Lessons #53 and 54
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Basis for the instructions on believers’ conduct (Titus 2:11-14)
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.
Our last study focused on the phrase the blessed hope in which we indicated that the Greek word (elpis) translated “hope” in Titus 2:13 refers to “what is hoped for.” We can describe what is hoped for using the word “blessed” but as we indicated, it is better to use the word “privileged.” This is because what believers hope for are special privileges or favor of God to us that unbelievers do not have. Let me mention some of our hope as believers in support of my point that what we hope for are special privileges that belong to believers and not to unbelievers because of God’s favor to us. We hope for our final acceptance by God when Jesus Christ returns. It is this hope that the Holy Spirit described through Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:5:
But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.
The clause the righteousness for which we hope of the NIV is literally hope of righteousness that refers to the actual realization of a believer’s full acceptance before God or the actual realization of justification of the believer when Christ returns. This hope is a privilege, we believers have but not unbelievers. We believers have the hope of life after death with our Lord, as conveyed in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14:
13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Unbelievers do not have hope of life with God after death. That we have the hope of being with God after death is a privileged hope. Since we have hope of being with God after death, it makes sense that another hope of believers is that of eternal life, as the Holy Spirit stated through Apostle Paul in Titus 1:2:
a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,
The phrase the hope of eternal life refers to the confident expectation of the full enjoyment of permanent living relationship with God in the future with the blessings associated with it. As the apostle wrote this phrase the hope of eternal life, he would have also had in his mind the future resurrection of believers as he confessed as part of his hope when he defended himself before the religious leaders in Acts 23:6:
Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.”
For sure, the Scripture asserts that there will be a resurrection of both believers and unbelievers, as the apostle stated in Acts 24:15:
and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
But the unbeliever is not aware of this truth that there will be a resurrection even for such a person although such an individual’s resurrection is to have a body suited for suffering in the lake of fire. Only those who are believers understand this truth. That aside, the idea of confident expectation of the right kind of resurrection is a privilege that belongs to believers in Christ. There is another hope that we believers have, which is to be like our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the hope of being like the Son of God. We know that we are the children of God because of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ but the Holy Spirit through Apostle John speaks of the hope we have in 1 John 3:3:
Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
The hope that John mentioned in this verse that should cause believers to pursue sanctification, as that is what is implied in the concept of purifying self, is that of being like Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as stated in 1 John 3:2:
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
These various hopes of believers we have cited no doubt are special blessing to us but we contend that it is better to think of them as privileges that we have received because of God’s favor or grace to us. There is not one of these hopes that we have indicated that come to us based on what we deserve but they are blessings of privileged people of God. Therefore, it is fitting to consider these as privileged hopes for believers. In other words, we assert that instead of using the word “blessed”, which is no doubt correct, to describe what we hope for that is mentioned in the phrase of Titus 2:13 blessed hope we should use the word “privileged.” By the way, this privileged hope we have is one that the Holy Spirit continues to provide us, as the apostle implies in Romans 15:13:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We have noted different kinds of things believers hope for with confidence of their fulfillment and so when Apostle Paul wrote in the words of the NIV of Titus 2:13 the blessed hope, it was necessary for him to explain what he means by the privileged or blessed hope. Therefore, the apostle wrote in the words of the NIV of Titus 2:13—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The translators of the NIV used the symbol “dash” to interpret the Greek word used since the literal translation of the last phrase of Titus 2:13 is and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. The literal translation indicates that the Greek used twice a Greek conjunction (kai) that is usually translated “and” in the English versions as a marker of connections between single words or between clauses and sentences although the NIV used the conjunction once with the meaning “and.” This notwithstanding, the Greek conjunction has several other usages in the Greek. For example, it may be used as a marker of result to introduce a result that comes from what precedes hence may be translated “and then, and so.” In our passage, the first usage of our Greek conjunction is as marker of explanation for explaining what goes before it in which case it may be translated “and so, that is, namely.” Most of our English versions translated the Greek conjunction “and” in its first usage but a handful such as the NIV and The GWT used a dash probably to indicate that what follows explains what preceded it. The Revised Version of the NAB used a “comma” probably to give the impression that what follows explain what preceded it but we cannot be certain. It seems to me that to remove any ambiguity as to what is intended that instead of the word “and” the Greek conjunction should be translated “that is” or “namely” to indicate that what follows explains the phrase blessed hope or as we have indicated the phrase “privileged hope.”
