Watching our life and remembering where we came from

Scripture Read: Titus 3:3-7 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 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, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Application: One scholar translates v. 3 this way:

For we were at one time also foolish, impersuasible (not to be moved by persuasion; inflexible), deceived, rendering a slave’s obedience to variegated pleasures, in malice and envy passing the time, detestable, hating one another.^[1]

I think the issue I have with this verse is, what exactly is being communicated? That we were once this way and are no longer this way? If that be the case I find myself in serious trouble. I still struggle at times with the sins listed here. Perhaps it is better to understand that Paul is describing how – before Christ – our life was given to a description of a life like this. Not that we all committed everything mentioned in this list but that our life was identified by slavery and habits of sin. This fits the context of the passage here and the teaching of all the Word when it comes to our walk now that we belong to Him. Many places the authors of scripture compare what our life was like before Christ and what it should be like now that we do know Him. This leads to two important ends. One – we should take note of any habitual sin beginning to take hold in our life. If we belong to Him we will still sin, but we should not love and cultivate it. We must confront those issues with the Lord’s help and seek His deliverance. Second, we should never forget where we came from – this will keep us humble. We are no better than anyone else – only because of what God has done are we freed from the slavery of sin. This should give us great compassion for those we meet that are still so deep in sin. We cannot condone sin, but must not place ourselves as the judge of anyone. Our life should show them how great freedom is and that they can have it also! God lead us to love all like You do! 

* Meditation Questions: How closely do I watch my life? Am I aware of sin as it begins, or do I only catch it after I have fallen? Do I meet with others and talk about my walk with them? What does this show? How badly do I want to grow in Christ? What am I doing about it this week?

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^[1] Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest's word studies from the Greek New Testament : For the English reader (Tt 3:1). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.