You can go ahead and turn with me to the little epistle, Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3. I'll begin in verse 3. I titled this message, Mercy Not Merit. Mercy Not Merit. We live in a world that's obsessed with earning and achieving and proving ourselves. You know, from childhood, we're taught to do so. We're taught that success is the reward of our effort. You can be all you want to be. You can be what you want to be. You can do what you want to do. Recognition comes by merit. favor that must be earned. And many professing believers carry that same assumption right into their faith. They think, well, you know, if I pray enough, if I do good enough, if I follow the rules, then God will bless me, save me, and accept me. And it's understandable why people think that way, because from the time our children are old enough to know and understand anything, we tell them, you know, be a good little boy and good little girl. And I remember I used to go to the dentist, and I hated the dentist. I mean, I was terrified of the dentist. But my mom would always bribe me and say, now, as soon as we go to the dentist, we'll go knock the door which was a little variety shop, and you can get a toy. So I was a good boy long enough to get my toy and let the dentist work on me. You know what I'm saying. And we carried that right over into the spiritual realm. But the gospel shatters that idea. The message of Christ is radically different God's mercy is given freely, given without merit. There's no earning of mercy. It would cease to be mercy if there was earning or it was something we deserve. God's not approached on the strength of our deeds, but on the strength of His grace. And that's in Christ, in Christ alone. Mercy without merit. It's a truth that humbles the proud, comforts the weary, and saves the lost. Before Paul ever talks about grace, he reminds sinners of what they really are. They're not basically good people that need a little help from a little Jesus that we talked about last week. Paul is blunt, direct, to the point. We're not good people who just merely make bad choices. We make bad choices, but that's because we are bad people. We're not free agents deciding between good and evil. You know, in a lot of movies and television shows, when somebody's tempted, you know, a little devil pops up on one shoulder and a little angel pops up on the other, and they usually look like the person that's, you know, that's struggling with the decision. It's got the little devil in me and the little angel in me, and which one am I going to decide to follow? Well, I can tell you which one every time. The one that looks like the devil. Because that's what we look like spiritually. The condition of all men and women by birth, by nature, and I might add, by practice, is made known clearly here in verse 3. Writing to believers, Paul reminds them of what they were. And I say were because that's changed in Christ. And it's changed only from God's viewpoint for the most part. And when Paul talked about being wretched, he said, oh, wretched man that I am. He didn't say, oh, wretched man that I was. Salvation doesn't start with human goodness. Before grace came to us, all of us were lost. corrupt and enslaved by sin. Now look at verse three. For we ourselves, not just other folks, but believers, that's who this is written to, also along with everyone else, were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. Paul gives us a list here of six things that you and I are by nature. Now this isn't just a list of unfortunate habits. This list describes the reasons for spiritual death. Foolish. Morally blind, not ignorant of facts, but resistant and rebellious to truth, to God. Disobedient, not just simply confused, but rebellious. The carnal mind is enmity against God. Hostile is what the word means. Our fleshly, corrupt, fallen minds are hostile toward God. We don't only want nothing to do with Him. If we could get our hands on Him, we'd kill Him. That's what we did to Christ's man, okay? Disobedient, deceived, darkened in understanding, choosing to believe that we're good, thinking that we are free while we're actually enslaved by sin. Enslaved. Serving lust and pleasures, it says. Not just enjoying them, but serving them. Living for them, slaves to them, not free, but owned by sin. Finding pleasure in doing sin. Fifth thing, living in malice and envy. God shows the believer their inward rot by nature. We're like leprosy. Sin starts on the inside and works its way outward. Before it ever shows itself on the outside, it's already taken root and done the damage on the inside. That's what sin does. Same thing. Begins inwardly, doesn't it? In the heart. Hateful and hating. Hateful. Full of hate. Hating is the constant act of doing hate. We want to see ourselves as good, moral, and rational people, but in and of ourselves, we're not. We don't want to admit that hatred is innate, is an innate part of our nature that forces a confrontation with our own darkness. So what do we say? You know, so I try to be good, try to do what's right, try to treat people like I want to be treated. Well, I won't speak for you, but I do a pretty poor job of it. I treat myself much better than I treat others in most