Now Saint Paul adds further that this cleansing was poured out upon us ‘abundantly;’ in other words, God did not pour it out a drop at a time, so to speak, as if he had been stingy with us, but he showed himself to be so generous that we have good reason to be content with it. And this serves a double purpose.
The first is to stir us up all the more to magnify the riches of our God as they deserve. For although our God showers ever so many blessings upon us, to our way of thinking, it is nothing. We are, as it were, locked up, so that instead of opening our hearts, affections and thoughts to receive God’s grace that is offered to us, we are so entangled in unbelief and unthankfulness that God can find no such way of gaining access or entrance to us as would be required for his gracious gifts to be received as they deserve. For this reason he speaks here of the abundance which we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. So abundant is this grace that if we rightly understand God’s mercy as it is expressed in him, we shall have both length and breadth enough to fill and satisfy us thoroughly.
And secondly, he intends also to draw us away from every tendency to put our trust in vain objects — something into which we stray too easily. How many are there who rest themselves wholly upon Jesus Christ? It is true indeed that we will confess him as our Savior, and say that he is the one by whom we are reconciled to God, yet at the same time we also seek other, additional sources of help. We never come to an end of this, because we are so prone to ranging far and wide and cannot rest wholly upon Jesus Christ and assure ourselves that all the perfection of our welfare is to be found in him.
Saint Paul shows us here that we must indeed be guilty of gross ingratitude, since we are not satisfied with the goodness that God shows us in his only Son. And why is this? Because in him, such riches are to be found that it must be said that we are never capable of being satisfied when we cannot confine ourselves to him. There are the two reasons why Saint Paul used the word ‘abundantly.’
Aspects of our salvation
Now he first says that God ‘saved us,’ and then he adds that this is so that ‘we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.’ We must see how these two matters agree —namely, that God has saved us, and that he will make us ‘heirs according to the hope of eternal life.’ Now, first of all, he has shown us here that, as far as God and our Lord Jesus Christ are concerned, our salvation is already perfect and there is nothing lacking in it; and yet, in spite of that, we do not yet possess it, except by hope. We do not as yet experience the full accomplishment of it in practice.
These, therefore, are the two points we have to note. The first is that as soon as we believe in Jesus Christ we have passed from death to life, as it is said in the fifth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel [5:24]. And we must not imagine, as the papists do, that Jesus Christ has merely opened to us the gate of salvation and that it is then in our power to enter if we wish; in other words, that he has only begun [the work], and it is up to us to finish it. Those are wicked and accursed blasphemies. But let us assure ourselves that our salvation is complete and perfect, at least as far as God is concerned. Nevertheless, we do not enjoy it as yet, for ills incumbent on us to fight, here in this mortal life; we must experience trouble and disquiet, so much so that it may seem as if we are surrounded by death a thousand times over and plunged into the depths of hell.
Our salvation is thus hidden, as we are told in the eighth chapter of Romans. Yet for all that, there is a sense in which we are already heirs by hope; that is to say, we are sure that although God tries us and we feel our own infirmities, which might cast us into anguish of mind and doubting, yet we steadfastly believe that God does not change. And since he has chosen us and given us assurance of his adoption, our hope which we have in him feeds and maintains the certainty of our faith. And even though we must wait, the inheritance is now ready for us, and it remains only for us to take possession of it when the day comes.
Practical application
Now that we see what the teaching of this text is, it remains for us to put it to use. And whenever anyone speaks to us of God’s mercy, let us be sure that all trust in our own merits is demolished, and consequently any glory we might have is utterly defaced, so that we have no grounds for boasting, because we bring nothing to God but receive all things from him.
We also need to know that we could not even conceive of the goodness and love of our God if we did not have a pledge of it in our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore let us not enter into lofty or profound speculations when we want to be assured of our salvation, as we know many do, their heads being full of fantasies. Some are never content till [their ideas] have encompassed both heaven and earth. But let us go at once to Jesus Christ, for God bears with our weakness in that he will have us to be grounded upon his only Son. And we need not travel by any long or circuitous route to come to our Lord Jesus Christ, for he has come down here to us — so much so that he was abased lower than all men, according to the psalm which says that he was the laughing-stock of the world and made as naked as an earthworm (Ps. 22:6).
Again, it is said by the prophet Isaiah that he was disfigured like one afflicted with a loathsome disease (Isa. 52:14). And why was this? So that we might receive the grace that he offers us. And how was he so abased? Saint Paul uses the same word also in his epistle to the Philippians (Phil. 2:7-8). He does not cease to draw us daily to himself and he does this so graciously and with the greatest gentleness and kindness imaginable. For he wills us by his gospel to come; yet he does so by encouraging and beseeching us, as Saint Paul says in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians (5:20).
