Text -- Titus 2:13 (NET)

2:13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: Tit 2:13

Looking for ( prosdechomenoi ).

Present middle participle of prosdechomai , old verb, the one used of Simeon (Luk 2:25) and others (Luk 2:38) who were looking for the Messiah.

Robertson: Tit 2:13

The blessed hope and appearing of the glory ( tēn makarian elpida kai epiphaneian tēs doxēs ).

The word epiphaneia (used by the Greeks of the appearance of the gods, from epiphanēs , epiphainō ) occurs in 2Ti 1:10 of the Incarnation of Christ, the first Epiphany (like the verb epephanē , Tit 2:11), but here of the second Epiphany of Christ or the second coming as in 1Ti 6:14; 2Ti 4:1, 2Ti 4:8. In 2Th 2:8 both epiphaneia and parousia (the usual word) occur together of the second coming.

Robertson: Tit 2:13

Of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ ( tou megalou theou kai sōtēros Iēsou Christou ).

This is the necessary meaning of the one article with theou and sōtēros just as in 2Pe 1:1, 2Pe 1:11. See Robertson, Grammar , p. 786. Westcott and Hort read Christou Iēsou .

Vincent: Tit 2:13

Looking for ( προσδεχόμενοι )

In Pastorals only here. Comp. Mar 15:43; Luk 2:25; Luk 12:36. In this sense not in Paul. Primarily, to receive to one's self , admit , accept . So Luk 15:2; Rom 16:2; Phi 2:29. That which is accepted in faith, is awaited expectantly.

Vincent: Tit 2:13

That blessed hope ( τὴν μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα )

The phrase N.T.o . Μακάριος blessed , very often in the Gospels. See on Mat 5:3. In Pastorals, with the exception of this passage, always of God. In Paul, only of men, and so usually in the Gospels. Ἑλπίδα hope , the object of hope. Why the hope is called blessed , appears from 2Ti 4:8; Phi 3:20, etc. Comp. Jud 1:21, and 1Pe 1:13.

Vincent: Tit 2:13

And the glorious appearing ( καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς δόξης )

Καὶ is explanatory, introducing the definition of the character of the thing hoped for. Looking for the object of hope, even the appearing, etc. Glorious appearing is a specimen of the vicious hendiadys by which the force of so many passages has been impaired or destroyed in translation. Rend. appearing of the glory .

Vincent: Tit 2:13

Of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ ( τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἱησοῦ )

For Jesus Christ rend. Christ Jesus . Μέγας great with God , N.T.o , but often in lxx. According to A.V. two persons are indicated, God and Christ. Revelations with others rend. of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus , thus indicating one person, and asserting the deity of Christ. I adopt the latter, although the arguments and authorities in favor of the two renderings are very evenly balanced.

Wesley: Tit 2:13

With eager desire.

Wesley: Tit 2:13

Which we hope for. Of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ - So that, if there be (according to the Arian scheme) a great God and a little God, Christ is not the little God, but the great one.

JFB: Tit 2:13

(Phi 3:20-21).

JFB: Tit 2:13

With constant expectation (so the Greek) and with joy (Rom 8:19). This will prove the antidote to worldly lusts, and the stimulus to "live in this present world" conformably to this expectation. The Greek is translated, "waiting for," in Luk 2:25.

JFB: Tit 2:13

Greek, "the."

JFB: Tit 2:13

Bringing blessedness (Rom 4:7-8).

JFB: Tit 2:13

That is, object of hope (Rom 8:24; Gal 5:5; Col 1:5).

JFB: Tit 2:13

There is but one Greek article to both "hope" and "appearing," which marks their close connection (the hope being about to be realized only at the appearing of Christ). Translate, "The blessed hope and manifestation (compare Note, see on Tit 2:11) of the glory." The Greek for "manifestation" is translated "brightness" in 2Th 2:8. As His "coming" (Greek, "parousia") expresses the fact; so "brightness, appearing," or "manifestation" (epiphaneia) expresses His personal visibility when He shall come.

JFB: Tit 2:13

There is but one Greek article to "God" and "Saviour," which shows that both are predicated of one and the same Being. "Of Him who is at once the great God and our Saviour." Also (2) "appearing" (epiphaneia) is never by Paul predicated of God the Father (Joh 1:18; 1Ti 6:16), or even of "His glory" (as ALFORD explains it): it is invariably applied to CHRIST'S coming, to which (at His first advent, compare 2Ti 1:10) the kindred verb "appeared" (epephanee), Tit 2:11, refers (1Ti 6:14; 2Ti 4:1, 2Ti 4:8). Also (3) in the context (Tit 2:14) there is no reference to the Father, but to Christ alone; and here there is no occasion for reference to the Father in the exigencies of the context. Also (4) the expression "great God," as applied to Christ, is in accordance with the context, which refers to the glory of His appearing; just as "the true God" is predicated of Christ, 1Jo 5:20. The phrase occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, but often in the Old Testament. Deu 7:21; Deu 10:17, predicated of Jehovah, who, as their manifested Lord, led the Israelites through the wilderness, doubtless the Second Person in the Trinity. Believers now look for the manifestation of His glory, inasmuch as they shall share in it. Even the Socinian explanation, making "the great God" to be the Father, "our Saviour," the Son, places God and Christ on an equal relation to "the glory" of the future appearing: a fact incompatible with the notion that Christ is not divine; indeed it would be blasphemy so to couple any mere created being with God.

Clarke: Tit 2:13

Looking for that blessed hope - Expecting the grand object of our hope, eternal life. See Tit 1:2. This is what the Gospel teaches us to expect, and what the grace of God prepares the human heart for. This is called a blessed hope; those who have it are happy in the sure prospect of that glory which shall be revealed

Clarke: Tit 2:13

The glorious appearing - Και επιφανειαν της δοξης του μεγαλου Θεου και σωτηρος ἡμων Ιησου Χριστου . This clause, literally translated, is as follows: And the appearing of the glory of the great God, even our Savior Jesus Christ. On this passage I must refer the reader to the Essay on the Greek Article, by H. S. Boyd, Esq., appended to the notes on the Epistle to the Ephesians, where both the structure and doctrine of this passage are explained at large

Some think that the blessed hope and glorious appearing mean the same thing; but I do not think so. The blessed hope refers simply to eternal glorification in general; the glorious appearing, to the resurrection of the body; for when Christ appears he will change this vile body, and make it like unto his Glorious Body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. See Phi 3:20, Phi 3:21.

Calvin: Tit 2:13

13.Looking for that blessed hope From the hope of future immortality he draws an exhortation, and indeed, if that hope be deeply seated in our mind, it is impossible that it should not lead us to devote ourselves wholly to God. On the contrary, they who do not cease to live to the world and to the flesh never have actually tasted what is the worth of the promise of eternal life; for the Lord, by calling us to heaven, withdraws us from the earth.

Hope is here put for the thing hoped for, otherwise it would be an incorrect mode of expression. He gives this appellation to the blessed life which is laid up for us in heaven. At the same time he declares when we shall enjoy it, and what we ought to contemplate, when we desire or think of our salvation.

And the appearing of the glory of the great God and Savior I interpret the glory of God, to mean not only that by which he shall be glorious in himself, but also that by which he shall then diffuse himself on all sides, so as to make all his elect partakers of it. He calls God great, because his greatness — which men, blinded by the empty splendor of the world, now extenuate, and sometimes even annihilate, as far as lies in their power — shall be fully manifested on the last day. The luster of the world, while it appears great to our eyes, dazzles them so much that “the glory of God” is, as it were, hidden in darkness. But Christ, by his coming, shall chase away all the empty show of the world — shall no longer obscure the brightness, shall no longer lessen the magnificence, of his glory. True the Lord demonstrates his majesty every day by his works; but because men are prevented by their blindness from seeing it, it is said to be hidden in obscurity. Paul wishes that believers may now contemplate by faith that which shall be manifested on the last day, and therefore that God may be magnified, whom the world either despises, or; at least, does not esteem according to his excellence.

It is uncertain whether these words should be read together thus, “the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the great God and our Savior,” or separately, as of the Father and the Son, “the glory of the great God, and of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” ²⁵⁴ The Arians, seizing on this latter sense, have endeavored to prove from it, that the Son is less than the Father, because here Paul calls the Father “the great God” by way of distinction from the Son. The orthodox teachers of the Church, for the purpose of shutting out this slander, eagerly contended that both are affirmed of Christ. But the Arians may be refuted in a few words and by solid argument; for Paul, having spoken of the revelation of the glory of “the great God,” immediately added “Christ,” in order to inform us, that that revelation of glory will be in his person; as if he had said that, when Christ shall appear, the greatness of the divine glory shall then be revealed to us.

Hence we learn, first, that there is nothing that ought to render us more active or cheerful in doing good than the hope of the future resurrection; and, secondly, that believers ought always to have their eyes fixed on it, that they may not grow weary in the right course; for, if we do not wholly depend upon it, we shall continually be carried away to the vanities of the world. But, since the coming of the Lord to judgment might excite terror in us, Christ is held out to us as our “Savior,” who will also be our judge.

Defender: Tit 2:13

The second coming of Christ, specifically the very first event of that coming, the resurrection of those who died in Christ and the rapture of those believers still living when He comes, is the "blessed hope" of the Christian. When a believer is truly looking for that hope (notice that he is to be looking for the imminent coming of Christ), it is a great incentive to witnessing and godly living. "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1Jo 3:3)."

TSK: Tit 2:13

Looking : 1Co 1:7; Phi 3:20,Phi 3:21; 2Ti 4:8; 2Pe 3:12-14

blessed : Tit 1:2, Tit 3:7; Act 24:15; Rom 5:5, Rom 8:24, Rom 8:25, Rom 15:13; Col 1:5, Col 1:23, Col 1:27; 2Th 2:16; Heb 6:18, Heb 6:19; 1Pe 1:3; 1Jo 3:3

the glorious : Job 19:25-27; Isa 25:9; Mat 16:27, Mat 25:31, Mat 26:64; Mar 8:38, Mar 14:62; 1Ti 6:13, 1Ti 6:14; Heb 9:28; 2Co 4:4, 2Co 4:6 *Gr: Col 3:4; 2Ti 4:1, 2Ti 4:8; 1Pe 1:7; 1Jo 3:2; Rev 1:7

our : Tit 3:4, Tit 3:6; 2Pe 3:18; 1Jo 4:14

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Tit 2:13

Looking for - Expecting; waiting for. That is, in the faithful performance of our duties to ourselves, to our fellow-creatures, and to God, we are patiently to wait for the coming of our Lord.

(1)    We are to believe that he will return;

(2)    We are to be in a posture of expectation, not knowing when he will come; and,

(3)    We are to be ready for him whenever he shall come; see the Mat 24:42-44 notes; 1Th 5:4 note; Phi 3:20 note.

That blessed hope - The fulfillment of that hope so full of blessedness to us.

The glorious appearing - Notes, 2Th 2:8; compare 1Ti 6:14; 2Ti 1:10; 2Ti 4:8.

Of the great God - There can be little doubt, if any, that by "the great God"here, the apostle referred to the Lord Jesus, for it is not a doctrine of the New Testament that God himself as such, or in contradistinction from his incarnate Son, will appear at the last day. It is said, indeed, that the Saviour will come "in the glory of his Father, with his angels"Mat 16:27, but that God as such will appear is not taught in the Bible. The doctrine there is, that God will be manifest in his Son; that the divine approach to our world be through him to judge the race; and that though he will be accompanied with the appropriate symbols of the divinity, yet it will be the Son of God who will be visible. No one, accustomed to Paul’ s views, can well doubt that when he used this language he had his eye throughout on the Son of God, and that he expected no other manifestation than what would be made through him.

In no place in the New Testament is the phrase ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ Θεοῦ epiphaneian tou Theou - "the manifestation or appearing of God"- applied to any other one than Christ It is true that this is spoken of here as the "appearing of the glory - τῆς δόξης tēs doxēs - of the great God,"but the idea is that of such a manifestation as became God, or would appropriately display his glory. It is known to most persons who have attended to religious controversies, that this passage has given rise to much discussion. The ancients, in general, interpreted it as meaning"The glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ."This sense has been vindicated by the labors of Beza, Whitby, Bull, Matthaei, and Middleton (on the Greek article), and is the common interpretation of those who claim to be orthodox; see Bloomfield, Rec. Syn., and Notes, in loc. He contends that the meaning is, "the glorious appearance of that great being who is our God and Saviour."The arguments for this opinion are well summed up by Bloomfield. Without going into a critical examination of this passage, which would not be in accordance with the design of these Notes, it may be remarked in general:

\caps1 (1) t\caps0 hat no plain reader of the New Testament, accustomed to the common language there, would have any doubt that the apostle referred here to the coming of the Lord Jesus.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 hat the "coming"of God, as such, is not spoken of in this manner in the New Testament.

\caps1 (3) t\caps0 hat the expectation of Christians was directed to the advent of the ascended Saviour, not to the appearing of God as such.

\caps1 (4) t\caps0 hat this is just such language as one would use who believed that the Lord Jesus is divine, or that the name God might properly be applied to him.

\caps1 (5) t\caps0 hat it would naturally and obviously convey the idea that he was divine, to one who had no theory to defend.

\caps1 (6) t\caps0 hat if the apostle did not mean this, he used such language as was fitted to lead people into error.

\caps1 (7) a\caps0 nd that the fair construction of the Greek here, according to the application of the most rigid rules, abundantly sustains the interpretation which the plain reader of the New Testament would affix to it. The names above referred to are abundant proof that no violation is done to the rules of the Greek language by this interpretation, but rather that the fair construction of the original demands it. If this be so, then this furnishes an important proof of the divinity of Christ.

Poole: Tit 2:13

Looking for that blessed hope the object or end of our hope, the salvation of our souls, Gal 5:5 Col 1:5 .

And the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ and in order thereunto, looking for the coming of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, to the last judgment. The same person is here meant by the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

1. It is he whom God hath appointed to be the judge of the quick and dead.

2. ’ epifaneia , by us translated appearing, is attributed only to the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity, 2Th 2:8 1Ti 6:14 2Ti 4:1,8 . From this text the Divine nature of Christ is irrefragably concluded; he is not only called God, but megav yeov , the great God, which cannot be understood of a made God.

Haydock: Tit 2:13

Waiting for the blessed hope; for the happiness of the blessed in heaven, promised and hoped for. ---

And coming of the glory of the great God, [5] and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The title of great God, says Dr. Wells, is here referred to our Saviour Jesus Christ, by Clement of Alexandria in protreptico, chap. vi. He might have added, and by the general consent of the Greek and Latin Fathers. St. John Chrysostom cries out: "where are now they who say that the Son is less than the Father?" St. Jerome in like manner: "where is the serpent Arius? where is the snake Eunomius?" And that this title of great God is here given to Jesus Christ, may be shewn from the text itself, especially in the Greek; for the glorious coming, and appearance, in other places of St. Paul, is always used to signify Christ's coming to judge the world. Secondly, inasmuch as one and the same Greek article falls upon the great God, and our Saviour Christ; so that even M. Simon, in a note on these words, says the construction is, and the coming of Jesus Christ, the great God, our Saviour, and blames Erasmus and Grotius for pretending that this place is not a confutation of the Arians. (Witham)

===============================

[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Adventum gloriז magni Dei, et Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi; Greek: epiphaneian tes doxes tou megalou Theou kai Soteros emon Iesou Christou. St. John Chrysostom, (p. 401. lin. 43.) Greek: pou eisin oi tou Patros, elattona ton uion legontes. St. Jerome, "Ubi est serpens Arius? ubi est Eunomius coluber?" St. Paul uses Greek: epiphaneian for the coming of Christ to judgment. The same Greek article is put thus, Greek: tou megalou Theou, kai Soteros, and not Greek: kai tou Soteros.

