Titus

When we become followers of JESUS CHRIST inwardly we are changed. We no longer consider only ourselves but others also wanting for them the very best that GOD has to offer. We were created for good works that GOD knew beforehand. To show our love for and our gratitude for our salvation the HOLY SPIRIT places HIS fruit into our core and enables us to carry them out in HIS love.

Titus 2:14 

¹⁴ who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. 

Titus 3:8 

⁸ This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. 

Titus 3:14 

¹⁴ And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful. 

Paul beautifully describes the Savior’s redemptive work on our behalf: Jesus is the One “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works”. 

Certainly Titus got the message.

 The letter to Titus emphasizes good works. There were influential people in the church who were motivated by personal interest and selfish gain. In his letter, Paul exposes the ways this was affecting the doctrine and practice of the church and urges Titus to champion purity, service, and kindness toward others. Paul reminds Titus that salvation is not based on our own “works of righteousness” but rather is the result of God’s work of kindness and love toward us. We are unable to do good works in our disobedient and selfish state. Salvation in Christ frees us to do good works, and the “washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” enables us.

In his letter, Paul exhorts the believers at Crete to display the testimony of good works to outsiders. While good works are a Christian duty, they are also a gift from God. Through justification in Christ, God declares us righteous. We must have this legal standing in order to qualify before God to do good works. 

Redemption removes us from the jurisdiction of Satan by paying the debt incurred by our sins. At the same time, it places us in the family of God so that we might be “His own special people, zealous for good works”.

The NKJ Study Bible