Titus 2.11-15 /
“Are you grace trained?”
1. What does this passage teach
us about the grace of God?
2. What does this passage teach
us about Christ?
There are few passages in the
New Testament which so vividly set the moral power of the Incarnation as this
does. –William Barclay
I. THE LESSON: 11 For
the grace of God in a John 1:14 sense
·
“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 epephne, from
which we derive our word ‘epiphany,’ means ‘to become visible, make an
appearance,’ and conveys the image of grace suddently breaking in on our moral
darkness. – Thomas Constable
·
à In the
ethical terminology of the Greek schools, charis
(χαρις) implied a favor freely done, without claim or expectation of return.
Aristotle, defining charis (χαρις),
lays the whole stress on this very point, that it is conferred freely, with
no expectation of return, and finding its only motive in the bounty and
free-heartedness of the giver. But in pagan Greece, this favor was always
conferred upon a friend, not upon an enemy. When charis (χαρις) is taken over into the terminology of the New
Testament, it takes an infinite leap forward, and acquires an added meaning
which it never had in pagan Greece,
for the favor God did at Calvary’s Cross, He
did, not for a race that loved Him but which hated Him. Thus, in the N.T.,
charis (χαρις) refers to an act that is beyond the ordinary course of what
might be expected and is therefore commendable.
--Wuest
·
that brings sal all men vation
…an
adjective qualifying “grace.” --Wuest
·
has appeared to all men,
“Hath
appeared” is epiphainō (πιφαινω), “to
appear, become visible, to become clearly known.” --Wuest
Const. with that bringeth
salvation, not with hath appeared.
The grace of God which is saving for all men. Comp. 1 Tim. 2:4. –Marvin Vincent
all men This phrase might best be
understood as all men in the sense of all kinds of men (like in vv. 1-10 old
and young, men and women, also slaves)
·
12
teaching us that,
II. THE LIVING:
A. denying
The verb
means that we do it once and for all. It
is a settled matter. --Wiersbe
·
ungodliness and
·
worldly lusts,
·
“Worldly”
is kosmikos (κοσμικος), “worldly,
having the character of this present age.”
--Wuest
·
Chrysostom
said that worldly things are things which do not pass over with us into heaven
but are dissolved together with this present world.
–William Barclay
B. we should live … in the present age,
·
The word
kosmos (κοσμος) is used here of the
world system of evil of which Satan is the head, the fallen angels and the
demons are his emissaries, and all the unsaved are his servants, together with
the pleasures, pursuits, practices, and purposes of the individuals
involved. … It is pernicious. It surrounds us like the air we
breathe. –Wuest
·
Christ
has redeemed us from this present age” (niv), but they do not live like it or for it. Christ has redeemed us from theis evil age
(Gal. 1:4). –Wiersbe
à These
three seem to have in view our
personal life (soberly), our dealings with others (righteously), and our
dealings with God (godly).
·
soberly, Strong's G4996 - sōphronōs : with sound
mind, soberly, temperately, discreetly
…the prudence which has
everything under perfect control, and which allows no passion or desire more
than its proper place; –William Barclay
·
righteously, and Strong's G1346 - dikaiōs: just, agreeably to right
…justice which enables us to
give both to God and to men that which is their due… –William Barclay
·
godly Strong's G2153 - eusebōs: piously, godly
III. THE LOOKING: 13 looking for
A. Looking for (προσδεχομενοι
[prosdechomenoi]). Present middle participle of προσδεχομαι [prosdechomai], old
verb, the one used of Simeon (Luke 2:25) and others (Luke 2:38) who were
looking for the Messiah. --A.T.