Based on our explanation of the meaning of the Greek conjunction used, then the explanation of what is meant by the phrase blessed hope or “privileged hope” is the Second Coming of Christ that is given in the phrase of Titus 2:13 the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus. The phrase the glorious appearing of the NIV is literally the appearing of the glory as reflected in the ESV or the NASB. There is a question as to how we should interpret this phrase because of the Greek syntax involved. The Greek syntax leads to two ways of understanding the literal phrase. The first is to make the focus of the phrase the word “appearing” leading to the translation glorious appearing as in the NIV and few other English versions. The second is to take the focus of the phrase as the word “glory” in which case the Greek phrase may be translated appearing glory. Which of these did the apostle have in mind? To answer this question, we need to consider the two key words of the literal phrase the appearing of the glory.
The word “appearing” is translated from a Greek word (epiphaneia) from which we get our English word “epiphany.” The Greek word was used in Hellenistic Greek for a visible manifestation of a hidden god or a semi-divine being such as a king or an emperor either in the form of a personal appearance or by some deed of power by which his presence was made known. Hence, it was used for mighty demonstration of help or helpful intervention of a god, especially in a military sense. The word was used in Judaism that existed right before the NT era to describe the manifestations of the power of God. Thus, the word means “appearance, appearing”, especially in the sense of divine appearance. Besides Titus 2:13, the word appears five other times in the Greek NT, all by Apostle Paul. The apostle used the word when he charged Timothy to be faithful to the instructions he received until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ in 1 Timothy 6:14:
to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Its usage in this passage refers to the second coming of Jesus when He will render judgment on Timothy’s obedience with respect to the instructions he received. The next usage of our Greek word by the apostle is in 2 Timothy 1:10:
but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
The word is used certainly in this passage for the incarnation or the first coming of Christ into the world. When the apostle gave charge to Timothy to carry out his responsibility of preaching the word of God, the apostle used our Greek word in 2 Timothy 4:1:
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:
Our word is used for the second coming of Jesus Christ when He will function as a judge. It is in the same sense of the second coming of Jesus Christ that the apostle used it in anticipation of the reward he will receive in 2 Timothy 4:8:
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
The last usage of our Greek word by the apostle is in 2 Thessalonians 2:8:
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
The phrase the splendor of his coming of the NIV is more literally the appearance of his coming. Again, the word is used for the second coming of Christ. Thus, the various usages of the word by the apostle indicates that it is used for the appearance of Jesus Christ, but primarily for the second coming since it is only in one of these five usages of the word is it used for the incarnation.
The word “glory” of the literal translation the appearing of the glory of Titus 2:13 is translated from a Greek word (doxa) that may refer to the condition of being bright or shining hence, means “brightness, splendor, radiance, glory.” The meaning glory may refer to an aspect of Jesus’ nature such as His power, as it is used in John 2:11:
This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
The glory of Jesus that was revealed to His disciples includes His power. It is in the sense of “splendor” that the word is used to describe different kinds of bodies in 1 Corinthians 15:40:
There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another.
It is in this sense of radiance that the word is used to describe the face of Moses after he came down from Mount Sinai that Apostle Paul referenced in 2 Corinthians 3:7:
Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was,
The phrase its glory as it pertains to Moses’ face refers to brightness or radiance of Moses’ face since that is what was fading. The word is used to describe the state of those who participate in the next life with God as participation in radiance or glory in 2 Corinthians 4:17:
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
It is used for a state of being magnificent in the sense of catching the eyes as it is used to describe human splendor of any kind in 1 Peter 1:24:
For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
The word may mean honor as enhancement or recognition of status or performance hence means “fame, recognition, renown, honor, prestige.” It is translated “praise” when used of God in Romans 15:7:
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
It is used in the sense of “honor” in 1 Corinthians 11:15:
but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering.
The phrase her glory refers to the woman’s honor or distinction or that which distinguishes her and gives her dignity as a woman. In our passage of Titus 2:13, it is in the sense of radiance or splendor or even breath-taking that the word is used.
