In both Titus 2:14 and I Peter 2:9, the word 'special' replaces 'peculiar,' as used in the King James Version. Peculiar was not used in the sense of 'odd' or 'weird,' but as being 'distinctive' in a singular, good way. It is likely due to a desire to avoid the suggestion of 'odd' that modern translators have changed it to 'special. Hosea 14 – Real Wisdom Turns Israel back to the LORD “This is a wonderful chapter to be at the end of such a book. I had never expected from such a prickly shrub to gather so fair a flower, so sweet a fruit; but so it is: where sin abounded, grace doth much more abound.

EXEGESIS:

THE CONTEXT:

After the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18), Elijah fled Jezebel’s wrath and fell into despair (1 Kings 19:1ff.). Yahweh reassured him that there were seven thousand who had not bowed to Baal, and told him to anoint Hazael as king over Aram and Jehu as king over Israel and Elisha as Elijah’s successor (1 Kings 19:15-16). Elisha became Elijah’s disciple (1 Kings 19:19-21), but then disappeared from the narrative. Now we hear of him once again as he prepares to succeed Elijah (2 Kings 2).

The prophets’ names are instructive. “El” is a word for God. Elijah’s name (Hebrew: ˒ē∙liy∙yāˊ∙hū) means El is Yah or “God is Yahweh.” Elisha’s name (Hebrew: ˒ěl-∙˒ělî∙šā˓ˊ – “God is salvation”) is similar in pronunciation and meaning to Joshua’s name (Hebrew: yeho-sua – “Yahweh saves”).

“Throughout his ministry, Elijah is a new Moses, and Elisha his Joshua. Ahab is Pharaoh, and once his son dies (Passover), Elijah and Elisha leave the land whose gods are defeated and whose prince is dead (exodus). Elijah departs on the far side of the Jordan, as Moses does, while Elisha returns to carry on a conquest, significantly starting at Jericho” (Leithart, 172; see also Thomas L. Brodie, The Crucial Bridge: The Elijah-Elisha Narratives as an Interpretive Synthesis of Genesis-Kings and a Literary Model for the Gospels [Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1999]). (NOTE: Ahaziah was Ahab’s son, and his death is recorded in 2 Kings 1:17-18).

2 KINGS 2:1-3. WHEN YAHWEH WOULD TAKE UP ELIJAH INTO HEAVEN

1It happened, when Yahweh (Hebrew: yhwh – Yahweh) would take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2Elijah said to Elisha, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me as far as Bethel.”

Elisha said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

3The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today?”

He said, “Yes, I know it; hold your peace.”

“It happened, when Yahweh would take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven” (v. 1a). Yahweh has determined to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind. Elijah’s life has been stormy, and his departure will be stormy as well.

“that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal” (v. 1b). The journey that Elijah and Elisha trace in these verses (Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho to the Jordan River) appears to be circuitous. If this is the Gilgal on the Jordan River (see Joshua 4:1-9), the journey begins and ends at the Jordan. Bethel is located a few miles north of Jerusalem. Jericho is located about 12 miles (20 km) east of Bethel and about 6 miles (10 km) west of the Jordan River. Once Elijah and Elisha are en route from Bethel to the Jordan River, Jericho is a logical stop along the way.

However, the significance of these places has more to do with their history than their geography. Gilgal is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan River to occupy the Promised Land (Joshua 4:1-9). Bethel is mentioned several times in the account of Israel occupying the Promised Land (Joshua 7:2, 8:9, 12, 17; 12:9, 16; 16:1). Jericho was the site of Israel’s first great victory in the occupation of the Promised Land (Joshua 6). The Jordan River is the barrier that the Israelites crossed to occupy the Promised Land (Joshua 3). By visiting these places, Elijah is reconnecting with the great Joshua narratives of Israel’s early history.

“Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Please wait here, for Yahweh (yhwh – Yahweh) has sent me as far as Bethel.’ Elisha said, ‘As Yahweh (yhwh – Yahweh) lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel” (v. 2). Elijah three times (vv. 2, 4, 6) tells Elisha to stay where he is and Elisha three times insists on accompanying Elijah on his journey. On each occasion, Elijah says that Yahweh has sent him to a given place, and on each occasion Elisha invokes Yahweh’s name in explaining why he insists on accompanying Elijah. We are not told why Elijah wants Elisha to remain behind. Perhaps he believes that Yahweh intends him to travel alone. Perhaps he is testing Elisha’s commitment.

“The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, ‘Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today?’He said, ‘Yes, I know it; hold your peace'” (v. 3). On three occasions in three different locations (vv. 3, 5, 7), Elijah and Elisha encounter three different companies of prophets. On the first two occasions, the prophets tell Elisha that Yahweh will take Elijah away that very day, and on both occasions Elisha silences the prophets. On the third occasion, the prophets simply watch as Elijah rolls up his mantel, strikes the river, and parts the water.

2 KINGS 2:4-5. ELISHA, PLEASE WAIT HERE

4Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho.”

He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

5The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today?”

He answered, “Yes, I know it. Hold your peace.”

See the comments on verses 2-3.

2 KINGS 2:6-8. ELIJAH TOOK HIS MANTLE AND STRUCK THE WATERS

6Elijah said to him, “Please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan.”

He said, “As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” They both went on.

7Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood opposite them at a distance; and they both stood by the Jordan.8Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they two went over on dry ground.

“Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that they two went over on dry ground” (v. 8). This is reminiscent of Moses at the Red Sea. At Yahweh’s direction, Moses lifted up his staff and stretched it out over the water to divide the water so that the Israelites could cross through the sea on dry ground (Exodus 14:16, 21-22).

