Thank you. In the early church, there were believers who had become prideful about their salvation.

They started looking down at others.

And the Apostle Paul pointed out to them that sometimes remembering who we once were can be the

best remedy for our pride. Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg unpacks an important reminder

for all of us as Christians.

Chapter 3 of Titus remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient,

to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and consider it,

and to show true humility towards all men. Now, what he does is, having given that as a call, if you like, to Christian citizenship,

which we said was marked by loyalty and courtesy and humility and so on,

having given that call to Christian citizenship, he recognizes as a wise pastor and as

an apostle, that it's possible for Christians to look with contempt upon their culture,

rather than to look with compassion on their culture. And the one thing he realizes that

will be an antidote to that kind of response is for the Christian believer to be reminded of our

pre-converted condition. And so it is that he describes then, in verse three, what we once were before Christ. We often say here at

Parkside that the Christian life is a two-volume book. We have prior to coming to Christ, and after

we've come to Christ. And there are many things written into volume number one that are sad and unhappy features,

and while the evil one would want us to delve back into sin that is forgiven, which we

mustn't do, nevertheless, we cannot forget, and we dare not forget, that apart from

God's amazing grace, we would be just like these people. We would be

in the same predicament as themselves. Whitfield, on one memorable occasion, in seeing somebody

going to the gallows, turned to the person next to him and said, there, but for the grace of God,

go I. And that, of course, is exactly the case.

...