We have considered the two key words used in the literal phrase the appearing of the glory of Titus 2:13, therefore we can then answer the question of whether the focus of the apostle in the phrase is on appearing or on glory. In other words, we are concerned whether the phrase should be translated glorious appearing or appearing glory. Considering that the Greek word translated glory has the sense of splendor or radiance in our passage, it is probably the case that the focus of the apostle was on the appearing of Jesus Christ and not on His glory although it is difficult to separate the two since the second coming of Jesus Christ will involve the display of His glory as per the record in Matthew 25:31:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
Nonetheless, the apostle was probably thinking of what a great entrance it will be when Christ returns. It is going to be spectacular to behold the second coming. This being the case, the apostle described the “appearing” using the word “glory” in the manner he did in the Greek that reads “appearing of the glory” to indicate the sharpness and distinctness of this appearing of Christ rather using mere adjective in the Greek that would have been translated “glorious appearing”. In any event, whether one takes the focus of the literal phrase the appearing of the glory as the “glory” of Christ or His “appearing,” the primary focus of the apostle is on the second coming of Christ during which His glory or power will be displayed. Thus, the apostle speaks of the blessed hope or privileged hope as a reference to the second coming of Christ when believers will receive their ultimate salvation, as implied by the Holy Spirit through the human author in Hebrews 9:28:
so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
The apostle not only described the blessed hope as the second coming of Christ but he also described Christ as God. In effect, our passage is the most direct one in which the apostle described Christ as God, as we read in the last phrase of Titus 2:13 our great God and Savior. We have already indicated that the apostle established indirectly the deity of Christ when we considered Titus 1:3–4:
3 and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, 4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
We indicated that the phrase by the command of God our Savior is one that indirectly proved the deity of Jesus Christ. But, as we have indicated, it is in the phrase our great God and Savior of Titus 2:13 that we find the most direct reference of Jesus Christ as God in this epistle that we are considering.
There are, however, some scholars who dispute that our phrase our great God and Savior is a direct reference to the deity of Jesus Christ, arguing that nowhere else in the NT is Christ directly called God and so take the phrase as a reference to God the Father, implying that there are two persons of the God head in the phrase our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Of course, the deity of Christ does not depend on this passage since there are several passages of the NT Scripture that affirm it; nonetheless, it is our interpretation that there is one person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ, that is involved in the phrase our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, implying that it is the most direct statement of the deity of Jesus Christ by the apostle. There are several reasons for this interpretation.
First, the context demands it being concerned with second coming of Christ in the phrase the glorious appearing. There is no other passage of the Scripture that indicates believers should anticipate the appearing or coming of God Father. Instead, the constant teaching of the NT Scripture is that believers should expect the return of Jesus Christ. This expectation of the return of Jesus Christ is first taught by Him prior to His death on the cross in John 14:1–3:
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
The angels that appeared to the disciples of Jesus Christ during His ascension into heaven asserted the same concept of the return of Christ in Acts 1:11:
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Apostle Paul himself made several references in his epistles concerning the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, as for example, in 1 Corinthians 4:5:
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
Consequently, it is inconceivable that the apostle would be speaking of the return of God the Father or His appearance as what believers are to live in expectation of it taking place.
Second, the word “savior” is applied to Jesus Christ several times by Apostle Paul in his epistles. He used the word to describe Jesus Christ in a passage we cited previously, that is, Titus 1: 4:
To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
This is also the case in Philippians 3:20:
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Apostle Paul is not alone in describing Jesus with the word “savior” so did Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 2:20:
If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
Apostle Paul also used the word “savior” to describe God in several passages. For example, he used the word in 1 Timothy 2:3:
This is good, and pleases God our Savior,
Similar description is given in Titus 3:4:
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,
The fact the word “savior” is used by the apostle to describe “God” and “Jesus” would lead to confusion of thought if he did not mean that Jesus is God, especially as he nowhere uses the word “savior” to describe any other member of the Godhead in his epistle. I mean we do not anywhere in the NT read “God the Father, Savior” or “God the Holy Spirit, Savior” but only relating to the generic term God or for the Lord Jesus Christ. This is significant since the apostle wrote under the Holy Spirit and was well versed in the OT Scripture having been trained as a Rabbi. The implication of being versed in the OT Scripture is that the apostle knew that the Greek word (sōtēr) translated “savior” in Titus 2:13 while in the Greek world it was used as a title of honor for deserving persons such as physicians or high-ranking officials but in the Septuagint, it was a word that applies only to God. The apostle would have known that in the OT Scripture, God clearly indicated that He is the only Savior, as we read in Isaiah 43:11:
I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.
