Titus 3
Titus 3:1-15 (NKJV)
1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,
2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
5 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,
6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.
9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.
10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition,
11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.
12 When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.
13 Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste, that they may lack nothing.
14 And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.
15 All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
Rather than directing towards a grasp on superior understanding that separates and excludes from general honor and consideration of others, Paul stresses the need for good works as true evidence of the work of grace. What makes us right in His presence isn’t our getting everything right ourselves, especially in relation to others. It’s by the goodness and mercy of God that we can ever approach Him at all. This is the same towards us before we know the first thing and all along the path of our knowing Him. It’s only His grace and mercy that sets us apart, which we abandon when we enter into divisive and judgmental debates that only produce strife and confusion. So much more effective than fault-finding is the simple confirmation of love’s understanding when demonstrated towards others through the fruit of the Spirit, when errors are dealt with through mercy and grace rather than arrogant and pompous assumptions of ascendance.