Titus 3:4  But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

We are reminded here again of why God sent the Lord Jesus Christ to the world. It was because God is kind to man. He does not give us what we deserve. He gives us what we need and too often do not appreciate. His love is a self-less love. Saving man does not make God more complete. He is fully God without man. He created man for His glory. Adam chose to defy God and the result was a disaster for Adam and all of creation. However, it did not make God any less God. He loved Adam and promised that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. We know the seed of the woman spoken of there is Jesus Christ. We know that the head of the serpent has been bruised and will be cast into the lake of fire one day. No person is crippled so that he or she cannot be saved.
Jesus Christ is declared here to be God our Saviour. It requires a fool to deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible often refers to Jesus Christ as God. He appeared to man. He took upon Himself flesh for the purpose of appearing to man and laying down His life at the cross and allowing wicked men to nail Him to that cross. He shed His blood so that we could be forgiven and saved. He died on that cross and was taken off that cross and laid in a tomb. Three days later He arose victorious over sin and death. He appeared as the resurrected Saviour on many occasions.

I Corinthians 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5  And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
6  After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
8  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

In verse 5 we are reminded that we are saved according to God’s mercy. We cannot do anything to save ourselves. Adam could do nothing to save himself. He tried to save himself and Eve. They sewed themselves aprons from fig leaves. God did not accept that. God killed an animal to make coats of skins to cover them. Animal blood was shed to make a covering for them. That was an act of God’s mercy. Throughout the Bible, God has demonstrated His mercy toward man.
We see that this mercy was demonstrated by the washing of regeneration. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ was shed for our sins. That blood did not just spill onto the ground. This was not just human blood. This was the blood of the eternal Son of God. That blood was pure and spotless and was caught and was delivered by Jesus Christ to His Father in heaven.
This washing cannot be interpreted as washing with water. The Bible tells us that Jesus never baptized anyone.

John 4:2  (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

Baptism does not save. Baptism is a command of God to those who are born again. In our text we are told that Jesus saves us by His mercy. He is the One Who washes us clean of our sin. This is not with water, but with His blood. The Holy Ghost is involved in this as well. The Holy Ghost is involved in convincing the lost person of his need to be saved. He shows us we are lost sinners. There are thousands of liars who will try to convince the lost that they are not that bad. They will try to convince them that they just need to give some money or do some particular deed and everything will be fine. If you try to hold a serious Bible study with lost people, you will soon find out that most do not want to hear what the Bible has to say. They want a snake-oil salesman to twist the Scriptures and they will accept that.
The fact is that the Holy Ghost is working in the heart of every lost person to help them to see their need to repent toward God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Without that, there is no hope for man.
In verse 6 we see that God is ready to forgive any repentant sinner. God sheds His kindness and love upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Jesus Christ is the One Who demonstrated this kindness and love to us as people.
It is through faith in God’s gift, that we are justified by His grace. Again, this is a gift of God. It is not something we deserve. It is not something we have a right to. It is because of God’s kindness and love that we can be saved. That kindness and love is referred to as His grace. We are saved by God’s grace. When we are saved, we are adopted into God’s family. Only those who are saved are brought into that family. Many people wrongly believe they are part of God’s family. Many people are deceived. They have never repented toward God. They have kept their old sin nature and just added Jesus to the mix. That may sound good, but it does not work. We are made heirs of God according to the hope of eternal life. This hope is not a wishful thinking type of hope. It is a hope that is based on true faith in God. Born again Christians can have full confidence in God’s gift of salvation.
Pastor Bartel