It is true that a different Greek word is used for savior in this passage of Isaiah in the Septuagint than the one used in Titus 2:13 but there is no obvious difference between the word used in the Septuagint of Isaiah 43:11 and the one used in Titus 2:13 since it is the participle of the Greek verb (sōzō) that means “to save” that is used in Isaiah 43:11 whereas the noun form is used in Titus 2:13. Furthermore, the same Greek word used in Titus 2:13 is used to described God as Savior in Isaiah 45:21:
Declare what is to be, present it—let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.
Hence, there is no problem with the fact that a Hebrew participle is used in Isaiah 43:11. Of course, the Greek word translated “savior” in Titus 2:13 is used also to describe God in Deuteronomy 32:15:
Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior.
Anyway, the apostle was aware that the title “Savior” can only be applied to God and so in applying it to Jesus Christ in Titus 2:13, he intended to convey that He is God. He did not intend to think of God differently from Jesus Christ.
Third, the apostle’s use of the word “great” is probably his way to counter its use among the pagans that described the gods with the word “great” as we find in the Ephesians’ description of their goddess Artemis in Acts 19:27:
There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”
The apostle in using the word “great” as he described Jesus Christ probably intended to convey that Christ is the true God that should be addressed with the adjective “great” and not these false gods. As in the use of the word “savior”, the apostle was aware that the Greek word (megas) translated “great” is commonly used in the Septuagint only for the true God, as for example, in Deuteronomy 10:17:
For the LORD your God is God of gods and LORD of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.
Thus, when the apostle used the word “great” that is not used anywhere else to describe Jesus or God in the NT, then he intended to convey that Jesus Christ is the true God and Savior and not pagan gods.
Fourth, in mystery religions and in the Septuagint, the expression “God and Savior” exists as a definite unit, as we see for example, in the Septuagint of Psalm 24:5 (LXX 23:5):
He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior.
Since Savior in Titus 2:13 is clearly a reference to Jesus Christ then it is unlikely that when the apostle used “God” and “Savior” that he was not referring to the same person, implying that he directedly affirmed the deity of Jesus Christ.
Fifth, there is a grammatical reason to consider the phrase our great God and Savior as a reference to the deity of Jesus Christ. There is a rule in Greek grammar (Granville Sharp rule) that states if two nouns in the singular are joined with a Greek conjunction (kai) that is translated “and” in the English but the first noun has the definite article then the two nouns refer to the same person or thing. This rule fits perfectly in the Greek construction of the phrase translated our great God and Savior. Even if one rejects this rule there is also the fact that the Greek conjunction translated “and” is used with the meaning “that is, namely” so that the phrase of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ will then read of our great God, that is, Savior, Jesus Christ. The implication is that the apostle used the word God but explained the member of the Godhead he had in mind as Jesus Christ. Either way, the truth is that the phrase of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ is one in which the apostle directly affirmed the deity of Jesus Christ. By the way, the same grammatical construction in Titus 2:13 is used elsewhere by Apostle Paul that indicates the deity of Christ. Take for example, Ephesians 5:5:
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
The Greek phrase translated the kingdom of Christ and of God is similar to the Greek construction of the phrase used in Titus 2:13 our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 5:5, one person, Christ is meant who is then further describe as God since there is only one kingdom of God. Thus, the Greek construction used in Titus to refer to one person is not unique.
Sixth, the clause of Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us makes better sense if one person is in view in the phrase our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ where the one person in the mind of the apostle is Jesus Christ.
