The Grace of the Gospel: (2:11-12):
The grace of God has brought us an offer of Salvation to the entire world. All people will not be saved, but those who receive the Salvation with repentance. God’s truth demands godly living. It is the gospel of the grace which teaches the believers how to live. Just as Paul said: “the just shall live by faith” (Rom.1:17b).
The appearance of Jesus has dawned the grace of God to all humanity. The grace is nothing but ‘unmerited favour.’ But in the grace of God guides a believer to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions and ‘yes’ to spirit controlled life, righteous and godly life. The entire summary of (2:1-10) fits into the 2-verses i.e. (2:11-12). The grace of God is the salvation to the humanity. Just as the Sun gives heat and light to the globe but at different intervals of time by the revolving of the earth by its own axis, the whole world received the gospel of grace first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. The entire world will not be denied of the Gospel. Every corner of the world would receive the illumination of the Gospel. When people receive the Gospel of grace and obtain the salvation which is a free gift for the humanity. From the influence of God, no soul is reprobated. But those who wilfully shut their eyes and hearts and hide themselves in darkness of sin are deprived of this grace. God in his infinite wisdom, have determined the times and the seasons for the full manifestation of the Gospel to the nations of the world, just sun gives heat and light at different intervals of times. (thought taken from Adam Clarke’s Commentary).
When a person receives the full implication of the Gospel, he would put on the righteousness, godliness, self-controlled and upright life and Christ like nature and put off the passions of this world, ungodliness etc. He would be in a position to say both No and yes to negatives and positives.
Grace teaches us to say: No to our
- Our wicked desires, our selfish desires.
- Association with people who oppose God.
Grace teaches us to say: Yes to
- To control our desires, our behaviour
- To be fair and honest with other people.
- To behave in a way that brings honour to God. We will do only the things that please God.
The Glory of the Gospel: (2:13-14):
The ultimate glory of the Gospel is that we see the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. On an appointed date and time, He will rapture the believers. We can see Him. Clubbing both Rapture and Revelation, Paul teaches that, in the past God’s grace appeared. This happened when God sent Jesus into the world and again in the future, God’s glory will appear when Jesus return to this world triumphantly. It will be a magnificent event and every one shall see Him. As believers we are waiting for that blessed moment. Paul gives the reason for this wonderful event that every person has the greatest privilege to enter in His Kingdom through the gift of salvation. The Lord Jesus gave Himself for us as ransom for the sins of human beings. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom.3:23,24) and further “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The Lord Jesus took upon Him the entire sins of the world. He died on the Cross of Calvary and paid for our sins. When we trust Him, he forgives our sins and establishes a relationship with us.
The duties of Titus: (2:15): Timothy was given three tasks to see that the churches in Crete would grow spiritually in quality and quantity.
- Teach: Titus must continue what he was teaching. He had to keep telling what God had done for them and to behave in the right He must continue to repeat and repeat all the things said in this letter. All these things refer to (2:1-14).
- Encourage: Titus must encourage and motive the believers. He must be kind to help them and urge them to follow the directions laid down by Paul.
- Rebuke: Titus must correct the wrong teachings sown by false teachers in the Cretan churches. As a leader he had the authority from God. Titus must correct those who are on the wrong side.
Titus was an young man. In Crete there were many believers who were above the age of Titus. As Titus had received the authority from God and Paul, he must rebuke those who were trying to despise him of his youth. Some one would read Paul’s letter to Titus about the church of Crete. The believers in Crete would certainly respect Titus and follow his teachings. The same problem was also faced by Timothy (1 Tim.4:12). Since Titus was sent as a substitute for Paul to Cretan churches, every believer in the Cretan islands must show proper respect and follow his teachings. In general if any one despises a minister in the church, tell him to read the 2nd chapter of Titus. It is worth understanding that God can speak to any person through any insignificant personality. Ex: God spoke to Balam through donkey also.