Titus 3:5 (LSB)

Passage

He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

Nearby Context

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.

Titus 3:4 But when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared,

Titus 3:5 He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

Titus 3:6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Titus 3:7 so that having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "Spirit", "saved", "mercy", "works", "righteousness", "through", "washing", and "regeneration". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "Spirit" and "saved", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "But when the kindness and affection of..." into verse 6's "whom He poured out upon us richly...", so "Spirit" and "saved" belong inside that flow. In Titus context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "Spirit" and "saved" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.