Scripture Reading: Titus 2:9-15
In the book of Titus Paul gives instructions concerning the church life, the family life, the behavior of slaves in the social system of slavery, and the saints’ relationship with the government. Chapter one mainly deals with the church life. Regarding the church life, Paul covers two main points in this chapter: the government of the church and the proper teaching in the church. The church’s government is built upon the proper eldership, and the teaching in the church is based on the healthy teaching of the apostles. This healthy teaching swallows up every kind of ism, in particular Judaism and Gnosticism, and every type of differing teaching. If we would have a church life which is healthy and in good order, there must be in the church the proper administration and healthy teaching according to the ministry of the apostles.
In Titus 2:1-8 Paul speaks concerning an orderly human life. In particular, he speaks of the family life. These eight verses give us the foundation of a proper human life in the divine life. We in the Lord’s recovery should live such a human life. For the testimony of Jesus we need the highest human life, a life lived out according to the divine life given to us by God. By the divine life we need to have a human life that reaches the highest standard. In our living we should be Jesusly human. We should aspire to have a glorious testimony of the Christ in whom we believe and whom we serve and honor. Then we shall be a shining, golden lampstand. This is our declaration concerning human living.
After speaking of the church and of the family life, Paul goes on to charge the slaves to behave well in the social system of slavery (2:9-15). Certainly Paul did not agree with the system of slavery. However, as a teacher appointed by God and as one with spiritual insight, he did not touch the existing social system. If he had done so, he would have given others the impression that he was a social reformer and not a teacher of God’s economy, a herald of the good news. Paul did not involve himself with reformation of the social system. On the contrary, he gave instructions to slaves concerning the need to behave according to the highest standard of human character. The slaves were to have an excellent testimony of the life of Jesus in their human living.
If Paul had advocated the annulment of the system of slavery, he would have been regarded as a social reformer by those who read his Epistles. That would have obscured Paul’s teaching concerning the living out of Christ’s divine life in our human living in the midst of any kind of social system. In order to guarantee that the light would shine without hindrance, Paul did not say a word about the social system in the way of correcting it or reforming it.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He did not touch the social system. Instead, He lived as a typical Jew in a country under the control of the Roman imperialists. The Lord Jesus was born during the time of Caesar Augustus. At the time of His trial, judgment was pronounced upon Him by Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea. The Lord Jesus said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). The Lord’s kingdom was not earthly; it was heavenly in nature. For this reason, when He was on earth, the Lord Jesus did not deal with the social system or with any earthly government. Paul displayed the same attitude. He did not try to reform the Roman social system.
When the Epistle of Titus was written, a number of slaves had become believers in Christ. According to civil law. a slave had no rights. A master could brand a slave as if he were a horse or a mule. Furthermore, a master could legally put a slave to death. What a dreadful system! To be sure, God was utterly opposed to such a social system, for it was altogether contrary to the place of man in His creation. Paul certainly did not approve of this evil social system. But instead of trying to reform it, he charged the slaves to behave well in it, to live in it according to the standard of the humanity of the Lord Jesus. Even in the midst of such an unjust social system, Christians could live out a life with the highest standard of humanity. What a testimony this is!
No matter how bad certain social systems may be today, none are as bad as the system of slavery in the Roman Empire. For the saints to live a Jesusly human life in that kind of social system was a marvelous testimony of the divine life. It was God’s wisdom that a slave, bought and branded like an animal, could testify of the divine life according to the highest standard.
Some have criticized Paul for not trying to reform the social system. We realize, however, that Paul used the worst social system as an opportunity to charge the believers to live a Jesusly human life in the midst of it. If the saints could live such a human life in the worst social system imaginable, then we should be able to live such a life in any kind of circumstances today. Praise the Lord that by the divine life we can have the highest human living even in the worst social system!