cases. Lord enabled us to see and be honest with ourselves about who and what we are, but it's difficult and it's uncomfortable to say the least. And it's frightening in so many ways. It's a frightening truth that confronts our own hearts. And before God revealed to us who and what we are and who and what He is, we weren't searching. We ourselves were lost. We weren't misguided. We were enslaved. Our sight wasn't just slightly impaired. We were completely blind. We weren't victims. We're guilty. Any preaching that skips these truths is not the gospel. And any preacher that tells men and women that they were born good, just simply made some bad choices and decisions in their life, is lying to them. The psalmist said, Psalm 51, verse 5, that we were shaped in iniquity and conceived in sin. Not just born in sin, but conceived in sin. From the beginning of our existence, we were already sinners by nature. We came forth from the womb doing what? Speaking lies. From the womb? If I could have spoke when I was born, first thing out of my mouth would have been a lie. Sin didn't show up later because of some bad influences and poor choices. That's what we like to think. How many times have we said, well, I wouldn't have done that if they hadn't done this. And that's our conception because we belong to a fallen race. Adam said, Lord, the woman thou gavest me. The woman said, that serpent you left in the garden, it's always somebody else's fault, never ours. We weren't born moral, we were born dead in trespasses and sin. We weren't born innocent and then became sinners. Sin's not just what we do, sin's what we are. We were born sinners who sin. Students of the scripture call it original sin. You've heard that term, original sin. Well, I guess that's a good term. We come to this world bent away from God, bent toward doing evil. We sure weren't bent toward him. And as I said, no one has to teach their children to lie. They don't have to teach their children to disobey or be selfish or get angry. You ever had to teach your children that? All comes natural, doesn't it? Sin comes pre-installed. Bought a computer, not, you know, the last computer I bought, you know, software included. Well, that's the same with us and sin. It's pre-installed in our hard drives. Good behavior has to be trained and taught. Psalm 58.3 tells us that we were estranged from the womb, that we go astray as soon as we're born, speaking lies. Have any of your parents ever had to teach your children to lie? In Psalm 14.3, God without hesitation tells us that we're corrupt, gone aside, altogether filthy, never having done any good. And I would used to say I resent that remark, but now I say I resemble that remark, because I do. Romans 3.12 declares that we're all gone out of the way. What way is that? God's way. We've all together, we're all together unprofitable. You know what profit is? It's gain. Unprofitable is the opposite. There's none that does good. No, not one. You know, I've often thought about, why did he follow that up, no, not one? Because when he says, none that doeth good, there's gonna be someone saying, I do, I do. No, not one. Romans 5, 12 says, wherefore is it by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin? And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Because we were born in sin, our Father Adam being our representative, our personal tendency is to sin. But we've done our own share of it. We can't blame it all on Him. And this isn't just a moral failing. It's a universal condition. You've heard me say this. I heard it from somebody else. We cannot not sin. Just try it. The next time somebody insults you or does something that you don't like, just try not to get mad. And let me know how you fare with it. I hear men and women say, well, I'm no worse than anyone else. You're exactly right. You aren't. You're just as bad as everyone else. And no better than anyone else. We're all together unprofitable. Unprofitable in a scriptural sense means ineffective. It means fruitless. It means useless to God. In and of ourselves, we are useless to God. And really to ourselves and anyone else. Altogether unprofitable, altogether useless, fruitless. And it's here that Paul seeks to destroy self-righteousness and prepare God's people for His grace. Listen, our problem is not weakness, our problem's corruption. Our problem's not ignorance, our problem is deception. We come forth from the womb speaking lies, our hearts are deceitful above all things, deceptive. Our problem is not bad decisions, our problem is a bad heart. Hateful is what we are. Hating is what we do. We hate because we're hateful. I'm full of hate. What else is gonna come out of me? And after these, Paul shows us God's intervention. That's the, I heard, I think it was Scott Richardson say one time, or I heard him in a message. I don't remember. I'm pretty sure it was Scott. But he said, I had to hear the bad news before I could hear the good news. And that's so true. We've got to hear who and what we are before we'll ever appreciate what Christ makes us. Look at this, verse four. But after, but after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, I love those first three words. They change everything. But after that, after what? After