The sequence of assertions in Titus 3:5-7 is intriguing:
God saved us according to His mercy
By the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Spirit poured out on us through Jesus
So that being justified by grace
We might be heirs of eternal life.
Let’s stipulate that the “washing” is baptismal. What’s intriguing here is not only that the washing is connected to the gift of the Spirit of Jesus, but also that the gift of the Spirit is immediately followed by a reference to justification. How did justification come into the picture?
The verb “justify” in v. 7 reaches back to the “righteousness” in v 5: Paul denies that we are justified by “deeds which we have done in righteousness but according to His mercy,” but instead have been “justified by His grace.” The statement about being saved, thus, is framed by negative and positive statements about the way of justification. Within that frame Paul refers to baptism and the gift of the Spirit.
The salvation that does not come by our own deeds of righteousness comes through (DIA) baptism and the gift of the Spirit. This is done so that we might become heirs of the hope of eternal life, but this hope of eternal life depends on our “having been justified.” Thus, the sequence is: We are not saved by by our righteous deeds; rather by His mercy that comes through water and Spirit; so that having been justified – not by our righteous deeds – we might inherit life. The sequence suggests strongly (though not conclusively) that the “having been justified” refers to the gift of the Spirit that accompanies the washing of regeneration. We are not justified by our own works, but rather by the reception of the Spirit.
It is plausible to conclude that the gift of the Spirit is the enacted declaration of our justification. As Peter and other Jewish disciples noted when the Spirit fell on the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius, the gift of the Spirit is a sign that one has become acceptable to God (Acts 10:44-48).
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