NorMel House Devotions

Titus 3:7 “So that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Justification. What does it mean? Theologically speaking, the dictionary says it is the action of declaring and making righteous in the sight of God. We’ve already learned of our need for a Savior, that among men, “there is no one righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10b) How, then, can we be put right before God, the Lawgiver and Judge? 2 Corinthians 5:21 gives us a nice summary when it says, “For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus died for us, He rose, and by His blood we are declared not guilty and acquitted of all our sins. We are given free and full forgiveness from the law's curse. All of this is only possible because of the grace of God. God offered Himself to save us from our sin. In giving the Son, He gave Himself. God took His own love to appease His own righteous anger by bearing it in ...

Titus 3:5-6 “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.” In today’s text, Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit's washing of rebirth and renewal. He isn’t referring to baptism, but rather to what baptism signifies. Spiritual rebirth of the soul is the God ordained transformation portrayed in baptism. We are washed in Christ’s blood, cleansed from sin and renewed by the Holy Spirit. This isn’t because of anything we’ve done, but, as 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ! In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” We are sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit. God poured out the Holy Spirit on us through Jesus Christ. Spiritual Baptism is the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and by Him, we a...

Titus 3:5-6 “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.” We often like to think that we are good people, that we generally do good, and that we deserve to go to heaven. Paul, however, points out the flaws with this ideology and the Bible is full of texts that contradict this idea. In our text, Paul is making the point that even the things we consider our “best works” cannot contribute to salvation. The reality is that there is not an iota within us that can contribute to our salvation. Salvation is only through God alone. Because of His mercy, God does not give us what we deserve, but rather, as we learned in verse 4, He sent His kindness and love in Jesus to give us what we don’t deserve. 2 Timothy 1:9 says, “He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jes...

Titus 3:4-5a “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us” If you know Paul's history, then you know that Paul was not always a servant and preacher of the gospel. Paul, formerly Saul, persecuted the Christians of his time, even putting many in prison. So, how did the persecutor become the preacher? Titus 3:4 gives us the answer; quite literally, "the kindness and love of God the Savior appeared." Saul went from persecutor to preacher, not because of anything he had done, but because Jesus came to him, and as our text says, "He saved us!" In Acts 9, we can read about Jesus' appearance to Paul, and in verse 20, it says, "At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God." The opposer became the opposed, again, not because of anything Paul did, but because God chose to reveal Himself to Paul through Christ Jesus. Jesus personifies God's kindness and love, and we can see a strong contrast between ...

Titus 3:3 “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.” We live in a world that is full of deception. We deceive ourselves and others with worldly ideologies that would have you believe that you are a good person, that you can find strength in yourself, that you can have your own truth, and that freedom is being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want. The Bible tells us something different. If we start with the basic knowledge that we can do no good in and of ourselves then all of those concepts go out the window. In Titus 3:3, Paul is describing all mankind, and if you think you’re an exception, then you deceive yourself! Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Christians can sometimes have haughty opinions and think they’re better than unbelievers, but Paul is reminding us that we, too, were “foolis...

Titus 3:1-2 “Remind the people to be 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.” The way that Christians behave in society has a direct relation to the impact of the gospel. Once again, Paul speaks of Christian living but this time he’s specifically referring to our conduct in society. The Christian should be law-abiding, obedient, and, as our text says, “ready to do whatever is good.” Paul, once again, takes us back to the evils of the tongue when he tells us to slander no one. We are called to radical goodness! Not only are we not to speak evil of others, but we are also to be courteous and considerate to everyone. We often try to categorize sin into greater and lesser evil but that is not right. Sin is sin. All of our behavior must be such that it commends the gospel so that others will be attracted to the gospel. We must seek to save! Jesus spoke o...