FATHOMLESS

But according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior (Titus 3:5-6).

“For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:3-6). In these scriptures, Paul says that God did not save us by our works, for before He gifted us with His salvation, we were brutish, serving various lusts and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy and were hateful and hating one another. This brutish and beastly behavior characterized who we were by nature, but God’s kindness and love, directed toward us appeared because of His grace, He saved us through His boundless mercy!

When we think of “fathomless,” we think of that which is unable to be measured or understood, the depths of which, are bottomless. Who but God would pour out this “other worldly” kindness and love upon creatures such as what we had become? The following phrase clearly characterizes the Father’s heart, “but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5-6). Our abundant salvation, “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,” is totally an act of God, not man! The prophet Isaiah says of this “fathomless mercy,” “’Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool’” (Isaiah 1:18). What grace! What mercy! This fathomless mercy found its way to us through God’s fathomless grace, Jesus Christ!

Enjoying His fathomless kindness, love, mercy and grace …