Part 1
Part 2
The book of Titus is a pastoral epistle, penned by Paul to instruct the Gentile minister on the work of pastoring a church. Chapter three, to which we have our present controversy, begins with the charge to Titus to preach that Christians are not to be subversive rebels, but live gently and meekly in this present evil world. We didn't always live a holy life, because we used to be foolish and disobedient, serving our lusts and pleasures. We used to be the hateful ones, living in hate, speaking hate, and hating one another (3:3). Christians are to live a life to the glory of God – a way that is contrary to the world, and a way that is contrary to our old lives. We also see a radical shift in worldviews. We used to believe one way and we used to do things a certain way, a wicked way, an evil way. Now, we don’t. How did that happen? How did we get from hateful and hating to gentle and meek?
Titus 4-7 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 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; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.Not by our works, but by God’s work. We did not change ourselves but God changed us. Not because we are good, but because He is merciful. Not because of our work, because of His work. Not by decisions, water, church membership or any other thing we did, but he saved us by a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ. We are not justified by baptism, but by Grace. Verses 8-12, show us that because of the work of God in salvation, we are urged to maintain good works. We do not do good works in order to be saved, but because we are saved, we do good works. One problem those that baptize infants have is applying faith and repentance to the unconscious infant. Our text illustrates repentance – turning from sin unto Christ. The thrust of the passage is we are saved from our evil ways unto good works. Something that actually happens on account of the new birth. This does not happen with the infant. Indeed, we are born into sin, but does the infant repent of the depraved nature and confess that he is born in guilty in Adam, before he is able to know his own name?
Baptism is something God commands that we do. Our text, very clearly is telling us this washing has nothing to do with our works. Baptism is a work that we do in obedience to the Lord's command to be baptized. It is an act of obedience of the church to baptize believers. It is a good work, a righteous work to follow the Lord in baptism. But...
(5) 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; (6) Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our SaviourVerse 5 makes it clear that it has nothing to do with our works that we are saved, but we do good works because of the good work of God in us. Titus 3:8 tells us that those who have believed are to do good works, not those who have been baptized. The washing and renewing are Divine acts of the Holy Spirit of God. The same is found in 1 Cor 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?..... And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. We were sinners, God cleaned us by His blood, now we are different. This verse has nothing to do with baptism. We are born again by the power of God. God using the instrument of His Word in regeneration.
The only other time the word "washing" appears in the New Testament is in Ephesians 5:26, in which, speaking of the church, says God will "sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the Word.” It is the Word of God used to “wash” the sinner from the filth and defilement of sin. In fact, the Word of God is the instrument of God the Holy Spirit in salvation (James 1:18; Gal 3:1-2).
1Pe 1:23-25 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
The same eternal Word that is preached is the gospel that is preached and believed. We evangelize by preaching God's Word. If God is pleased to use His Word to quicken a dead sinner to life, He will do so. Salvation comes by faith in Christ, through the preaching of the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. We are not born again by the power of baptism, but of the incorruptible seed, by the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17), not by the water. I believe it is incumbent upon those who believe this verse refers to Baptism to prove it. It is assumed this washing refers to baptism; however, since the whole of scripture teaches we are saved by Grace through faith, not by baptism, and that regeneration is a work of the Holy Spirit by His Sovereign will, not by the will of priest and parent. The sad thing is that those that baptize their babies lie to their children and tell them that they are saved because of what they did for them by having them baptized.
There is a twofold operation of the Holy Spirit in salvation, namely cleansing and renewal. Cleansing from the defilement of sin and the new birth. What does wash away our sins? The precious blood of Christ; Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 12:24; Heb 9:13-14 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Faith, which is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, comes by hearing the Word of God. You cannot have faith without an object of hope and a conviction of the reality of the unseen. None of which applies to the infant. Repentance means to turn. No infant has ever repented of their sins upon their baptism. Infant baptizers get around this by redefining the words hearing, faith, repentance, and the Word. The Bible can mean anything if you get to define what the words mean.
************
Please keep the comments on topic. If you want to discuss THIS post and THIS passage, well by all means, comment away.
Thanks.
10 comments:
So here is why Douglas and I read this passage differently. Douglas believes that baptism is a work of man. I and over a billion other Christians on planet earth believe that baptism is a work of God. If Douglas is right that baptism is a work of man, then believing and repenting are also works of man, because these actions are also something that man must do.
Baptism is a command of God, just as is believing and repenting. Obeying a command of God is not a work. Trying to be a good person to earn salvation is a work. Trying to buy your salvation by giving money to the Church is a work. Crawling on your bloody knees or beating yourself with a whip to earn salvation is a work. But presenting yourself or your child to be baptized as Christ commands, and then letting GOD save through the power of his Word is NOT a work.
Douglas refuses to read this passage and all other passages that discuss baptism, washing, washing of regeneration as water baptism because he has confused a command of God with a work of man. Therefore he refuses to accept the plain, simple, literal meaning of a passage and instead reads in words that aren't there. The word "blood" is not in this passage. Therefore washing refers to "water" unless otherwise specified. Once again, Baptists and evangelicals accept the word "baptism" and "washing" to mean literal water in the Gospels and Acts but once they get to the Epistles, "baptism" and "washing" no longer mean water baptism or washing with water they mean something entirely different. Isn't that inconsistency indicate a problem in how they arrive at their theology?
This passage does not say "washing with blood" it just says "washing".
No, Gary. The verses says nothing at all about baptism. Nothing.
I allowed Gary to go on and on in the previous comment thread. He said several times that I am reading into the passage things that are not there. I'm going to hold him to his own standard.
here is what is going to happen now. I'm going to hold Gary to a consistent argumentation. Over and over he accused me of reading into the passages in the Colossians post. Until Gary admits his inconsistency, I'm not going to allow him to continue on in this thread.
Gary, that was both a lie and a slander. I hope God grants you repentance.
All I want you to do is apply the same method of interpretation in Titus 3 as you did in Colossians 2.
Calling me names and getting emotional is not helpful for you.
Ok, let's try again.
Let's look at the passage in question with the surrounding text:
Titus 3:1-11 (ESV)
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
What does this passage of Scripture say?
1. Christians are to obey the secular authorities.
2. Christians are to be gentle, gracious, courteous people.
3. Paul reminds Christians how they used to behave as foolish sinners.
4. Paul states that then God came and he saved us, not by our works, but by his mercy.
5. Paul then explains how God saved us:
A. by the washing of regeneration.
B. by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, given to us through Jesus Christ.
6. What is the result of our salvation? We become heirs to the hope of eternal life.
7. Paul exhorts Christians to devote themselves to good works.
8. Avoid arguments over the law and avoid divisive people.
Are we able to discern from this one passage the meaning of “the washing of regeneration”? No. The passage does not say “washing with water”. It does not say “washing with blood”. It does not say that this washing of regeneration is baptism, nor does it say that this washing of regeneration occurs when we believe.
Thanks.
Comments for this post are now closed.
Post a Comment