The Strand Study Bible

Written From Macedonia During Paul’s Release From House Arrest In Rome

2049

TITUS

the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.

Bono went on to say:

I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep…. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.

Bono continued:

But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled…. It’s not our own good works ( Karma ) that get us through the gates of heaven.

Phillip Yancey in What’s So Amazing About Grace? notes:

The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma , the Jewish covenant, and Muslim code of law –each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional. 2 Only Christianity offers salvation via grace. Bob Dylan, another famous rock star, in an interview with Bruce Heiman, KMEX Radio in December of 1979, said:

A religion which says you have to do certain things to get to God…, which is a religion which is by works: you can enter into the Kingdom by what you do, what you wear, what you say, how many times a day you pray, how many good deeds you may do…That type of religion will not get you into the Kingdom, that’s true. 3

Billy Graham said:

I’m counting totally and completely on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not on Billy Graham. I’m not going to heaven because I’ve read the Bible, nor because I’ve preached to a lot of people. I’m going to heaven because of what Christ did. 4 It’s not what we do ( works of righteousness - Karma ) that gets us to Heaven, but what Christ did for us on Calvary ( Work of Grace ) ( Titus 3:5 b ). Trust what He did , not what you do , and Heaven will be yours. 3:5 b Sadly, there are some religious movements that have tried to use the last portion of this Scripture to prove that baptism ( washing of regeneration ) is essential to salvation and thus part of the saving Gospel. It is not ( Mk 16:16 ). According to John 3: 3- 5 & 15:3 and Ephesians 5:26, the “ washing of regeneration ” here in verse five refers to the Word of God (I Pet 1:23), not baptism. Regeneration is that work of the SPIRIT whereby men are given God’s life and God’s nature and made a part of God’s family via the Word of God. According to Ezekiel 37:1-10, II Thessalonians 2:13, Titus 3:5, I Peter 1:22-23, James 1:18 and John 1:13, it takes a combination of the HOLY SPIRIT and the Word of God (the Wind and the Word) to produce the new birth (salvation) in a person. Salvation comes not by trusting our “works” of righteousness (baptism, church affiliation, good works, etc), but Jesus’ “ WORK ” of redemption on the cross ( Exo 14:13,30-31 , Hab 1:5 , Acts 13:41 , Rom 13:11 and Jn 6:28-29 ). 3:5 c This word ( regeneration ) is used only 1 time in the Bible. It refers to our being “re-gened” into the family of God via our understanding and acceptance of the Gospel of Christ (I Jn 5:1). 3:8 This word ( maintain ) is the Greek word SDOLJJHQHσLD9 ( paliggenesias ) and means “ to stand before, hence, to take the lead .” Paliggenesias is used only 8 times in the New Testament (Rom 12:8, I Tim 3:4-5,12 & 5:17, I Thess 5:12 and Titus 3:8,14). Whereas it is translated “ rule ” most of the time and refers to the leadership that pastors are to maintain over their local churches, here it refers to all Christians who are to preside over their own spiritual well-being. READ NEXT - I Peter 1-5

1 Assayas, Michka. “Grace Over Charma.” Christianity Today . 01 Aug 2005. 15 Apr 2009 . 2 Yancey, Phillip. What’s So Amazing about Grace ?, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 1997. Print. 3 Dylan, Bob. Interview with Bruce Heiman. KMEX Radio . Tuscon, AZ. 7 Dec 1979 4 Graham, Billy. God’s Ambassador , San Diego, CA: W Publishing Group. 1999. Print.

PROPHETICAL EVENTS IN TITUS

Prophecies

Fulfilled

The promise of Christ’s return (Rapture) Titus 2:13 (c. AD 64)

To be fulfilled at the Rapture Rev 4:1