Gill: Tit 2:13

Looking for that blessed hope,.... Not the grace of hope; though that being a good hope through grace, and a hope of blessedness, may be called a blessed hope; yet this the saints have already implanted in their hearts in regeneration, and cannot be said to look for it: rather Christ, the object and ground of hope, who is our hope, and Christ in us the hope of glory, who is blessed for evermore; and in the enjoyment of whom the happiness of the saints hereafter will greatly consist; and whom they look for, and expect from heaven, and who is expressly mentioned in the next clause: but as this may be something distinct from that, it may be best, by this blessed hope, to understand the thing hoped for, eternal glory and happiness; called elsewhere the hope of righteousness, and the hope laid up in heaven, Gal 5:5 and which will lie in the beatific vision of God and Christ; in a perfect knowledge of them, in communion with them, and conformity to them; and in the society of angels and glorified saints; and in a freedom from all evil, outward and inward, and in the possession of all good: and to be looking for this, is to be desiring it with the heart and affections set upon it, longing to be in the enjoyment of it, and yet waiting patiently in the exercise of faith and hope; for looking includes all the three graces, faith, hope, and love; and particularly the former, which is always attended with the latter; for it is such a looking for this blessedness, as that a man firmly believes he shall partake of it: and there is good reason for a regenerate man so to look for it; since it is his Father's gift of free grace, and is laid up for him; Christ is gone to prepare it by his presence, mediation, and intercession; yea, he is gone, as the forerunner, to take possession of it in his name: this man is begotten again to a lively hope of it; he is called by the grace of God unto it; he is a child of God, and so an heir of it; he has a right unto it, through the justifying righteousness of Christ, and has a meetness for it through the sanctifying grace of the Spirit; and who is in him as the earnest and pledge of it: now such a firm expectation of the heavenly glory does the Gospel, the doctrine of the grace of God, teach, direct, and encourage to; for these words must be read in connection with the preceding, as a further instruction of the Gospel, as well as what follows:

and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ; not two divine persons, only one, are here intended; for the word: rendered "appearing", is never used of God the Father, only of the second person; and the propositive article is not set before the word "Saviour", as it would, if two distinct persons were designed; and the copulative "and" is exegetical, and may he rendered thus, "and the glorious appearing of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ"; who, in the next verse, is said to give himself for the redemption of his people: so that here is a very illustrious proof of the true and proper deity of Christ, who will appear at his second coming; for of that appearance are the, words to be understood, as the great God, in all the glories and perfections of his divine nature; as well as a Saviour, which is mentioned to show that he will appear to the salvation of his people, which he will then put them in the full possession of; and that the brightness of his divine Majesty will not make them afraid: and this appearance will be a glorious one; for Christ will come in his own glory, in the glory of his deity, particularly his omniscience and omnipotence will be very conspicuous; and in his glory as Mediator, which will be beheld by all the saints; and in his glory as a Judge, invested with power and authority from his Father, which will be terrible to sinners; and in the glory of his human nature, with which it is now crowned; and in his Father's glory, in the same he had with him before the world was, and which is the same with his, and in that which he will receive from him as man and Mediator, and as the Judge of the whole earth; and in the glory of his holy angels, being attended with all his mighty ones: to which may be added, that saints will be raised from the dead, and with the living ones appear with Christ in glory, and make up the bride, the Lamb's wife, having the glory of God upon her; so that this will be a grand appearance indeed. Now this the Gospel directs, and instructs believers to look for, to love, to hasten to, most earnestly desire, and yet patiently wait for, most firmly believing that it will be: and this the saints have reason to look for, with longing desire and affection, and with pleasure, since it will be not only glorious in itself, but advantageous to them; they will then be glorified with Christ, and be for ever with him.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Tit 2:13

¹ tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”

² tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, qeos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.

Geneva Bible: Tit 2:13

^{( e )} Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

^{( e )} Christ is here most plainly called that mighty God, and his appearance and coming is called by the figure of speech metonymy, our hope.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Tit 2:1-15

1 Directions given unto Titus both for his doctrine and life.

10 Of the duty of servants, and in general of all Christians.

Combined Bible: Tit 2:13

Looking for that blessed hope,

Maclaren: Tit 2:13

The Happy Hope

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.'--Titus 2:13.

THERE are two appearances spoken of in this context --the appearance of the grace of God that bringeth salvation'; and parallel with that, though at the same time contrasted with it, as being in very important senses one in nature and principle, though diverse in purpose and diverse in manner, is what the Apostle here calls the glorious appearing of the great God.'

The antithesis of contrast and of parallel is still more striking in the original than in our version, where our translators have adopted a method of rendering of which they are very fond, and which very often obscures the full meaning of the text. Paul wrote, Looking for that blessed [or happy ] hope, even the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour,' where you see he contrasts, even more sharply than our Bible makes him do, the past appearance of the grace, and the future appearance of the glory.

Then, further, this appearance of the glory: however bright with the terrible beauty and flashing lustre of divine majesty it may be, seems to the Apostle to be infinitely desirable, and becomes to him a happy hope. The reality, when it comes, will be pure joy. The irradiation of its approach shines from afar on his brightening face, and lightens his heart with a hope which is a prophetic joy. And the attitude of the Christian soul towards it is to be that of glad expectation, watching the dawning east and ready to salute the sun.

And yet further, this attitude of happy expectation of the glory is one chief object to be attained by the grace that has appeared. It came' teaching,' or rather (as the word more accurately means)' disciplining, that we should live looking for that happy hope.'

So, then, we have here for our consideration three points embodied in these words--The grace of God has appeared, the glory of God is to appear; the appearance of the glory is a blessed hope; the disciplining of the grace prepares us for the expectation of the glory.

I. First, Then, Take That Thought,

The appearance of the grace leads to the appearance of the glory.

The identity of the form of expression in the two clauses is intended to suggest the likeness of and the connection between the two appearances. In both there is a visible manifestation of God, and the latter rests upon the former, and completes and crowns it.

But the difference between the two is as strongly marked as the analogy; and it is not difficult to grasp distinctly the difference which the Apostle intends. While both are manifestations of the divine character in exercise, the specific phase (so to speak) of that character which appears is in one case grace,' and in the other glory.' If one might venture on any illustration in regard to such a subject, it is as when the pure white light is sent through glass of different colours, and at one moment beams mild through refreshing green, and at the next flames in fiery red that warns of danger.

The two words which are pitted against each other here have each a very wide range of meaning. But, as employed in this place, their antithetical force is clear enough. Grace' is active love, exercised towards inferiors, and towards those who deserve something else. So the grace of God is the active energy of His love, which stoops from the throne to move among men, and departing from the strict ground of justice and retribution, deals with us not according to our sins, nor rewards us according to our iniquities!

And then the contrasted word glory' has not only a very wide meaning, but also a definite and specific force, which the very antithesis suggests. The' glory of God,' I believe, in one very important sense, is His grace.' The highest glory of God is the exhibition of forgiving and long-suffering love. Nothing can be grander. Nothing can be more majestic. Nothing, in the very profoundest sense of the word, can be more truly divine--more lustrous with all the beams of manifest deity, than the gentle raying forth of His mercy and His goodness.

But then, while that is the profoundest thought of the glory of God, there is another truth to he taken in conjunction with it. The phrase has, in scripture, a well marked and distinct sense, which may be illustrated from the Old Testament, where it generally means not so much the total impression of majesty and power made upon men by the whole revealed divine character, but rather the visible light which shone between the cherubim and proclaimed the present God. Connected with this more limited sense is the wider one of that which the material light above the mercy-seat symbolised--and which we have no better words to describe than to call it the ineffable and inaccessible brightness of that awful Name.

The contrast between the two will be suggested by a passage to which I may refer. The ancient lawgiver said, I beseech thee show me thy glory.' The answer was' I will make all my goodness pass before thee.' The eye of man is incapable of apprehending the uncreated divine lustrousness and splendour of light, but capable of receiving some dim and partial apprehensions of the goodness, not indeed in its fulness, but in its consequences. And that goodness, though it be the brightest of' the glories that compose His Name,' is not the only possible, nor the only actual manifestation of the glory of God. The prayer was unfulfilled when offered; for to answer it, as is possible for earth, would have been to antedate the slow evolution of the counsels of God. But answered it will be, and that on this globe. Every eye shall see Him.'

The grace has appeared, when Divine Love is incarnate among us. The long-suffering gentleness we have seen. And in it we have seen, in a very real sense, the glory, for we beheld His glory, full of grace.' But beyond that lies ready to be revealed in the last time the glory, the lustrous light, the majestic splendour, the flaming fire of manifest Divinity.

Again, the two verses thus bracketed together, and brought into sharp contrast, also suggest how like, as well as how unlike, these manifestations are to be.

In both cases there is an appearance, in the strictest sense of the word, that is to say, a thing visible to men's senses. Can we see the grace of God? We can see the love in exercise, cannot we? How? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?' The appearance of Christ was the making visible, in human form, of the love of God.

My brother, the appearance of the glory will be the same--the making visible in human form of the light of throned and sovereign Deity. The one was incarnation; the other will be incarnation. The one was patent to men's senses--so will the other be. The grace has appeared. The glory is to appear. Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go.' An historical fact, a bodily visibility, a manifestation of the divine nature and character in human form upon earth, and living and moving amongst men! As Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many," so unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.' The two are strictly parallel. As the grace was visible in action by a Man among men, so the glory will be. What we look for is an actual bodily manifestation in a human form, on the solid earth, of the glory of God.

And then I would notice how emphatically this idea of the glory being all sphered and embodied in the living person of Jesus Christ proclaims His divine nature. It is the appearance of the glory '--then mark the next words--of the great God and our Saviour.'

I am not going to enter upon the question of the interpretation of these words, which by many very competent authorities have been taken as all referring to Jesus Christ, and as being a singular instance in scripture of the attribution to Him directly, and without any explanation or modification, of the name, the great God!' I do not think that either grammar or dogma require that interpretation here. But I think that, if we take the words to refer distinctly to the Father and to the Son, the inference as to Christ's true and proper divinity which comes from them, so understood, is no less strong than the other interpretation would make it. For, in that case, the same one and indissoluble glory is ascribed to God the Father and to Christ our Lord, and the same act is the appearance of both. The human possesses the divine glory in such reality and fulness as it would be insanity if it were not blasphemy, and blasphemy if it were not absurdity, to predicate of any single man. The words coincide with His own saying, The Son of Man shall come in His glory and of the Father,' and point us necessarily and inevitably to the wonderful thought that the glory of God is capable of being fully imparted to, possessed by, and revealed through Jesus Christ; that the glory of God is Christ's glory, and the glory of Christ is God's. In deep, mysterious, real, eternal union the Father and the Son, the light and the ray, the fountain and the source, pour themselves out in loving-kindness on the world, and shall flash themselves in splendour at the last, when the Son of Man shall be manifested in His own glory and of the Father!'

And then I must touch very briefly another remarkable and plain contrast indicated in our text between these two appearings.' They are not only unlike in the subject (so to speak) or substance of the manifestation, but also in the purpose. The grace comes, patient, gentle, sedulous, labouring for our training and discipline. The glory comes--there is no word of training there! What does the glory come for? The one rises upon a benighted world--lambent and lustrous and gentle, like the slow, silent, climbing of the silvery moon through the darkling sky. But the other blazes out with a leap upon a stormy heaven as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west,' writing its fierce message across all the black page of the sky in one instant, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.' Like some patient mother, the' grace of God' has moved amongst men, with entreaty, with loving rebuke, with loving chastisement. She has been counsellor and comforter. She has disciplined and fostered with more than maternal wisdom and love. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.' But the glory appears for another purpose and in another guise--Who is this that cometh with dyed garments? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art Thou red in thine apparel? I have trodden the winepress alone--for the day of vengeance is in Mine heart, and the year of My redeemed is come.'

II. But We Have Now To Look At The Second Thought Which Is Involved In These Words, And That Is, The Appearing Of The Glory Is A Blessed Hope.

The hope is blessed; or as we have already remarked, the word happy' may perhaps be substituted with advantage. Because it will be full of blessedness when it is a reality, therefore it is full of joy, while it is but a hope.

The characteristics of that future manifestation of glory are not such that its coming is wholly and universally a joy. There is something terrible in the beauty, something menacing in the brightness. But it is worth noticing that, notwithstanding all that gathers about it of terror, all that gathers about it of awful splendour, all that is solemn and heart shaking in the thought of judgment and retribution for the past, the irreversible and irrevocable past, yet to Paul it was the very crown of all his expectations of, and the very shining summit of all his desires for, the future--that Christ should appear.

The primitive Church thought a great deal more about the coming of Jesus Christ than about death--thought a great deal more about His coming than about Heaven.' To them the future was not so much a time of rest for themselves as the manifestation of their Lord. To them the way of passing out of life was not so much seeing corruption as being caught up together in the air.

And how far the darkness, which our Lord declared to be the divine counsel in regard to that future coming, enwrapped even those who, upon all other points, received the divine inspiration which made and makes them for evermore the infallible teachers and authorities for the Christian Church, is a moot question. If it were certain that the Apostle expected Christ's coming during his own lifetime, I do not know that we need be troubled at that as if it shook their authority, seeing that almost the last words which Christ spoke to His Apostles were a distinct declaration that He had not to reveal to them, and they were not to know the times and the seasons which the Father has put in His own power,' and seeing that the office of that Holy Spirit, as whose organs Paul and the other writers of the New Testament are our authoritative teachers, is expressly declared to be the bringing all things to their remembrance, whatsoever Christ had revealed. If, then, He expressly excepts from the compass of His revelation this point, it can be no derogation from the completeness of an inspired writer's authority, if he knows it not.

And if one takes into account the whole of Paul's words on the subject, they seem to express rather the same double anticipation, which we too have to cherish, desiring and looking, on the one hand, for the Saviour from heaven; desiring on the other hand to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. The numerous places in which Paul speaks of his own decease, sometimes as longed for, sometimes as certain, and, latterly, as near, are inconsistent with the theory that he looked for Christ's coming as certain in his own lifetime. So, too, are other anticipations which he expresses as to the future course of the Church, and progress of the Gospel in the world. He, like us, would appear to have had before his expectations the alternative. He knew not when the glory might burst upon the world, therefore he was ever standing as one that waits for his Lord. He knew not when he might have to die, therefore he laboured that, whether present or absent, he might be pleasing to Him.'

But that is not the point upon which I want to say a word. Dear brethren, the hope is a happy one. If we know the grace,' we shall not be afraid of the glory.' If the grace has disciplined in any measure, we may be sure that we shall partake in its perfection They that have seen the face of Christ looking down, as it were, upon them from the midst of the great darkness of the cross, and beneath the crown of thorns, need not be afraid to see the same face looking down upon them from amidst the blaze of the light, and from beneath the many crowns of the kingdoms of the world and the royalties of the heavens. Whosoever hath learnt to love and believe in the manifestation of the grace, he, and he only, can believe and hope for the manifestation of the glory.

And, Christian men and women, whilst thus the one ground upon which that assurance, The Lord cometh,' can be anything to us except a dread, if it is a belief at all, is the simple reliance upon his past work--let me urge the further consideration upon you and myself, how shamefully all of us neglect and overlook that blessed expectation! We live by hope. God, indeed, is above all hope. To that infinite eye, before which all things that were, and are, and are to come, lie open and manifest, or, rather, are insphered in His own person and self; to Him, who is the living past, the abiding present, the present future, there is no expectation. The animal creation is below hope. But for us that live on the central level--half-way between a beast and God, if I may so say--for us our lives are tossed about between memory and expectation.

We all of us possess, and most of us prostitute that wonderful gift--of shaping out some conception of the future. And what do we do with it? It might knit us to God, bear us up amid the glories of the abysses of the skies. We use it for making to ourselves pictures of fools' paradises of present pleasures or of successful earthly joys. The folly of men is not that they live by hope, but that they set their hopes on such things.

They build too lowWho build beneath the stars!'

As for every other part of human nature, so for this strange faculty of our being, the gospel points to its true object, and the gospel gives its only consecration.

Dear brethren, is it true of us that into our hearts there steals subtle, impalpable, but quickening as the land breeze laden with the fragrance of flowers to the sailor tossing on the barren sea, a hidden but yet mighty hope of an inheritance with Him--when He shall appear? With eye lifted above and fixed upon the heavens do I look beyond the clouds to the stars? Alas! alas! the world drives that hope out of our hearts. It is with us as with the people in some rude country fair and scene of riot, where the booths and the shows and the drinking-places are pitched upon the edge of the common, and one step from the braying of the trumpets brings you into the solemn stillness of the night; and high above the stinking flare of the oil lamps there is the pure light of the stars in the sky, and not one amongst the many clowns that are stumbling about in the midst of sensual dissipation ever looks up to see that calm home that is arched above them!

We live for the present, do not we? And there, if only we would lift our eyes, there, even now, is the sign of the Son of Man in the heavens. My friend, it is as much an element of a Christian's character, and a part of his plain, imperative duty, to look for His appearing as it is to live' soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world!'

III. Well Then, Finally, One Word About The Last Consideration Here, Viz., The Grace Disciplines Us To Hope For The Glory.

The very idea of discipline involves the notion that it is a preparatory stage, a transient process for a permanent result. It carries with it the idea of immaturity, of apprenticeship, so to speak. If it is discipline, it is discipline for some condition which is not yet reached. And so if the grace of God comes disciplining,' then there must be something beyond the epoch and era within which the discipline is confined.

And that just runs out into two considerations, upon which I have not time to dwell. Take the characteristics of the grace--clearly enough, it is preparing men for something beyond itself. Yield to the discipline and the hope will grow.

