Titus 3:4-5

3:4 But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,

tn Verses 4-7 are set as poetry in NA26/NA27. These verses probably constitute the referent of the expression “this saying” in v. 8.