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SIX STEPS TO SALVATION
Titus 3:3-7
By Jon Quinn



     Brethren have often suggested that there are five
steps to salvation. I'm told that this was a memory aid
used last century to teach children what must be done to
be saved. The teacher would count off the steps finger by
finger of one hand (hence, five steps); hear, believe,
repent, confess Christ and be baptized. If God had given
us six fingers on a hand we could easily find another step
in the scripture (we could, for instance, put "be taught
the gospel" before "hear" the way as Paul suggests in
Romans 10:14; "How will they hear without a preacher," he
asked).

     Our text suggests six steps which had to be taken in
order for us to be saved; "For we also were once foolish
ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various
lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy,
hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God
our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us,
not on the basis of deeds which we have done in
righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing
of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He
poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:3-7).

RECOGNITION OF OUR NEED FOR SALVATION

     "For we also were once foolish ourselves,
disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and
pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hating
one another..." (Titus 3:3). Certainly one must come to
realize the bankruptness of a life without God. It is the
foolish man who counts as unimportant the great spiritual
counsel found within the pages of God's word. It is the
blind man who holds that life without God is better in
spite of the tragic social, ethical and moral consequences
of ungodliness which we see all around us.



     One must see himself for what he is before God will
grant him repentance. As long as we believe ourselves wise
in our disobedience, we will not seek the answer (Romans
1:18-23). But when we are finally fed up with our sin,
then repentance becomes possible.

THE ACCEPTANCE OF GOD'S MERCY

     "But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love
for mankind appeared..." (Titus 3:4). Our faith rests in
the Redeemer who came to "seek and save that which was
lost" (Luke 19:10). God's kindness and love is made known
through Jesus Christ. As we witness Jesus' unselfish
devotion to our well being, we are confident that His gift
is more than adequate to lift us from our otherwise
hopeless estate.

     To benefit from God's kindness, we must be willing to
receive it. We must exercise faith in what He has done;
God's grace does not automatically cover everyone. But
thanks be to God that no one is automatically excluded
either. The central fact of the gospel is the death,
burial and resurrection of Christ. When I come to believe
this gospel enough to comply with its conditions, then I
will receive of God's mercy.

REGENERATED BY WASHING

     "...He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we
have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by
the washing of regeneration..." (Titus 3:5). God does not
save us because we have done something to deserve it. The
Scriptures say, "For while we were still helpless, at the
right time Christ died for the ungodly" and "But God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6,8).

     But please notice that this does not mean that there
is no response that must be made to the gospel of grace.
The old sinner must be replaced by a new self. This is
called "regeneration." It is a new beginning.



     Our text refers to it as a "washing of regeneration."
Jesus used the term "born again" when He talked of
regeneration. His words help us to understand why Paul
uses the term "washing" because Jesus says that being
"born again" involves being "born of water and the Spirit"
(John 3:1-5). The Scriptures plainly show that it is at
the point of our immersion, or baptism into Christ that we
are made new. It is then that we begin our "walk in
newness of life" and that "our old body of sin" is done
away with and that we are "free from sin" (Romans 6:3-7;
17-18). Those in the body, or church of Christ have been
cleansed "by the washing of water with the word"
(Ephesians 5:26). The concept of baptism as an act of
faith by which God grants us forgiveness is not in any way
opposed to salvation by grace or mercy. Rather, it
establishes it (cf. Mark 16:16; Acts 22:16).

RENEWING BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

     "...and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured
out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior..."
(Titus 3:5b-6). Those first converts on Pentecost were
told that if they repented and were baptized in the name
of Jesus that they would receive the forgiveness of sins
and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). "Regeneration"
and "renewing" are very similar concepts. One difference
would be that the "regeneration" happens once when we are
baptized while the "renewing" is an ongoing process which
begins when we obey the gospel.

     There are parts of every big city that are badly in
need of "urban renewal." This means that things need to be
cleaned up, repaired and painted. The "renewing by the
Holy Spirit" is a similar process. It involves obeying the
Holy Spirit's revelation, the Scriptures, to clean up and
remove those things which are not becoming to the life and
attitudes of a Christian and replacing them with those
attributes which are (Galatians 5:18-25).








JUSTIFICATION BY GRACE

     "...that being justified by His grace..." (Titus
3:7a). "Justification" is a legal term. We are not "just"
before God because we have been sinless, but rather
because God, by His grace, has pardoned us. But this grace
did not come cheaply. Jesus bled and died on the cross so
that we might be counted as "just" by a righteous God. We
simply could not and can not accomplish this for
ourselves. We could never deserve forgiveness. It is by
grace, but not only by grace (as some are too quick to
say!). It is by "grace through faith" (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Grace is God's part in providing the gospel for us; faith
is our part in receiving it.

HOPE AS HEIRS OF ETERNAL LIFE

     "...we might be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life." (Titus 3:7b). It is interesting that the
Bible says that "For in hope we have been saved" (Romans
8:24). Hope saves us by giving us the needed motivation to
come to Christ and then to remain faithful to Him. Those
that possess a strong and living hope will refuse to be
dissuaded from following Jesus. Satan may "make us an
offer we can't refuse" and then be surprised when we
refuse it. How did we become so strong? Through our hope
of inheriting eternal life. Nothing this world offers or
threatens can compare to what God has promised and warned.

     So there it is: salvation in six steps; Recognition
of our need; Acceptance of God's mercy; Regeneration by
washing; Renewal by the Holy Spirit; Justification by grace
and Hope as heirs of eternal life. The kindness of God has
already appeared. It is certainly grace which continues to
afford us opportunity to receive and grow in respect to
salvation.

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