Seeing, then, that our Lord Jesus Christ is so loving, that this message is daily brought to us, that he desires only to count us as members of his body and that our Lord’s invitation ought to sound continually in our ears: ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I give you rest … and you will find rest for your souls’ — seeing that all this is so, I say, let us not wilfully run astray, but let us be firmly anchored on Jesus Christ, for we cannot go wrong in resorting to him. And when we know that we are reconciled to God the Father by his means and are given a full righteousness, let us likewise understand that he distributes all these things to us by his Holy Spirit.
The principal thing is that we should remain content with Jesus Christ, not seeking to add anything to the grace that he brings us. And that we should not deal as the papists do, who when they have confessed that Jesus Christ is the mediator, look to various saints to be their patrons and advocates and attempt to lay hold on the merits of the apostles and martyrs. It seems to them that the satisfaction [of God’s justice] made by our Lord Jesus Christ is nothing unless they add bits and pieces to it. They are also under the impression that they can serve up a more appetizing mixture by the addition of their own merits. Not content with the perfect sustenance that is given for their souls in the Son of God, they add to it their own sauces which they have concocted out of their own heads and brains. But let us, for our part, take care that we are completely satisfied with the riches of God’s goodness, which he has made available to us in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And along with that, let us understand (as I said earlier) that Jesus Christ does not communicate his grace to us, unless he has made us partakers of his Holy Spirit. For what shall it avail us that our Lord Jesus Christ has shed his blood, if we are not washed with it by the Holy Spirit? What shall it avail us that Jesus Christ has taken away sin and the tyranny of the devil by being crucified, if we are not brought and united to him by the grace of his Holy Spirit? So then, let us pray to our good God to put us in possession of the thing which he has purchased for us by the death and resurrection of his Son our Lord Jesus Christ by pouring out the gifts of the Holy Spirit upon us.
How do we receive these gifts? First, by being enlightened and given faith, that we may know that God is our Father and may be assured in our own experience of his goodness. Secondly, by having a spirit of godly fear, so that we may renounce our own wicked lusts and desires and devote ourselves to serving the one who rightly rules over us. Thirdly, by having a spirit of strength and constancy, which will enable us to fight against all the assaults that Satan makes upon us, and to withstand all his temptations. And finally, by having a spirit of wisdom to keep us from all the crafty schemes of our enemy. To that position we must come, so that the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ may profit us, and that his resurrection may have its full power and effect in us. And let us understand that all these things are witnessed to us in baptism.
Therefore, if we are conscious that we lack the gifts of the Holy Spirit, let us not doubt that we shall have them if we need them. Why? Because God did not deceive us when he ordained the figure of baptism, for in it we have a sure sign that he is not stingy towards us but pours out generously (at least insofar as he sees it to be appropriate for us) all the gifts that we lack and that we stand in need of.
Do we, then, perceive a lack of strength in ourselves? Do we perceive that there is the darkness of ignorance in us? Do we perceive that we are so entangled in this world that we cannot attain to the spiritual things? Then let us run to God, and let our baptism act as a sign pointing us to him. For, as I have already said, in baptism our Lord shows us that he will not fail us in any way, if only we flee to him for refuge. But, on the other hand, we need to take note that the mere fact of being baptized is nothing. When we have received the visible sign, to what end will it serve us, except to our greater condemnation, if we do not also have that which it represents? And the responsibility for that will be laid at our door. If we find that there is any shortcoming in this respect, we must lay the blame on our own unbelief more than we do.
But again, Saint Paul attributes the power of our renewal and regeneration to this washing that he speaks of. However, he is addressing the faithful, who do not reject God’s grace, but open their mouths that he may fill them, according as we are exhorted to do in the psalm (Ps. 81:10). Let us take good note of the fact that unbelievers are like a covered pot; God showers his gifts upon them, but they do not receive them, for they are so tightly covered that there is no getting into them. Or else they are as hard as rocks. It may rain for a whole day on a rock, yet the rock will not have absorbed any of the moisture, be-cause it is too hard. That is how it is with all who refuse God’s grace. But if we have our mouths open by faith, we shall be filled. And therefore it is not without good reason that Saint Paul addresses himself to the faithful, saying that God has poured out this spiritual cleansing upon them and has made them partakers of it. Oh, how we ought to put into practice the doctrine which is contained in this passage!
The hope of eternal life
And now let us come to the last part of the text, where he says that we are saved because we are ‘heirs according to the hope of eternal life.’ Saint Paul shows us what our faith is grounded upon and in what it consists, namely, in our being heirs of God. For properly speaking, our salvation is ours only by rights of inheritance. We are not heirs by nature, but by adoption, because it pleases God to take us as his children. We are born as children of wrath — that is to say, we are under a curse — and, far from our being able to call God our Father, he utterly rejects us. Yet for all that, he does not refrain from adopting us. How is this possible? Saint Paul sends us back to our Lord Jesus Christ, who with good reason is called the only Son of God. For he is God’s only Son by nature, and that title belongs to him by right. Nevertheless, inasmuch as we are grafted into his body and have become his members, we too are adopted as God’s children. This is how we come to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Are we heirs? Then we are saved. But let us note that it is as yet only by hope.