Robertson
The
Greek verb prosdechomenoi is the present tense indicating that indicating that
this waiting should be our characteristic attidude, always ready to welcome the
returning of the Lord. --Constable
B. the blessed hope and glorious appearing of …
Jesus Christ
and και – kai: and, also, even,
indeed, but
kjv,
nasb95, nkjv—and; went—even; net—in the; nlt—when; rsv, esv, niv84—not translated
o
The Greek grammar here
indicates that the blessed hope and glorious appearing refer to the same event.
o
Kαι is
explanatory, introducing the definition of the character of the thing hoped
for. –Marvin Vincent
o
The Greek does not
speak of “the glorious appearing.” It is “the appearing of the glory” of our
great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. The a.v. makes “that blessed hope” and “the
glorious appearing” to be two different things, whereas the Greek text requires
that they be construed as one. We have Granville Sharp’s rule here, which says
that when there are two nouns in the same case connected by kai (και) (and), the first noun having the article, the
second noun not having the article, the second noun refers to the same thing
the first noun does and is a further description of it. Thus, that blessed hope
is the glorious appearing of our Lord. The translation should read, “that
blessed hope, even the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus
Christ.” The same rule applies to the words, “the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ.” Both expressions refer to the same individual. The deity of the
Lord Jesus is brought out here by a rule of Greek syntax. –Wuest
o
…Paul is looking to the
culmination of salvation, which will occur when Christ and Christian faith are
finally vindicated by the visible display of glory evident to all the
world. ---Constable
o
The word ἐπιφανεια [epiphaneia] (used by the Greeks of the appearance of the gods, from
ἐπιφανης, ἐπιφαινω [epiphanēs, epiphainō]) occurs in 2 Tim. 1:10 of the Incarnation of
Christ, the first Epiphany (like the verb ἐπεφανη [epephanē],
Titus 2:11), but here of the second Epiphany of Christ or the second coming as
in 1 Tim. 6:14; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8. In 2 Thess. 2:8 both ἐπιφανεια [epiphaneia] and παρουσια [parousia] (the usual word) occur together of the second coming. --A.T.
Robertson
o
our great God and Savior,
o
The Greek grammar here
indicates that God and Savior both refer to Christ.
o
à The god and saviour of the Roman
empire was the Emperor himself, who was looked upon as a god and
as the saviour of the world in that he by his government brought peace and
prosperity to the people. He was worshipped as a god in the state religion of
the Roman empire, which was Emperor Worship.
But the Christian’s God and Saviour is Jesus Christ. This is a protest against
emperor worship. --Wuest
o
14 who gave Himself for us, that
§
He might redeem us from every lawless deed
§
and purify
·
for Himself
·
His own
·
special people,
à The word we
have translated special (periousios) 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. –William Barclay
Περιούσιος also means
possessed over and above, that is, specially selected for one’s own; exempt
from ordinary laws of distribution. Hence correctly represented by peculiar,
derived from peculium, a private purse, a special acquisition of a member of a
family distinct from the property administered for the good of the whole
family. –Marvin Vincent
·
zealous for good works.
(ζηλωτην καλων ἐργων [zēlōtēn
kalōn ergōn]). “A zealot for good works.” Substantive for which see 1 Cor.
14:12; Gal. 1:14. Objective genitive ἐργων [ergōn]. --A.T.
Robertson
Judaism
strongly praised “zeal” for God.
Although zeal was associated particularly with the Zealots in this
period. –BBC
Many are
zealots for politics, etc… We are to
direct our zeal toward good works.
Some applications from the Ted Tripp "Instructing a Child's Heart" conference.
We need to be careful that regardless of the parenting tactics that work best for our kids that we do not settle for too little. It is important, but not enough, to have children that obey and a household that runs reasonably smoothly. We need to have the grace of God teaching and change their hearts.
1. Are we willing to manipulate our children to obey for reasons they will later need to repent of (i.e. fear of man, self-interest, greed, Pharisee pride, etc.)?
2. We need to give our children a bigger vision than just obeying. Submission is dignified and noble (as modeled by Christ).
3. Conflicts are opportunities to help children understand their desires that cause the conflicts (James 4.1-2). The external problems describe when, not why, we get angry.