In verses 9 and 10 Paul says, “Slaves are to be subject to their own masters in all things, to be well pleasing, not contradicting, not pilfering, but showing all good faith that they may adorn the teachings of our Savior God in all things.” The slaves here are not servants, but bondslaves bought in the market like oxen and horses. Paul charges them to be subject to their own masters in all things. They had no choice, and there was to be no argument. Moreover, the slaves were not to pilfer. On the contrary, they were to show all good faith. Faith here means fidelity, trustworthiness. In this way they would adorn the teachings of our Savior God. The faithfulness of a bondslave can be the ornament of the teaching of God our Savior. He would even accept adornment from bondslaves!
In 2:5 Paul charges the young women to live in such a way that “the word of God may not be blasphemed.” In 2:10 he speaks positively of adorning the teaching of our Savior God. Our daily living should be a beautiful adornment to the teaching we have received. If we live according to the healthy teaching of the apostles, we shall adorn these teachings by our living. If we have a bright testimony of a living which is Jesusly human, our neighbors will realize that we are genuine Christians. They will confess that our living is the adornment of the teachings we have received in the Lord’s recovery. We should live not only in a way that is different from that of others, but in a way that is higher and more respectable. Others may even desire to follow us, because they have observed the high standard of our daily life. They may seek to learn how they can have such a life themselves.
In 2:10 Paul speaks of “our Savior God.” Our Savior is not only Christ, but God Triune embodied in Christ, as indicated in verse 13. Our Savior God desires not only to save us, but also to teach us the full knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). Hence, there is the teaching of our Savior God, which may be adorned, beautified, by the transformed character of the most vile persons saved by His grace.
Verse 11 begins with the little word for, indicating that what is to follow explains how it is possible for slaves to have a human living according to God’s standard. Verses 11 through 14 give us a remarkable summary of the economy of God’s salvation. The apostle uses this as a reason for his exhortations in verses 1 through 10.
Verse 11 says, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.” The grace of God is actually God Himself in Christ as everything to us for our enjoyment. This grace plays the most important role in the economy of God’s salvation. Grace came through Christ (John 1:17). It was given to us in eternity (2 Tim. 1:9), but was hidden in the Old Testament. It appeared in the New Testament through the first appearing of Christ (2 Tim. 1:10), bringing salvation to all men, both Jews and Gentiles.
The eternal grace of God, the saving grace, was destined in Christ to bring to us His salvation, the complete salvation which includes forgiveness, justification, reconciliation, redemption, regeneration, sanctification, transformation, and conformation. The eternal grace of God was also destined to redeem us back to God, to impart His life to us, and to bring us into an organic union with Him for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose.
In verse 12 Paul says that the grace of God is training us that, “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in the present age.” Worldly lusts are lusts that find their gratification in this world. Ungodliness is the failure to express God; worldly lusts are the expression of our flesh. Both of these should be denied that we may live a God-expressing and flesh-restricting life. To live soberly is to live discreetly, in a way of self-restriction. Soberly is in regard to ourselves; righteously, to others; and godly, to God.
By the grace of God we are being trained to live soberly, righteously, and godly. This requires that we deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. Ungodliness is a living which does not express God. We should not have anything to do with the life that fails to express God. Furthermore, we should abandon whatever attracts us to earthly things or draws us to them. Forsaking ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live a life which is sober toward ourselves, righteous toward others, and godly toward God.
In verse 13 Paul continues, “Awaiting the blessed hope, even the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior, Christ Jesus.” We are to await expectantly what is accepted in faith. According to verse 13, we are awaiting the blessed hope, which is the appearing of Christ in His glory. The appearing of Christ will bring us into full sonship, that is, the redemption of our body, that we may enjoy the freedom of the glory of the children of God for which we have been saved (Rom. 8:21-25). This is the hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2), a hope of eternal blessing, a blessed hope in the eternal life of the Triune God, based upon which Paul became an apostle.
