Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday June 18TH 2023, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this great new day of believing, following, trusting, loving, and being more like our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. Let us love our neighbor as ourself.

Happy Father’s Day here in the U.S.A. and in much of the world today. We honor all of our Dads on this day !

I’m back in Homestead this morning, and I’ll be with my longtime church family for the next 2 Sundays in a row – a rarity for me nowadays. I’ll even be visiting my original (2007-2015) church family this upcoming Saturday for a celebration of life service for a friend of mine who passed on to Heaven to be reunited with her Creator. She was an early mentor of mine back in the day. If I recall correctly she arrived at our church after me, and she quickly established herself as a maternal pillar of the church. She was a true prayer warrior, and I got closer to God with her encouragement during our many Saturday mornings of prayer group together.

And now on #SundayScripture it’s the continuation of the transcription of my sermon on “Paul & Titus” that I preached to my church family on March 05TH 2023. Here’s Part 8:

[CONTINUATION OF SERMON]

So the Apostle Paul is explaining repentance and salvation to his good buddy and disciple Titus. Now of course Titus knows all about it already – because he’s repented, and he’s been saved, and he’s a mature believer and church leader. But Paul is writing Titus that they need to hear it again. Who’s they ? They would be the believers that make-up the new churches on Crete.

But – when God our Savior revealed His kindness and love – He saved us – not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins – giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of His grace – He made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

Those 4 verses are still up there from Titus Chapter 3 Verses 4, 5, 6, and 7. Collectively – Paul refers to those 4 verses as a trustworthy saying. It’s essentially a saying that Paul uses a lot. It’s one of his go-to sayings. It’s a saying that you can always depend on Paul to say frequently. They are sayings that Paul reinforces over and over again – because he strongly believes in them, as they are straight from the Gospel.

Paul wants Titus to insist on reinforcing the trustworthy saying – and all of these teachings, so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good. These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone. (Titus 3:8)

Hearing about repentance and salvation over and over again is good and beneficial for everyone.

So you and I – we – were saved in order to do good.

By the way – who saved us ? Was it the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit ? Well – let’s try to figure this out together.

So God the Father – He saved us – by – His mercy. The Father is the – Initiator. He created everything. He created salvation.

So God the Son – He saved us – by – His actions. The Son is the – Accomplisher. He gave His life for us on that cross.

So God the Holy Spirit – He saved us – by – His applications. The Spirit is the – Applier. He applied salvation to our lives.

So the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit saved us. Creator, Christ, and Spirit. Initiator, Accomplisher, and Applier.

We were saved by the Godhead 3-in-1, and our salvation continues to this day. Most of us remember where we were and what we were doing at the exact moment that we were saved. Some of us remember the year, the month, the week, and even the date. My salvation started during the week of August 20TH 2006 – just before dawn – as I was driving eastward on SW 328TH Street – North Canal Drive – here in Homestead.

[TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK]

If you wish to learn more about the God I know then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. The best is yet to come !

Thank you for reading my blog for this day, and may:

The LORD bless you, and keep you.
The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.