A friend of mine was telling me about a situation he was in where he needed to get some meds for his wife. They had to be administered by injection. His insurance company wouldn’t cover the cost if the clinic that could administer them purchased them, but would cover the price at a different location which couldn’t perform the injections. The first site couldn’t inject meds that were bought at the second site and transported there. His head was spinning with the inherent contradictions that seemed to be built into the “system”.
This passage on the face of it contains a similar convolution. Paul is telling Titus things he should pass on to the churches in Crete. In verse 1. Titus needs to remind them to be ready for every good work. In verse 8, Titus is to insist on Paul’s sayings, so that the believers “may be careful to devote themselves to good works.” In verse 14, Paul again says “And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.”
So 3 times in 14 verses, Paul is emphatic that good works must be done in the churches. We have to come to the conclusion that this is important! It was important in Crete, certainly, because the people there had a bad reputation, as Paul mentions in Chapter 1:12-13 - One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith…” So Paul didn’t want these regional characteristics of the people (especially in this instance, the laziness) to carry over and be present in the church, and his emphasis on good works in this last chapter may stem in part from that. The word translated “devote” in verse 8 and verse 14 has to do with striving, maintaining, even giving priority to. And whether we share the traits of the Cretans to the same of a lesser degree, it is clear that true churches are to be known for their emphasis on good works, and that these are to be done in such a way that the church is distinct from those outside.
So far, so good - but where does the apparent contradiction come in? It enters because of the confusion many people have about the place of good works in the life of a believer. It’s possible to read just the verses I have commented on above and assume that churches should get busy performing good works because salvation is earned by them. How many people sincerely (if perhaps secretly or even subconsciously) believe that God will look at their lives at the end and score their good works against their sins? Provided there are more good works than sins, they believe, He will let them into heaven. To them, Paul’s emphasis here would make perfect sense.
But I skipped over verses 2-7 of the chapter in my comments above. Paul wants the church to be ready for every good work and to model sincere godly behavior (verse 1-2) because that will contrast dramatically with how outsiders still live, and with how they themselves used to live before they became believers - in slavery to passions and pleasures and filled with malice, envy and hatred (verses 3). And then Paul says how it was that they moved from that old way of life to the new way he had outlined in v 1-2. Some people might expect Paul to say, “You decided to get serious about doing lots of good works,” and that now he is giving them a pep talk so they keep it up. But he doesn’t. In fact, he flat out contradicts that whole idea: “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…” (v 5).
Good works (works done in righteousness) play absolutely no role in meriting salvation for true Christians! It is all down to the “goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior” (v 4) and is done “ according to his own mercy” (v 5). The words here say that salvation is totally because God is kind, philanthropic and compassionate towards us (takes pity on us). Quite a surprising statement, isn’t it? So all the good works I can do cannot be counted towards my salvation. In fact, the Bible says that my sin has made me filthy to God. Worse, it has killed me spiritually and I am dead to Him. I cannot do a good work that has spiritual merit, no matter how hard I try. Even if I do anything that I might think is good, it carries the foul stench of my sin with it and can’t please God.
So if I am going to be saved, and if I am going to be able to do good works that please God, He has to save me and He has to enable me. That is what Paul talks about in v 5-7. In His way of salvation, God washes us clean from our sin. This happens as He makes us alive by His Spirit (regenerates us). God can do this because Christ died on the cross to make an end of sin and death for those who trust Him, and to be their Savior. When God does this to us, He declares us to be “not guilty” (justifies us) and opens the doors to heaven for us to enter and possess as our inheritance!
And when God does all this to us inwardly, a sure and certain outward sign follows - as Paul says in v 8, those who have believed may be careful to devote themselves to good works! We are not saved by our good works, but saved so that we can do good works!
Are you washed, regenerated, justified, made heir to heaven? You can be - but not by good works!
