3:8 faithful saying. This is one of Paul’s four “faithful sayings” (see I Timothy 1:15). Even though Paul has just emphasized that we are saved by God’s mercy and justified by His grace, he insists that we be careful to maintain good works. This was vitally important for a clear Christian testimony in the blatantly coarse culture of Crete, but it is surely no less important in the secularistic amoral culture of the modern world.