my foolishness and my deception and all those things that we just looked at. After that. And God didn't wait for improvement in me. God didn't wait for repentance first, did He? No. God acted. He intervened. He interrupted. And He changed what verse 3 declared us to be. After that. After all that. And this wasn't initiated by us. This was not by our reaching up. This was by God coming down. God in kindness, God in love, God in sending His Son intervened and interrupted in our lives and the path we were going to save us by His grace. Kindness is His undeserved goodness. Love is His Deliberate, unmerited mercy and grace toward us. Grace was not just an idea. Grace was God's intentional purpose. God, from the foundation of the world, said, I'm gonna be merciful to some. I'm gonna be merciful to them and my son. Well, why don't you only preach to them, preacher? I don't know who they are. That's not my business. My business is not to try to figure out who God's people are. My business is to preach to sinners and God to save them. Well, it's hard to learn. I'm telling you it is. Grace came by God's love, not our works. This captures the heart of the gospel. That's the heart of the gospel. Salvation is rooted in God's character, not ours. The driving force is God's kindness and God's love toward us, not ours toward Him. We love Him. Why? Because He first loved us. Well, you know, I have decided to follow Jesus. You've not chosen me, but I've chosen you, the Lord said. It's not by our repentance. It's not by our obedience. It's not by our reform. God acts towards sinners, not seekers, because there's none that seeketh after God. Well, you know, I sought the Lord, I found Him. No, you did not. You didn't seek Him and you didn't find Him. He's never been lost. We're the lost ones. He seeks and finds the lost. Not us. Why do we get the cart before the horse? We do that a lot, don't we? The kindness and love of God appeared while we were still foolish, enslaved, and hateful. Grace moved first. That word appeared points to Christ entering into the picture. God became a man to save mankind. We had to have a man save us. God is a Savior by nature. He didn't become a Savior. He's always been a Savior. Before there was a sinner, there was a Savior. He became a man to save, but He was always man's Savior. even before they sin. How do I know that? Because the scripture says Christ was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So Paul adds to this truth in verse five by saying, not by works of righteousness, you know this verse, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Listen, salvation is not earned. Paul shuts the door on moral effort and good intentions. Our righteousness doesn't qualify us. We have no works of righteousness. Not by works of righteousness, which we've done. Isn't that what he said? What is our righteousness? God tells us. Two words, filthy rags. I'm not going to tell you again what that is. You know what it is. Not by works of righteousness that we've done. It's according to His mercy that He saved us. Mercy is the sole cause of salvation. God saves because He's merciful, not because we're worthy. You know, grace isn't a reward. It's a rescue. Salvation is not cooperation. It's God's operation on the heart. He saved us and not helped us. The new birth is not behavioral modification. Washing of regeneration means a real spiritual rebirth. The gospel doesn't clean up the old life, it creates a new one. The Holy Spirit applies what Christ accomplished in regeneration and renewal come through the Spirit. And Paul doesn't leave any wiggle room here. It's not mostly mercy. It's not mercy plus effort. It's not mercy activated by our works, not by works, period. How are we saved? According to God's mercy. Not because we deserve it, not because we accepted Jesus. but according to God's mercy in Christ, the only one in whom we are accepted. Glenn was talking to a future neighbor down in Princeton and the subject of God came up and Glenn started telling this man what God had done for him and what he believed in man. Said, yeah, but we got to accept him. And Glenn said, then I'll never be saved. My only hope is that he accepted me. That's true. We're accepted in the beloved, we're accepted in Jesus Christ. Regeneration means a rebirth, not a remodel, not a physical renovation. I know several men that are in construction and a lot of times men, you know, They'll flip a house, they'll buy a house and remodel it and make it nicer and newer and sell it for profit. So many times I've heard those same men say, I should have bulldozed it down and just started over. That's what God does. He doesn't renovate us. He doesn't throw a little paint on us, kind of like putting lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. No, he tears it down. He makes us new creatures in Christ. All things have passed away. All things have become new. We got new electrical. We got new plumbing. We got new paint. We got a new roof. Most important, we got a new foundation. We're building upon Christ, the solid rock. Renewing means a consecration, not by us, but by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God makes us what we were not before. That's what a new creation is. That's why