Take the characteristics of the grace. Here is a great system, based upon a stupendous and inconceivable act of divine sacrifice, involving a mysterious identification of the whole race of sinful men with the Saviour, embodying the most wonderful love of God, and being the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Here is a life perfectly innocent, perfectly stainless, brought to the extremity of evil, and having never swerved one inch from the divine commandments, yet dying at last under a consciousness of separation and desertion from God! Here are a cross, a resurrection, an ascension, an omnipotent Spirit, an all-guiding Word, a whole series of powers and agencies brought to bear! Does any man believe that such a wealth of divine energy and resource would be put forth and employed for purposes that break short off when a man is put into his coffin, and that have nothing beyond this world for their field?

Here is a perfect instrument for making men perfect, and what does it do? It makes men so good and leaves them so bad that unless they are to be made still better and perfected, God's work on the soul is at once an unparalleled success and a confounding failure--a puzzle, in that having done so much it does not do more; in that having done so little it has done so much. The achievements of Christianity upon single souls, and its failures upon those for whom it has done most, when measured against, and compared with, its manifest adaptation to a loftier issue than it has ever reached here on earth, all coincide to say--the grace (because its purpose is discipline, and because its purpose is but partially achieved here on earth) demands a glory, when they whose darkness has been partially made light in the Lord,' by the discipline of grace, shall blaze forth as the sun' in the Heavenly Father's Kingdom of Glory.

Yield to the discipline, and the hope will be strengthened. You will never entertain in any vigour and operative power upon your lives the expectation of that coming of the glory unless you live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.

That discipline submitted to is, if I may so say, like that great apparatus which you find by the side of an astronomer's biggest telescope, to wheel it upon its centre and to point its tube to the star on which he would look. So our anticipation and desire, the faculty of expectation which we have, is wont to be directed along the low level of earth, and it needs the pinions and levers of that gracious discipline, making us sober, righteous, godly, in order to heave it upwards, full-front against the sky, that the stars may shine into it.

The speculum, the object-glass, must be polished and cut by many a stroke and much friction ere it will reflect the image of the heavenly'; so grace disciplines us, patiently, slowly, by repeated strokes, by much rubbing, by much pain--disciplines us to live in self-restraint, in righteousness and godliness, and then the cleared eye beholds the heavens, and the purged heart grows towards the Coming' as its hope and its life.

Dear brethren, let us not fling away the treasures of our hearts' desires upon trifles and earth. Let us not set our hopes on that which is not, nor paint that misty wall that rings round our present with evanescent colours like the landscapes of a dream. We may have a hope which is a certainty, as sure as a history, as vivid as a present fact. Let us love and trust Him who has been manifested to save us from our sins, and in whom we behold all the grace and truth of God. If our eyes have learnt to behold and our hearts to love Him whom we have not seen, amid all the bewildering glares and false appearances of the present, our hopes will happily discern Him and be at rest, amid the splendours of that solemn hour when He shall come in His glory to render to every man according to His works.

With that hope the future, near or far, has no fears hidden in its depths. Without it, there is no real anchorage for our trembling hearts, and nothing to hold by when the storm comes. The alternative is before each of us, having no hope,' or looking for that blessed hope.' God help us all to believe that Christ has come for me! Then I shall be glad when I think that Christ will come again to receive me unto Himself!

MHCC: Tit 2:11-15

The doctrine of grace and salvation by the gospel, is for all ranks and conditions of men. It teaches to forsake sin; to have no more to do with it. An earthly, sensual conversation suits not a heavenly calling. It teaches to make conscience of that which is good. We must look to God in Christ, as the object of our hope and worship. A gospel conversation must be a godly conversation. See our duty in a very few words; denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, living soberly, righteously, and godly, notwithstanding all snares, temptations, corrupt examples, ill usage, and what remains of sin in the believer's heart, with all their hinderances. It teaches to look for the glories of another world. At, and in, the glorious appearing of Christ, the blessed hope of Christians will be complete: To bring us to holiness and happiness was the end of Christ's death. Jesus Christ, that great God and our Saviour, who saves not only as God, much less as Man alone; but as God-man, two natures in one person. He loved us, and gave himself for us; and what can we do less than love and give up ourselves to him! Redemption from sin and sanctification of the nature go together, and make a peculiar people unto God, free from guilt and condemnation, and purified by the Holy Spirit. All Scripture is profitable. Here is what will furnish for all parts of duty, and the right discharge of them. Let us inquire whether our whole dependence is placed upon that grace which saves the lost, pardons the guilty, and sanctifies the unclean. And the further we are removed from boasting of fancied good works, or trusting in them, so that we glory in Christ alone, the more zealous shall we be to abound in real good works.

Matthew Henry: Tit 2:11-14

Here we have the grounds or considerations upon which all the foregoing directions are urged, taken from the nature and design of the gospel, and the end of Christ's death.

I. From the nature and design of the gospel. Let young and old, men and women, masters and servants, and Titus himself, let all sorts do their respective duties, for this is the very aim and business of Christianity, to instruct, and help, and form persons, under all distinctions and relations, to a right frame and conduct. For this,

1. They are put under the dispensation of the grace of God, so the gospel is called, Eph 3:2. It is grace in respect of the spring of it - the free favour and good-will of God, not any merit or desert in the creature; as manifesting and declaring this good-will in an eminent and signal manner; and as it is the means of conveying and working grace in the hearts of believers. Now grace is obliging and constraining to goodness: Let not sin reign, but yield yourselves unto God; for you are not under the law, but under grace, Rom 6:12-14. The love of Christ constrains us not to live to self, but to him (2Co 5:14, 2Co 5:15); without this effect, grace is received in vain.

2. This gospel grace brings salvation (reveals and offers it to sinners and ensures it to believers) - salvation from sin and wrath, from death and hell. Hence it is called the word of life; it brings to faith, and so to life, the life of holiness now and of happiness hereafter. The law is the ministration of death, but the gospel the ministration of life and peace. This therefore must be received as salvation (its rules minded, its commands obeyed), that the end of it may be obtained, the salvation of the soul. And more inexcusable will the neglecters of this grace of God bringing salvation now be, since,

3. It hath appeared, or shone out more clearly and illustriously than ever before. The old dispensation was comparatively dark and shadowy; this is a clear and shining light; and, as it is now more bright, so more diffused and extensive also. For,

4. It hath appeared to all men; not to the Jews only, as the glory of God appeared at mount Sinai to that particular people, and out of the view of all others; but gospel grace is open to all, and all are invited to come and partake of the benefit of it, Gentiles as well as Jews. The publication of it is free and general: Disciple all nations: Preach the gospel to every creature. The pale is broken down; there is no such enclosure now as formerly. The preaching of Jesus Christ, which was kept secret since the world began, now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith, Rom 16:25, Rom 16:26. The doctrine of grace and salvation by the gospel is for all ranks and conditions of men (slaves and servants, as well as masters), therefore engaging and encouraging all to receive and believe it, and walk suitably to it, adorning it in all things.

5. This gospel revelation is to teach, and not by way of information and instruction only, as a schoolmaster does his scholars, but by way of precept and command, as a sovereign who gives laws to his subjects. It directs what to shun and what to follow, what to avoid and what to do. The gospel is not for speculation only or chiefly, but for practice and right ordering of life; for it teaches us,

(1.) To abandon sin: Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts; to renounce and have no more to do with these, as we have had: Put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man which is corrupt; that is, the whole body of sins, here distributed into ungodliness and worldly lusts. "Put away ungodliness and irreligion, all unbelief, neglect or disesteem of the divine Being, not loving, nor fearing, nor trusting in him, nor obeying him as we should, neglecting his ordinances, slighting his worship, profaning his name or day. Thus deny ungodliness (hate and put it away); and worldly lusts, all corrupt and vicious desires and affections that prevail in worldly men, and carry out to worldly things the lust of the flesh also, and of the eye, and the pride of life, all sensuality and filthiness, covetous desires and ambition, seeking and valuing more the praise of men than of God; put away all these."An earthly sensual conversation suits not a heavenly calling. Those that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. They have done it by covenant-engagement and promise, and have initially and prevailingly done it in act; they are going on in the work, cleansing themselves more and more from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. Thus the gospel first unteaches that which is evil, to abandon sin; and then,

(2.) To make conscience of that which is good: To live soberly, righteously, and godly, etc. Religion is not made up of negatives only; there must be doing good as well as eschewing evil; in these conjunctly is sincerity proved and the gospel adorned. We should live soberly with respect to ourselves, in the due government of our appetites and passions, keeping the limits of moderation and temperance, avoiding all inordinate excesses; and righteously towards all men, rendering to all their due, and injuring none, but rather doing good to others, according to our ability and their need: this seems a part of justice and righteousness, for we are not born for ourselves alone, and therefore may not live to ourselves only. We are members one of another, and must seek every man another's wealth, 1Co 10:24; 1Co 12:25. The public, especially, which includes the interests of all, must have the regards of all. Selfishness is a sort of unrighteousness; it robs others of that share in us which is their due. How amiable then will a just and righteous conduct be! It secures and promotes all interests, not particular only, but general and public, and so contributes to the peace and happiness of the world. Live righteously therefore as well as soberly. And godly towards God, in the duties of his worship and service. Regards to him indeed should run through all. Whether you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God, 1Co 10:31. Personal and relative duties must be done in obedience to his commands, with due aim at pleasing and honouring him, from principles of holy love and fear of him. But there is an express and direct duty also that we owe to God, namely, belief and acknowledgment of his being and perfections, paying him internal and external worship and homage, - loving, fearing, and trusting in him, - depending on him, and devoting ourselves to him, - observing all those religious duties and ordinances that he has appointed, - praying to him, praising him, and meditating on his word and works. This is godliness, looking and coming to God, as our state now is, not immediately, but as he has manifested himself in Christ; so does the gospel direct and require. To go to God in any other way, namely, by saints or angels, is unsuitable, yea, contrary to the gospel rule and warrant. All communications from God to us are through his Son, and our returns must also be by him. God in Christ we must look at as the object of our hope and worship. Thus must we exercise ourselves to godliness, without which there can be no adorning of that gospel which is according to it, which teaches and requires such a deportment. A gospel conversation must needs be a godly conversation, expressing our love and fear and reverence of God, our hope and trust and confidence in him, as manifested in his Son. We are the circumcision (who have in truth what was signified by that sacrament) who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. See in how small a compass our duty is comprised; it is put into few words, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, and living soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. The gospel teaches us not only how to believe and hope well, but also to live well, as becomes that faith and hope in this present world, and as expectants of another and better. There is the world that now is, and that which is to come; the present is the time and place of our trial, and the gospel teaches us to live well here, not, however, as our final state, but with an eye chiefly to a future: for it teaches us in all,

(3.) To look for the glories of another world, to which a sober, righteous, and godly life in this is preparative: Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Hope, by a metonymy, is put for the thing hoped for, namely, heaven and the felicities thereof, called emphatically that hope, because it is the great thing we look and long and wait for; and a blessed hope, because, when attained, we shall be completely happy for ever. And the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. This denotes both the time of the accomplishing of our hope and the sureness and greatness of it: it will be at the second appearing of Christ, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels, Luk 9:26. His own glory which he had before the world was; and his Father's, being the express image of his person, and as God - man, his delegated ruler and Judge; and of the holy angels, as his ministers and glorious attendants. His first coming was in meanness, to satisfy justice and purchase happiness; his second will be in majesty, to bestow and instate his people in it. Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto those that look for him will he appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation, Heb 9:28. The great God and our Saviour (or even our Saviour ) Jesus Christ; for they are not two subjects, but one only, as appears by the single article, tou megalou Theou kai Sōtēros , not kai tou Sōtēros , and so is kai rendered 1Co 15:24, When he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; tō Theō kai Patri . Christ then is the great God, not figuratively, as magistrates and others are sometimes called gods, or as appearing and acting in the name of God, but properly and absolutely, the true God (1Jo 5:20), the mighty God (Isa 9:6), who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, Phi 2:6. In his second coming he will reward his servants, and bring them to glory with him. Observe, [1.] There is a common and blessed hope for all true Christians in the other world. If in this life only they had hope in Christ, they were of all men the most miserable, 1Co 15:19. By hope is meant the thing hoped for, namely, Christ himself, who is called our hope (1Ti 1:1), and blessedness in and through him, even riches of glory (Eph 1:18), hence fitly termed here that blessed hope. [2.] The design of the gospel is to stir up all to a good life by this blessed hope. Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 1Pe 1:13. To the same purport here, Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, looking for the blessed hope; not as mercenaries, but as dutiful and thankful Christian. What manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening to the coming of the day of God! 2Pe 3:11, 2Pe 3:12. Looking and hastening, that is, expecting and diligently preparing for it. [3.] At, and in, the glorious appearing of Christ will the blessed hope of Christians be attained; for their felicity will be this, To be where he is, and to behold his glory, Joh 17:24. The glory of the great God and our Saviour will then break out as the sun. Though in the exercise of his judiciary power he will appear as the Son of man, yet will he be mightily declared to be the Son of God too. The divinity, which on earth was much veiled, will shine out then as the sun in its strength. Hence the work and design of the gospel are to raise the heart to wait for this second appearing of Christ. We are begotten again to a lively hope of it (1Pe 1:3), turned to serve the living God, and wait for his Son from heaven, 1Th 1:9, 1Th 1:10. Christians are marked by this, expecting their Master's coming (Luk 12:36), loving his appearance, 2Ti 4:8. Let us then look to this hope; let our loins be girt, and our lights burning, and ourselves like those who wait for their Lord; the day or hour we know not, but he that shall come will come, and will not tarry, Heb 10:37. [4.] The comfort and joy of Christians are that their Saviour is the great God, and will gloriously manifest himself at his second coming. Power and love, majesty and mercy, will then appear together in the highest lustre, to the terror and confusion of the wicked, but to the everlasting triumph and rejoicing of the godly. Were he not thus the great God, and not a mere creature, he could not be their Saviour, nor their hope. Thus of the considerations to enforce the directions of all sorts to their respective duties from the nature and design of the gospel. And herewith is connected another ground, namely,

II. From the end of Christ's death: Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works, Tit 2:14. To bring us to holiness and happiness was the end of Christ's death, as well as the scope of his doctrine. Here we have,

1. The purchaser of salvation - Jesus Christ, that great God and our Saviour, who saves not simply as God, much less as man alone; but as God - man, two natures in one person: man, that he might obey, and suffer, and die, for man, and be meet to deal with him and for him; and God, that he might support the manhood, and give worth and efficacy to his undertakings, and have due regard to the rights and honour of the deity, as well as the good of his creature, and bring about the latter to the glory of the former. Such a one became us; and this was,

2. The price of our redemption: He gave himself. The Father gave him, but he gave himself too; and, in the freeness and voluntariness, as well as the greatness of the offering, lay the acceptableness and merit of it. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself, Joh 10:17, Joh 10:18. So Joh 17:19, " For their sakes I sanctify myself, or separate and devote myself to this work, to be both a priest and a sacrifice to God for the sins of men."The human nature was the offering, and the divine the altar, sanctifying the gift, and the whole the act of the person. He gave himself a ransom for all, 1Ti 2:6. Once in the end of the world hath he appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He was the priest and sacrifice too. We are redeemed, not with silver and gold, but the precious blood of Christ (1Pe 1:18, 1Pe 1:19), called the blood of God (Act 20:28), that is, of him who is God.

3. The persons for whom: For us, us poor perishing sinners, gone off from God, and turned rebels against him. He gave himself for us, not only for our good, but in our stead. Messiah was cut off, not for himself, but for us. He suffered, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, 1Pe 3:18. He was made sin for us (an offering and sacrifice for sin), that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, 2Co 5:21. Wonderful condescension and grace! He loved us, and gave himself for us; what can we do less than love and give up ourselves to him? Especially considering,

4. The ends of his giving himself for us, (1.) That he might redeem us from all iniquity. This is fitted to the first lesson, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. Christ gave himself to redeem us from these, therefore put them away. To love and live in sin is to trample under foot redeeming blood, to despise and reject one of the greatest benefits of it, and to act counter to its design. But how could the short sufferings of Christ redeem us from all iniquity? Answer, Through the infinite dignity of his person. He who was God suffered, though not as God. The acts and properties of either nature are attributed to the person. God purchased his church with his own blood, Act 20:28. Could payment be made at once, no need of suffering for ever. A mere creature could not do this, from the finiteness of his nature; but God - man could. The great God and our Saviour gave himself for us: this accounts for it. By one offering he hath for ever perfected those that are sanctified, Heb 9:25, Heb 9:26; Heb 10:14. He needed not to offer himself often, nor could he be holden of death, when he had once undergone it. Happy end and fruit of Christ's death, redemption from all iniquity! Christ died for this: and, (2.) To purify to himself a peculiar people. This enforces the second lesson: To live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Christ died to purify as well as to pardon - to obtain grace, to heal the nature, as well as to free from guilt and condemnation. He gave himself for his church, to cleanse it. Thus does he make to himself a peculiar people, by purifying them. Thus are they distinguished from the world that lies in wickedness; they are born of God, and assimilated to him, bear his image, are holy as their heavenly Father is holy. Observe, Redemption from sin and sanctification of the nature go together, and both make a peculiar people unto God: freedom from guilt and condemnation, freedom from the power of lusts, and purification of soul by the Spirit. These are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and so a peculiar people. And, (3.) Zealous of good works. This peculiar people, as they are made so by grace purifying them, so must they be seen to be so by doing good, and a zeal therein. Observe, The gospel is not a doctrine of licentiousness, but of holiness and good life. We are redeemed from our vain conversation, to serve God in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life. Let us see then that we do good, and have zeal in it; only looking that zeal be guided by knowledge and spirited with love, directed to the glory of God, and always in some good thing. And thus of the motive to the duties directed, from the end of Christ's death.

