NOTES for Tit 3:3
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.