God does not save because He has to; He saves because He wants to. And it is His joy. He does not save begrudgingly; God loves to save sinners. Hebrews says Christ went willingly to the cross. In fact, He rejoiced despite the shame. He wanted to save sinners, and He freely gave His life to redeem us.
God does not save because He has to; He saves because He wants to. And it is His joy. He does not save begrudgingly; God loves to save sinners. Hebrews says Christ went willingly to the cross. In fact, He rejoiced despite the shame. He wanted to save sinners, and He freely gave His life to redeem us.
Welcome to the Theological Touchpoints podcast. I'm Julian. The focus for this episode is touchpoints at the intersection of biblical theology and everyday life. What do you think of when you hear the words the gospel? Do you think of a way of life, the plan of salvation? of terms like justification, sanctification and glorification? Do you think of a set of biblical truths set forth in Scripture? All of these are certainly a part of the gospel, but I believe that when we hear the words the gospel, we should not think first of truth or ideas, but rather of a person, specifically of God himself. The gospel is not first about truths that exist outside of God. Rather, it is first about God himself, his desire to save sinners and the work he has done to accomplish that desire.
Julian Stoltzfus:
Too often, the gospel gets detached from the character of God. What I mean by this is not that we think of the gospel as having nothing to do with God, but we begin to think of the gospel as something that exists outside of him rather than as something that flows from his very character. When this happens, the gospel becomes a set of truth claims, not a story of God's redemption. Grace becomes an impersonal force rather than the effectual workings of a loving God. But the gospel must not be detached from the character of God. Rather, we need to think of it as the expression of his character. Salvation is the application of God's love. God saves sinners because he loves them. In fact, the gospel is a reality because God himself is good, loving, merciful and gracious. Grace exists because God is gracious. He is first gracious. Grace is the expression of that grace, and so he saves, not begrudgingly, not from duty, but because he loves us. God's divine action in the gospel is a result of his goodwill toward mankind. He first of all wills to save. From his divine goodness comes divine action, the salvation of sinners. As Grace is rightly understood as connected to God's character, so too sin must be seen as that which opposes God's righteous character.
Julian Stoltzfus:
Sin is not merely the violation of an objective moral code. It is an offense against God himself. The law we break when we sin is not arbitrary. Rather, it is the revelation of God's own character. When we sin, disobeying God's law, we sin against the very person of God. We have not just broken some universal code of honor, we have rebelled against God himself. Sin is rebellion against God himself. Sin's offense doubles when we realize that we have done more than just break God's law. When we sin, we use God's provisions against him. We curse him with the breath he gave us. We worship the creation but reject the Creator. We take pleasure in the gifts he gives while refusing to take pleasure in the giver of those gifts. So again, sin is more than just breaking an arbitrary law. It is an offense against God himself.
Julian Stoltzfus:
Similarly, grace is not merely the experience of transforming power, a power that works outside or disconnected from God himself. Grace is God himself working in our lives. Grace is not just a tap to turn on. Grace is God's redemptive power at work in us. We need to live by grace. That means we live in relationship with God, receiving what he offers us. Grace is amazing because it is God himself at work to save sinners. God gladly meets us in our need and redeems us from our sin.
Julian Stoltzfus:
The apostle Paul describes this in Titus 3, 4, when the kindness and the love of God, our Savior, toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Paul here describes the gospel as the appearance of God's kindness and love. God's kindness, his character, compels him to save us. Kindness translates the Greek Christates, which is used nine other times in the New Testament. It speaks of good will, favor or generosity toward others. God is kindly disposed toward us, desiring to bless us, to do good for us. The phrase love toward man which follows kindness, the kindness and the love of God, our Savior, toward man. This phrase love toward man translates philanthropy. From this comes the English philanthropy, benevolence or goodness toward others. Interestingly, the other time philanthropy is used in Acts 28, verse 2, it is translated kindness. But translating it that way here in Titus would read the kindness and the kindness of God. That translation lends an awkward reading, but it does underscore the emphasis.
Julian Stoltzfus:
The appearance of God's mercy seen in the Gospel is a result of His kindness toward us. The kindness and the love of God toward man appeared in Christ. God loves us, therefore He acts. God desires to bless us, therefore He moves to action, redeeming us through Christ. It's helpful to see this in its progression from God's nature to His desire, to His action.
Julian Stoltzfus:
God is kind in nature. It's who He is. Because His character is kind, he desires to do what is kind. His nature informs and shapes His desires. Because He desires to do what is kind, he acts in kindness, his desire motivates Him to action. The second and third movements in this progression are before us here in Titus 3.