Barclay: Tit 2:11-14

There are few passages in the New Testament which so vividly set out the moral power of the Incarnation as this does. Its whole stress is the miracle of moral change which Jesus Christ can work.

This miracle is repeatedly here expressed in the most interesting and significant way. Isaiah once exhorted his people: "Cease to do evil; learn to do good" (Isa 1:16-17). First, there is the negative side of goodness, the giving up of that which is evil and the liberation from that which is low; second, there is its positive side, the acquisition of the shining virtues which mark the Christian life.

First, there is the renunciation of all godlessness and worldly desires. What did Paul mean by worldly desires? Chrysostom said that worldly things are things which do not pass over with us into heaven but are dissolved together with this present world. A man is very short-sighted if he sets all his heart and expends all his labour on things which he must leave behind when he quits this world. But an even simpler interpretation of worldly desires is that they are for things we could not show to God. It is only Christ who can make not only our outward life but also our inward heart fit for God to see.

That was the negative side of the moral power of the incarnation; now comes the positive side. Jesus Christ makes us able to live with the prudence which has everything under perfect control, and which allows no passion or desire more than its proper place; with the justice which enables us to give both to God and to men that which is their due; with the reverence which makes us live in the awareness that this world is nothing other than the temple of God.

The dynamic of this new life is the expectation of the coming of Jesus Christ. When a royal visit is expected, everything is cleansed and decorated, and made fit for the royal eye to see. The Christian is the man who is always prepared for the coming of the King of kings.

Finally Paul goes on to sum up what Jesus Christ has done, and once again he does it first negatively and then positively.

Jesus has redeemed us from the power of lawlessness, that power which makes us sin.

Jesus can purify us until we are fit to be the special people of God. The word we have translated special (periousios, 4041) is interesting. It means reserved for; and it was specially used for that part of the spoils of a battle or a campaign which the king who had conquered set apart specially for himself. Through the work of Jesus Christ, the Christian becomes fit to be the special possession of God.

The moral power of the Incarnation is a tremendous thought. Christ not only liberated us from the penalty of past sin; he can enable us to live the perfect life within this world of space and time; and he can so cleanse us that we become fit in the life to come to be the special possession of God.

Constable: Tit 1:5--3:12

II. INSTRUCTIONS FOR SETTING THE CHURCH IN ORDER 1:5--3:11

As in 1 Timothy, Paul plunged into the business of his letter immediately since he was writing a trusted colleague. This partially explains the absence of a thanksgiving section in these two epistles. The serious threat of false teaching may be another reason. By contrast, 2 Timothy is more personal, and it contains a thanksgiving.

Constable: Tit 2:1-15

1. The behavior of various groups in the church 2:1-15

To establish order in the church Paul gave Titus instructions concerning the behavior of various groups of Christians that was appropriate for them. He had given directions concerning the appointment of proper leaders and had warned about subversive teachers in chapter 1. Now he advised regarding pastoral oversight.

"Paul here stresses the importance of building up the inner life of believers as the best antidote against error."³⁸

"No condition and no period of life is to remain unaffected by the sanctifying influence of the gospel."³⁹

Constable: Tit 2:11-14

Rationale for such behavior 2:11-14

"The previous paragraph [2:1-10] has been a challenge to the several groups in the Cretan churches to accept the specifically Christian pattern of behavior. Its presuppositions may at first sight seem prosaically humdrum and conventional, but Paul now eloquently reminds Titus that they have their basis in the gospel itself. It was precisely in order to raise men to a higher quality of life that God intervened in history in the incarnation."⁵⁴

"There are few passages in the New Testament which so vividly set out the moral power of the Incarnation as this passage does."⁵⁵

2:11 "For" introduces Paul's full theological reason for requiring the conduct above, why such conduct harmonizes with sound doctrine (v. 1).⁵⁶ In short, it is the proper response to God's grace. God has manifested His grace (unmerited favor) in Christ and the gospel. This has resulted in two things: the possibility of salvation for all and the actual salvation of all who believe in Christ (1 Tim. 2:4, 6; 4:10).

"In the Greek, has appeared' stand emphatically at the beginning, stressing the manifestation of grace as a historical reality. The reference is to Christ's entire earthly life--his birth, life, death, and resurrection. The verb epephane, from which we derive our word epiphany,' means to become visible, make an appearance,' and conveys the image of grace suddenly breaking in on our moral darkness, like the rising sun. (It is used of the sun in Acts 27:20.) Men could never have formed an adequate conception of that grace apart from its personal manifestation in Christ, in his incarnation and atonement."⁵⁷

2:12 When the Christian appreciates this grace it teaches him or her. It instructs us negatively to deny ungodliness, the root problem, and worldly passions, the manifestation of the root problem. These passions are the desires that unbelievers find so appealing but which are not in harmony with God's character and will, though they are typical of the world system. It instructs us positively to live sensibly (Gr. sophronos; self-controlled inwardly, cf. vv. 2, 5, 6), righteously (Gr. dikaios; morally upright outwardly), and godly (Gr. eusebos; reverently upwardly) in this age.

2:13 The blessed hope of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ's appearing in glory at the Rapture also motivates the sensitive Christian to honor God by his or her behavior now.⁵⁸ The Greek verb prosdechomenoi ("looking for") is in the present tense indicating that this waiting should be our characteristic attitude, always ready to welcome the returning Lord. We do not want to feel ashamed when we meet Him face to face (1 John 2:28; 3:3). In the Greek text one article, "the," introduces both "blessed hope" and "glorious appearing" suggesting that Paul was viewing one event from two aspects. The blessed hope is the glorious appearing of our Savior.

"In the New Testament hope does not indicate merely what is wished for but what is assured."⁵⁹

"In light of the concept of the imminent coming of Christ and the fact that the New Testament does teach His imminent coming, we can conclude that the Pretribulation Rapture view is the only view of the Rapture of the church that comfortably fits the New Testament teaching of the imminent coming of Christ. It is the only view that can honestly say that Christ could return at any moment, because it alone teaches that Christ will come to rapture the church before the 70th week of Daniel 9 or the Tribulation period begins and that nothing else must happen before His return."⁶⁰

"Paul . . . does not ask us to look for the Tribulation, or the Antichrist, or for persecution and martyrdom, or for death, but for the return of Christ. If any of these events must precede the Rapture, then how can we help looking for them rather than the Lord's coming? Such a view of the coming of the Lord can at best only induce a very general interest in the blessed hope.'"⁶¹

"The unusual phrase the great God,' found only here in the New Testament, is best accounted for as a Christological application of an Old Testament description of God."⁶²

In other words, Paul described the appearing and glory of one Person, our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.⁶³

2:14 Christ's intent in providing salvation for us was to buy our freedom from slavery to sin and wickedness.

"First, the verb gave (and indeed the entire saying--who gave himself for us) portrays Christ's death as a ritual offering made specifically to atone for sins (Rom 4:25; 8:32; compare Gal 1:4). . . .

"Second, the note of willingness is emphasized, for it is said that he gave himself. . . .

"Third, the phrase for us reveals that this offering was both representative and substitutionary."⁶⁴

Christ's purpose was also to purify a people for Himself who are eager to do what is right and good.

"When a royal visit is expected, everything is cleansed and decorated, and made fit for the royal eye to see."⁶⁵

"The highest and purest motivation for Christian behavior is not based on what we can do for God but rather upon what God has done for us and yet will do."⁶⁶

To summarize this section (vv. 11-14), the grace of God should result in our present commitment to deny what He detests and to pursue what He values. We see God's grace in His past provision of salvation in Christ and the prospect of Christ's future return to take us to be with Himself forever. The fact that so few Christians make this commitment is disappointing, but it is true to life, and Jesus Christ anticipated it (Luke 17:11-19).

College: Tit 2:1-15

TITUS 2

III. INSTRUCTIONS FOR VARIOUS GROUPS (2:1-15)

The current section is similar to 1 Tim 5:1-2, where people are grouped by sex and age. This time, however, Paul does not give instructions as to how the minister is to relate to each group. Instead he gives instructions as to the attitudes and behaviors of the members of each group. Paul is very much concerned about how Christians will be viewed by pagans "so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive" (2:10).

A. BEHAVIOR AND SOUND DOCTRINE (2:1)

¹ You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.

The sentence begins with an adversative conjunction not translated by the NIV followed by an emphatic pronoun (suΙ dev , su de , "but you"). After being given instructions about men to be appointed as elders and their responsibility of dealing with false teaching, Titus is now given instructions about what he is to teach. The word translated "teach" (lalei' , lalei ) is literally "speak." It may well be deemed a milder term than the imperatives of 1 Timothy ("exhort, charge, teach"). Titus is to make sure that his teaching accords with "sound doctrine" ("healthy teaching"; see discussion of the phrase in 1 Tim 1:10).

B. INSTRUCTIONS FOR OLDER MEN (2:2)

² Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

Paul begins his instructions to the various groups in Titus with older men just as he did in 1 Tim 5:1. It is primarily, if not exclusively, from this group of men that elders/overseers were selected. As Fee has noted, it is not then surprising that the qualities that these "older men" are to have parallel the qualifications for elders/overseers and deacons. Older men are to be "temperate" (nhfalivou" , nçphalio us ; cf. 1 Tim 3:2), "worthy of respect" (semnouv" , semnous ; cf. 1 Tim 3:8), and "self-controlled" (swvfrona" , sôphronas ; cf. 1:8; 2:5; 1 Tim 3:2).

Older men are to be "sound" (or "healthy") in a triad of Christian virtues - "in faith, in love and in endurance." These three virtues are also linked in 1 Tim 6:11-12; 2 Tim 3:10; and 1 Thess 1:3.

C. INSTRUCTIONS FOR OLDER WOMEN AND YOUNGER WOMEN (2:3-5)

³ Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

2:3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live,

Paul uses the word "likewise," a favorite expression in Pastoral Epistles to indicate a closeness of comparison, to introduce his instructions to "older women." They are to be taught to be reverent in the way they live (literally "with a demeanor which suits the sacred").

not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine,

Guthrie has suggested that the next two terms - "not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine" - "again vividly portray the Cretan environment." Similar prohibitions were used earlier in giving the qualifications of deacons: the first (mhΙ diabovlou" , mç diabolous ) in 1 Tim 3:11 and the second (mhΙ oi[nw/ povllw/ dedoulwmevna" , mç oinô pollô dedoulômenas ) in 1 Tim 3:8. With the second prohibition Paul uses a much stronger participle than he uses with deacons. As Guthrie has noted, "Evidently in Crete the liability to these excesses was more severe than in Ephesus, especially among women, the verb (doulovw , douloô ) used here signifies 'bondage' (RSV 'slaves to drink'), a much stronger expression than the corresponding phrase in 1 Timothy."

but to teach what is good.

Paul now calls "older women" "to teach what is good" (kalodidaskavlou" , kalodidaskalous , a word that appears only here in the NT). This does not envisage the formal instruction of men. Such teaching is forbidden in 1 Tim 2:12, and there is no reason why Paul should take a different line at Crete than in Ephesus. Kelly holds that this is "rather the advice and encouragement they can give privately, by word and example."

2:4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,

The call for older women to teach what is good provides for Paul's transition to "younger women" in vv. 4-5. Paul gives instructions to the younger women, but he does so by way of "the older women." The word translated "train" (swfronivzwsin , sôphronizôsin ) is from the same root as the word translated "self-controlled" in v. 2 and literally means "to bring someone to his or her senses." Fee suggests a rendering of something like "'wise them up' as to their responsibilities as wives." Paul gives seven qualities that younger women are to learn. The first two qualities are expressed by two Greek words (filavndrou" , philandrous ; filotevknou" , philoteknous ) which seem to comprise a single quality in English: "to love their husbands and children." These two qualities appear frequently in passages that discuss the characteristics of the good wife in antiquity. Guthrie has suggested that these requirements may well pinpoint a special weakness in the character of Cretans.

2:5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind,

These younger women are also "to be self-controlled" (swvfrona" , sôphronas ; a term used of "older men" in v. 5; cf. 1:8; 1 Tim 3:2) and "pure" (i.e., "morally pure, chaste"; cf. 1 Tim 5:22). The next two characteristics can form a pair: "to be busy at home" (oijkourgouv" , oikourgous , literally "home workers") and "to be kind" (ajgaqav" , agathas ; literally "good women ," perhaps in the sense of not being irritable); or they may be taken together with the second being understood as a simple adjective, producing "good workers at home" or "fulfilling their household duties well." Since all of the virtues to this point have consisted of single adjectives or nouns, it is likely that one should understand Paul as giving two qualities for "younger women" at this juncture. "Busy at home" should be understood "diligent homemakers" with a wide range of activities included (cf. the worthy wife of Prov 31:10-31).

and to be subject to their husbands,

The younger women are also "to be subject to their husbands" (cf. Col 3:8; Eph 5:21-23; 1 Pet 3:1). The original literally says they are "to be subject to their own husbands." The NIV has apparently taken the word "own" (ijdivoi" , idiois ) as unnecessary. The word "own" does indicate that Paul has in mind submission to "husbands" and not men in general. The word translated "to be subject" (uJpotassamevna" , hypotassomenas ) is a perfect middle participle in Greek which, as Knight has noted, indicates that Paul has in mind an act which is both continual and voluntary. For Paul the idea of submission and, at the same time, equality is not problematic. One has to do with role and the other value. Subjection does not imply inferiority.

so that no one will malign the word of God.

Paul concludes with the reason for the training that the younger women are to receive: "so that no one will malign the word of God." "The word of God" is here "God's message," "the gospel" (cf. Phil 1:14; 2 Tim 2:9). For the world to "malign" or "blaspheme" the message or God's name on account of the actions of a believer is unthinkable (cf. Rom 2:24; 1 Tim 6:2; Titus 2:10).

E. INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUNGER MEN (2:6-8)

⁶ Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. ⁷ In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness ⁸ and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

2:6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.

Titus is to teach the "younger men" both by words and by his "example." Paul again begins his admonition to a new group with "similarly" (wJsauvtw" , hôsautôs , "likewise" in v. 3). He is to "encourage" them "to be self-controlled" (swfronei'n , sôphronein , "to keep their heads") a concept indicating self-mastery, sensibleness, and clear thinking met earlier in Titus (vv. 2, 4, 5) with regard to "older men" and "younger women." One wonders, given the frequency of this word and its cognates in Titus, if self-control was not a particularly ominous problem on Crete.

2:7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good.

The prepositional phrase "in everything" (periΙ pavnta , peri panta ) can be taken either with v. 6 ("to be self-controlled in everything") or with v. 7 ("set an example in everything"). In the context, it seems more likely that the phrase should be taken with v. 6 indicating the sphere of self-control for "younger men." Titus is to "set an example" of self-control for these men. Again the NIV chooses not to translate a Greek word in the original (seautovn , seauton ) which would produce the following more emphatic translation: "set an example for them yourself ." Titus' example should be seen "in his good deeds" (a literal translation of the Greek phrase rendered "by doing what is good" in the NIV).

In your teaching show integrity, seriousness

In v. 7 Paul moves from Titus' "example" to his "teaching." His teaching must "show integrity" (literally "incorrupt"), "seriousness" (cf. 1 Tim 2:2; 3:4; denoting "a high moral tone and serious manner"), and "soundness of speech" (lovgon uJgih' , logon hygiç ).

2:8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

The "soundness of speech" which Titus is to use does not refer to sound doctrine or teaching, but rather to a sound or "healthy" (cf. 1 Tim 1:10; and Titus 1:9, 13, 2:1, 2) manner of speech. The phrase that follows validates this interpretation: "that cannot be condemned" (i.e., "is beyond reproach"). Paul tells Titus that teaching in the manner he has prescribed will guarantee that "those who oppose" (literally "the one who opposes") him will "be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us." Paul seems to be saying that Titus' conduct should be such that the opponents of Titus, Paul, and the truth will either (a) be disgraced or (b) be shamed into repentance. Paul indicates that Titus and his teaching reflect on Paul and his associates ("about us").

One can here see similarities between the way Paul deals with "younger women" through "older women" (vv. 4-5) and the way he here deals with "younger men" through Titus.

