Salvation’s Renovation

30 November 2014 pm – Titus 3:3-7 – Tit 14 – Scott Childs

Introduction: Our son Silas just renovated a room in his house. He replaced the flooring, recovered the walls, built a closet in the corner, and installed a ceiling fan and light. He gave the room a completely new look that was far better than before.

That is what salvation’s renovation does for a filthy sinner. It makes him a new person that is far better than before.

Transition: In our text this evening, I find three things that you really need to remember about your salvation.

1.        Remember Where You Came From (v.3)

a.         Remember you were not always saved.

1)         The word “sometimes” literally means “once, formerly, aforetime.”

2)         You were born lost, and no matter how religious or pagan you were, you remained lost until you repentantly trusted Christ for salvation.

3)         Any person who claims they were never a lost sinner and that they have always been saved, does not understand salvation, (Ecc 7:20).

b.         Remember your unsaved lifestyle

1)         Remembering your past is not to renew guilt but to contrast between the old and the new.

a)         Foolish (unwise) – unsaved people do not have the God-given ability to make right choices. They make their own foolish choices.

b)         Disobedient (not persuadable, stubbornly disobedient) – unbelievers do not want God or anyone else telling them what to do. They follow their own moral rules.

c)         Deceived (led astray) – unbelievers are led astray by the world, the flesh, and the devil. They may live “good” on the outside, but on the inside, they are spiritually lost.

d)         Serving divers lusts and pleasures (slaving for various lusts and pleasures) – unbelievers are slaves to all kinds of lustful desires and pleasures of the flesh. They cannot escape lusts for sensuality, popularity, prestige, power, and pleasure.

e)         Living in malice and envy (evil, wickedness, ill-will and jealousy) – life was about the big ME. Step on anyone who gets in the way, wanting what others have, never satisfied.

f)          Hateful, and hating one another (hated and hating) – those who live for self, hate each other because selfishness is king.

O  Not every Christian had a wicked past, but every Christian did have a godless past. No matter how good a person may be, without Christ he is without God.

2)         These characteristics describe your old nature. If you have trusted Christ, you have been saved from these vices. True Christians are no longer enslaved to the sins of the old nature, but the old nature is still alive and fighting.

V   (Romans 6:6) “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

V   (1 Peter 2:11) “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;”

2.        Remember Who Has Changed You (v.4-6)

a.         God the Father planned the change

1)         The Father in kindness sent the Son to provide salvation for our lost souls. God in His moral goodness and useful kindness reached down from the glories of heaven to help us.

V   (Ephesians 2:7) “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

2)         The Father in love for mankind sent the Son to pay for the salvation of our lost souls. He did not love us because we were lovable but because He is love.

V   (1 John 4:9) “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”

3)         He saved us (v.5). He rescued us from hell.

b.         God the Holy Spirit produced the change

1)         He regenerated you or gave you a new birth that washed you as white as snow. This washing has nothing to do with baptism. It is a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation.

V   (Isaiah 1:18) “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

V   (1 Corinthians 6:11) “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

2)         He renovated us. This describes this miracle as a total change for the better.

V   (2 Corinthians 5:17) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

c.          God the Son paid for the change

1)         God abundantly shed abroad (poured out) His salvation on us through Jesus Christ.

2)         Jesus completely paid our sin debt for us.

V   (Romans 5:8-9) “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

V   (1 John 4:10) “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

3.        Remember How it Took Place (v.5-7)

a.         Remember how it did NOT take place

1)         Note the phrase in v.5, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy”. This phrase is a parenthesis. In my Bible, I put parenthesises around it for clarity.

2)         This stresses that we were not save by works BUT by God’s mercy. God has made it clear in every dispensation that man cannot stop sinning nor save himself from judgment.

V   (Ephesians 2:8-9) “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

b.         Remember how it DID take place

1)         We were justified by His grace! Grace is God’s divine enabling.

a)         God’s divine enabling, through the death and resurrection of Christ, justifies the filthy sinner who repentantly places his faith in Christ.

b)         To be justified means to be made completely right with God.

V   (Romans 4:25) “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”

2)         Being justified, we then become heirs of eternal life. This is the hope of every believer. We will escape eternal damnation and live forever with the Lord in heaven.

Conclusion: If you will remember where you came from, who changed you, and how it took place, it ought to put a song of praise on your lips. Salvation’s renovation should have made you a different person.

If Christ has renovated your life, but you have not been keeping it clean, follow the victory steps in James 4:7-10.

If God has not changed your life, pretending that He did will only send you to hell. If you are in doubt, please study 2 Corinthians 13:5, which says, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” Ask the Lord to show you clearly your need.

Song: Praise Him! Praise Him! 442