<p>3:8 <i>This teaching is trustworthy</i>- AV &ldquo;A faithful saying&rdquo;, one of the collection of &quot;faithful sayings&quot; Paul often refers to, which perhaps formed a corpus of pastoral material for the illiterate church to commit to memory, and meditate upon.</p><p><i>And I want you to insist on these things</i>- The teaching about the Spirit in the preceding verses is not just a nice theological extra. This is utterly fundamental to Christian life in practice; the 'insistence' was because of the desire to justify themselves by legalistic obedience to Jewish laws. We too must insist on the ministry of the Spirit and acceptance thereof. This is not just a nice idea, to be casually meddled with on the level of exposition or interpretation. This is the essence of Spiritual life and is the path towards our salvation. No wonder it was part of a &quot;faithful saying&quot; to be firmly committed to memory and meditated upon.</p><p><i>So that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works</i>- The whole message of salvation by grace and not works is what actually provokes good works in practice; in thankful response to the salvation <i>without</i> works which we have received. The wonder of it is such that none who believe it can be passive to it. Paul told Titus to affirm the faithful sayings &ldquo;confidently, <i>to the end</i> that they which have believed&hellip; may maintain good works&rdquo; (Tit. 3:8 RV). The congregations&rsquo; spirituality was related to the confidence of their pastor&rsquo;s presentation. Those &ldquo;good works&rdquo;, as ours, have been &ldquo;afore prepared&rdquo; in the Father&rsquo;s plan for us to perform (Eph. 2:10); but we have to be inspired to live up to the potential which He has prepared for us. Num. 14:20 records how the Father forgave Israel according to Moses&rsquo; word. And in just as real a sense, He has placed the reconciliation of this world in the hands of our ministry. The belief that we will be saved is the only real anchor in life&rsquo;s uncertain storm. &ldquo;When the kindness of God our saviour, and his love toward man, appeared, not by works done in righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us&hellip; that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life&hellip; and concerning these things I will that thou affirm confidently, to the end that they which have believed God may be careful to maintain good works&rdquo; (Tit. 3:4-8). The confident, regular reassurance of other believers was to be part of the ecclesial diet with which the Cretan brethren and sisters were constantly fed. And this assurance was to be the foundation of ecclesial growth as members individually developed the mind of Christ.</p><p><i>These things are excellent and profitable for people</i>- The key issue in teaching is being helpful to others; and not simply talking about what we want to talk about.</p>