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mercy triumphs over stupidity

Titus 3:1-11 (JDV)

Titus 3:1 Keep reminding them to be submissive to their priorities and authorities, to obey them, to be ready to do every good achievement,
Titus 3:2 to insult no one, to be a non-combatant, to be gentle, and to demonstrate consideration of all humans.
Titus 3:3 Because we ourselves were once stupid, disobedient, led astray, slaves to our lusts and various pleasures, spending our lives by being mean and envious, hateful, hating one another.
Titus 3:4 But when the goodness and loving kindness appeared from our Savior God,
Titus 3:5 it appeared, not because of achievements done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Sacred Breath,
Titus 3:6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
Titus 3:7 so that having been declared not guilty by his favor we might become heirs, confident of inheriting permanent life.
Titus 3:8 The word is trustworthy, and I intend for you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good achievements. These things are good and profitable for humans.
Titus 3:9 But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, arguments, and fights about the law because they are unprofitable and useless.
Titus 3:10 As for a human who causes division, after warning him once and twice, refuse to participate with him,
Titus 3:11 since we know that such a person has been warped and is being sinful; he is self-condemned.

mercy triumphs over stupidity

Harvey summarizes the argument of Paul here: “If God showed such kindness and love to men as he has manifested in saving us, we also ought to show kindness and love to all men” (142). Harvey’s summary captures the heart of Paul’s argument with striking clarity. Paul roots Christian ethics not in human effort, social expectation, or cultural norms, but in the character of God revealed in salvation. The kindness and love God has shown become the pattern for the kindness and love believers are called to display. The logic is simple and profound: God acted toward us with mercy when we were foolish, disobedient, and enslaved to passions. That mercy transformed us. Therefore, those who have received such mercy must extend it.

Paul describes humanity’s former condition in stark terms—spiritually blind, morally misguided, and incapable of rescuing itself. Yet God intervened, not because of righteous deeds, but because of his own compassion. He washed, renewed, and justified. He poured out the Spirit richly. He made heirs out of those who had nothing to offer. This divine generosity is not merely a theological truth to be affirmed; it is a moral foundation to be lived.

If God’s mercy reached into human ignorance and rebellion, then believers cannot withhold mercy from others because of their flaws, failures, or immaturity. The transformation God worked in us becomes the model for how we treat those around us. The gospel does not produce people who look down on the spiritually confused; it produces people who remember their own confusion and respond with patience. It does not produce people who demand perfection; it produces people who recall their own need for grace. The mercy that removed our spiritual stupidity becomes the mercy we extend to those still trapped in theirs.

Paul’s argument also guards against pride. No believer can claim moral superiority, because every believer stands where they stand only because of God’s kindness. This humility becomes the soil in which gentleness grows. The community shaped by such mercy becomes a living demonstration of the gospel’s power—people who treat others not as they deserve, but as God has treated them.

Harvey’s summary therefore reflects Paul’s intention: the kindness God has shown becomes the kindness believers must show. The love God displayed becomes the love believers must embody. The mercy that rescued us becomes the mercy we extend.

LORD, overcome our stupidity!

Harvey, H. Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, First and Second Timothy and Titus, and the Epistle to Philemon. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1890.