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Titus 3:5 and Salvation by Faith

I believe it's important to cover some of the basic teachings of Scripture over and over again. Originally, the churches started by the apostles had not only the writings of the apostles, but they had also heard the apostles teach. They understood the context of the apostles' teachings. They had the apostles' "big picture" before their eyes. We do not.

Does this matter? Some say that since spiritual things are spiritually discerned, context and background like having heard the apostles teach doesn't matter. However, this is clearly not true. Today churches are divided over every doctrine imaginable, and even the most sincere Christians wonder, at least sometimes, who is telling them the truth. In the apostles' churches, they were able to say, "The church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world...believes these points just as if she had but one soul and one and the same heart."¹ The person who said that gave a reason for it. "We refer [heretics] to that tradition which originates from the apostles, and which is preserved by means of the succession of elders in the churches."²

I know that tradition has received a negative connotation in evangelical circles. However, the apostles' church had never been subject to the battles between the Protestants and the Catholics. The Reformation was not a part of their history. To them tradition was not some extra-biblical teaching added by corrupt church officials. Tradition was the body of teaching handed down by the apostles to the church. Irenaeus, in the quote in the previous paragraph, mentions that this body of teaching was preserved by the succession of elders. In other words, the apostles committed their teaching to elders that they appointed, who committed that teaching to the next generation of elders. All elders knew it was their job to preserve that teaching unchanged. Paul mentions this in his letter to Timothy, saying, "Commit the teachings you have heard from me among many witnesses to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:2³).

Remember that the 1st century churches did not have the Bible available to them. All the New Testament writings were written in the last half of the 1st century, and the printing press was not invented until the 1400's. Most Christians did not have a Bible to refer to, so the job of preserving apostolic tradition was a very important one. Remember, tradition to the early churches was not new teaching, but instead was the preservation of apostolic teaching.

Many centuries have passed since the time when the early churches were "one heart and soul." The apostolic tradition is no longer preserved by a succession of elders. It can, however, be found directly repeated or at least read between the lines in early Christian writings, thoroughly backed up by Scripture. While individual Christians would not have possessed a Bible, it is clear that the churches had enough of the Scriptures available to the church as a whole that the elders were able to be very familiar with them. This witness to the apostolic tradition is very important in helping us understand the Scriptures. As one modern scholar put it, "I have found that the greatest benefit from getting to know the church fathers comes to us in this way: the fathers help us get in touch with the general thrust of the Christian faith...Their understanding of the overall message of Scripture provides us with exegetical guideposts outside of which we dare not venture."⁴

That said, this page is written to reiterate and help you understand the early Christian understanding of salvation and the role of faith and works that I outline more fully in The Gospel and Grace, which is on a different page on this web site. I specifically want to address Paul's letter to Titus, ch. 3. Here are the pertinent verses:

"For we ourselves were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after the kindness and 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 the Holy Spirit's renewing, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; so that, being justified by grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (vv. 3-7).

In the modern church, we have lumped salvation, eternal life, justification, and every other word referencing salvation into one pot. (I am speaking generally here. Obviously, some teachers and some churches have studied enough to distinguish between those words. However, the average Christian tends to use all these words as though they have the same meaning.) To most Christians all those words have to do with going to heaven. This, however, is an overly simplistic understanding, and it confuses both Christians and non-Christians alike. Just today, for example, I read a a web page saying, "The instructions for salvation are not only scattered about the New Testament in an informal, haphazard manner, but they appear to contradict one another!"⁵ This happens because what we Christians say about salvation does not line up with the teaching of the apostles, the ones who wrote the New Testament.

In the passage above, from Titus 3, it is important to note what is meant by "he saved us." We can be saved from many things. In the modern world and in a secular sense, we can be saved from drowning or saved from dying from some disease. We can be saved from bankruptcy. If the word saved is used, we should wonder what it is we are being saved from. In Titus 3, we must notice the problem that Paul is addressing. We were "sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts ad pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another." This is what Paul is talking about being saved from. He is not talking about being saved from hell and going to heaven. He is talking about being made dead to sin and alive to God (cf. Rom 6:11, for example).

The way that salvation from our horrible state of being "hateful, and hating one another" is accomplished is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy." How could it be otherwise. People who are "foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, and living in malice and envy" are not going to be doing works of righteousness. They need to be delivered in some other way than their own works. Romans 7 makes it clear that just telling them what they ought to be doing will not work. In Romans 7, Paul tells us that telling people not to covet does not make them avoid coveting. Instead, it puts the idea of coveting in their mind and causes them to covet (Rom. 7:7). People are like that, due to the law of sin at work in their bodies. Thus, we need a salvation that is not based on works, because we will not do good works just because we're told about good works.

