Titus 3:5-7
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.
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If only we had a better understanding of the fact that we, the family of God, sinners all, saved by grace, did not get what we deserved. Jesus got what we deserved on the cross of Calvary when He took our sin and paid the price—death—in order that our sin would be removed from us as far as the east is from the west as David said. {Ps.103:12} We got what Jesus alone deserves, the total love of God the Father, Abba!

That is mercy indeed! Understanding that mercy and the love that powered it, so undeserved, should remove any trace of pride from our lives and be replaced by praise for Jesus. Then, rooted and grounded in love we would all be able to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of His love for us which goes beyond all knowledge and be filled up with all the fullness of God. {Eph.3;17-19}

It is no wonder that the apostle Paul would write that he had determined to know nothing other than Christ and Him crucified. {1Cor.2:2} As the lover of the Scriptures that he was he certainly would have understood what the prophet Isaiah had meant writing that all of our own righteousnesses are as filthy rags. {Is.64:6} It makes perfect sense that he would then write to the believers in Philippi saying that even he himself did not have a righteousness of his own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ which comes from God on the basis of faith. {Php.3:9} It is all about God’s mercy and grace.

And now as children of God, and such we are as the Holy Spirit attests to, we are joint heirs with Christ {Rom.8:17} as we call on Abba, Father. Oh, by the way, one of the things that we share with Christ even now as the apostle Paul wrote are His sufferings…

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:16-18)

THANKS BE TO GOD FOR HIS INDESCRIBABLE GIFT