Titus 3:4-7
4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Paul emphasizes both the nature of God and His ultimate gift to humanity in this passage. Salvation, the pardoning of our souls so that we no longer have to pay for our sins, comes through Jesus to us because of mercy, not because of merit.

It’s very easy–and tempting–to get this wrong, to start believing that we can engineer our own salvation or that we somehow “deserved” God’s love more than somebody else. But Paul is clear: God’s merciful act saved us because we could not save ourselves; alone, we could not be spiritually reborn and renewed without the Holy Spirit’s power, and could not hope to have eternal life with Him after physical death. None of us deserved this gift, this second chance to live as Christ lived, but it was and still is offered to all.