~5 min read
Writing my personal testimony of Salvation from Scripture
Titus 3:1-7
1-2 “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every
good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.” Every true believer will find this command to be sweet and not a burden. Christ rules His people by His Word. Unbelievers do not study His Word, therefore giving evidence they do not wish to be ruled by Christ. They don’t study the Word, and are not under Christ’s rule, but still think that they are going to heaven. People think salvation exists apart from Christ’s lordship over them.
3 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts
and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” This verse describes the unbeliever, me before salvation. People around me may not have been able to see this, but God has a window to everyone’s heart. This verse shows the need of salvation of every single person (none are righteous, no not one—Romans 3). God sees our heart’s motives; the Ten Commandments extend to thoughts, heart intents, emotions, glances, etc. (Mt 5-7). Unbelievers imagine that they are good enough in themselves to be accepted by God.
4-5 “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved
us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” How did God demonstrate and show His mercy, love, kindness? He showed me that my sin was ruinous, He showed me my desperate need of a Savior. A religious ‘philosophy’ or ‘path’ cannot show you love, mercy, and kindness. God invades the sinner’s life with kindness, love and mercy. That is the very opposite of trying to fix yourself up for God by your religious works.
Notice in this verse that God’s abundant grace did NOT come to me because of my works! According to this verse, how did God show me mercy? He did so by His own initiative in granting me a new heart (regeneration). Only a new heart loves God, loves Christ, loves the One born of God, loves the people of God, and loves the truth of God. This new heart wants to please God above pleasing self! My new heart (a miracle of God) has new desires which want what God wants. This new heart is not the result of personal resolutions or turning over a new leaf. No, the verse says, God’s action was “washing, renewing, regenerating”—God’s act in giving a new heart. Ever think that something might be wrong in your soul life? The fact that you don’t love Christ and want to be in close fellowship with strong Christians; the fact that you don’t find great satisfaction in studying God’s Word in order to do His will. The fact that you have tried to love what you hate (holiness) and hate what you love (sin). This all says that you need a new heart—to be born again. Be able to answer how both salvation by grace, not works, and how regeneration both answer the unbeliever’s religious misconceptions.
6 “whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” The kindness,
love, mercy, washing, regenerating, and renewing were poured out richly upon me BECAUSE Christ paid the infinite cost of this grace. His grace came to me because Christ gave me the gift of faith to lay hold of Him as my Savior. Christ did the purchasing of everything I needed for salvation from sin. Therefore, it was His death and resurrection for me that bought the grace I so desperately needed. I am not transacting for salvation, not earning it, or exchanging anything for it. It comes directly from Christ, not any religious institution. Unbelievers hear everything through the filter of personal works. This Titus passage tells us how the grace of God comes to sinners. God’s grace comes in a way the exact opposite of Roman Catholicism.
7 “so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life.” Some folks ask me; “Aren’t you afraid you will fail and lose what you have?” No, I am not on probation. The gift of justification is the bestowal of a permanent status of right-standing with God based on Christ’s all-sufficient work. To what are you looking for your standing before God? Justification is the basis of my new relationship with God; Christ is my status before God; He carries my status before God. Justification grants a God-approved righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). I am fully accepted in the Beloved, in Him, in Christ, I am adopted by God and sealed for the Day of Salvation. Without right standing before God, the sinner faces condemnation and eternal damnation.
Matthew 16:24-27
24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny
himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.’” The gift of a new heart is so important in salvation. This new heart bestowed through God’s grace in Christ has given me the desire and ability to follow Christ as His disciple. Self-denial in following Him is not a burden, it is not a heavy yoke but an easy yoke to me. Without a new heart, people are lost, therefore they have no interest in living as Christ’s disciple, and no desire to make any of the sacrifices which come with discipleship (making other disciples).
25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake
will find it.” This gift of a new heart has planted in me eternal values; the desire to be with the Lord and serve Him. I have an eagerness for His glorious return. This new heart causes me to desire the Lord’s approval more than the approval of the people around me. I am quite happy to ‘lose’ my life for Christ’s sake (in other words, subject all of my earthly goals to His rightful Kingship and Lordship).
26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what
will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Because of this gift of salvation and the new heart, my ‘score card’ in life is NOT what the world values. My value system is shaped by the Word of God. Life is short, your life is but a vapor as it says in James 4:14. Therefore, my Lord Jesus Christ, by His Spirit and His Word, directs me to do what is pleasing in His sight. This world no longer has a hold on me.
27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and
WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.” I am aware every day that I will stand before the Lord and give an account of my life. It is utterly clear to me from Matthew 7:21 that no matter how religious a person is, and no matter if they say that Jesus is the Lord of all, if they are not doing the Father’s will, our Savior says He will disown them on judgment day. As one Puritan rightly said, all of this life is preparation for the next. If heaven is not your central business now, you should question whether heaven is your destination.