F. INSTRUCTIONS FOR SLAVES (2:9-10)

⁹ Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, ¹⁰ and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

The move to instructions for slaves from other instructions based on sex and age seems a bit strange to the modern reader.

2:9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything,

The instructions are clearly linked by the word "teach" (parakalei' , parakalei , rendered "encourage" in v. 6). The instructions given to "slaves" have much in common with the instructions earlier to "younger women" (vv. 4-5).

Guthrie has suggested that Paul's change from "obey" in instructions given to slaves in Ephesus (Eph 6:5) and Colosse (Col 3:22) to "be subject" (uJpotavssw , hypotassô ) in Titus may well suggest a "greater tendency on part of Christian slaves in Crete to abuse new-found emancipation in Christ." Again the verb "to be subject" is present middle (this time an infinitive; cf. v. 5) indicating continual and voluntary action. They are "to subject themselves to their own masters" as younger women were "to subject themselves to their own husbands."

In v. 9 one is again faced with the dilemma of deciding whether "in everything" (ejn pa'sin , en pasin ) is to be taken with the preceding verb, "to subject," or the one that follows, "to please." While no conclusive arguments have been given, most favor taking "in everything" with the verb "to subject" for the following reasons: (1) in Col 3:22 Paul links a parallel phrase to the verb "obey" when used of slaves; (2) in the Pastoral Epistles "in everything" normally appears at the end of a clause; and (3) Paul links "in everything" to the verb "submit" in Eph 5:24. Recognizing that the slave's submission to his master must always take second place to his submission to God, Knight says that "slaves are to subject themselves 'in all respects,' i.e., in all aspects of their service that a Christian slave can render without sinning."

to try to please them, not to talk back to them,

Christian slaves are "to try to please" (literally "to be well pleasing to") their masters. "If Christian slaves could introduce into their lives so high a principle as this, it would do much to lessen the evils of the system and to show the power of Christianity to transform the most difficult of relationships."

2:10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

Slaves are also to avoid two of the sins that so often plagued them: talking back and stealing or pilfering from their masters. Instead Christian slaves are "to show that they can be fully trusted" (literally "showing all good faith"). Again the reason for Paul's call for the Christian walk is the effect their behavior has on the neighboring pagans: "so that in every way" [literally 'in everything'; cf. v. 9] "they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive" (cf. Paul's concern that the gospel not be blasphemed in v. 5). Here Paul's goal is that the behavior of slaves actually attract outsiders to the gospel message.

G. THE THEOLOGICAL BASIS FOR

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE (2:11-15)

¹¹ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹² It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³ while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

¹⁵ These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

In this section Paul gives the theological reason for his call for Christian living in the previous section. Here as in 1 Tim 2:3-7; 4:10 Paul appeals to the universal scope of salvation by grace which should produce an eagerness "to do what is good" (v. 14).

2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

The "for" which begins v. 11 clearly links vv. 2-10 with vv. 11-14. Paul explains why Christians should lead the Christian life. As Fee has noted, one must be careful not to misread v. 11. Paul does not say "the grace of God appeared bringing salvation to all men." Rather he says "the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men."

2:12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions,

When one understands God's grace, he faces certain ethical demands. There are things the Christian is compelled to avoid: "ungodliness" (ajsevbeia , asebeia , the opposite of godliness which is so important in the Pastoral Epistles) and "worldly passions" (literally "worldly desires").

and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

On the positive side he is compelled to live a life "in this present age" (to be contrasted with "the age to come"; cf. 1 Tim 1:16) which has Christian qualities. Christians' lives are to be "self-controlled" (swfrovnw" , sôphronôs , cf. vv. 2, 5, 6 above), "upright" (dikaivw" , dikaiôs , see discussion in 1 Tim 6:11), and "godly" (eujsebw'" , eusebôs , a clear contrast with "ungodliness," asebeia ).

2:13 while we wait for the blessed hope -

In vv. 12-13 Paul contrasts the "present age" with the one to come. The Christian clearly looks to and waits for the future. "Hope" (ejlpiv" , elpis ) throughout the NT refers to more than wishful thinking. It is always the anxious waiting for something that is assured. This hope is described as "blessed." Paul defines what the Christian hope is by the next phrase, namely, "the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."

the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

The phrase "the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" poses two difficulties for interpreters. The first problem has to do with how one understands "glory" in the verse. Is the text to be rendered "the glorious appearing of our great God" (KJV, NIV) or "the appearing of the glory of our great God" (RSV, NASB, NRSV)? As Lea and Griffin have noted, "Grammatically, this latter rendering is more natural and therefore slightly to be preferred." This preference is due to the parallelism this will provide between the "appearing" of "the grace of God" in v.11 and "the appearing of the glory of God" here. Also this interpretation matches Jesus' own emphasis on his second coming demonstrating divine "glory" (Matt 16:27; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26). The "grace of God" has appeared with the first advent of Jesus; the "glory" of God will appear in a definitive way with his second coming.

The second problem involves whether one would see one person or two in the final section of this verse: "the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ"; or "the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." Although on the surface the difference seems to be only the placement of a comma, theologically there is a significant difference. The former reading proclaims the deity of Jesus loudly and clearly. The following arguments may be made for this reading favored by the NIV: (1) there is no definite article before "Savior," and normally, when two nouns are linked by "and" with a single article preceding the first, the nouns refer to a single entity; (2) the hope of Christians in Paul is centered in Christ and his return; (3) the Greek church fathers support this rendering; (4) no place in the NT does one find "the appearing of God"; (5) frequently in the pagan world the phrase "God and Savior" is used as a formula to apply to a single deity; (6) Paul's use of "who gave himself for us" can be seen as supporting this interpretation; and (7) the use of "great" can better be understood if both "our" and "great" modify the entire formula. Although there have been several attempts to explain each of these arguments, it seems more reasonable to see the text as a Pauline statement of the deity of Jesus. Paul's declaration of Jesus as divine can also be seen in the alternation of his use of "Savior" in Titus to refer first to God as Savior (1:3; 2:10; 3:4) then to Jesus as Savior (1:4; 2:13; 3:6).

2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

In v. 14 Paul moves on to describe this Jesus Christ as the one "who gave himself for us." Christ's death is clearly seen as voluntary and "on behalf of (uJpevr , hyper ) us" (cf. Mark 10:45). Paul here gives the twofold consequence of Jesus' death: "to redeem us" (or "set us free") "from all wickedness" (literally "lawlessness") and "to purify for himself a people that are his very own" (cf. 1 Pet 2:9 and Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18 in LXX; also Ezek 37:23). These people are to be "eager to do what is good" (literally "full of zeal for good works"; cf. Deut 26:18). Paul's concern in this entire section has been Christian living. He has now indicated that these good works are the natural response to the "grace of God" and are, indeed, the reason Jesus has redeemed and purified them. They are saved to do "good" works.

2:15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority.

Paul now calls Titus to teach these things. Paul frequently used "these things" in his instructions to Timothy (1 Tim 4:6, 11, 15; 5:7, 21; 6:2, 11). Here "these things" may well refer to all the material from 1:10 to the current text. The word "teach" (lavlei , lalei ) is literally "speak." He is to "encourage" (parakavlei , parakalei; cf. 2:6) and "rebuke" (e[legce , elenche ; 1:13) "with all authority." Paul's addition of the clause "with all authority" indicates the seriousness of this teaching. Titus is to deliver the message with authority , and the church at Crete is to accept it as authoritative.

Do not let anyone despise you.

Paul's final admonition, "Do not let anyone despise you," is similar to his instructions to Timothy (1 Tim 4:12). Although Paul says nothing of Titus' youth, he includes Titus in his instructions to "younger men" in 2:6-8. It is possible that Titus was a bit older than Timothy. Titus must not allow the Christians on Crete to disregard him or his message.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: Titus (Book Introduction)

The Epistle to Titus

Probably 66 or 67 Apparently From Nicopolis

JFB: Titus (Book Introduction)

GENUINENESS.--CLEMENT OF ROME quotes it [Epistle to the Corinthians, 2]; IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 3.3.4] refers to it as Paul's; THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCH [To Autolychus, 3.14], quotes it as Scripture. Compare CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [Miscellanies, 1, p. 299]; TERTULLIAN [The Prescription against Heretics, 6].

TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING.--This Epistle seems to have been written from Corinth [BIRKS], subsequently to his first imprisonment, when Paul was on his way to Nicopolis (Tit 3:12) in Epirus, where he purposed passing the winter, shortly before his martyrdom, A.D. 67. BIRKS thinks, from the similarity of the Epistle to Titus and First Timothy, that both were written from the same place, Corinth, and at dates not widely apart; First Timothy shortly after coming to Corinth, before he had planned a journey to Epirus, the Epistle to Titus afterwards. The journey to Crete and Ephesus for the bearers of his letters would be easy from Corinth, and he could himself thence easily pass into Epirus. He had shortly before visited Crete, wherein a Church existed (though without due organization), the first foundation of which he may have partly laid at his former visit (Act 27:7, &c.), when on his way to his first imprisonment at Rome. That he returned to the East after his first imprisonment appears most probable from Phi 2:24; Phm 1:22. However, there may have been seeds of Christianity sown in Crete, even before his first visit, by the Cretans who heard Peter's preaching on Pentecost (Act 2:11).

OCCASION OF WRITING.--Corrupt elements soon showed themselves in the Cretan Church, similar to those noticed in the Epistles to Timothy, as existing in the Ephesian Church, Judaism, false pretensions to science, and practical ungodliness. Paul, on his late visit, had left Titus in Crete to establish Church government, and ordain presbyters (deacons are not mentioned). Titus had been several times employed by Paul on a mission to the Corinthian Churches, and had probably thence visited Crete, which was within easy reach of Corinth. Hence the suitableness of his selection by the apostle for the superintendence of the Cretan Church. Paul now follows up with instructions by letter those he had already given to Titus in person on the qualifications of elders, and the graces becoming the old, the young, and females, and warns him against the unprofitable speculations so rife in Crete. The national character of the Cretans was low in the extreme, as EPIMENIDES, quoted in Tit 1:12, paints it. LIVY [History, 44.45], stigmatizes their avarice; POLYBIUS [Histories, 6.46.9], their ferocity and fraud; and [Histories, 6.47.5], their mendacity, so much so, that "to Cretanize" is another name for to lie: they were included in the proverbial three infamous initials "K" or "C," "Cappadocia, Crete, Cilicia."

NOTICES OF TITUS.--It is strange that he is never mentioned by this name in Acts, and there seems none of those mentioned in that book who exactly answers to him. He was a Greek, and therefore a Gentile (Gal 2:1, Gal 2:3), and converted by Paul (Tit 1:4). He accompanied the apostle on the deputation sent from the Church of Antioch to Jerusalem, to consult the apostles respecting the circumcision of Gentile converts (Act 15:2); and, agreeably to the decree of the council there, was not circumcised. He was in company with Paul at Ephesus, whence he was sent to Corinth to commence the collection for the Jerusalem saints, and to ascertain the effect of the First Epistle on the Corinthians (2Co 7:6-9; 2Co 8:6; 2Co 12:18), and there showed an unmercenary spirit. He next proceeded to Macedon, where he joined Paul, who had been already eagerly expecting him at Troas (2Co 2:12-13, "Titus my brother," 2Co 7:6). He was then employed by the apostle in preparing the collection for the poor saints in Judea, and became the bearer of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (2Co 8:16-17, 2Co 8:23). Paul in it calls him "my partner and fellow helper concerning you." His being located in Crete (Tit 1:5) was subsequent to Paul's first imprisonment, and shortly before the second, about A.D. 67, ten years subsequent to the last notice of him in Second Corinthians (2Co 12:18), A.D. 57. He probably met Paul, as the apostle desired, at Nicopolis; for his subsequent journey into Dalmatia, thence (or else from Rome, whither he may have accompanied Paul) would be more likely, than from the distant Crete (2Ti 4:10, written subsequently to the Epistle to Titus). In the unsettled state of things then, Titus' episcopal commission in Crete was to be but temporary, Paul requiring the presence of Titus with himself, whenever Artemas or Tychicus should arrive in Crete and set him free from his duties there.

Tradition represents him to have died peaceably in Crete, as archbishop of Gortyna, at an advanced age.

JFB: Titus (Outline)

• ADDRESS: FOR WHAT END TITUS WAS LEFT IN CRETE. QUALIFICATIONS FOR ELDERS: GAINSAYERS IN CRETE NEEDING REPROOF. (Tit. 1:1-16)
• DIRECTIONS TO TITUS: HOW TO EXHORT VARIOUS CLASSES OF BELIEVERS: THE GRACE OF GOD IN CHRIST OUR GRAND INCENTIVE TO LIVE GODLY. (Tit 2:1-15)
• WHAT TITUS IS TO TEACH CONCERNING CHRISTIANS' BEHAVIOR TOWARDS THE WORLD: HOW HE IS TO TREAT HERETICS: WHEN AND WHERE HE IS TO MEET PAUL. SALUTATION. CONCLUSION. (Tit 3:1-15)

TSK: Titus 2 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Tit 2:1, Directions given unto Titus both for his doctrine and life; Tit 2:10, Of the duty of servants, and in general of all Christians.

Poole: Titus 2 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 2

MHCC: Titus (Book Introduction)

This epistle chiefly contains directions to Titus concerning the elders of the Church, and the manner in which he should give instruction; and the latter part tells him to urge obedience to magistrates, to enforce good works, avoid foolish questions, and shun heresies. The instructions the apostle gave are all plain and simple. The Christian religion was not formed to answer worldly or selfish views, but it is the wisdom of God and the power of God.

MHCC: Titus 2 (Chapter Introduction)

(Tit 2:1-8) The duties which become sound doctrine.

(Tit 2:9, Tit 2:10) Believing servants must be obedient.

(Tit 2:11-15) All is enforced from the holy design of the gospel, which concerns all believers.

Matthew Henry: Titus (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Epistle of St. Paul to Titus

This Epistle of Paul to Titus is much of the same nature with those to Timothy; both were converts of Paul, and his companions in labours and sufferings; both were in the office of evangelists, whose work was to water the churches planted by the apostles, and to set in order the things that were wanting in them: they were vice-apostles, as it were, working the work of the Lord, as they did, and mostly under their direction, though not despotic and arbitrary, but with the concurring exercise of their own prudence and judgment, 1Co 16:10, 1Co 16:12. We read much of this Titus, his titles, character, and active usefulness, in many places - he was a Greek, Gal 2:3. Paul called him his son (Tit 1:4), his brother (2Co 2:13), his partner and fellow-helper (2Co 8:23), one that walked in the same spirit and in the same steps with himself. He went up with the apostles to the church at Jerusalem (Gal 2:1), was much conversant at Corinth, for which church he had an earnest care, 2Co 8:16. Paul's second epistle to them, and probably his first also, was sent by his hand, 2Co 8:16-18, 2Co 8:23; 2Co 9:2-4; 2Co 12:18. He was with the apostle at Rome, and thence went into Dalmatia (2Ti 4:10), after which no more occurs of him in the scriptures. So that by them he appears not to have been a fixed bishop; if such he were, and in those times, the church of Corinth, where he most laboured, had the best title to him. In Crete (now called Candia, formerly Hecatompolis, from the hundred cities that were in it), a large island at the mouth of the Aegean Sea, the gospel had got some footing; and here were Paul and Titus in one of their travels, cultivating this plantation; but the apostle of the Gentiles, having on him the care of all the churches, could not himself tarry long at this place. He therefore left Titus some time there, to carry on the work which had been begun, wherein, probably, meeting with more difficulty than ordinary, Paul wrote this epistle to him; and yet perhaps not so much for his own sake as for the people's, that the endeavours of Titus, strengthened with apostolic advice and authority, might be more significant and effectual among them. He was to see all the cities furnished with good pastors, to reject and keep out the unmeet and unworthy, to teach sound doctrine, and instruct all sorts in their duties, to set forth the free grace of God in man's salvation by Christ, and withal to show the necessity of maintaining good works by those who have believed in God and hope for eternal life from him.

Matthew Henry: Titus 2 (Chapter Introduction)

The apostle here directs Titus about the faithful discharge of his own office generally (Tit 2:1), and particularly as to several sorts of persons (Tit 2:2-10) and gives the grounds of these and of other following directions (Tit 2:11-14), with a summary direction in the close (Tit 2:15).

Barclay: Titus (Book Introduction)

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS OF PAUL

The Letters Of Paul

There is no more interesting body of documents in the New Testament than the letters of Paul. That is because of all forms of literature a letter is most personal. Demetrius, one of the old Greek literary critics, once wrote, "Every one reveals his own soul in his letters. In every other form of composition it is possible to discern the writercharacter, but in none so clearly as the epistolary." (Demetrius, On Style, 227). It is just because he left us so many letters that we feel we know Paul so well. In them he opened his mind and heart to the folk he loved so much; and in them, to this day, we can see that great mind grappling with the problems of the early church, and feel that great heart throbbing with love for men, even when they were misguided and mistaken.