It is helpful to us to be reminded of this, for God will not have us to be idle in this world. Even though he has perfected our salvation in the person of his Son, he will lead us to it by the order he has laid down, which is, that when we have once received assurance of his goodness and received the thing that he offers us by his gospel — that is, justification by his grace alone — he will also keep us occupied in fighting against Satan, and that not for one day only, but throughout our whole lifetime we must go through with all the baffles that God is pleased to send our way. And moreover, we must strive to forsake all our own affections, lusts and desires — yes, and even our own wisdom. For the area in which God chiefly intends to test our obedience is that of bringing our own personal desires into submission, so that we may not be too wise in our own opinion, but instead may seek to submit ourselves wholly unto him, so that when our own desires would drive us hither and thither, we may have a bridle to hold us back; and that, even in the teeth of our own desires, our own passions may not reign over us, but that God may have the mastery.
So then, seeing it is God’s will to keep us occupied in this manner all the days of our life, let us learn to turn for encouragement to what is said here concerning hope. Why do we need to do this? Because, if someone tells us that we are saved, we also see how the devil does not cease trying to bring about our ruin, and that he has the means to bring it about, were we not preserved by the wonderful power of our God. Then again, on the other hand, we see what mysteries surround us, and that our life is so wretched that even unbelievers are in a better situation than we are, and seem to enjoy a happier state than that of God’s children. We see all these things, and they would be enough to dismay us, if we were not assured of that which Saint Paul tells us in this text, namely, that we are heirs through hope. That, I say, is the thing which maintains us in the certainty of our faith, so that even if we are mocked in this world by unbelievers and they work against us in a thousand spiteful and outrageous ways, yet we must never cease to assure ourselves that we enjoy God’s favor.
And again, although our true life is hidden and we seem to be on the point of being overthrown, and although we may be like sheep led to the slaughter (as it is said in Romans 8:36) and though we may be trampled under foot, rejected by the world and scorned by all men — yet we must not let that prevent us from taking hold by faith of the inheritance that is prepared for us in heaven, and from concluding from this that, although we may seem to face utter ruin, yet, even so, we shall not fail to be saved. And why is that? Because our salvation is in good and safe hands; God is the one who keeps it safe.
‘Yes, that is all very well, but still we are assailed on all sides.’ Well, even if that is so, we shall not be a prey to Satan, since God the Father will exert his strength to defend us, and our Lord Jesus Christ will carry out the functions of his office, because he has taken responsibility for us. We know how he has said that he will not allow any of those who have been given to him to perish (John 6:39). And we know that inasmuch as God is almighty, our salvation is exempt from all danger. See how we may take comfort from this, and how we may defy both Satan and the world, and, indeed, all the temptations that may assail us!
In short, we may already speak confidently of everlasting life, even though we are not merely on the very edge of the abyss, but even on the point of being made to tumble in, and though we may be threatened with death every minute of the hour. But let us also take note that when Saint Paul speaks of eternal life, he intends to draw us away from this world, to which we are too closely wedded. There is no one who does not naturally desire to live, and to live well, but we lack the wisdom to choose the true life. Instead, we take hold of a mere shadow, as though a man were to try to catch the moon between his teeth, as they say.
The word ‘life’ is enough to make us madly in love with it, but, at the present time, we only catch a shadow of the real thing. Everyone clings to this fleeting life, and the world keeps us entangled in its web, and, at the same time, we despise the everlasting life to which God calls us, and which has been purchased for us by the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. So let us bear in mind that we are only passing through this world, and that in this passage Saint Paul spurs us on in order to rouse us to aspire to the heavenly life and to make us run at a fast pace through this world and not be halted in it for anything. And because we are so weak and our reason is unable to climb so high, let us always fix our eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ. And since we know that God’s Son came down here and will hereafter receive us into his glory — and, indeed, that God has made him head over the angels as well as over us — let us be assured that, although we are in this world, we are here only as pilgrims and do not cease to be citizens of heaven, to which we are being led by hope. This is why Paul says in another place that we are seated already in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). How is that? By hope.
So then, let us note well that hope is not a dead thing, nor a light fancy of our own devising. It is rather the Holy Spirit working in us in such a way that, although we are trapped in these bodies which are subject to decay; although we feel such a heavy burden that it seems to us that we are about to be dragged down into hell; although our sight is so pitifully short and dim, and even though all our strength should fail us — yet God, notwithstanding all these things, works by the power of his Holy Spirit in such a way that we are still lifted up and enabled to keep on our way and press on to reach the inheritance that has been prepared for us, not doubting that we shall arrive, because our Lord Jesus Christ will then appear, and that life which at the present time is hidden from us will finally be revealed.
A portion from a sermon on Titus 3:4-7.