the Lord Jesus told Nicodemus, you must be born again. It's the work of God. And internal, it's internal before it's ever external. It's not self-improvement, it's a newly created life. The washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, according to verse six, came to us by God. Look at it. Which He, God, shed on us abundantly. How? Through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Leaves no room for misunderstanding here. It doesn't have anything to do with us. We're the recipients of it. So we see that salvation is Trinitarian. That's a big word. It just simply means that God, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, all, we're involved. God saves us, the Spirit regenerates and renews us, and Christ is the only, the exclusive channel through whom salvation comes. God shed his mercy abundantly, it said. Not just a little bit, not just enough to get by. That's the way we operate. Just enough to get by. God's grace is lavish, not minimum. God overwhelms the sinner with grace. Salvation's a gift, it's not a reward. Christ is the sinner's savior, not his assistant. The Lord Jesus doesn't help save, he saves. Salvation is a divine act. It's accomplished through Christ alone. It's applied by the Holy Spirit in overwhelming grace. It didn't leave any room for boasting, earning, or human contribution. Only the grace of God. Now listen, only the grace of God shed abundantly on us saves us. God saves to the uttermost. I like that word. Who does He save today the most? Them who come to God by Him. Through Him. That's the only way. Hebrews 7, 25. No Christ, no spirit. No spirit, no regeneration. No regeneration, no salvation. This is God acting on the behalf of the helpless, not Him cooperating with the capable. That's the way the men preach it today. That's the way modern day religion portrays it. And because of these things, we see the results. The results of God's mercy is always the same. The believing sinner is justified and made secure. Look at verse seven. I'm almost done. That being justified by His grace. Whose grace? His. We should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Justified. Justification means that God declares a sinner righteous. Not improved. Not just simply on probation. Declared right in the court of God. This is a legal verdict, not a moral makeover. The judge of all the earth. God Himself looks at someone who is actually guilty. And because of Christ and what Christ did, He issues a verdict Not guilty. Perfectly righteous. As holy as I am. That's the verdict. That's a good verdict. I had a good advocate. I had a good lawyer. The Lord Jesus Christ, our one mediator, our one advocate between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. This justification is in Christ. Being now justified by His blood, Paul said in Romans 5.9. Justification is freely by His grace, Romans 3.24. Not church attendance. Remember a man told me one time, in over 52 years, I've never missed Sunday school. Well, you're going to miss it in hell. Not moral reform. Not religious effort. If works intervenes, grace leaves. It's not grace plus works. Romans 11, 6, and if by grace, then it's no more work. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of work, then it's no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. I used to read that and I'm like, kind of like watching a ping pong match. What is that saying? Let me break it down for you real quick. If by grace, Grace is God acting freely and not under any obligation. We meet no conditions beforehand. Then it's no more works. The moment we add human effort as the reason of God's grace, grace is canceled. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. If grace depends even partly on what you and I do, it stops being grace and becomes a payment. Grace that must be earned isn't grace, it's wages, right? But if it be of works, Paul flips his argument entirely. If salvation's earned, then it's no more grace. The gospel is left and you're dealing in merit, not mercy. Otherwise, works is no more work. If works don't earn anything, then they stop being works in the saving stands. And grace excludes works, and works exclude grace. It's one or the other. Salvation is either God's mercy or human merit. It can't be both. Without apology, God says through Paul, it's mercy alone. Now listen, God doesn't pretend that you're righteous. He counts Christ's righteousness as yours. We are the righteousness of God. Where? In Him. Justification brings peace with God. Therefore being justified, we have peace with God. Romans 5.1. Justification takes away condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation. To who? To them who are in Christ Jesus. To them who walk not after the flesh, but to those who walk after the Spirit, Romans 8, 1. That's not being religious, friends. That's the gospel. Justification is a legal declaration. God doesn't help us to get it right. God declares us right. And the basis is not anything done by us. It's grace alone, through faith alone, not by works of righteousness we've done. No grace, no justification. The gospel, Christ's crucifixion doesn't merely erase guilt. It makes us not guilty. You know, a judge could say, well, I don't believe that man that's