubordination. Readiness is fruit of the mercy soon named (vv. 4–7), not a ladder up to it.

Speak evil of no one, avoid quarreling, be gentle, show perfect courtesy toward all people. “All men” again: the courtesy is as wide as the neighbors God sincerely loves. Malice is not a small social flaw in a church just told to adorn the doctrine.

Courtesy toward all is of a piece with grace appeared for all (2:11). The same heart cannot bless a universal gospel and curse the image-bearers it names. Gentleness is a grace to be practiced; quarreling is a grace refused.

Evil speech, quarreling, and harshness would undo the public beauty of the doctrine. Perfect courtesy toward all people matches a gospel preached to all kinds, including the ranks of chapter 2.

The Spirit produces a meekness toward outsiders that does not require us to call every neighbor elect. “All men” here is the wide field of neighbors. God cares how His people treat those not yet in the household; contempt is not a mark of zeal.

For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful. The courtesy of v. 2 rests on memory: we were that neighbor. No one is saved by a better past.

This is honest autobiography of grace, not flattery. We were slaves; we can still remember the chain. The same passions remain resistible dangers. Humility toward all people is the only fitting tone for people who were just now this lost.

Paul includes himself: we ourselves were once. The vices are not a pagan cartoon; they are the church’s former life. Slavery to passions is authentic; so is the malice that made people hateful and hating.

This former state is what mercy interrupts (v. 4). God found His people here, not after they had cleaned the house. Remembering it guards courtesy (v. 2) and prepares the “he saved us” that does not rest on works (v. 5).

But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared. The same appearing as 2:11: not our climb, His kindness. Savior names a God whose heart has shown up in history.

The appearing is sincere goodness toward the world of v. 3—foolish, enslaved people. Loving kindness is not a private warmth for a hidden few only. What appeared is the character of a Savior who means to save.

The turn is God’s, not ours. Goodness and loving kindness appeared: Calvin will soon say they obtained this blessing solely through the mercy of God. “Our Savior” is the God who actually saves.

The appearing is the historical arrival of saving mercy toward those He will wash and justify (vv. 5–7). Kindness is authentic and undeserved. It does not, on this reading, make every person in v. 3 a recipient of effectual salvation; it names the source of the salvation of “us.”

He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. Both camps must say this together first: mercy, not works; regeneration; the Spirit’s washing and renewal. Wesley: the cause is not our works or righteousness, but the kindness and love of God our Savior; sanctification is expressed by the laver of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Ghost. He calls that laver baptism—the thing signified as well as the sign. Note the baptismal language briefly; do not make baptismal regeneration the main fight.

Classical Arminians hear a washing and renewal that enables: God actually regenerates and renews, and that grace is resistible still. “He saved us” is mercy’s initiative, not our merit. The Spirit’s work is water-and-Spirit life, not a metaphor for trying harder. Those washed must still walk; the washing does not make later refusal impossible.

Calvin: by their works they did not at all deserve to become partakers of salvation; they obtained this blessing solely through the mercy of God. He hath saved us. It is the Spirit of God who regenerates us and makes us new creatures; because his grace is invisible, a visible symbol of it is beheld in baptism. Paul addresses believers, in whom baptism is always efficacious.

“He saved us” is effectual. God actually saved, not merely offered to save. Regeneration is the Spirit’s new-creating work in the elect; baptism is sign and pledge of that invisible grace, efficacious in the believers Paul addresses. Mercy, not works, is the cause. The washing is not a cooperative maybe; it is how the Savior named in v. 4 actually made us new.

Whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. The Spirit is not rationed stingily. Richly, and through Jesus: regeneration is Trinitarian mercy, not a technique.

The rich outpouring is sincerely given in the gospel of Christ the Savior. Those who do not reject it (2:12) receive an indwelling renewal. Richness does not undo responsibility to walk in the Spirit who was poured out.

The Spirit is poured out richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Calvin’s “he hath saved us” continues: the same Christ through whom the Spirit comes is the Savior who actually saves.

Richness is the Father’s gift through the Son in the elect. The outpouring is not a mere possibility hovering over all; it is the lavish means by which God regenerates and renews those He has saved. “Our Savior” again names effectual mercy.

Justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Wesley: justification is being pardoned and accepted through the alone merits of Christ, according to his mercy, by his grace. Both camps glory in grace, not works. The “so that” ties washing and renewal to a justified standing and a living hope.

We are justified by His grace as those who believe. Regeneration enables; justification is pardon and acceptance through Christ’s merits received by faith. Heirship and the hope of eternal life belong to those so justified. Grace is the sole meritorious source; believing is the living condition, not a work that earns the verdict.

Calvin: being justified by his grace. The same mercy that regenerated now accounts us righteous. Heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This hope is secured by the God who saved us (v. 5), not perched on our performance.

Justification by grace is God’s verdict on those He has actually saved and regenerated. Faith is the instrument He gives; it is not a self-originated condition that makes the mercy take. Heirship follows adoption in Christ. Eternal life is hoped for because it is promised to a people already justified, not offered as a wage still in doubt.

The saying is faithful; Paul wants these things affirmed confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to maintain good works; these things are good and profitable to men. Wesley: be careful to excel in good works—though the apostle does not lay these for the foundation, yet he brings them in at their proper place.

Those who have believed is the living people in view. Good works are not the foundation (vv. 5–7); they are the proper fruit. Insist: hearers can grow slack. Belief that refuses good works is not the faith this paragraph describes. Profit for people keeps the works public and useful, not a private badge.

A trustworthy saying: the mercy-regeneration-justification cluster is to be insisted on, and the insist produces devotees of good works among those who have believed. Foundation first (vv. 4–7), then works in their place.

Those who have believed are those God has saved. Careful devotion to good works is the ordained fruit, excellent and profitable. Calvin will say the same again at 3:14. The pastor insists because this is how the Lord trains a justified people; the works do not justify, and a justification that never works is not the justification Paul just named.