The Difficulty Of Letters

At the same time, there is often nothing so difficult to understand as a letter. Demetrius (On Style, 223) quotes a saying of Artemon, who edited the letters of Aristotle. Artemon said that a letter ought to be written in the same manner as a dialogue, because it was one of the two sides of a dialogue. In other words, to read a letter is like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. So when we read the letters of Paul we are often in a difficulty. We do not possess the letter which he was answering; we do not fully know the circumstances with which he was dealing; it is only from the letter itself that we can deduce the situation which prompted it. Before we can hope to understand fully any letter Paul wrote, we must try to reconstruct the situation which produced it.

The Ancient Letters

It is a great pity that Paulletters were ever called epistles. They are in the most literal sense letters. One of the great lights shed on the interpretation of the New Testament has been the discovery and the publication of the papyri. In the ancient world, papyrus was the substance on which most documents were written. It was composed of strips of the pith of a certain bulrush that grew on the banks of the Nile. These strips were laid one on top of the other to form a substance very like brown paper. The sands of the Egyptian desert were ideal for preservation, for papyrus, although very brittle, will last forever so long as moisture does not get at it. As a result, from the Egyptian rubbish heaps, archaeologists have rescued hundreds of documents, marriage contracts, legal agreements, government forms, and, most interesting of all, private letters. When we read these private letters we find that there was a pattern to which nearly all conformed; and we find that Paulletters reproduce exactly that pattern. Here is one of these ancient letters. It is from a soldier, called Apion, to his father Epimachus. He is writing from Misenum to tell his father that he has arrived safely after a stormy passage.

"Apion sends heartiest greetings to his father and lord Epimachus.

I pray above all that you are well and fit; and that things are

going well with you and my sister and her daughter and my brother.

I thank my Lord Serapis [his god] that he kept me safe when I was

in peril on the sea. As soon as I got to Misenum I got my journey

money from Caesar--three gold pieces. And things are going fine

with me. So I beg you, my dear father, send me a line, first to let

me know how you are, and then about my brothers, and thirdly, that

I may kiss your hand, because you brought me up well, and because

of that I hope, God willing, soon to be promoted. Give Capito my

heartiest greetings, and my brothers and Serenilla and my friends.

I sent you a little picture of myself painted by Euctemon. My

military name is Antonius Maximus. I pray for your good health.

Serenus sends good wishes, Agathos Daimonboy, and Turbo,

Galloniuson." (G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri,

36).

Little did Apion think that we would be reading his letter to his father 1800 years after he had written it. It shows how little human nature changes. The lad is hoping for promotion quickly. Who will Serenilla be but the girl he left behind him? He sends the ancient equivalent of a photograph to the folk at home. Now that letter falls into certain sections. (i) There is a greeting. (ii) There is a prayer for the health of the recipients. (iii) There is a thanksgiving to the gods. (iv) There are the special contents. (v) Finally, there are the special salutations and the personal greetings. Practically every one of Paulletters shows exactly the same sections, as we now demonstrate.

(i) The Greeting: Rom_1:1 ; 1Co_1:1 ; 2Co_1:1 ; Gal_1:1 ; Eph_1:1 ; Phi_1:1 ; Col_1:1-2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:1 .

(ii) The Prayer: in every case Paul prays for the grace of God on the people to whom he writes: Rom_1:7 ; 1Co_1:3 ; 2Co_1:2 ; Gal_1:3 ; Eph_1:2 ; Phi_1:3 ; Col_1:2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:2 .

(iii) The Thanksgiving: Rom_1:8 ; 1Co_1:4 ; 2Co_1:3 ; Eph_1:3 ; Phi_1:3 ; 1Th_1:3 ; 2Th_1:3 .

(iv) The Special Contents: the main body of the letters.

(v) Special Salutations and Personal Greetings: Rom 16 ; 1Co_16:19 ; 2Co_13:13 ; Phi_4:21-22 ; Col_4:12-15 ; 1Th_5:26 .

When Paul wrote letters, he wrote them on the pattern which everyone used. Deissmann says of them, "They differ from the messages of the homely papyrus leaves of Egypt, not as letters but only as the letters of Paul." When we read Paulletters we are not reading things which were meant to be academic exercises and theological treatises, but human documents written by a friend to his friends.

The Immediate Situation

With a very few exceptions, all Paulletters were written to meet an immediate situation and not treatises which he sat down to write in the peace and silence of his study. There was some threatening situation in Corinth, or Galatia, or Philippi, or Thessalonica, and he wrote a letter to meet it. He was not in the least thinking of us when he wrote, but solely of the people to whom he was writing. Deissmann writes, "Paul had no thought of adding a few fresh compositions to the already extant Jewish epistles; still less of enriching the sacred literature of his nation. He had no presentiment of the place his words would occupy in universal history; not so much that they would be in existence in the next generation, far less that one day people would look at them as Holy Scripture." We must always remember that a thing need not be transient because it was written to meet an immediate situation. All the great love songs of the world were written for one person, but they live on for the whole of mankind. It is just because Paulletters were written to meet a threatening danger or a clamant need that they still throb with life. And it is because human need and the human situation do not change that God speaks to us through them today.

The Spoken Word

One other thing we must note about these letters. Paul did what most people did in his day. He did not normally pen his own letters but dictated them to a secretary, and then added his own authenticating signature. (We actually know the name of one of the people who did the writing for him. In Rom_16:22 Tertius, the secretary, slips in his own greeting before the letter draws to an end). In 1Co_16:21 Paul says, "This is my own signature, my autograph, so that you can be sure this letter comes from me." (compare Col_4:18 ; 2Th_3:17 .)

This explains a great deal. Sometimes Paul is hard to understand, because his sentences begin and never finish; his grammar breaks down and the construction becomes involved. We must not think of him sitting quietly at a desk, carefully polishing each sentence as he writes. We must think of him striding up and down some little room, pouring out a torrent Paul composed his letters, he had in his mindeye a vision of words, while his secretary races to get them down. When of the folk to whom he was writing, and he was pouring out his heart to them in words that fell over each other in his eagerness to help.

INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS TO TIMOTHY AND TITUS

Personal Letters

1 and 2 Timothy and Titus have always been regarded as forming a separate group of letters, different from the other letters of Paul. The most obvious difference is that they, along with the little letter to Philemon, are written to persons, whereas all other Pauline letters are written to Churches. The Muratorian Canon, which was the earliest official list of New Testament books, says that they were written "from personal feeling and affection." They are private rather than public letters.

Ecclesiastical Letters

But it very soon began to be seen that, though these are personal and private letters, they have a significance and a relevance far beyond the immediate. In 1Ti_3:15 their aim is set down. They are written to Timothy "that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God." So, then, it came to be seen that these letters have not only a personal significance, but also what one might call an ecclesiastical significance. The Muratorian Canon says of them that, though they are personal letters written out of personal affection, "they are still hallowed in the respect of the Catholic Church, and in the arrangement of ecclesiastical discipline." Tertullian said that Paul wrote "two letters to Timothy and one to Titus, which were composed concerning the state of the Church (de ecclesiastico statu)." It is not then surprising that the first name given to them was Pontifical Letters, that is, written by the pontifex, the priest, the controller of the Church.

Pastoral Letters

Bit by bit they came to acquire the name by which they are still known--The Pastoral Epistles. In writing of I Timothy Thomas Aquinas, as long ago as 1274, said, "This letter is as it were a pastoral rule which the Apostle delivered to Timothy." In his introduction to the second letter, he writes, "In the first letter he gives Timothy instructions concerning ecclesiastical order; in this second letter he deals with a pastoral care which should be so great that it will even accept martyrdom for the sake of the care of the flock." But this title, The Pastoral Epistles, really became affixed to these letters in 1726 when a great scholar, Paul Anton by name, gave a series of famous lectures on them under that title.

These letters then deal with the care and organization of the flock of God; they tell men how to behave within the household of God; they give instructions as to how Godhouse should be administered, as to what kind of people the leaders and pastors of the Church should be, and as to how the threats which endanger the purity of Christian faith and life should be dealt with.

The Growing Church

The supreme interest of these letters is that we get in them a picture of the infant Church. In those early days it was an island in a sea of paganism. The people in it were only one remove from their heathen origin. It would have been so easy for them to relapse into the pagan standards from which they had come; the tarnishing atmosphere was all around. It is most significant that missionaries tell us that of all letters the Pastoral Epistles speak most directly to the situation of the younger Churches. The situation with which they deal is being re-enacted in India, in Africa, in China every day. They can never lose their interest because in them we see, as nowhere else, the problems which continually beset the growing Church.

The Ecclesiastical Background Of The Pastorals

From the beginning these letters have presented problems to New Testament scholars. There are many who have felt that, as they stand, they cannot have come directly from the hand and pen of Paul. That this is no new feeling may be seen from the fact that Marcion, who, although he was a heretic, was the first man to draw up a list of New Testament books, did not include them among Paulletters. Let us then see what makes people doubt their direct Pauline authorship.

In them we are confronted with the picture of a Church with a fairly highly developed ecclesiastical organization. There are elders (1Ti_5:17-19 ; Tit_1:5-6 ); there are bishops, superintendents or overseers (1Ti_3:1-7 ; Tit_1:7-16 ); there are deacons (1Ti_3:8-13 ). From 1Ti_5:17-18 we learn that by that time elders were even salaried officials. The elders that rule well are to be counted worthy of a double pay and the Church is urged to remember that the labourer is worthy of his hire. There is at least the beginning of the order of widows who became so prominent later on in the early Church (1Ti_5:3-16 ). There is clearly here a quite elaborate structure within the Church, too elaborate some would claim for the early days in which Paul lived and worked.

The Days Of Creeds

It is even claimed that in these letters we can see the days of creeds emerging. The word faith changed its meaning. In the earliest days it is always faith in a person; it is the most intimate possible personal connection of love and trust and obedience with Jesus Christ. In later days it became faith in a creed; it became the acceptance of certain doctrines. It is said that in the Pastoral Epistles we can see this change emerging.

In the later days men will come who will depart from the faith and give heed to doctrines of devils (1Ti_4:1 ). A good servant of Jesus Christ must be nourished in the words of faith and good doctrine (1Ti_4:6 ). The heretics are men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith (2Ti_3:8 ). The duty of Titus is to rebuke men that they may be sound in the faith (Tit_1:13 ).

This comes out very particularly in an expression peculiar to the Pastorals. Timothy is urged to keep hold of "the truth that has been entrusted to you" (2Ti_1:14 ). The word for that has been entrusted is paratheke (G3866). Paratheke means a deposit which has been entrusted to a banker or someone else for safe-keeping. It is essentially something which must be handed back or handed on absolutely unchanged. That is to say the stress is on orthodoxy. Instead of being a close, personal relationship to Jesus Christ, as it was in the thrilling and throbbing days of the early Church, faith has become the acceptance of a creed. It is even held that in the Pastorals we have echoes of the earliest creeds.

"God was manifested in the flesh;

Vindicated in the Spirit;

Seen by angels;

Preached among the nations;

Believed on in the world;

Taken up in glory" (1Ti_3:16 ).

That indeed sounds like the fragment of a creed to be recited.

"Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from

David, as preached in my gospel" (2Ti_2:8 ).

That sounds like a reminder of a sentence from an accepted creed.

Within the Pastorals there undoubtedly are indications that the day of insistence on acceptance of a creed has begun, and that the days of the first thrilling personal discovery of Christ are beginning to fade.

A Dangerous Heresy

It is clear that in the forefront of the situation against which the Pastoral Epistles were written there was a dangerous heresy which was threatening the welfare of the Christian Church. If we can distinguish the various characteristic features of that heresy, we may be able to go on to identify it.

It was characterized by speculative intellectualism. It produced questions (1Ti_1:4 ); those involved in it doted about questions (1Ti_6:4 ); it dealt in foolish and unlearned questions (2Ti_2:23 ); its foolish questions are to be avoided (Tit_3:9 ). The word used in each case for questions is ekzetesis (compare G1567 and G2214), which means speculative discussion. This heresy was obviously one which was a play-ground of the intellectuals, or rather the pseudo-intellectuals of the Church.

It was characterized by pride. The heretic is proud, although in reality he knows nothing (1Ti_6:4 ). There are indications that these intellectuals set themselves on a plane above the ordinary Christian; in fact they may well have said that complete salvation was outside the grasp of the ordinary man and open only to them. At times the Pastoral Epistles stress the word all in a most significant way. The grace of God, which brings salvation, has appeared to all men (Tit_2:11 ). It is Godwill that all men should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1Ti_2:4 ). The intellectuals tried to make the greatest blessings of Christianity the exclusive possession of a chosen few; and in contradistinction the true faith stresses the all-embracing love of God.

There were within that heresy two opposite tendencies. There was a tendency to asceticism. The heretics tried to lay down special food laws, forgetting that everything God has made is good (1Ti_4:4-5 ). They listed many things as impure, forgetting that to the pure all things are pure (Tit_1:15 ). It is not impossible that they regarded sex as something unclean and belittled marriage, and even tried to persuade those who were married to renounce it, for in Tit_2:4 the simple duties of the married life are stressed as being binding on the Christian.

But this heresy also issued in immorality. The heretics even invaded private houses and led away weak and foolish women in evil desires (2Ti_3:6 ). They professed to know God, but denied him by their deeds (Tit_1:16 ). They were out to impose upon people and to make money out of their false teaching. To them gain was godliness (1Ti_6:5 ); they taught and deceived for base gain (Tit_1:11 ).

On the one hand this heresy issued in an unchristian asceticism, and on the other it produced an equally unchristian immorality.

It was characterized, too, by words and tales and genealogies. It was full of godless chatter and useless controversies (1Ti_6:20 ). It produced endless genealogies (1Ti_1:4 ; Tit_3:9 ). It produced myths and fables (1Ti_1:4 ; Tit_1:14 ).

It was at least in some way and to some extent tied up with Jewish legalism. Amongst its devotees were those of the circumcision (Tit_1:10 ). The aim of the heretics was to be teachers of the law (1Ti_1:7 ). It pressed on men Jewish fables and the commandments of men (Tit_1:14 ).

Finally, these heretics denied the resurrection of the body. They said that any resurrection that a man was going to experience had been experienced already (2Ti_2:18 ). This is probably a reference to those who held that the only resurrection the Christian experienced was a spiritual one when he died with Christ and rose again with him in the experience of baptism (Rom_6:4 ).

The Beginnings Of Gnosticism

Is there any heresy which fits all this material? There is, and its name is Gnosticism. The basic thought of Gnosticism was that all matter is essentially evil and spirit alone is good. That basic belief had certain consequences.

The Gnostic believed that matter is as eternal as God; and that when God created the world he had to use this essentially evil matter. That meant that to them God could not be the direct creator of the world. In order to touch this flawed matter he had to send out a series of emanations--they called them aeons--each one more and more distant from himself until at last there came an emanation or aeon so distant that it could deal with matter and create the world. Between man and God there stretched a series of these emanations, each with his name and genealogy. So Gnosticism literally had endless fables and endless genealogies. If a man was ever to get to God, he must, as it were, ascend this ladder of emanations; and to do that he needed a very special kind of knowledge including all kinds of passwords to get him past each stage. Only a person of the highest intellectual calibre could hope to acquire this knowledge and know these passwords and so get to God.

Further, if matter was altogether evil, the body was altogether evil. From that, two opposite possible consequences sprang. Either the body must be held down so that a rigorous asceticism resulted, in which the needs of the body were as far as possible eliminated and its instincts, especially the sex instinct, as far as possible destroyed; or it could be held that, since it was evil, it did not matter what was done with the body and its instincts and desires could be given full rein. The Gnostic therefore became either an ascetic or a man to whom morality had ceased to have any relevance at all.

Still further, if the body was evil, clearly there could be no such thing as its resurrection. It was not the resurrection of the body but its destruction to which the Gnostic looked forward.

All this fits accurately the situation of the Pastoral Epistles. In Gnosticism we see the intellectualism, the intellectual arrogance, the fables and the genealogies, the asceticism and the immorality, the refusal to contemplate the possibility of a bodily resurrection, which were part and parcel of the heresy against which the Pastoral Epistles were written.

One element in the heresy has not yet been fitted into place--the Judaism and the legalism of which the Pastoral Epistles speak. That too finds its place. Sometimes Gnosticism and Judaism joined hands. We have already said that the Gnostics insisted that to climb the ladder to God a very special knowledge was necessary; and that some of them insisted that for the good life a strict asceticism was essential. It was the claim of certain of the Jews that it was precisely the Jewish law and the Jewish food regulations which provided that special knowledge and necessary asceticism; and so there were times when Judaism and Gnosticism went hand in hand.

