经文研读
Titus 3:4-7 — Salvation by Mercy, Not by Works
Salvation comes by God's mercy through the Holy Spirit's regenerating work, not by human righteousness, resulting in justification by grace and heirship of eternal life.
经文
- 4.但 到 了 神 ─ 我 們 救 主 的 恩 慈 和 他 向 人 所 施 的 慈 愛 顯 明 的 時 候 ，But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared,
- 5.他 便 救 了 我 們 ； 並 不 是 因 我 們 自 己 所 行 的 義 ， 乃 是 照 他 的 憐 憫 ， 藉 著 重 生 的 洗 和 聖 靈 的 更 新 。not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
- 6.聖 靈 就 是 神 藉 著 耶 穌 基 督 我 們 救 主 厚 厚 澆 灌 在 我 們 身 上 的 ，which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
- 7.好 叫 我 們 因 他 的 恩 得 稱 為 義 ， 可 以 憑 著 永 生 的 盼 望 成 為 後 嗣 。 （ 或 作 ： 可 以 憑 著 盼 望 承 受 永 生 ） 。that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
这段经文的意思
Titus 3:4-7 forms a single compact statement of how God has saved believers. The passage opens with the appearance of two divine qualities — God's kindness and his love toward man — and ties that appearance to the title "God our Saviour," the same designation used elsewhere in the Pastoral Epistles. The point is that salvation is not initiated by human effort but revealed when God's own character breaks into history.
Verse 5 supplies the central contrast: salvation is explicitly 'not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy.' The two instruments named are the 'washing of regeneration' and the 'renewing of the Holy Spirit.' These two phrases are joined and together describe one saving action — the Spirit's work that both cleanses and renews. Verse 6 then identifies the agent and the measure: the Spirit is 'poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour,' linking the Spirit's giving to Christ's person as the channel.
Verse 7 states the result of that work: 'being justified by his grace,' believers are made 'heirs according to the hope of eternal life.' Justification is here connected to grace, and heirship to a future hope rather than a present possession. The passage therefore moves from cause (God's mercy) to means (Spirit and Christ) to result (justification and heirship), forming a tidy theological summary of how a person is saved.
背景
Titus 3:4-7 is the climax of Paul's contrast between the believers' past and their present. Verses 1-2 instruct believers in civic and interpersonal duties, while verse 3 catalogues the prior condition of both Paul and his readers: foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to lusts and pleasures, marked by malice, envy, and mutual hatred. Verse 4's 'But when...' deliberately pivots from that dark catalogue to the appearing of God's kindness and love, presenting salvation as a divine initiative that interrupts a thoroughly human disorder.
Verses 8-15 then flow from 3:4-7. Verse 8 calls the preceding statement 'faithful' and urges Titus to affirm it confidently so that believers will be careful to maintain good works — works that are not the ground of salvation (as 3:5 stated) but the fruit of it. The closing instructions about sending Artemas or Tychicus, helping Zenas and Apollos, and the final salutation frame the doctrinal summary in the everyday life of a local church.
常见问题
Does Titus 3:5 teach baptismal regeneration?
The passage says believers were saved 'through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.' The text itself joins these two phrases with 'and,' presenting one saving action of the Spirit that both cleanses and renews. The note provided does not identify this washing with water baptism, nor does it identify it with the Spirit's renewing, so the page does not adjudicate between views; it simply notes that the two expressions are coordinated as a single description of how God saved us.
How are good works related to salvation in this passage?
Verse 5 explicitly denies that salvation is by works 'which we did ourselves.' Verse 8, which immediately follows, calls the statement 'faithful' and urges believers to 'maintain good works.' The supplied note frames works as the result of being saved rather than the ground of it. The passage therefore distinguishes the cause of salvation (God's mercy, not our deeds) from the conduct that follows it (careful good works).
What is the connection between verse 4 and verse 5?
Verse 4 notes that God's kindness and love 'appeared.' Because the passage has just catalogued the believers' former condition in verse 3, that appearing is presented as a divine intervention breaking into a situation of human sin. Verse 5 then explains the mechanics of that appearance: God saved us not by our righteousness but by his mercy, through the Spirit's regenerating and renewing work. The 'appearing' of verse 4 is unpacked as the mercy-driven, Spirit-actualized salvation of verse 5.