This section has 4 verses.
Titus 2:11-14
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us
from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a
peculiar people, zealous of good works.
We will begin with the Barclay commentary.
THE MORAL POWER OF THE INCARNATION
First the verses paraphrased:
Titus 2:11–14
For the grace of God, which brings salvation to all
men, has appeared, schooling us to renounce
godlessness and worldly desires for forbidden
things, and to live in this world prudently, justly
and reverently, because we expectantly await the
realization of our blessed hope – I mean the
glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us
from the power of all lawlessness, and to purify us
as a special people for himself, a people eager for
all fine works.
THERE are few passages in the New Testament which
so vividly set out the moral power of the
incarnation as this does. Its whole stress is the
miracle of moral change which Jesus Christ can work.
This miracle is repeatedly expressed here in the
most interesting and significant way. Isaiah once
exhorted his people: ‘Cease to do evil, learn to do
good’ (Isaiah 1:16–17). First, there is the negative
side of goodness, the giving up of that which is
evil and the liberation from that which is low;
second, there is its positive side, the acquisition
of the shining virtues which mark the Christian
life.
First, there is the renunciation of all godlessness
and worldly desires. What did Paul mean by worldly
desires? The early Church member, John Chrysostom,
said that worldly things are things which do not
pass over with us into [the Kingdom] but are
dissolved together with this present world. People
are very short-sighted if they set their hearts and
expend all their energies on things which they must
leave behind when they quit this world. But an even
simpler interpretation of worldly desires is that
they are for things we could not show to God. It is
only Christ who can make not only our outward life
but also our inward heart fit for God to see.
That was the negative side of the moral power of
the incarnation; now comes the positive side. Jesus
Christ makes us able to live with the prudence which
has everything under perfect control, and which
allows no passion or desire more than its proper
place; with the justice which enables us to give
both to God and to our neighbors that which is their
due; with the reverence which makes us live in the
awareness that this world is nothing other than the
temple of God.
The dynamic of this new life is the expectation of
the coming of Jesus Christ. When a royal visit is
expected, everything is cleaned and decorated and
made fit for royal eyes to see. Christians are men
and women who are always prepared for the coming of
the King of Kings.
Finally, Paul goes on to sum up what Jesus Christ
has done, and once again he does it first negatively
and then positively.
Jesus has redeemed us from the power of
lawlessness, that power which makes us sin.
Jesus can purify us until we are fit to be the
special people of God. The word we have translated
as special (periousios)
is interesting. It means reserved for, and it was
used for that part of the spoils of a battle or a
campaign which the king who had conquered set apart
especially for himself. Through the work of Jesus
Christ, Christians become fit to be the special
possessions of God.
The moral power of the incarnation is a tremendous
thought. Christ not only liberated us from the
penalty of past sin; he can enable us to live the
perfect life within this world of space and time;
and he can so cleanse us that we become fit in the
life to come to be the special possession of God.
~Barclay Commentary
Now to the other commentaries. We begin with the
general and go to the specific.
This from the Matthew Henry Main.
This commentary covers verses 11-14. I will give you
the first part of this commentary which discusses
the meaning of verse 14.
II. From the end of Christ's death: Who gave himself
for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity,
and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works, Titus 2:14. To bring us to holiness
and happiness was the end of Christ's death, as well
as the scope of his doctrine. Here we have,
The ends of his giving himself for us,
(1.) That he might redeem us from all iniquity.
This is fitted to the first lesson, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts. Christ gave himself
to redeem us from these, therefore put them away. To
love and live in sin is to trample under foot
redeeming blood, to despise and reject one of the
greatest benefits of it, and to act counter to its
design. But how could the short sufferings of Christ
redeem us from all iniquity? Answer, Through the
infinite dignity of his person. He who was God
suffered, though not as God. The acts and properties
of either nature are attributed to the person. God
purchased his church with his own blood, Acts 20:28.
Could payment be made at once, no need of suffering
for ever. A mere creature could not do this, from
the finiteness of his nature; but God - man could.
The great God and our Saviour gave himself for us:
this accounts for it. By one offering he hath for
ever perfected those that are sanctified, Hebrews
9:25-26; Hebrews 10:14. He needed not to offer
himself often, nor could he be holden of death, when
he had once undergone it. Happy end and fruit of
Christ's death, redemption from all iniquity! Christ
died for this: and...
Quoted verses:
Hebrews 9:25-26
25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as
the high priest entereth into the holy place every
year with blood of others;
26 For then must he often have suffered since the
foundation of the world: but now once in the end of
the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself.
Hebrews 10:14
For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them
that are sanctified.
(2.) To purify to himself a peculiar people.
This enforces the second lesson: To live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world.