It is quite clear that the heresy at the back of the Pastoral Epistles was Gnosticism. Some have used that fact to try to prove that Paul could have had nothing to do with the writing of them, because, they say, Gnosticism did not emerge until much later than Paul. It is quite true that the great formal systems of Gnosticism, connected with such names as Valentinus and Basilides, did not arise until the second century; but these great figures only systematized what was already there. The basic ideas of Gnosticism were there in the atmosphere which surrounded the early Church, even in the days of Paul. It is easy to see their attraction, and also to see that, if they had been allowed to flourish unchecked, they could have turned Christianity into a speculative philosophy and wrecked it. In facing Gnosticism, the Church was facing one of the gravest dangers which ever threatened the Christian faith.

The Language Of The Pastorals

The most impressive argument against the direct Pauline origin of the Pastorals is a fact which is quite clear in the Greek but not so clear in any English translation. The total number of words in the Pastoral Epistles is 902, of which 54 are proper names; and of these 902 words, no fewer than 306 never occur in any other of Paulletters. That is to say more than a third of the words in the Pastoral Epistles are totally absent from Paulother letters. In fact 175 words in the Pastoral Epistles occur nowhere else in the New Testament at all; although it is only fair to say that there are 50 words in the Pastoral Epistles which occur in Paulother letters and nowhere else in the New Testament.

Further, when the other letters of Paul and the Pastorals say the same thing they say it in different ways, using different words and different turns of speech to express the same idea.

Again, many of Paulfavourite words are absent entirely from the Pastoral Epistles. The words for the cross (stauros, G4716) and to crucify (stauroun, G4717) occur 27 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals. Eleutheria (G1657) and the kindred words which have to do with freedom occur 29 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals. Huios (G5207), "son," and huiothesia (G5206), "adoption," occur 46 times in Paulother letters, and never in the Pastorals.

Moreover, Greek has many more of those little words called particles and enclitics than English has. Sometimes they indicate little more than a tone of voice; every Greek sentence is joined to its predecessor by one of them; and they are often virtually untranslatable. Of these particles and enclitics there are 112 which Paul uses altogether 932 times in his other letters that never occur in the Pastorals.

There is clearly something which has to be explained here. The vocabulary and the style make it hard to believe that Paul wrote the Pastoral Epistles in the same sense as he wrote his other letters.

PaulActivities In The Pastorals

But perhaps the most obvious difficulty of the Pastorals is that they show Paul engaged in activities for which there is no room in his life as we know it from the book of Acts. He has clearly conducted a mission in Crete (Tit_1:5 ). And he proposes to spend a winter in Nicopolis, which is in Epirus (Tit_3:12 ). In Paullife as we know it that particular mission and that particular winter just cannot be fitted in. But it may well be that just here we have stumbled on the solution to the problem.

Was Paul Released From His Roman Imprisonment?

Let us sum up. We have seen that the Church organization of the Pastorals is more elaborate than in any other Pauline letter. We have seen that the stress on orthodoxy sounds like second or third generation Christianity, when the thrill of the new discovery is wearing off and the Church is on the way to becoming an institution. We have seen that Paul is depicted as carrying out a mission or missions which cannot be fitted into the scheme of his life as we have it in Acts. But Acts leaves it quite uncertain what happened to Paul in Rome. It ends by telling us that he lived for two whole years in a kind of semi-captivity, preaching the gospel without hindrance (Act_28:30-31 ). But it does not tell us how that captivity ended, whether in Paulrelease or his execution. It is true that the general assumption is that it ended in his condemnation and death; but there is a by no means negligible stream of tradition which tells that it ended in his release, his liberty for two or three further years, his reimprisonment and his final execution about the year A.D. 67.

Let us look at this question, for it is of the greatest interest.

First, it is clear that when Paul was in prison in Rome, he did not regard release as impossible; in fact, it looks as if he expected it. When he wrote to the Philippians, he said that he was sending Timothy to them, and goes on, "And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself shall come also" (Phi_2:24 ). When he wrote to Philemon, sending back the runaway Onesimus, he says, "At the same time prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping through your prayers to be granted to you" (Phm_1:22 ). Clearly he was prepared for release, whether or not it ever came.

Second, let us remember a plan that was very dear to Paulheart. Before he went to Jerusalem on that journey on which he was arrested, he wrote to the Church at Rome, and in that letter he is planning a visit to Spain. "I hope to see you in passing," he writes, "as I go to Spain." "I shall go on by way of you," he writes, "to Spain" (Rom_15:24 , Rom_15:28 ). Was that visit ever paid?

Clement of Rome, when he wrote to the Church at Corinth about A.D. 90, said of Paul that he preached the gospel in the East and in the West; that he instructed the whole world (that is, the Roman Empire) in righteousness; and that he went to the extremity (terma, the terminus) of the West, before his martyrdom. What did Clement mean by the extremity of the West? There are many who argue that he meant nothing more than Rome. Now it is true that someone writing away in the East in Asia Minor would probably think of Rome as the extremity, of the West. But Clement was writing from Rome; and it is difficult to see that for anyone in Rome the extremity of the West could be anything else but Spain. It certainly seems that Clement believed that Paul reached Spain.

The greatest of all the early Church historians was Eusebius. In his account of Paullife he writes: "Luke who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, brought his history to a close at this point, after stating that Paul had spent two whole years at Rome as a prisoner at large, and preached the word of God without constraint. Thus, after he had made his defence, it is said that the Apostle was sent again on the ministry of preaching, and that on coming to the same city a second time he suffered martyrdom" (Eusebius: Ecclesiastical History, 2.22.2). Eusebius has nothing to say about Spain, but he did know the story that Paul had been released from his first Roman imprisonment.

The Muratorian Canon, that first list of New Testament books, describes Lukescheme in writing Acts: "Luke related to Theophilus events of which he was an eye-witness, as also, in a separate place, he evidently declares the martyrdom of Peter (he probably refers to Luk_22:31-32 ); but omits the journey of Paul from Rome to Spain."

In the fifth century, two of the great Christian fathers are definite about this journey. Chrysostom in his sermon on 2Ti_4:20 says: "Saint Paul after his residence in Rome departed to Spain." Jerome in his Catalogue of Writers says that Paul "was dismissed by Nero that he might preach Christgospel in the West."

Beyond doubt a stream of tradition held that Paul journeyed to Spain.

This is a matter on which we will have to come to our own decision. The one thing which makes us doubt the historicity of that tradition is that in Spain itself there is not and never was any tradition that Paul had worked and preached there, no stories about him, no places connected with his name. It would be indeed strange if the memory of such a visit had become totally obliterated. It could well be that the whole story of Paulrelease and journey to the west arose simply as a deduction from his expressed intention to visit Spain (Rom 15 ). Most New Testament scholars do not think that Paul was released from his imprisonment; the general consensus of opinion is that his only release was by death.

Paul And The Pastoral Epistles

What then shall we say of Paulconnection with these letters? If we can accept the tradition of his release, and of his return to preaching and teaching, and of his death as late as A.D. 67, we might well believe that as they stand they came from his hand. But, if we cannot believe that--and the evidence is on the whole against it--are we to say that they have no connection with Paul at all?

We must remember that the ancient world did not think of these things as we do. It would see nothing wrong in issuing a letter under the name of a great teacher, if it was sure that the letter said the things which that teacher would say under the same circumstances. To the ancient world it was natural and seemly that a disciple should write in his mastername. No one would have seen anything wrong in one of Pauldisciples meeting a new and threatening situation with a letter under Paulname. To regard that as forgery is to misunderstand the mind of the ancient world. Are we then to swing completely to the other extreme and say that some disciple of his issued these letters in Paulname years after he was dead, and at a time when the Church was much more highly organized than ever it was during his lifetime?

As we see it, the answer is no. It is incredible that any disciple would put into Paulmouth a claim to be the chief of sinners (1Ti_1:15 ); his tendency would be to stress Paulholiness, not to talk about his sin. It is incredible that anyone writing in the name of Paul would give Timothy the homely advice to drink a little wine for the sake of his health (1Ti_5:23 ). The whole of 2Tim 4 is so personal and so full of intimate, loving details that no one but Paul could have written it.

Wherein lies the solution? It may well be that something like this happened. It is quite obvious that many letters of Paul went lost. Apart from his great public letters, he must have had a continuous private correspondence; and of that we possess only the little letter to Philemon. It may well be that in the later days there were some fragments of Paulcorrespondence in the possession of some Christian teacher. This teacher saw the Church of his day and his locality in Ephesus threatened on every side. It was threatened with heresy from without and from within. It was threatened with a fall away from its own high standards of purity and truth. The quality of its members and the standard of its office-bearers were degenerating. He had in his possession little letters of Paul which said exactly the things that should be said, but, as they stood, they were too short and too fragmentary to publish. So he amplified them and made them supremely relevant to the contemporary situation and sent them out to the Church.

In the Pastoral Epistles we are still hearing the voice of Paul, and often hearing it speak with a unique personal intimacy; but we think that the form of the letters is due to a Christian teacher who summoned the help of Paul when the Church of the day needed the guidance which only he could give.

FURTHER READING

Titus

D. Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles (TC; E)

W. Lock, The Pastoral Epistles (ICC; G)

E. F. Scott, The Pastoral Epistles (MC; E)

E. K. Simpson, The Pastoral Epistles

Abbreviations

CGT: Cambridge Greek Testament

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: Titus 2 (Chapter Introduction)

The Christian Character (Tit_2:1-10)

(1) The Senior Men (Tit_2:1-2)

(2) The Older Women (Tit_2:3-5)

(3) The Younger Women (Tit_2:3-5 Continued)

(4) The Younger Men (Tit_2:6)

(5) The Christian Teacher (Tit_2:7-8)

(6) The Christian Workman (Tit_2:9-10)

The Moral Power Of The Incarnation (Tit_2:11-14)

The Threefold Task (Tit_2:15)

Constable: Titus (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical background

Paul may have visited Crete more than once. It seems unlikely that he would have had time to plant a church in Crete on his way to Rome as a prisoner (Acts 27:7-13, 21). One may have already been in existence then (cf. Acts 2:11). Perhaps Paul returned to Crete following his release from his first Roman imprisonment. In any case, he had been there and had instructed Titus to remain there when he departed (Titus 1:5).

Evidently Paul wrote Titus after he wrote 1 Timothy. Titus 3:12 seems to indicate that his plans were more settled than when he wrote 1 Timothy 3:14.¹

Titus was a Greek Gentile (Gal. 2:3). He had probably become a Christian under the influence of Paul and had become one of the apostle's protégés (Titus 1:4). Titus had been with Paul since the apostle's early ministry. He accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their mission of mercy to the Jerusalem church when Paul was laboring in Antioch of Syria, Titus' home. This happened before Paul's first missionary journey (Gal. 2:1; Acts 11:27-30). Titus was also Paul's special representative to the Corinthian church during Paul's third missionary journey. He carried the "severe letter" from Ephesus (2 Cor. 12:18; cf. 2 Cor. 2:3-4; 7:8-12) and returning to Ephesus through Macedonia met Paul in Macedonia (2 Cor. 7:6-16). He was, in addition, the leader of the group of men Paul sent to the churches in Macedonia and Achaia to pick up the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:6, 16, 23).

"Tradition has it that Titus, having become first bishop of Crete, died there in advanced years. His successor, Andreas Cretensis, eulogized him in the following terms: The first foundation-stone of the Cretan church; the pillar of the truth; the stay of the faith; the never silent trumpet of the evangelical message; the exalted echo of Paul's own voice'."²

Paul left Titus in Crete to set the church there in order (Titus 1:5).³ However, he planned to send Artemas or Tychicus to relieve Titus so Titus could join Paul in Nicapolis for the winter (3:12). There were several towns with the name "Nicapolis" in Paul's arena of ministry. This one was probably the one in Illyricum (parts of modern Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and northern Albania) that lay east of northern Italy across the Adriatic Sea. When Paul wrote 2 Timothy, Titus was with him (2 Tim. 4:10, Dalmatia being another name for Illyricum). Perhaps Paul also wrote this letter from Nicapolis or maybe from Macedonia (1 Tim. 1:3) or some other place. A date between 62 and 66 A.D. seems a safe estimate for the time of its composition. Zenas and Apollos may have delivered this letter to Titus on Crete (Titus 3:13).

The churches on the island of Crete were unorganized, though there appear to have been Christians in many of its cities (1:5). Titus' task of setting the churches in order included dealing with false teachers (1:10-11). The Cretans had a reputation for being idle and somewhat corrupt (1:12). These traits apparently characterized some of the faithful as well as the false teachers (3:14). Part of Titus' task consisted of motivating them to change.

"Nowhere else does Paul more forcefully urge the essential connection between evangelical truth and the purest morality than in this brief letter."⁴

"The dominant theme in Titus, therefore, is good works (1:8, 16; 2:7, 14; 3:1, 8, 14), that is, exemplary Christian behavior and that for the sake of outsiders (2:5, 7, 8, 10, 11; 3:1, 8)."⁵

Message⁶

By way of review, in 1 Timothy we saw that the purpose of the local church is to be the supporting pedestal of God's truth. To fulfill this function each church needs proper organization. In Titus, Paul emphasized the importance of church organization. In 2 Timothy he emphasized the importance of church leadership.

It is significant that this letter deals with a church in a very difficult place, Crete (1:12-13a). It is also noteworthy that in this letter Paul revealed that Christians in this difficult place could adorn the doctrine of God (2:9-10). Even those Christians in the most trying of circumstances in that difficult place (i.e., slaves) can adorn the doctrine of God. To show the true spiritual power of the church God selected the most difficult soil. In this way the Holy Spirit teaches us that the church can fulfill its purpose in the most dark, desolate, difficult places on earth. He can do so even through people whose situations in life are the most trying.

The subject of revelation in the epistle is the true church of Jesus Christ. What Paul said about the church is that it must be orderly. We could write, "Let everything be done decently and in order," (1 Cor. 14:40) over this book.

First, Paul revealed the motive of church order, why the church must be orderly. It must be orderly because people must come to the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness (1:1; 1 Tim. 3:16). Godliness is the end product of the gospel. The mystery of godliness is what the church supports and displays to the world. The business of the church is to correct and convict those who speak against godliness (1:9). It does this by revealing God's truth. Its business is to counteract the influence of evil people (2:12).

The Cretans were liars (1:12). Christians are to live sensibly (2:12). Cretans were evil beasts. Christians are to live righteously. Cretans were lazy gluttons. Christians are to be godly. Negatively Christians do this by denying ungodliness and worldly lusts (2:12).

Second, Paul revealed the method of church order, how the church can be orderly. It is by the oversight of overseers (1:7). An overseer (elder) is by definition one who sees clearly what is going on. An overseer in the church needs to see three things clearly.

He must see God's truth clearly (1:9). He must know the Word of God.

He must also see the conditions in which the people under his care live. An elder who does not know what is going on in the lives of the Christians in his church cannot exercise oversight (1:9).

He must also see clearly the method of oversight God has prescribed. His duties include enunciating the truth (teaching), applying the truth (exhorting), and urging obedience to the truth (reproving; 2:15).

Third, Paul revealed the might of church order, what the church has that enables it to be orderly (2:11-14). The power of an ordered church lies in two "appearings." The first is the appearing of grace at the first advent. The second is the appearing of glory at the second advent. The revelation of the grace of God in the Cross should motivate the church. The revelation of the glory of God when Christ returns for us at the Rapture should also motivate the church. We gain motivation as we look backward and forward at our Lord's two appearings.

The appeal of Paul in this epistle is that the church be true to Jesus Christ. The church as a whole, individual Christians, and the church overseers each have a responsibility to this end.

First, the responsibility of the church as a whole (all Christians in a local church) is to adorn the doctrine (2:10). Paul commanded this of slaves. If they could do it, all others can. "Adorn" is a translation of the Greek word kosmeo from kosmos meaning order and beauty. The verb also occurs in Matthew 25:7 where it reads "trimmed." When we remove the burned off part of a wick, the flame burns brighter. Just so when we trim a life or a church of sin and encumbrances, it bears a brighter witness to Christ. This process of trimming is what it means to adorn the doctrine. To adorn means to set forth attractively, as a musician does who plays a piece of music beautifully. This is a corporate as well as an individual responsibility.

Second, the responsibility of the individual Christian is to maintain good works (3:8). This does not refer just to charity or philanthropy. It refers to doing truly noble and beautiful works from the best of motives (cf. Eph. 2:10).

Third, the duty of the overseer is to affirm the essentials of the faith confidently (3:8). G. Campbell Morgan wrote, "We do not help men and women to adorn the doctrine when we debate our doubts in their presence."⁷ We should preach our convictions, not our questions.

By way of application this epistle teaches several things.