convicted did that and let him go on that basis. But if he didn't, he's still guilty. But Christ makes us not guilty. We really aren't guilty in Him. We go from guilty sinner to justified child. We're made heirs, not simply applicants. Heirs don't earn, they inherit, right? You know, my mom and dad, I was the only child, as you know, and adopted and spoiled, rotten. Anyway, my point is, is that when my parents died, They didn't have much, but all they had was mine. And the question I often ask myself is, what did I do to earn it? What did I do to deserve it? I was more of a liability than I ever was an asset to them. What did I do to deserve it? Nothing. Nothing. It was by love and kindness and mercy and grace. Right? That's the gospel. If God justified you in Christ, you're already written in the will. Biblical hope isn't in the maybe. Our inheritance is not dependent on performance. It's anchored in God's promise to his beloved son. The gospel doesn't end with rescue from wrath. It ends with adoption and inheritance. God justifies. Justification secures sonship, daughtership, whatever the word. And that's why I can't be lost. Now, wait a minute. Now you're taking it a step too far. No, sir, I'm not. If I'm in Christ, I can't be lost. It's not based on what I do. It's based on what Christ did for me. So if I didn't do anything to save myself, if my salvation is completely based on Christ's work, then I can't do anything to be lost. Because it too is based on the work of Christ. And folks are always going to say it. Well, you're giving people a license to sin. You already got one. It's instilled in you by birth, as we said a moment ago. Men preach eternal life like it's some kind of spiritual bonus. Eternal life is the promised outcome of justification by God's grace. And what do we see in these few short verses? Verse three, declared us ruined. Verse four tells us that God was kind and loving. Verse five proclaims salvation is by mercy, not works. Verse six shows us that the means is regeneration by the Spirit. God did this. And verse seven shows us that the outcome is justification and eternal hope, and that it's all in Christ. So what does Paul tell us next? Well, let me close with this. Look at verse eight. This is not talking about performance. This is talking about servanthood. Verse eight, this is a faithful saying, and it is. And these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God." Do you believe in God? Are you one of these that he's speaking of? Might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. I've already shown you from the scripture that salvation is by grace and not by works. It's not good works that saves. It's God's grace found in Christ that saves. But good works are connected to believing. Salvation is entirely God's work received by faith, but good works gives evidence to faith in Christ. Good works are the outcome of salvation, the result of salvation. They're not the cause. We're not saved by works, but when God saves us, good works should follow. It's our reasonable service. And I know that we fail miserably, but that's not a good excuse for not trying. Paul says that good works are profitable to men. You see, the ultimate aim of good works is not self-glory, but to the welfare of others. The gospel's concern is for mercy and compassion, for the glory of God. Look back at Titus chapter two, verse 14. Paul is speaking of Christ, and in verse 14 he said, "...who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Are you zealous for good works? If you're in Christ, you are. You want to do good. You want to help folks. He gave Himself for us. That's our motivation for good works. And this is the declaration of redemption from sin. That He might redeem us from all iniquity. That's why we strive to do good and bring glory to His name. Christ transforms us into new creatures. He purifies unto Himself a peculiar people. Now that doesn't mean peculiar in the sense I'm peculiar. He's a little different. People are strange. That's not what that means. It means peculiar. It means distinguished, different, in a spiritual good way. Not by us, but by His good works, we produce good works. Good works come by Christ producing in us a life that's active in love and obedience. We don't strive to do good works to be saved. We strive to do good works because we're saved. It's God's mercy and grace that brings this transformation. Good works given to others captures the giving of Christ. He's our example. He gave himself for us. giving of His redemption, grace and mercy, love, forgiveness is instilled in us by a new creation. Christ gave Himself for us, made us His own. He fills our lives with love and compassion for others, and it's our reasonable son. And when we've done all those things which are commanded of us, now listen, we still say, I'm special? No, that's not what we say. When we do all these things that are commanded of us, those things that are our reasonable service, we still say we're unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do. We don't get all puffed up. We don't have a holier-than-thou attitude. We don't say I'm something special. I'm a spiritual giant. We say, I'm an unprofitable servant, only doing what I ought to do, right? Amen.