FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Titus 2:11-15

Something Wonderful

As we have seen, the Apostle emphasizes this grace, this appearing of Christ’s glory as our “blessed hope.” How will things be when our hope is realized? Immeasurably the better! It is often said that for believers, “the best is yet to be.” It is an understated absolute truth. Though the future may have many a dark shadow over it and there may be many hard things to bear, it still remains true that the best is yet to be. That is wholly because of our “blessed hope.” The hope of the second coming is a hope whose realization will bring wonderful blessing into the lives of believers everywhere. Here are two examples:

The blessing of resurrection:

“Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21).

The blessing of comfort:

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4).

A Divine Savior?

It has been argued that when Paul speaks about the appearing of our “great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,” he is actually referring to two persons, “the great God,” that is, our Father, and our “Savior, Jesus Christ.” Nevertheless, for grammatical and theological reasons it becomes apparent for giving the preference, as the NIV does, to a one person reference. What we have here in this verse is an ascription of deity to Jesus Christ, for He is our “great God and Savior.”

At the level of Greek grammar, for example, the verse is constructed in such a way that this is the most natural way to translate it. The facts are as follows: There are two nouns in the same case, “God” and “Savior.” The first one has the definite article “the” and the other does not, yet they are joined together as one by the conjunction “and.” When you come across such a construction in Greek the reference is to one person and one person alone.

To quote from the late theologian James M. Boice:

“Since Paul is writing of the second coming and sudden appearance of Jesus both words must refer to him, for it is not God the Father who is going to appear suddenly but rather ‘our great God and Savior’ who is ‘Jesus Christ.’ ”

The Savior, therefore, for whose appearing we are eagerly and expectantly waiting, is a divine Savior.

Jesus’ Self-Giving

Now, continuing on in the next verse, the Apostle reminds us of what this divine Savior did for us when He appeared the first time; He “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.” It is a picture of remarkable condescension and overflowing love. For we know what this self-giving involved. It involved the death of the cross. To every aspect of its sufferings, from the betrayal, the arrest, the trial, to the crucifixion itself with its shame and God-forsakenness, He freely “gave himself.” You might wonder the reason? It was for our redemption and purification.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Titus 2:11-15

What Grace Does – Continued

It has often been said that these three words: self-controlled, upright, and godly, each look in a different direction. Self-control has reference to ourselves; uprightness to our fellow men; and godliness to God. There is, in other words, nothing unbalanced about the life grace enables us to live. There is an all-roundedness about it. The aim of divine grace is to make us Christians who in every area of life, man-ward, self-ward, and God-ward, are well-pleasing to God, our heavenly Father.

That being so, our clear duty is to co-operate with this grace and not resist it. It is taking us in the direction of a life in which ungodliness and worldly passions have no place; a life in which self-control, uprightness, and godliness hold absolute sway. Therefore we are to steadily follow its leadings, adopting daily the godly lifestyle, already outlined in the whole of the second chapter of Titus, and that it is prompting and empowering us to adopt into a lifestyle.

Until He Comes . . .

As we continue on in Paul’s Epistle, it is apparent that the Apostle has a particular reason for this emphasis on God’s grace. He speaks there of “the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” It is something yet in the future. The “present age” to which he refers at the end of the previous verse has not yet run its course. How are we to live in the meantime, as we wait for Christ’s return? The grace of God in salvation, teaching us to renounce sin and to live lives that are in every way pleasing to God, supplies us with our answer.

Something Certain

It is time now to move on to the glorious appearing itself, noticing, to begin with, that Paul describes it as our “blessed hope.” Normally when we use the word hope, the reference is to something uncertain, not yet attained. We hope that we’re going to get the job we have applied for, but of course we can’t be totally sure. We hope that we shall be able to visit again next year, but there is no guarantee that we will be able to. Hope is not the sort of word we use when we are speaking about something that is absolutely certain!

However, and that is a big however, in the Bible it is different. If you go back to the first chapter of Titus you will notice that in the reference to when we are looking at the hope of eternal life. Hope is repeatedly used for blessings that will one day be truly and totally ours. We do not have them yet, however. They still lie in the future. But they are promised to us and are therefore sure. That is very much the case Paul is making with “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” It is a subject of explicit and repeated promise. He is most definitely coming back! That’s why Paul can speak about it here as our “blessed hope.”

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Titus 2:11-15

One day this present age will have run its course. When it has, our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will come again and introduce a whole new order of things. But how are to we to live in the meantime, as we wait for this great event? The grace of God in salvation and the self-giving of Christ on Calvary together point us to the answer.