First, the church will be powerful in the world to the extent that it reveals God's truth. Its influence does not lie primarily in its ability to lobby for political change. Its influence lies mainly in its ability to proclaim and demonstrate God's truth to the world.

Second, it teaches that church leaders must be people who are under the rule of God's truth. We should not select them because of their business experience, social influence, or wealth. It is the spiritual life of a man mastered by the truth of God that qualifies him for church leadership.

Third, this epistle teaches that the power of an overseer is that of God's truth, not that of his office. No real power comes because a person fills an office. Real power comes as a result of a person's example and words. A church's elders should be her most spiritually influential men.

Fourth, Titus teaches that the measure of the success of a church's overseers is the extent to which the church members fulfill their function in the world. The measure of success is not the number of people attending services. It is the number and effectiveness of people proclaiming God's truth in the world by their godly lives and verbal witness. How much ministry are the saints carrying on during the week?

The church then must be orderly so that it can fulfill its function, namely to proclaim God's truth in the world. This is a statement of the message of the book.

Constable: Titus (Outline)

Outline

I. Salutation 1:1-4

II. Instructions for setting the church in order 1:5-3:11

A. The appointment of elders 1:5-9

B. The correction of false teachers 1:10-16

C. The conduct of the saints 2:1-3:11

1. The behavior of various groups in the church 2:1-15

2. The behavior of all in the church 3:1-11

III. Conclusion 3:12-15

Constable: Titus

Titus

Bibliography

Bailey, Mark L. "A Biblical Theology of Paul's Pastoral Epistles." in A Biblical Theology of the New Testament, pp. 333-67. Edited by Roy B. Zuck. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994.

Barclay, William. The Letters of Timothy, Titus and Philemon. Daily Study Bible series. 2nd ed. and reprint ed. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1962.

Barrett, C. K. The Pastoral Epistles. New Clarendon Bible series. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963.

Baxter, J. Sidlow. Explore the Book. 6 vols. London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1965.

Brindle, Wayne A. "Biblical Evidence for the Imminence of the Rapture." Bibliotheca Sacra 158:630 (April-June 2001):138-51.

Bruce, F. F. "Studies in the Pastoral Epistles: Preliminary Observations." Harvester 65:1 (January 1986):12-13.

Constable, Thomas L. "Analysis of Bible Books--New Testament." Paper submitted for course 686 Analysis of Bible Books--New Testament. Dallas Theological Seminary, January 1968.

Cranfield, C. E. B. The Epistle to the Romans. International Critical Commentary series. 2 vols. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1979.

Darby, John Nelson. Synopsis of the Books of the Bible. 5 vols. Revised ed. New York: Loizeaux Brothers Publishers, 1942.

Dictionary of the Apostolic Church. Edited by James Hastings. 1915 ed. S.v. "Timothy and Titus, Epistles to," by R. A. Falconer.

Dictionary of the Bible. Edited by James Hastings. 1910 ed. S.v. "Titus, Epistle to," by W. Lock.

Eusebius. The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus. Translated by Christian Frederick Cruse. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1955.

Fairbairn, Patrick. Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. 1874. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1956.

Family Life Conference. Little Rock: Family Ministry, 1990.

Fee, Gordon D. 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus. New International Biblical Commentary series. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1988. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, and Carlisle, England: Paternoster Press, 1995.

Gaebelein, Arno C. The Annotated Bible. 4 vols. Reprint ed. Chicago: Moody Press, and New York: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1970.

Gealy, F. D. The First and Second Epistles to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus. In vol. 11 of The Interpreter's Bible. Nashville: Abinbgdon Press, 1955.

Getz, Gene A. The Measure of a Man. Glendale: Gospel Light Publications, Regal Books, 1974.

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. By C. G. Wilke. Revised by C. L. Wilibald Grimm. Translated, revised and enlarged by Joseph Henry Thayer, 1889.

Guthrie, Donald. New Testament Introduction. 3 vols. 2nd ed. London: Tyndale Press, 1966.

_____. The Pastoral Epistles. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries series. London: Tyndale Press, 1964.

Hanson, Anthony Tyrell. The Pastoral Epistles. New Century Bible Commentary series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., and London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott Publ. Ltd., 1982.

Hayes, Edward L. "The Call to Ministry." Bibliotheca Sacra 157:625 (January-March 2000):88-98.

Hendricksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1968.

Hiebert, D. Edmond. "Titus." In Ephesians-Philemon. Vol. 11 of Expositor's Bible Commentary. 12 vols. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.

_____. Titus and Philemon. Moody Colportage Library series. Chicago: Moody Press, 1957.

Hughes, Philip Edgcumbe. Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament series. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1962.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Edited by James Orr. 1957 ed. S.v. "Pastoral Epistles, The," by John Rutherfurd.

Ironside, Harry A. Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Neptune, N.J.: Loizeaux Brothers, 1967.

Kelly, J. N. D. A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. Thornapple Commentaries series. London: A. & C. Black Publishers Limited, 1963; reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981.

Kent, Homer A., Jr. The Pastoral Epistles. Chicago: Moody Press, 1966.

Kitchens, Ted G. "Perimeters of Corrective Church Discipline." Bibliotheca Sacra 148:590 (April-June 1991):201-13.

Knight, George W., III. The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.; and Carlisle, England: Paternoster Press, 1992.

Kraft, Vickie. Women Mentoring Women: Ways to Start, Maintain, and Expand a Biblical Women's Ministry. Chicago: Moody Press, 1992.

Lange, John Peter, ed. Commentary on the Holy Scriptures. 12 vols. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1960. Vol. 11: Galatians--Hebrews, by Otto Schmoller, Karl Braune, C. A. Auberlen, C. J. Riggenbach, J. J. Van Oosterzee, and Carl Bernhard Moll. Translated by C. C. Starbuck, M. B. Riddle, Horatio B. Hackett, John Lillie, E. A. Washburn, E. Harwood, George E. Day, and A. C. Kendrick.

Lea, Thomas D. and Griffin, Hayne P., Jr. 1, 2 Timothy, Titus. New American Commentary series. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1992.

Lenski, Richard C. H. The Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians, to Timothy, to Titus, and to Philemon. Reprint ed. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1964.

Lewis, C. S. Reflections on the Psalms. London: Collins, 1961.

Litfin, A. Duane. "Titus." In Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament, pp. 761-67. Edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1983.

McGee, J. Vernon. Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee. 5 vols. Pasadena: Thru the Bible Radio, 1983.

McNeile, A. H. An Introduction to the Study of the New Testament. 2nd ed. revised by C. S. C. Williams. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965.

Morgan, G. Campbell. Living Messages of the Books of the Bible. 2 vols. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1912.

Nebeker, Gary L. "The Theme of Hope in Dispensationalism." Bibliotheca Sacra 158:629 (January-March 2001):30-20.

Robertson, Archibald Thomas. Word Pictures in the New Testament. 6 vols. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1931.

Showers, Renald E. Maranatha Our Lord, Come: A Definitive Study of the Rapture of the Church. Bellmawr, Pa.: Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1995.

Simpson, E. K. The Pastoral Epistles. London: Tyndale Press, 1954.

Stanton, Gerald B. Kept from the Hour. Fourth ed. Miami Springs, Fl.: Schoettle Publishing Co., 1991.

Strauch, Alexander. Biblical Eldership. Littleton, Co: Lewis & Roth Publishers, 1986.

Thiessen, Henry Clarence. Introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1962.

_____. "Will the Church Pass through the Tribulation?" Bibliotheca Sacra 92 (July-September 1935):39-54, 187-205, 292-314.

Towner, Philip H. 1-2 Timothy & Titus. The IVP New Testament Commentary series. Downers Grove, Il., and Leicester, England: InterVarsity Press, 1994.

_____. The Goal of Our Instruction. Sheffield: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 1989.

Wallis, Wilbur B. "The Epistle to Titus." In Wycliffe Bible Commentary, pp. 1393-96. Edited by Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison. Chicago, Moody Press, 1962.

Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. 2 vols. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1989.

Wuest, Kenneth S. The Pastoral Epistles in the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964.

Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Titus (Book Introduction)

THE

EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO TITUS.

INTRODUCTION.

The design of this epistle is much the same as in the two former to Timothy. He had made this his beloved son Titus, chief bishop of Crete; in which island were formerly a hundred cities, on which account it was called Hecatompolis. It is now called Candy. We have a commentary of St. Jerome on this epistle, tom. iv, p. 409. E. B. (Witham) --- Titus was an uncircumcised Gentile: we know not on what occasion he attached himself to St. Paul. It is however certain that he was a great utility to St. Paul in the government of the Church. --- St. Paul having preached the faith in the island of Crete, left his beloved Titus there to finish the work which he had begun. Afterwards the apostle, on a journey to Nicopolis, a city of Macedonia, wrote this epistle to Titus; in which he directs him to ordain bishops and priests for the different cities, shewing him the principal qualities necessary for the bishop, also gives him particular advice for his own conduct to his flock, exhorting him to hold to strictness of discipline, but seasoned with lenity. It was written about thirty-three years after our Lord's ascension. (Challoner)

====================

Gill: Titus (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO TITUS

Titus, to whom this epistle is inscribed, was a Greek, an uncircumcised Gentile, and so remained; nor did the apostle circumcise him, as he did Timothy, when he became his companion; nor did the apostles at Jerusalem oblige him to be circumcised, when Paul took him with Barnabas along with him thither, Gal 2:1. He was a man of great grace, and large gifts, and very dear to the apostle: he calls him his brother, his partner, and fellow helper, and says he walked in the same spirit, and in the same steps, 2Co 2:13. He was employed by the apostle much, and sent into various parts, on different occasions: he sent him to Corinth, to finish there the collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, 2Co 8:6 and to Dalmatia, to know the state of the saints there, and to confirm them in the faith, 2Ti 4:10. As he was a Greek, so his name is a Greek name, yet used among the Romans, as Titus Vespasian, and others ^a; and among the Jews, so we read of R. Chijah bar ojyj, "Titas" ^b, and of R. Judah ben Titas ^c: when and where this epistle was written, is not very easy to determine; some think it was written between the first and second time the apostle was in bonds at Rome; and certain it is, that he was not in bonds when he wrote it, for he desires Titus to meet him at Nicopolis, Tit 3:19 from whence some have supposed it to be written, as the subscription shows; but others think it was wrote much earlier, and when the apostle was at Ephesus, towards the close of his three years stay there, before he went into Macedonia; but it seems rather that it was written when he returned from Macedonia into Greece: he left Titus at Crete, and staying in Greece three months, he intended to have sailed to Syria, but was prevented by the Jews lying in wait for him, upon which he steered his course to Macedonia again; and as he was going there, or when there, writes this letter to Titus, to come to him at Nicopolis. The occasion of it was partly the judaizing preachers, and false teachers, that got into that island, and were corrupting the principles of the people; and partly the unbecoming conversation and practices of some professors of religion: and whereas the apostle had left Titus in Crete, to finish what he had begun, and to put the churches in order, and see that they had proper officers, particularly pastors over them, that they might be taken care of, both with respect to doctrine and practice; the design of this epistle is to lay before Titus the several qualifications of a pastor, which might be instruction to him, and to the churches, in the choice and ordination of them; and to stir him up to zeal and diligence in refuting false teachers, and dealing with heretics; and to put him upon exhorting the saints to the discharge of their duty, in every branch of it, from the best principles, by arguments taken from the grace of God, and the doctrines of it. This epistle is supposed to be written about the year 55.

Gill: Titus 2 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO TITUS 2

In this chapter the apostle exhorts Timothy to the discharge of his office with respect to all sorts of persons, of every age, sex; and condition, he was concerned with, giving reasons for it, taken from the nature of the Gospel of Christ: he exhorts him in general to insist in his public ministry on those things, which were agreeable to sound doctrine, Tit 2:1 and particularly what became aged men and aged women, and young men and young women, Tit 2:2 in all which, both with respect to doctrine and practice, he desires him to be a pattern to them, that so even his very adversaries may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of him, Tit 2:7. And next he charges him to exhort servants, to obey their masters, and seek to please them, and not contradict them, and to be faithful to them; that so the doctrine of God their Saviour, professed by them, might be adorned in all things, Tit 2:9. And the reasons why the apostle would have duty urged on persons of every age, sex, and state, are taken from the nature of the Gospel being a doctrine of grace and salvation, which was preached to all sorts of persons, Tit 2:11, and from the efficacy of it, in teaching men to deny sin, and live a holy life and conversation, Tit 2:12 and from an expectation of eternal glory and happiness at the appearance of Christ, which the Gospel encourages to, Tit 2:13; and from the end of Christ's giving himself for his people, and redeeming them from sin, the sum and substance of the Gospel, which was, that they might be purified, and be zealous of good works, Tit 2:14 and these exhortations were to be delivered by Titus with authority, and in such a manner, that he might not be despised, Tit 2:15.

College: Titus (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

PLACE OF ORIGIN AND DATE

At the time of writing Titus, Paul was in or on his way to Nicopolis where he planned to spend the winter (3:12). Titus had been left at Crete to complete the work which he and Paul had begun (1:5). The only other reference to Crete in the New Testament occurs when Paul spent time at the harbor of Fair Havens (Acts 27:8). Because of the brevity of that stay, it is unlikely that Paul engaged in evangelistic work at that time. While it is possible that Paul completed evangelistic work in Crete during some of the gaps in Acts (cf. the details in 2 Cor 11:23-29 which are not narrated in Acts), it seems probable that Titus - like 1 Timothy - occurred after Paul's release from the "house arrest" of Acts 28:30 but before the later arrest assumed by 2 Timothy.

While Robinson argues for a date of A.D. 57 for Titus with Paul writing the work on his way to Jerusalem, thus finding a place for the book within the chronology of Acts, few scholars find this suggestion plausible. Those who hold that Titus is pseudonymous date the book in the second century (see on The Place of Origin and Date of 1 Timothy). Those who hold to Pauline authorship date the book before 2 Timothy and in the same time period as 1 Timothy, the mid 60s.

DESTINATION AND AUDIENCE

In contrast to the work at Ephesus where Timothy was working with an established church, Titus' task was to grow a church in a climate that was less than desirable. Timothy's task was to maintain a healthy eldership, but Titus was called upon to appoint elders for a young church.

Titus himself is not mentioned in the book of Acts. He was a Gentile and became Paul's test case for circumcision, securing for Gentiles a gospel separate from the law (Gal 2:1, 3). In all likelihood he was one of Paul's converts (Titus 1:4). He was probably a co-worker with Paul from the early years of Paul's ministry and, as such, was trusted with some very difficult situations (2 Cor 2:3-4, 13; 7:6-16; 8:16-24). After Titus and Paul had evangelized the island of Crete, Titus had been left to set things in order in the churches. He was soon to be replaced by Artemas and to join Paul in Nicopolis (Titus 3:12).

As Titus ministered to the church in Crete, he confronted hostile environs. This small island in the Mediterranean Sea was, at best, an outpost. Its inhabitants were known for their lying, gluttony, and laziness (Titus 1:12, 13).

THE CONTRIBUTION OF TITUS

Titus is very much like 1 Timothy. Only two passages (2:11-14; 3:3-7) have no corresponding material in 1 Timothy. Fee has noted that "Titus has often been viewed as a miniature 1 Timothy and, except for 2:11-14 and 3:3-7, has been treated with benign neglect." There are, however, some striking differences between Titus and 1 Timothy. First the church at Crete had only recently been established while the church at Ephesus had been in existence for some time. As Fee has noted, even the lack of urgency in terms of Paul's instructions to the young evangelist and in terms of the false teachers may indicate that he is preparing the evangelist and the church for what they may face rather than what they are already facing.

The dominant theme in Titus is good works (1:8, 16; 2:7, 14; 3:1, 8, 14). These good works will provide this young church and its minister with a means of affecting outsiders (2:5, 7, 8, 10, 11; 3:1, 8).

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: Titus (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. SALUTATION - 1:1-4

II. APPOINTING ELDERS - 1:5-16

A. Qualification of Elders - 1:5-9

B. Elders' Duty to False Teachers - 1:10-16

III. INSTRUCTIONS FOR VARIOUS GROUPS - 2:1-15

A. Behavior and Sound Doctrine - 2:1

B. Instructions for Older Men - 2:2

C. Instructions for Older Women - 2:3

D. Instructions for Younger Women - 2:4-5

E. Instructions for Younger Men - 2:6-8

F. Instructions for Slaves - 2:9-10

G. The Theological Basis for the Christian Life - 2:11-15

IV. STANDARDS FOR CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR - 3:1-11

A. Respect for Government Authorities - 3:1

B. Respect for All - 3:2

C. The Theological Basis for Living with Non-Christians - 3:3-8

D. Final Warnings Concerning False Teachers and the Divisive - 3:9-11

V. PERSONAL DIRECTIONS AND CLOSING SALUTATIONS - 3:12-15

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV