Titus 3:2

Many of the people who lived in Crete had bad characters (1:12). So the Christians had to behave in a better way. They had to be careful about what they said. They had to be careful about what they did. People often insulted or said bad things about other people. But Christians should not insult people back (1 Peter 2:23). Christians should be kind to people because God is kind. Christians can have opinions. They do not have to agree with everyone. But they should not be angry and they should not have fights. A humble person is patient. He does not insist on his own rights. He cares about all kinds of people. ‘Everyone’ included rulers, people who had bad characters and slaves. In those days, people considered that slaves were property rather than people.

v3 There was a time when we too were foolish. We did not obey. We did not know the truth. We were like slaves to many kinds of evil desires and feelings. We spent our lives hurting other people. We were jealous of them. People hated us, and we hated each other. v4 Then God our *Saviour appeared to us. He is kind and he loves people. v5 He saved us. He did not save us because we had done good things. But he saved us because he cared about us. And he was kind to us. He saved us when he washed away our *sins. We were born again. The Holy Spirit gave us new *spiritual life.

v6 God generously poured out his Holy Spirit on us by Jesus Christ our *Saviour. v7 God says that we are not guilty. He says that we are *righteous. He did this because of his *grace. We know now that certainly we will receive the life that never ends. v8 These things that I have told you are all true. I want you to emphasise them to the people who have trusted God. Then they will be careful always to do the right thing. These things are good and they will help everyone.

What the people were like before they became Christians

Paul had described how Christians should behave. In these verses, he described what they were like before. He said ‘we’. So he included himself, Titus, the Christians in Crete and other people who believed. Paul reminded them why Christians should never be proud. They had all behaved badly before they became Christians. Therefore, they should not have a severe attitude to people who were not Christians. The people who lived in Crete had bad characters. But Titus should not give up. Even wicked people could become Christians because of God’s *grace. In Ephesians 5:8, Paul had written ‘once you were darkness, but now you are light in the *Lord’.

Before they heard the good news, they were foolish. They did not understand God and his commands. So they did not obey God. Christ is the way to God (John 14:6). But they had followed the wrong way. They could not control themselves. Instead, their strong desires and feelings controlled them. Their lives were full of cruel words and actions. They were jealous of what other people were like. They were jealous of what other people owned. When people hate each other, it causes problems for society.

The work of God’s *grace

‘God our *Saviour’ is Jesus Christ. In those days, *Roman rulers declared that they were ‘god’ and ‘*saviour’. But Paul showed that this was false. God is always generous. He is kind and he loves everyone. God’s behaviour is different from the behaviour in verse 3. God did not want people to continue to live in that bad way.