But, when that salvation comes, is it apart from works? No, the very idea of such a salvation is that we would be delivered from our disobedience, deceit, malice, envy, and hatefulness and begin to do good works, because of the salvation that has come to us. Paul specifically says this in Titus 3. Immediately after the passage quoted above, he writes, "This is a faithful saying, and I want you to affirm these things constantly, so that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works" (Tit. 3:8).

Paul says the same thing earlier in his letter. Salvation by grace through faith, which Paul says is "not of works" in Ephesians 2, is described in Titus ch. 2, and a purpose for that salvation is mentioned. It reads:

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us so that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a special people, zealous for good works" (Tit 2:11-14).

The purpose of salvation by grace is stated three times in that short passage, all one sentence. It is so that we might live soberly, righteously, and godly. It is so that we might be redeemed from all iniquity, and, finally, it is so that we might be a special people, zealous for good works. This is the same purpose given in chapter three, that we might be careful to maintain good works.

It is important to catch this. It's not surprising that the purpose of salvation by grace is consistent in Titus chapters two and three. Those chapters are in the same letter. However, if you look, you will find it is consistent in all Paul's letters.

Now here's the part where we miss it in the modern church, because we've lost the tradition of the apostles. We do not only need to be saved from our sinful nature. We also need to be saved from hell. We need eternal life. There is a judgment coming that all of us must face. We do not want to be told, as the goats are told in Matthew 25:41, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels." We want to be among the righteous who enter "into life eternal" (v. 46). We want to be told what the sheep are told, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (v. 34). How are we saved from the everlasting fire.

We probably don't like hearing it, but the New Testament is consistent on that salvation, too. I know I don't like hearing it. I'd much rather hear that my works don't matter and that I'll be saved from eternal fire and go away into everlasting life no matter what I do. That's not what the Bible teaches, however. Beginning right there in Matthew 25, Jesus tells us that the righteous will enter the kingdom and go away into eternal life because they fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and visited the sick and imprisoned. Paul agrees. He tells us that the judgment will be according to our works, "whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). He tells us that God will repay eternal life to those who seek it "by patiently continuing to do good" (Rom. 2:7). He tells us the same again in Galatians. Although he makes it clear that doing good is tied to sowing to the Spirit (6:8), he states rather clearly that reaping eternal life will happen if do not "grow weary in doing good" (6:9). On top of all this, he tells us three times in very similar words that those who practice the works of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-11; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph 5:5-7). Inheriting the kingdom of God and entering eternal life are tied together by Jesus in Matthew 25 (vv. 34 and 46), and it is clear that Paul taught the same by his consistent reference to works in the passages mentioned in this paragraph, which reference both inheriting the kingdom and attaining eternal life.

I need to pause and point something out here. Not all the New Testament writers use the same terminology. If I had enough time, we could stop and go into New Testament terminology, and I could show you that they are all thinking the same thoughts, but they don't express them the same way. That would be a long deviation from the point of this little writing, however. Since I assume I am writing to those who believe that the New Testament writings are inspired, I won't bother explaining their consistency. You probably already believe they are consistent. If not, I am sure there will some day be a writing on this web site defending their consistency. For now, I just want to point out that New Testament writers don't all use the same terminology. John, for example, consistently speaks of eternal life as something we possess now, in this life (Jn. 6:47, for example). Paul, on the other hand, never does. Eternal life is to be obtained by sowing to the Spirit and patiently continuing to do good (Rom 2:7; Gal 6:8,9). Matthew uses eternal life as Paul does, speaking of the righteous entering into eternal life after the judgment (Matt. 25:46).

It is my opinion that Paul, a careful theologian, chose his terminology for precision. Justification is what happens when we are saved from our sinful nature. It has nothing to do with going to heaven. Eternal life and inheriting the kingdom of God are what happens after the judgment. This terminology allows him to carefully specify the role of faith and works. James, on the other hand, is not concerned about a careful theology. He is a preacher of righteousness, seeking to motivate you to do the will of God. Therefore, he doesn't bother to limit his use of the word "justification" to being delivered from your sin nature at the moment of your baptism. (Paul pictured that salvation happening at baptism, which was the "sinner's prayer" of the early church. See Rom. 6:3,4, Col. 2:11,12, and my page on baptism.) Justification, to James, covered the whole work of God. It is for this reason that Paul can say that justification is "by faith, apart from the works of the Law," and James can say that justification is "by works, and not by faith only," yet they do not contradict.

I have only one final point to make. Why do I write all this? What do I hope to accomplish? I hope to accomplish more than to give you a more accurate theology, though improving our theology and eliminating a confusing message to the world is a good thing. Paul said that Titus was to teach these things so that God's people would be careful to maintain good works. Jesus' very purpose, according to the letter to Titus, was to "purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works." My hope is that this writing will both encourage you that the salvation and grace of God can empower you to do good works and that you would know that God's people must be careful to maintain good works. In the end, this will matter at the judgment, where you will receive the deeds done in the body, whether good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10).

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