Christ died to purify as well as to pardon - to
obtain grace, to heal the nature, as well as to free
from guilt and condemnation. He gave himself for his
church, to cleanse it. Thus does he make to himself
a peculiar people, by purifying them. Thus are they
distinguished from the world that lies in
wickedness; they are born of God, and assimilated to
him, bear his image, are holy as their heavenly
Father is holy. Observe, Redemption from sin and
sanctification of the nature go together, and both
make a peculiar people unto God: freedom from guilt
and condemnation, freedom from the power of lusts,
and purification of soul by the Spirit. These are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, and so a peculiar people. And,
(3.) Zealous of good works. This peculiar
people, as they are made so by grace purifying them,
so must they be seen to be so by doing good, and a
zeal therein. Observe, The gospel is not a doctrine
of licentiousness, but of holiness and good life. We
are redeemed from our vain conversation, to serve
God in holiness and righteousness all the days of
our life. Let us see then that we do good, and have
zeal in it; only looking that zeal be guided by
knowledge and spirited with love, directed to the
glory of God, and always in some good thing. And
thus of the motive to the duties directed, from the
end of Christ's death.
~Matthew Henry Main with
editing by me
Now the Matthew Henry Concise. This commentary
covers the rest of Chapter 2, verses 11-15.
The doctrine of grace and salvation by the gospel,
is for all ranks and conditions of men. It teaches
to forsake sin; to have no more to do with it. An
earthly, sensual conversation suits not a heavenly
calling. It teaches to make conscience of that which
is good. We must look to God in Christ, as the
object of our hope and worship. A gospel
conversation must be a godly conversation. See our
duty in a very few words; denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, living soberly, righteously, and
godly, notwithstanding all snares, temptations,
corrupt examples, ill-usage, and what remains of sin
in the believer's heart, with all their hindrances.
It teaches to look for the glories of another world.
At, and in, the glorious appearing of Christ, the
blessed hope of Christians will be complete: To
bring us to holiness and happiness was the end of
Christ's death. Jesus Christ, that great God and our
Saviour, who saves not only as God, much less as Man
alone; but as God-man, two natures in one person. He
loved us, and gave himself for us; and what can we
do less than love and give up ourselves to him!
Redemption from sin and sanctification of the nature
go together, and make a peculiar people unto God,
free from guilt and condemnation, and purified by
the Holy Spirit. All Scripture is profitable. Here
is what will furnish for all parts of duty, and the
right discharge of them. Let us inquire whether our
whole dependence is placed upon that grace which
saves the lost, pardons the guilty, and sanctifies
the unclean. And the further we are removed from
boasting of fancied good works, or trusting in them,
so that we glory in Christ alone, the more zealous
shall we be to abound in real good works.
~Matthew Henry Concise
I found some items in the Biblical Illustrator
Christ’s gift
of Himself for our redemption
I. The person here spoken of “The great God,” etc.
II. The gift.
1. The dignity of the person bestowing it.
2. The sacrifice at which it is made.
3. Its value.
4. The motive which impelled the donor to bestow
it—love.
5. The benefit which accompanies it.
~Biblical Illustrator
Christ’s gift
of Himself for us
I. The person referred to. Show
1. His Divinity.
2. His humanity.
3. Union of both.
4. Superiority to angels and all other existences.
II. What this person did. “Gave Himself for us.”
1. Voluntarily.
2. Personally.
3. Sacrificially.
III. The purpose for which he gave himself for us.
1. To “redeem” or deliver us; not from poverty, or
affliction, or death, but from “iniquity”—all
iniquity—its guilt, condemnation, power, inbeing,
consequences.
2. To “purify” us; to separate us unto Himself from
the world and sin; “a peculiar people”—in nature,
names, possessions.
3. “Zealous of good works”—not passive, but active.
Lessons: Our redemption is
1. Wrought out by love and blood.
2. Entire and perfect.
3. Into blessed experience and useful living.
~Biblical Illustrator
Why believers
are called a peculiar people
1. Because they are the most precious of men, even
the most noble persons of the earth, descended of
the blood of Christ.
2. In regard of God they are a peculiar people,
distinct from others by His grace of election by
which they are chosen out of the world and set high
in His favour above all others. For they lie before
Him in the righteousness of Christ in whom the
Father is well pleased; they are bought from the
earth and stand before Him in the work of His own
fingers, namely, their new birth and second creation
in which He also delighteth to behold. Hence are
they called a holy nation, the spouse of Christ, the
daughter of God, the choice of God, and God’s
delight.
3. They are a peculiar people in regard of their
whole manner and condition of life, which made
Balaam say of Israel that it was a people dwelling
alone and numbered not himself among other nations,
that is, altogether different in laws, customs,
manner, and condition of life. But let us see this
truth in some instances.