In verse 13 Paul speaks of the glory of the great God; that is the glory of the Father (Matt. 16:27) which has been given to the Son (John 17:24) and into which we, as the many sons of God, will be brought (Heb. 2:10). Unto this glory God by His wisdom has ordained us before the ages (1 Cor. 2:7), and into this eternal glory the God of all grace has called us and saved us (1 Pet. 5:10; 2 Tim. 2:10). The weight of this glory is eternal (2 Cor. 4:17), and with it we shall be glorified (Rom. 8:17, 30). The appearing of this glory of Christ, our great God and Savior, is the blessed hope which we are awaiting.
In verse 13 Paul speaks of “the great God and our Savior, Christ Jesus.” Through the centuries there have been two schools of interpretation regarding this remarkable, marvelous, and excellent sacred and divine title. According to one school, two Persons are indicated, God and Christ. According to the other school, there is but one Person, Christ Jesus being the great God and our Savior, thus asserting the deity of Christ. We prefer the second, with a comma after Savior. This corresponds to the two sacred titles revealed at the birth of Christ: Jesus, Jehovah the Savior, and Emmanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:21-23). Our Lord is not only our Savior, but also God, and not merely God, but the great God, the God who is great in nature, in glory, in authority, in power, in deed, in love, in grace, and in every divine attribute. In 1 Timothy 2:5 our Lord is revealed as a man; here, as the great God. He is both man and God. His appearing in His divine glory will be not only for saving His people into the kingdom age, but also for the judgment of the entire world, that He may bring the kingdom of God to this earth. Hence, His appearing in His glory is the blessed hope.
Whether or not we shall be happy at the time of the Lord’s appearing depends on our living as Christians today. According to Matthew 25, all the Lord’s servants will give an account to Him at His coming. To some the Lord will say, “Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matt. 25:21). But others the Lord will rebuke as evil and slothful slaves (v. 26). The evil and slothful slave is not an unbeliever or a false believer. How could someone who is not a genuine believer in the Lord receive a talent from Him, and how could a false believer meet the Lord at His judgment seat in the air? Such things are impossible. Only genuine believers are spoken of here.
Many of today’s Christians will find themselves in a sorrowful situation at the time of the Lord’s coming. Instead of being commended by the Lord, they will be rebuked by Him. Oh, the superficiality among Christians today! Many have been drugged by superficial teachings concerning the Lord’s coming. They do not have a heart for the healthy teachings regarding God’s economy. Because they have been drugged, they imagine that they will have no problems with the Lord at the time of His appearing. They do not seem to realize that, according to Paul’s word in 2 Timothy 4:8, the Lord will appear as the righteous Judge. At that time, a great many Christians will hear a very sobering word from the Lord. However, I prefer to hear a sobering word from Him today. In contrast to much of the preaching among Christians today, the ministry in the Lord’s recovery does not present sugar-coated teachings. On the contrary, sobering messages are given to the saints.
In verse 14 Paul says that Christ “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify to Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works.” The words “for us” here mean on our behalf. They do not mean instead of us. To redeem means to buy with a price (1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 Tim. 2:6). Christ gave Himself for us not only that He might redeem us from all lawlessness, but also purify to Himself a people for His own possession. A people for His possession are a peculiar people. This expression is borrowed from the Old Testament (Deut. 7:6; 14:2; 26:18) and denotes a people privately possessed by God as His peculiar treasure (Exo. 19:5), His own possession (1 Pet. 2:9).
In verse 15 we have the apostle’s charge to Titus: “These things speak, and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one despise you.” By “these things” Paul means all the things in verses 1 through 14. Titus was charged to speak these things and to exhort and reprove with all authority. Authority here also means imperativeness. The literal meaning of the Greek word is command. With all authority modifies both exhort and reprove. To exhort and reprove with all authority is to advise and rebuke imperatively with words of authority in every way, as giving command.
Paul’s exhortation, “Let no one despise you,” is connected with the matter of authority in the preceding sentence. It is the conclusion of all the charges to Titus in this chapter. It mainly concerns his teaching (vv. 1, 7-8, 15). The healthy teaching with the healthy word according to godliness would keep him in gravity and invite the utmost respect.