The New Testament repeatedly traces our experience of salvation to its roots in the grace of God. In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, for example, Paul reminds us that “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace” (2 Timothy 1:9). Then there is the succinct declaration the Apostle makes in the second chapter of Ephesians, made and then repeated as if to emphasize God’s gift of grace, “it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:5, 8). Thus Paul repeats the thought here in Titus 2:11 as he writes that “the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.” It is God’s unmerited favor to which the whole experience goes back to.

The Apostle is telling the readers that God’s grace has appeared to all kinds and classes of people. God’s grace knows no barriers. It recognizes no distinctions. It brings salvation to young and old, rich and poor, male and female, slave and free, Jew and Gentile alike.

What Grace Does

This grace of God is a powerful force in our lives as believers. As Paul continues to emphasize, the grace, “it teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” Grace not only brings about initial change; it enables us from that point forward to live truly Christian lives.

As it does so, we may become very Christlike indeed. Nevertheless, to the end of our days, we will carry around with us hearts that are still wicked. Because of that fact, there is a constant possibility of sinning. We can still be guilty of “ungodliness.” We may at times still yield to “worldly passions,” that is, to the sinful desires that are all too prevalent in a world in rebellion against God. We aren’t of the world any longer, but we still live in a world where sin is so blatantly prevalent. The temptations are ever among us.

That being so however, we can appreciate the value of God’s saving grace. What does it do? It “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions.” Left to ourselves we would be no match for “the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1). We would fall before it like the pins in a bowling alley. Apart from the mighty influence of God’s grace in our lives, we would find ourselves constantly saying “Yes” instead of “No” and yielding to all kinds of temptations. It is by God’s grace alone that we are able to renounce such behavior and instead “live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.”

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved

Scripture Reference: Exodus 8:20-10:29

5. Threatening

Please read Exodus 10:21-29 for the background to this section.

We don’t know how long after the locusts left Egypt that God sent the ninth plague, but the darkness over the land for three days proved that Jehovah was greater than Ra (or Re) and Horus, both of whom the Egyptians revered as sun gods. The darkness wasn’t the natural result of a sandstorm but was a miracle from the hand of the God of the Hebrews. There was light for the Israelites in the land of Goshen, just as there would be light for them as they marched out of Egypt (Exodus 14:19-20). The people of Egypt (symbolic of the world) walk in the darkness, but the people of God walk in the light (John 3:19-21; 1 John 1:5-10).

Always ready to call for help when he was in trouble, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and made one more offer. The Jews could go on their journey to worship the Lord, but they couldn’t take their flocks and herds with them. Pharaoh’s plan was to confiscate all their livestock to replace what he had lost in the plagues, and then send his army to bring the Jews back to Egyptian slavery. Moses and Aaron rejected the offer, not only because they saw through his crafty plan, but because they knew that Israel had to obey all the will of God.

Pharaoh was a proud man, and proud people don’t like to be outwitted by those whom they consider their inferiors. Moses and Aaron had refused his four offers and had insisted that he let the Israelites go. These two humble Jews had proved themselves more powerful (through God) than the exalted Pharaoh of Egypt, a son of the gods. By His mighty judgments, the God of the Hebrews had brought the great nation of Egypt to its knees; and both the leaders and the common people in the land held Moses in high regard (Exodus 11:3).

Pharaoh was a beaten man, but he wouldn’t admit it. Instead, he used his authority to try to intimidate Moses. He warned Moses that if he came back into the palace to see Pharaoh, he would be killed. There were to be no more official audiences before Pharaoh.

But before Moses left the throne room, he delivered God’s final warning about the last plague, the death of the firstborn (Exodus 11:4). Pharaoh then threatened to kill Moses if he saw him again, but God was going to slay every firstborn son in the land of Egypt and then drown Pharaoh’s crack troops. In spite of what Pharaoh said about not seeing Moses again, on Passover night, Pharaoh would once again call for Moses and plead for his help (Exodus 12:31).

The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is a warning to all of us. If the sinful human heart doesn’t respond by faith to God’s Word, it cannot be transformed by the grace of God (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Hebrews 8:7-13). Instead, it will become harder and harder the longer it resists God’s truth. No matter how often God may send affliction, it will only provoke more disobedience. In the last days, when God sends His terrible judgments on the world (Read Revelation Chapters 6-16), people will curse God and continue in their sins, but they will not repent (Revelation 6:15-17; 9:20-21; 16:9, 11). There will be a whole world full of men and women like Pharaoh who will behold God’s judgments and miracles and still not repent. God does give mankind the ability to choose their destiny, but the choice comes with a warning if left unheeded.

“The Holy Spirit says, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts’ ” (Hebrews 3:7-8).

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Delivered, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation®, NLT © 2015 by Tyndale House.
Used by permission. All rights reserved