Titus 3:3

‘For we also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving many kinds of lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.’

Paul begins his final summary by again revealing what is in the heart of all men (compare Romans 3:10-18; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Ephesians 4:17-24). He could have added, there is none righteous, no not one, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23). For the summary brings out man’s folly in failing to recognise the truth, which results from man’s disobedience which darkens his mind, with the consequence that man is deceived by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4), and thus follows many kinds of desires and pleasures, and lives in malice and envy, while being hateful and hating others. It is a damning indictment.

We might at first look at this and say, this was not what I was like. But if we think about it we will recognise that the description is only too true. Why did we take so long to come to Christ? Because we were foolish (without spiritual understanding). What was a main cause of our foolishness? It was an unwillingness to obey God and His Law. As Jesus Himself said, ‘he who wills to do His will, will know of the teaching whether it is of God’ (John 7:17). Men do not appreciate God’s teaching because they do not want to do His will. That is the reason why they are disobedient, and wander from the truth, as we also once did. That all men are deceived is unquestionable. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4, ‘the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not, lest the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine on them’.

‘Serving many kinds of desires and pleasures.’ This basically summarises the life of nearly all men and women, including sadly many who call themselves Christians. The aim of their lives is to satisfy their desires and enjoy their own pleasures, with little or no thought of God.

‘Living in malice and envy.’ It would be a brave person who claimed never to act out of malice and envy. Envy ruins and spoils many people’s lives and all are at times malicious, although some more often than others. And this in a country influenced for centuries by Christian teaching. It was from this that Jesus came to save us.

· ‘Hateful.’ The truth is that we all have traits in us which are hateful, even if some are more so than others. Most of us can behave despicably. Thank God for those who realise it and admit to it. Others are often despicable and never realise it. Theirs is the sad case. My experience is that most small time solicitors (lawyers) are at times especially despicable. They may be nice at times but they make use of their legal knowledge to try to make others squirm (we exclude, at least partly those who are simply conveyancers). It is unfairly taking advantage of the weak. That is truly despicable. It is very hard to be a Christian solicitor. But it does not, of course, just apply to solicitors, it is simply that they are in a position to make it more obvious. Others are almost as bad as they are.

‘Hating one another.’ How many can truly say, ‘I never have hatred in my heart for anyone.’ Only people who do not know themselves. The world is full of people hating each other. That is why we have wars, and street fights, and speak harshly about people. That is why we rise up in marches and demonstrations. Next time you see a demonstration just listen to the spokesmen. We are not saying that all involved in such demonstrations are necessarily full of hatred. Much depends on the demonstration and what it is about. But they regularly stir up hatred. (Of course we do not call it hatred, it is just that our opponents are so hateful)

So Paul’s words are just as applicable today as they were then. The truth is that we nice people, are often not quite as nice as we think we are once we begin to feel aggrieved.