Titus 3:3-8 - What God Did For Us
3 For we [Christians] were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various kinds of [evil] desires and [sinful] pleasures. [We used to] live in malice and envy, hating people and being hated by them.
4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not because of any good deeds we ourselves had done, but because of His mercy. [He saved us] through the washing of new birth [Note: This refers to our immersion in water] and the renewing [work] of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom God poured out upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 [This was] so that, being made right with God by His unearned favor, we could have the hope of [possessing our] inheritance of never ending life [in heaven].
8 This saying is trustworthy and I want you [in your teaching] to affirm these things with confidence, so that those people who have trusted God will be careful to devote themselves to doing good deeds. These things [i.e., just mentioned] are good and profitable for people [to do].