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NOTES for Tit 3:3

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3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
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Paul has a low opinion of untransformed human nature. At times it may seem that he somewhat lays the colors on thickly. Indeed, when saying "we," he lists such traits of character and such sins that, one may think, neither Paul himself nor his closest circle suffered from even before turning to Christ. But the matter is probably not only in the concrete manifestations of one sin or another. It is also in sinfulness as such. Traditionally the Torah was always directed toward the struggle with the concrete sin of a concrete person. But on the other hand, the very idea of the inner Torah already presupposed a certain quality of spiritual life, and here readiness to commit sin under certain favorable conditions became in itself a serious spiritual problem. This problem stood even more sharply for those seeking the Kingdom: in the Kingdom the quality of spiritual life comes to the foreground, and here the quality of spiritual life determines the quality of life in general. When Paul lists all the sins he lists, applying them to himself as well, he most likely has in mind that spiritual state of fallen man which can easily allow him to turn into everything the apostle mentions. Paul clearly understands perfectly well that if we do not become any such thing in more or less favorable external conditions, this by itself does not at all prove the absence of spiritual problems. One could speak of their absence only if we remained "good" under any circumstances, even under those that do not contribute to "goodness" in any way. Only then could one speak of our readiness to take a step into the Kingdom. Of course, in itself this still guarantees nothing, because in this case we are not speaking of the first level of spiritual life, but rather of the zero level, of the foundation without whose laying no further construction can be discussed. And Paul seeks to make his fellow believers understand that they absolutely need this foundation, even if they themselves think that they are already quite good enough, successfully keeping their sinfulness from manifesting outwardly. For the issue is not morality, but the Kingdom. Here one must not keep rules, but simply live. As the person one really is.

Other notes

 
For Tit 3:1-15
1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
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 Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
12 When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter.
13 Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them.
14 And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.
15 All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
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Why does the Lord love us? Because we are good? Hardly... Because He likes us? No, not that either. It is doubtful that we...  Read more

Why does the Lord love us? Because we are good? Hardly... Because He likes us? No, not that either. It is doubtful that, in our present sinful state, we are especially pleasing to Him who is goodness itself, righteousness itself... Then why? Because He loves. Why must we love our neighbors? Because they are good? That is not always so. Because we like them? That would be too easy. The Apostle Paul reminds us today that God saved us not according to our righteousness but according to His mercy. This is how we too must love: not because of any merit, but simply—to love.

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For Tit 3:1-15
1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
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 Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
12 When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter.
13 Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them.
14 And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.
15 All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
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Speaking about the necessity of obeying the law, Paul mentions another aspect of the problem that apparently...  Read more

Speaking about the necessity of obeying the law (vv. 1-2), Paul mentions another aspect of the problem that, apparently, in the heat of polemics or condemnation in those days (as, indeed, today) many forgot. He reminds both Titus himself and those whom Titus was to instruct that a sinful person has no right to condemn anyone at all, that condemnation of people, even if they are sinners, is an unsuitable occupation for a Christian. The point is not only that only God can adequately evaluate a person, and not separate actions he has committed, and God will give His assessment at the Last Judgment. The point is also that fallen man has no moral right to condemn anyone. Of course, many had guessed this long before the Savior came into the world; the saying "physician, heal yourself" was known already in deep antiquity. But the main point is still elsewhere: condemnation of one's neighbor distracts the Christian from the struggle with his own sins, from being rooted in the Kingdom, and from witness.

The apostle, it is clear, calls his fellow believers to focus on solving precisely these main tasks and to leave in peace those who may deserve condemnation but on whose condemnation a Christian should hardly spend time, especially since in due time each of those who now walks the way of salvation deserved the same condemnation (vv. 3-8). Apparently, the abuse of the Torah mentioned by the apostle (v. 9) became fertile soil for condemnation. The Torah was given to man not for condemning his neighbor, but for evaluating concrete actions and deeds, both his own and others', in order to understand whom and in what one can support, and from whom it is better to keep one's distance. Yet in every age there has been a temptation to abuse the Torah, using it not as a spiritual compass that allows one not to lose spiritual and moral bearings in the world of human deeds and actions, but as a means for self-exaltation and condemnation. Such abuse inevitably led to the empty disputes Paul mentions, whose participants, mutually condemning one another, lost both the meaning of the Torah and the Kingdom. It is no accident that the apostle says that those who think about the Torah differently than he himself and those who share his mind (in the Synodal translation these dissenters are called "heretics") condemn themselves (vv. 10-11): the Torah is a double-edged weapon, so anyone who wants to aim it at his neighbor inevitably turns it against himself as well. The one who scrupulously and mercilessly counts his neighbor's sins will have to answer to God for his own, and God will count them just as scrupulously as the condemner once counted another's sins, condemning him as mercilessly as he himself condemned his neighbors. Then the Torah will become for him a path leading not to the Kingdom, but to that outer darkness of which the Savior spoke.

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