Great News (from Bad News)

There is an axiom found in culture, literature, motivational speeches, and even Scripture – that “good can come from bad.” We hear this truth when a self-help book about fighting depression declares that “it is the harshest of Winters that makes you appreciate Spring!” Or when a friend reminds us that “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Or even when Scripture declares in Psalm 30:5, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

This truth of “good from bad” is also seen in Paul’s reminder of the gospel to his pastor friend Titus, which leads to this week’s One Thought from Titus 3.

The Bad News of Sin Leads to the Good News of God’s Love

Last week, we looked at verse 3 of Titus 3, which told us that we are way worse than we thought. Not the most fun thing to admit! But that devastatingly bad news sets us up for the amazingly great news of verse 4…

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us…” (Titus 3:4-5a, ESV)

The bad news is very bad: Our sin is far worse than we realize. And yet, that bad news is obliterated by the jaw-dropping reality that God loved us so much that Jesus died for our sins to save us from them and from an eternity separated from our Creator. What amazing truth!

This means you don’t have to clean up your act or do some good works to offset the bad before coming to Jesus. Rather, as Romans 5:8 declares,

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, ESV)

May this one thought of God’s grace and love shining through the bleak darkness of our sin give you joy and hope today!