Julian Stoltzfus:
God is kindly disposed toward mankind. That is His attitude toward us, or His desire for us is good. His attitude toward us is kindness, this desire to do what is right, to do what is good, to do what is kind to us. This is manifested in His mercy through Christ. His kindness appeared, it says, in Christ. And so God the Son became flesh and dwelt among us. He appeared among us, demonstrating, showing us God's love, everything God offers us in the Gospel. His kindness in action results from His nature as kind and His desire to show kindness. So, again, because of who God is as kind, he desires to do what is kind and therefore He does what is kind. And we can look at this in other aspects as well. God's grace is motivated by His character as gracious. Because He's gracious, he desires to do what is gracious to us and therefore He acts in grace toward us. His provision of that which we don't deserve, primarily in the Gospel. We're really in all of life, every good thing we enjoy being a result of God's graciousness, his giving love toward us. So, again, because God is kind, he desires to do what is kind and therefore He has done what is kind. And this kindness, this goodwill, this desire for good for us has appeared to us in and through Christ, and Titus goes on to speak about the Gospel and the things we enjoy in and through Christ.
Julian Stoltzfus:
It's also helpful for us to think about the fact that the Gospel as we know it is not the only story God could have written. God did not have to redeem sinners. He is under no obligations to anyone or anything which dictates what He can and cannot do. Though He did not have to, he did redeem us, for which we will be eternally grateful. But if He were not good, if He were not kind in nature, in who He is, scripture might be no more than just an account of God's righteous judgment against rebellious sinners, and we do need to recognize that there's nothing unjust about that picture. God is not obligated to show us grace, but He does show us grace, and this is because God is good, because He is kind, he acts to save us, he meets us in our need, deals with our sin and redeems us to Himself. His kindness compels Him to show us grace, and the grace we experience in the Gospel is a result of God's love, of God's grace, of God's kindness toward us. This kindness is cause for glory. We glorify God for His love. But in fact God the Father glorifies God the Son for His love and God the Son glorifies God the Father for His love.
Julian Stoltzfus:
The Gospel John records the Father and the Son glorying in each other because of the Gospel. In John 10, we read that the Father loves Jesus because Jesus gave Himself for us. It says, therefore my Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it again. The Father glories in the Son's atoning, death and victorious resurrection. Likewise, jesus gives his life not to glorify himself but to bring glory to the Father. He says in the same passage Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.
Julian Stoltzfus:
Jesus went to the cross to bring glory to the Father. The Father desires to save and he delights in what the Son has done to accomplish that salvation. The Son desires to save and he submits himself to the Father's will that he could make salvation possible. And so the Godhead takes joy in the Gospel because through it, god's kindness becomes grace, grace through which we are saved. God does not save because he has to. He saves because he wants to, and it is his joy. He does not save begrudgingly. God loves to save sinners.
Julian Stoltzfus:
Hebrew says that Christ went willingly to the cross. In fact, he rejoiced, despite it, for the joy that was set before him. He endured the cross, despising the shame. Jesus gave his life willingly because of love. He wanted to save sinners and he freely gave his life to redeem us. This means that God wants you in his family. If you are saved, you are adopted as his child. He wanted covenant relationship with you and he sent Christ to redeem you to himself. If you are not saved, if you have not surrendered to Christ, god desires that you come to him and be saved.
Julian Stoltzfus:
Christ came to save even the worst of sinners. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance. Indeed, that is why Christ came, not to condemn sinners but to save them. God delights in saving all who come to him in faith, whether self-righteous, hypocritical, insecure, pretentious, rebellious or anything else. God loved us when we were his enemies. He redeemed us even in our sin. God's mercy is offered to all.
Julian Stoltzfus:
God in his grace saves us from sin. Grace is God's benevolence, his good will, which reaches down and pulls us out of the muck of our sin. For the gospel is more than salvation from sin. It is also salvation to God, restored relationship with him. We are reconciled to him, adopted into his family, joint heirs with Christ, as his brothers and sisters. Grace is far more than a force. Grace is God's action.
Julian Stoltzfus:
In the gospel, god reconciles us to himself. We were wounded, but he has healed us. We were sinners, but he saved us. He has washed us. We were orphans, but now we belong to him. He adopted us.
Julian Stoltzfus:
We are the privileged ones who live in relationship with the living God. This is ours because of God's kindness, because of God's love, because of God's grace, because of who he is and what he desires and what he has done. These privileges are ours by that grace. This grace is ours because of God's kindness. God loves to save sinners. It is his joy to meet filthy sinners in their need and redeem them, drawing them to himself in love, cleansing them through Christ and adopting them into his family. God is kind. His kindness is ours to enjoy in Christ. Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Theological Touchpoints podcast. This podcast is a production of Sword and Trumpet Ministries. For more information, visit wwwswordandtrumpetorg or theologicaltouchpointscom. If you have thoughts or questions, you can contact us at podcast at theologicaltouchpointscom. Now may the God of peace himself thank you completely and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved, blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.