Seventh, this approach of Apostle Paul in asserting the deity of Jesus Christ is similar to Peter’s identification of Jesus Christ as God. Consider first 2 Peter 1:1:
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
Similar to the phrase of Titus 2:13 our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, there is the question as to whether two persons or one person is in view in the phrase of 2 Peter 1:1 our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Some scholars interpret it as referring to two persons, that is, to say that this phrase makes a distinction between God and Christ. The arguments presented by these scholars are not convincing. For example, one argument is that in verse two a distinction is made between God and Christ. This argument really works better in favor of the view that it is one person that the apostle has in mind. For if he meant two persons, he would have made it as clear as they claim he did in verse 2. But then, verse 2 is not concerned with two persons as such but with the Godhead with emphasis on the Lord Jesus Christ as we will note shortly. It is therefore better to take the phrase as referring to one person; that is, that Peter is declaring that Jesus Christ is God. Let us consider the second passage where Apostle Peter also affirms that Christ is God in 2 Peter 1:2:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
The phrase the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord is understood by some to mean there are two objects of knowledge – God and Jesus our Lord. This does not seem to be what the apostle meant. This is because the Greek conjunction (kai) translated “and” is used here for explanation so that it means “that is.” Consequently, the apostle meant to say that a person should become conscious of God, then he proceeds to put emphasis on the member of the Godhead that he means at this point. This being the case, the phrase the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord may be translated the knowledge of God, that is, of the Lord Jesus. This interpretation is justified because we do not normally find in the NT the word “God” joined to “Jesus Christ” with the word “and” without further qualifications regarding God or Jesus Christ. Take for example, Apostle Peter’s declaration in 1 Peter 1:3:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
In this passage, God is qualified as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. It would be very strange to think that Peter sees God as a different being and Christ as a different being. No! He, like Paul, considered Jesus Christ as God, that is the reason he wrote the phrase of 2 Peter 1:2 the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord that we indicated may be translated the knowledge of God, that is, of the Lord Jesus. When the persons of Godhead are the concern, the Father is often mentioned with the Lord Jesus Christ in a Greek construction that will indicate that the Father and Jesus Christ are members of the Godhead. Take for example, Galatians 1:3:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
The source of grace and peace is God, that is the sense of the phrase from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Many commentators simply state that God is joined with Christ as the source of peace. This explanation can be misleading because it seeks to separate God from Christ, which is not what the apostle intends here, if anything he wants to establish the opposite. The Greek construction of this phrase is such that we can take the word Father and the phrase Lord Jesus Christ to be in apposition with the word God that is, the apostle mentions God as the source of grace and peace but he identifies the members of the Godhead he had in mind; namely, the Father and the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, the use of the word Lord to describe Jesus Christ is a further indication that the apostle considered Christ as God. Anyway, we contend that when Apostle Paul wrote in Titus 2:13 the phrase of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ that is his way of directly affirming the deity of Jesus Christ.
It is because the apostle considered Jesus Christ as both God and man that he could declare He died for us in the first clause of Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us. This clause is concerned with the death of Jesus Christ for our sins although there is no mention of sins or death in it but that is what is intended. This we can understand by paying attention to the word “gave” that is translated from a Greek word (didōmi) that certainly means “to give” as an expression of generosity but the word has several other nuances. Apostle Paul used the word in the sense of “to appoint to a special responsibility,” as in the responsibility of Christ in Ephesians 1:22:
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
The verbal phrase and appointed him to be head over everything for the church is literally and gave him as head over all things to the church. The word is use with the meaning of to dedicate for oneself for some purpose or cause, hence means “to give up, to sacrifice.” It is in this sense that the word is used to indicate that Jesus would die as a ransom for many in Matthew 20:28:
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
It is in this sense of sacrificing oneself for a purpose that Apostle Paul used it to indicate Jesus Christ died for our sins in Galatians 1:4:
who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
It is in the sense of sense of sacrificing oneself for a purpose that the word is used by Apostle Paul in Titus 2:14. Consequently, the clause who gave himself for us is concerned with the death of Christ on the cross for our sins, that is often described as atonement for our sins, as for example, in Romans 3:25:
God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—
The clause who gave himself for us necessitates the consideration of doctrine of atonement, especially since the pronoun us refers to believers implying that Christ died for believers. It is with this we will begin our next study.
08/11/17