By As a church we are practising our Bible memorisation with Titus 3:3-8. But memorisation without comprehension is of very little value, so for the next few weeks, every Wednesday post will be dedicated to the explanation of the verse for the week.
Last week we started memorising the first half of Titus 3:3, and this week we complete it all. Titus 3:3 is about every Christian’s condition before being saved by God. That is why it begins with “For we ourselves were once …”. Every Christian had these conditions before salvation, and every person not yet saved, is still under these conditions. The list that completes the rest of the verse is true of every unbeliever in one way or another. Not every unsaved person manifests each condition to its full extent, but the fruit of these conditions are easily recognised in every unbeliever’s life.
“foolish”—Not very clever; not understanding life very well; making bad decisions; ruining relationships; having opinions that are not very well informed.
“disobedient”—doing what God told us as His creatures not to do, and not doing what God told us as His creatures to do. Being guilty of doing things that are not “loving the Lord your God and loving your neighbour as yourself”.
“led astray”—easily deceived by the world-views and opinions of others; looking for truth in all the wrong places; longing for truth, but being content with half-truth or even blatant error because it fulfils our desires; listening to what others have to say more than to what God has to say.
“slaves to various passions and pleasures”—following our heart rather than Truth; doing what we want in spite of what God’s wants for us to do; indulging in sinful things that bring temporary pleasure and joy; perhaps even wanting to do better, but still serving our desires.
“passing our days in malice and envy”—wanting others to get hurt, and wanting the nice things they have; being sad when others are better off than us, and being happy when we are doing better than others.
“hated by others and hating one another”—making enemies among one another and not liking others; not treating other people like they are created in the image of God; being hurt by others and being the ones who hurt others.
We might be guilty of each of the above to various degrees, but every person in one way or another is described by each of these pre-salvation conditions. That is why we need God to reach down and save us from our own sins, and show us what goodness and loving kindness look like (but that is next week’s verse!).