Lesson for January 25, 2023
The Book of Titus
Chapter 2:11-15
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men means that no one is exempt from hearing the Gospel. What about the people who have apparently never heard the Gospel? Appearedand bringing (Gr. “epiphano” – enlighten and “soterion” – deliver) are the two words in this verse that tell us salvation has been delivered to all people.
Many people fail to realize that there never has been a generation which did not hear the Gospel. Biblical evidence in four passages tells us in principle that in every generation the Gospel has gone and will go to all the inhabitants of earth. (Acts 17:6 – world – Gr. “oikoumene” – the Roman Empire); Colossians 1:3-6 and I Timothy 3:16 – world (Gr. “kosmos”- inhabitants of earth).
Because God is perfect righteousness, He cannot be unfair to any member of the human race. Therefore, there never has been, in the history of the human race, a person who has had an unfair deal from God, regardless of the time in which they live, any geographical isolation, language, and so on. So, the essence of God has to be considered in this connection. Since God is perfect righteousness, it is impossible for Him to be unfair or unjust to any person, at any time. Since Christ died for everyone, it is His purpose to save everyone. (II Peter 3:9) However, God cannot coerce human volition and therefore any unsaved person in the history of the human race must take the responsibility for their own decision. (John 3:18,36) Unlimited atonement is a doctrine found in many passages of Scripture, which explains that each person must use their volition to make a decision to believe in Christ as Savior.
Only negative volition at either God-consciousness or Gospel hearing hinders salvation. If any person, regardless of geographical isolation or linguistic barrier, desires a relationship with God after reaching God-consciousness, then God will provide Gospel information by which that person can be saved. (John 17:17; Acts 17:27) This is often called “accountability.” People who do not reach God-consciousness are automatically saved at the point of death. (II Samuel 12:23)
Man has the ability to arrive at God-consciousness through the activity of his own mind. (Romans 1:20-21) When a person reaches the point of God-consciousness, they become accountable to God. The “age of accountability” varies with mentality, culture, circumstances, and environment. Accountability is not fixed because there are too many circumstances to vary it. So-called “heathens” are heathen, not because they have not heard the Gospel, but because they have rejected God at either God-consciousness or rejected salvation at Gospel hearing. (Romans 1:18-32)
Instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age. The Greek word for instructing is “paideuo,” which means to correct, to discipline, or to teach, as you would a child. Grace instructs believers to deny both ungodliness and worldly desires. The Greek word for ungodliness is “asebeia,” which means to disregard or to defy God. Worldlydesires is the Greek word “kosmikos,” meaning lust in any category. Sensibly means stability of mind. Righteously refers to practical righteous. Godly refers to being “Godlike” in our thinking, our attitude, and our actions.
Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. Looking for is the Greek word “prosdexomai,” which means to wait for something with keen anticipation. The blessed hope is our eternal confidence found in our eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. At the Rapture of the Church, happiness for all believers, for all eternity, will be a reality.
Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed refers to the spiritual death of Christ when He was paying the penalty for our sins as our substitute. (II Corinthians 5:21) The Greek word for redeem is “lutroo,” which means to release for a ransom, or to set free by paying a ransom. (Galatians 3:13, 4:4-6; I Peter 1:18,19; Psalm 34:22)
The Biblical definition of the word redeemed means “to be purchased from the slave-market of sin.” There are three Greek words for redemption: “agorazo” meaning, to buy, “exagorazo,” meaning to buy out of or remove from sale, and “lutroo” meaning to release on receipt of ransom or payment.
There are several definitions for sin in the Word of God: “falling short of God’s righteousness” (Romans 3:23), “transgression,” which is overstepping God’s law (Psalm 51:1-4), “trespass,” which is deviation from God’s righteousness (Ephesians 2:1), “disobedience,” which is rebellion against God’s law (I Timothy 1:9-10), and unbelief in Christ as Savior (the only unpardonable sin) (John 8:24).
The Old Testament practice of the “kinsman redeemer” is a perfect example of how Christ redeems us from from sin. Certain requirements had to be met in order for a person to free someone from slavery. The redeemer had to be a relative, he had to be able to redeem by meeting the purchase price, and he had to be willing to redeem the person in slavery.
By becoming a human, Jesus Christ became a “kinsman” to all mankind. (John 1:1-3,14) In order to meet the purchase price, Christ had to be perfect (no sin of His own to pay for). He was born of a virgin therefore He had no sin nature, and He lived a sinless life, which qualified Him to meet the purchase price for our sin. (Matthew 1:23, I Timothy 3:16; Romans 5:8; II Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 2:9-11, 4:15: I Peter 1:18) Christ was also willing to redeem us. He was obedient to the Father’s plan for salvation and gave His life freely. (John 10:18)
And to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. The Greek word for purify is “katharizo,” which means to cleanse or to purge. It is a reference to salvation when a person believes in Jesus Christ for salvation and is cleansed from all categories of sin, Adams original sin, inherent sin, and personal sin. It is a reference to the baptism of the Holy Spirit when a believer is placed in union with Jesus Christ. At the point of salvation, a believer becomes Royal Family of God and is no longer a mere creation of God but becomes a possession of God (His child).
Zealous is the Greek word “zelotes,” which means to be a fanatic or a zealot. Good deeds is a reference to divine production which can be either overt or invisible. Good is the Greek word “kalos” meaning virtuous, valuable, or honorable. Divine production occurs only under the filling of the Holy Spirit. So, a believer is to be “fanatical” (highly motivated) about producing divine good.
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Speak is the Greek word “laleo” meaning to communicate. Exhort is the Greek word “paralaleo” meaning to admonish or to pursue a certain course of action, which is a stronger word. Reprove is the Greek word “elencho” meaning to rebuke, which means to express a sharp disapproval.
Titus was to communicate sound, accurate Bible doctrine to believers in Crete in a positive way, while admonishing some and rebuking those believers who had fallen for false doctrine. And Titus was to do this with all spiritual authority from God.
Let no one disregard you means not anyone in the congregation, including the false teachers and their followers. There is no way that a pastor can control the volition of a congregation. The objective of the communication of the Word is to allow the Word to influence the volition of the congregation. The Greek word for disregard is “periphroneo” meaning to let something go around in the mind, or letting the mind work around what is said, thus disregarding what is taught. Titus was to teach with authority and accuracy so that no one could justifiably refute, despise, or disregard the accurate teaching of the Word of God.