A Study of Titus 2:11-15

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”

Titus 2:11-15 ESV

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

God’s grace appeared and brought salvation for everyone who believes, and this grace teaches us to renounce ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the current age as we wait for our blessed hope, the return and appearance of our great God and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, who laid down His own life to redeem us from all lawlessness, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works. We are to declare these things, exhort and rebuke with the authority given to us, not allowing anyone to disregard us.

Textual Analysis and Implication (what is being said and what does this mean?):

This last section of chapter two begins by saying, “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,”. This means salvation is not something we can work for, or go out and get. Salvation is brought to us by God’s grace, and we can willingly receive or stubbornly reject it. Importantly this salvation by God’s grace is for “all” people and it is the same for all people. Salvation is a gracious gift of God that is received by faith in Jesus Christ. This is the one and only way to be saved from the condemnation our sin deserves unto eternal life. And this is good news. No worldly rank or status includes or excludes anyone from His freely offered salvation. This gracious gift of God has appeared and been made available to everyone who believes.

And this grace also helps us in the here and now, as Paul says it is “training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,”. The ancient Greek word used for “training” describes an entire process of teaching, encouragement, correction and discipline. So, the grace of God is not merely a one time act of salvation; His grace is constantly active in our lives once we have been saved. Some might misunderstand and abuse God’s grace, using it as a license to sin, but God’s grace rightly understood serves to train disciples in godly living. Having been saved from sin, we are now free to live godly lives in Christ Jesus, and His grace trains and exhorts us in this new way of life.

More specifically, God’s grace trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions. Where we once lived for, or more accurately, “as slaves to” ungodliness and worldly lusts, grace trains us to leave these things behind and to “renounce” or “deny” them. The message of our prevailing present day culture is to say “yes” to every desire we have, but grace teaches us to say “no.” Our faith should change how we live, and this not only describes what we do, but also what we no longer do. This is not easy. It is a struggle, but it is a struggle we can be victorious in by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. And whenever we stumble in this area and sin, we can rejoice to know that, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).

As we deny the old worldly passions that used to rule us, God’s grace also teaches us to “live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” We are to live with self-control in regard to how we conduct ourselves. We also need to live uprightly (righteously) towards the people around us, and we need to pursue godly living as we live our lives for God. In this instruction from Paul we see that grace is not a motivation to live however we want, but rather, it is quite the opposite. Grace trains us to live obediently for God, and gives us what we need to do so, as it also picks us up and dusts us off when we fail to do so.

Grace trains us in these ways to help us in the present time as we endure and wait “for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”. Verse 12 told us what grace teaches us to deny and to live for, now, verse 13 tells us what grace teaches us to look for; the day we will see our Lord, God and Savior Jesus face to face. We certainly look forward to Heaven, but Heaven is Heaven because Jesus is there. Most of all we look forward to the day we will be with Him face to face, and to the day when He returns and Heaven comes to Earth. The first time Jesus came He brought salvation to individuals, but upon His second coming He will bring in His kingdom and completely overhaul society. There will be a new Earth, and we will be given new, resurrected bodies that never decay. Jesus will be enthroned in glory and every knee will bow before Him. Grace trains us to anticipate and wait for this day with eager expectation.

It is also important to remember our Savior Jesus “gave Himself for us…”. The word gave means Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was voluntary. Jesus is God incarnate who willingly chose not to use His power to stop the crucifixion, because He came to die for our sin. He gave Himself to be the substitutionary sacrifice for the sin of mankind, “to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession…”. According to David Guzik, to “redeem” means to “be bought out of slavery by the paying of a ransom.” So, by giving His own life, Jesus bought us out of slavery to sin and brought us into His service. We are no longer slaves of sin unable to resist the tyrannical pull to “lawlessness.” Having been bought by Christ we are now enabled to live for Him. He has purified us for His own possession and made us to  be “zealous for good works.” Where before we lived zealously for selfish, sinful desires, we now have a zeal to live righteously for the good of others and God’s glory.

Lastly for this chapter, Paul urged Titus to, “Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” Not only Titus, but all followers of Jesus are messengers of God and His grace, and as such we are told to exhort and rebuke with grace. As Christ’s ambassadors to a fallen world we are told to declare God’s Word which brings life and drives back darkness and death. Paul’s final note to “let no one disregard you,” encouraged Titus to speak with authority and to back up the words he spoke with how he lived so that no one could disregard him because he did not practice what he preached.

Response (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

This passage reminds us we have been saved by grace. Grace is undeserved favor, and this favor extends beyond the one time moment of salvation into reshaping how we think, speak and act. Our God and Savior Jesus Christ is the Lord of our lives, and He has graciously provided us with the means to grow day by day in renouncing sin and living righteously. We will not be perfect in this world, but when we stumble and confess our sin, Jesus graciously forgives us and helps us get back up again, filling us with zeal for good works for the glory of His name.

Self Reflection:

1. Are there any particular areas where I recognize I need God’s grace to help me renounce ungodliness?
2. Does God’s grace give me confidence He will forgive me when I stumble?
3. Does the fact that Jesus gave His life to redeem me from lawlessness help me to see the importance of pursuing godly living out of my love for Him?