(1) Their original are not some few families coming
out of some corner of the earth; but they sprung of
Christ, of whom all the families in heaven and earth
are called.
(2) Their country is no part of earth, for they are
here but strangers and pilgrims, but [The
Kingdom], to which they tend and from
whence they look for a Saviour.
(3) Their King is neither born nor created, but the
everlasting King of glory who ruleth not some one
country but from sea to sea, yea, to the world’s
end, and not for an age, but as He is a King forever
and His kingdom an everlasting kingdom, so He ruleth
forever and ever, and of His kingdom there is no
end.
(4) Their laws are spiritual, to govern the
conscience as well as the outward man, most perfect,
never changed, never abrogated as men’s be.
(5) Their war and weapons are not carnal, but
spiritual, as their chiefest enemies; their Captain
was never foiled nor can be, and therefore before
they strike a blow they are sure of victory, and for
their external enemies they conquer them, not by
smiting (as others),
but by suffering.
(6) Their language is the language of Canaan, their
speech bewrayeth [to reveal or expose] them to be citizens of [The
Kingdom], hence are they called people of
a pure language, no filthy, unsavoury, or corrupt
communication cometh out of their mouths, but such
as is holy, tending to edification, and ministering
grace to the hearers.
(7) Their apparel is devised and put on by God
Himself, even garments of innocency, long white
robes died red in the blood of the Lamb.
(8) Their diet not rising out of the earth, but
descending from heaven; Jesus Christ is the Bread of
Life, and that manna that came down from heaven, and
that water which gusheth out of the rock, of whom
whosoever feedeth and drinketh he hath tasted of the
tree of life and of the water of life, he cannot but
live everlastingly.
~Biblical Illustrator
Now to one of the specific commentaries. All
this from the Barnes Notes
The verse is broken out in five parts:
1] Who gave himself for us.
2] That he might redeem us from all iniquity.
3] And purify unto himself.
4] A peculiar people.
5] Zealous of good works.
1] Who gave himself for us.
Who gave himself for us
- See the notes at Ephesians 5:2.
Quoted verse:
Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and
hath given himself for us an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
2] That he might redeem us from all iniquity.
That he might redeem us from
all iniquity - The word here rendered
“redeem” - occurs only here and in Luke 24:21; 1
Peter 1:18. The noun, however occurs in Matthew
20:28; and Mark 10:45; where it is rendered
“ransom.” It is here said that the object of his
giving himself was to save his people from all
iniquity; see this explained in the notes at Matthew
1:21.
Quoted verses:
Luke 24:21
But we trusted that it had been he which should have
redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the
third day since these things were done.
1 Peter 1:18
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your
vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers;
Matthew 20:28
Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom
for many.
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom
for many.
Matthew 1:21
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from
their sins.
3] And purify unto himself.
And purify unto himself -
(1) Purify them, or make them holy. This is the
first and leading object; see the notes at Hebrews
9:14
(2) “Unto himself;” that is, they are no longer to
be regarded as their own, but as redeemed for his
own service, and for the promotion of his glory; -
Notes, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
Quoted verses:
Hebrews 9:14
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve
the living God?
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of
the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of
God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify
God in your body, and in your spirit, which are
God's.
4] A peculiar people.
A peculiar people - 1
Peter 2:9. The word here used occurs nowhere else in
the New Testament. It means, properly, having
abundance; and then one’s own, what is special, or
peculiar (Robinson, Lexicon), and here means that
they were to be regarded as belonging to the Lord
Jesus. It does not mean, as the word would seem to
imply - and as is undoubtedly true - that they are
to be a unique people in the sense that they are to
be unlike others, or to have views and principles
unique to themselves; but that they belong to the
Saviour in contradistinction from belonging to
themselves - “peculiar” or his own in the sense that
a man’s property is his own, and does not belong to
others. This passage, therefore, should not be used
to prove that Christians should be unlike others in
their manner of living, but that they belong to
Christ as his redeemed people. From that it may
indeed be inferred that they should be unlike
others, but that is not the direct teaching of the
passage.
Quoted verses:
1 Peter 2:9
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should
shew forth the praises of him who hath called you
out of darkness into his marvellous light:
5] Zealous of good works.
Zealous of good works -
As the result of their redemption; that is, this is
one object of their having been redeemed; Notes,
Ephesians 2:10. ~Barnes
Notes
Quoted verses:
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them.
Christ gave Himself for us. He is taking us on
a journey away from sin and thereby purifying us so
that we can invoke the power of the Holy Spirit in
the form of good works
This is the lesson of verse 14. |