Then The Change Occurs

"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:3-7


The thing that came up the most frequently for me during the I Agree With Markwell outreach was that people were creating a good/bad divide between Christians and non-Christians. People would say that we are accusing them of being bad, while somehow being a Christian made us good, and thus better than them and going to heaven. It was frustrating for me because so many of the things that we put out there for people to see had to do with how being good isn't good enough. Christianity is not about being bad or good at all. You can be a non-Christian who is moral and be seen by most as "good." 


In this passage, I think it becomes crystal clear that it is not about being good. There was a time when believers were certainly choosing to rebel from God and living in our sin; we were "foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved." But then the change occurs. And the change isn't that we become good. And the change doesn't happen because we are good: "not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." The change that occurs is one from condemned to forgiven. We are still in a state where we sin and are broken, but we have experienced the salvation offered through Jesus and now we are forgiven! This salvation is not about anything we have done. This salvation is not about the the things that we do now that we are saved. This salvation is about a perfect God offering us grace that is deeper than the depths of the ocean.


This really is a beautiful thing. That we have been renewed by the Holy Spirit without any reason to deserve it.


But this isn't about us. God loves us and created us to spend eternity with Him. But ultimately, He saved us because it brings Him glory. But this is awesome! Because if God saved us to bring us glory, yet claimed to be deserving of all praise, I would be worried. I don't think I would want to serve that God. I'll close with a quote from David Platt in his book, Radical:


"The message of biblical Christianity is 'God loves me so that I might make him - his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness - known among all nations.' Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around him. We are not the end of the gospel; God is.


"God centers on himself, even in our salvation. Remember his words in Ezekiel: he saves us, not for our sake, but for the sake of his holy name. We have received salvation so that his name will be proclaimed in all nations. God loves us for his sake in the world."