Trinitarian Salvation

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 99
• Hymn
• Prayer of Invocation
• Nicene Creed (Corporate Confession of Faith)
• Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 6:16–23
• Pastoral Prayer
• Hymn — Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery
• Sermon
• Hymn
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: Trinitarian Salvation

Scripture: Titus 3:4–7

I. Trinitarian Salvation Involves the Love of the Father

A. The fount of salvation is the love of God the Father

1. The activity of the Spirit in regeneration and the Son in justification are the outworking of the Father's love
2. Key texts: John 3:16; Ephesians 1:5; 1 John 4:7
3. John Owen: "The father is a fountain of eternal love… the father is the great fountain of all gracious communications and fruits of love"

B. Paul's emphasis in Titus 3:4 is on the Savior, not merely on salvation

1. The benefits of salvation are meant to draw our eyes upward to the Benefactor
2. The Father's love is a holy love — he does not set aside his holiness but justifies sinners in the blood of his Son and cleanses them by his Spirit

C. The Father's salvific love changes our person, not merely our circumstances

1. Through regeneration and renewal he establishes holy communion and union with his children
2. This communion is enjoyed now and forevermore through the Son and by the Spirit

II. Trinitarian Salvation Involves the Regeneration of the Spirit

A. The weight of Titus 3:5 is understood against the backdrop of Titus 3:3

1. Outside of Christ: foolish, disobedient, enslaved to passions, living in malice and envy
2. The same "but God" formula appears in Ephesians 2:1–5; Titus 3 identifies the Holy Spirit as the agent who makes us alive

B. The Spirit as the Spirit of illumination

1. John 3:3 — unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God
2. Dead, blind sinners are given sight to see Christ and lay hold of him by faith, becoming heirs of the kingdom

C. The Spirit as the Spirit of transformation (renewal)

1. The word renewal appears elsewhere only in Romans 12:2 — "be transformed by the renewal of your mind"
2. The Spirit not only changes our status as heirs but changes our character to live as citizens of the kingdom

D. The cosmic and eschatological dimension of regeneration

1. The word regeneration appears elsewhere only in Matthew 19:28, referring to the final renewal of all things
2. Sinclair Ferguson: regeneration is "the incursion of a new order into the present order of reality… transformation from without and from above caused by participation in the power of the new age"
3. Individual regeneration is evidence of age-to-come blessings breaking into the present world — the Father's will being done on earth as it is in heaven

III. Trinitarian Salvation Involves the Mediation of the Son

A. The Son's mediation in connection with the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:6)

1. The Father pours out the Spirit through the Son — this is not a New Testament novelty
2. Genesis 1:1–2 — the Spirit hovers over the lifeless void; the life-giving Spirit penetrates it through God's Word (the Son, as John's Gospel makes clear)
3. Likewise, the dead soul is made alive by the Spirit through the Son
4. The Nicene Creed: the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (filioque) — distinguishing Western orthodoxy from Eastern Orthodoxy, and grounded in both original creation and new creation

B. The Son's mediation in connection with justification (Titus 3:7)

1. "Justified by his grace" refers back to the Father's love in verse 4 — the Father declares unrighteous sinners righteous through the Son
2. We are not saved by our own righteousness but by the righteousness of Christ offered to the Father on his people's behalf
3. Romans 4:25 — Jesus was delivered for our trespasses and raised for our justification
4. Christ dies and rises not as a solitary man but as a corporate, representative, federal head — taking his covenant people with him through death and resurrection
5. From beginning to end, salvation is trinitarian: it stems from the love of the Father, who sends the Holy Spirit, who unites us to the Son, where justification and salvation are found