This is also reminiscent of Israel crossing the Jordan on dry ground (Joshua 3). In that instance, when the priests bearing the ark stepped into the water of the Jordan River, the water stopped flowing and stood in a single heap so that all Israel could cross the river on dry ground (Joshua 3:17). Yahweh used this action to exalt Joshua “that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you” (Joshua 3:7).

Moses, Joshua, and Elijah each use their symbol of God-given authority (staff, ark, or mantle) to accomplish the task.

A mantle is an outer robe worn for protection against the elements and, like certain items of clothing today (liturgical vestments, academic robes), can signify one’s status or position.

“so that they two went over on dry ground” (v. 8b). When Elijah and Elisha cross the Jordan, they pass from “the settled land governed by the king into the wilderness, the inscrutable land of mystery” (Brueggemann, Smyth & Helwys, 295). It was in the wilderness that Israel Yahweh shaped the people of Israel after their departure from Egypt, and it was in the wilderness that Elijah began his ministry (1 Kings 17:3). The wilderness is rough country that encourages people to rely on God. The wilderness will continue to have spiritual significance in the New Testament (Matthew 3:1, 3; 4:1, etc.).

2 KINGS 2:9-12. LET A DOUBLE PORTION OF YOUR SPIRIT BE ON ME

9It happened, when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.”

Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me.”

10He said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”

11It happened, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.12Elisha saw it, and he cried, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

He saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces.

“Ask what I shall do for you” (v. 9a).Elijah does not promise to give Elisha whatever he asks, but simply invites him to ask.

“before I am taken from you” (v. 9b). Elijah obviously knows that he will be taken away. We don’t know when he learned this or whether he knows the manner in which he will be taken away.

“Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me” (v. 9c). Some scholars believe that Elisha is asking for a double portion of Elijah’s prophetic ability (Leithart, 174), but most think that he is asking for the double-portion of the inheritance that is the right of the firstborn son (Deuteronomy 21:17). A double portion of an inheritance would not be twice the father’s material worth. On the contrary, the father would divide the inheritance into equal parts—the number of parts equal to the number of sons plus one. For instance, a father with five sons would divide the inheritance into six parts. He would give the firstborn son two parts and every other son one part. The firstborn son would thus inherit twice as much as any of his brothers, but far less than his father’s total worth—certainly not double his father’s worth.

In this case, Elisha is not asking Elijah to give him a material inheritance (land or money), but is asking for “a double share of your spirit”—a spiritual inheritance. This is no small thing. Elijah’s spirit gave him power over death (1 Kings 17:17-24) and kings (1 Kings 21) (Brueggemann, Texts for Preaching, 174).

“You have asked a hard thing” (v. 10a). This request is “a hard thing” because Elijah does not have the power to convey his spiritual authority to Elisha. Only Yahweh can grant such a gift. Elijah knows that Yahweh has designated Elisha as his successor (1 Kings 19:16), but cannot dictate to Yahweh the terms of the succession.

“If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so” (v. 10b). Elijah gives Elisha the sign by which Elisha will know whether Yahweh has granted his request or not. If he sees Elijah being taken away, the gift will be granted. Otherwise, it will not.

“It happened, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them” (v. 11a). Chariots and horses are symbols of military might. “But in a nation riddled with Baal worship, they (are) a refutation of the false claim that Baal (is) the ‘rider of the clouds.’ God alone ‘ rides on the heavens for your help, In his excellency on the skies’ (Deut. 33:26)” (Inrig, 205; see also Deuteronomy 20:1; 2 Kings 6:15-17).

In Israel’s history, fire has often been a sign of God’s presence (Exodus 3:2; 13:21; 19:18; 24:17; Deuteronomy 4:12). Yahweh used fire to demonstrate his power on two occasions in Elijah’s life, most notably when fire from heaven consumed Elijah’s sacrifice on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18). Later, Elijah denounced King Ahaziah, Ahab’s son, and Ahaziah sent a captain with fifty soldiers to capture Elijah. Elijah called down fire from heaven to consume the captain and his soldiers—an action that he repeated with a second band of soldiers (2 Kings 1:9-12).

The chariot of fire and horses of fire separate Elijah from Elisha. Elisha has insisted on going with Elijah wherever he goes, but the fiery chariot and horses prevent him from doing so this time.

“and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (v. 11b). We usually imagine Elijah to have ridden in the chariot of fire into heaven. However, some scholars interpret verse 11b to mean that Elijah ascended in a whirlwind and not in a chariot (Wiseman, 195; Fretheim, 138; Brueggemann, Smyth & Helwys, 297). But it seems possible that Elijah rode in the chariot as he ascended in the whirlwind (House, 257).

Elijah is the second man to be honored by escaping death. Enoch was the first (Genesis 5:24).

“Elisha saw it, and he cried, ‘My father, my father'” (v. 12a). Elijah and Elisha have enjoyed the relationship of a prophet and his disciple, which is very much like that of a father and a son. It would not be unusual for a disciple to call his prophet “father.”

“the chariots of Israel and its horsemen” (v. 12b). We can’t know with certainty what Elijah means by this phrase. He could be seeing a grand vision of a heavenly host, or he could be referring to Elijah’s ministry to Israel—a ministry more powerful than chariots and horsemen.

In any event, Elijah promised that Elisha would know that his request was granted if he saw Elijah being taken away—and it is clear that Elisha sees that.

“He saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces” (v. 12c). Like all grand visions, this one comes to an end. Elisha tears his clothing as a sign of mourning. He has lost his mentor and closest friend. Now the responsibility for prophecy will fall on his shoulders.

2 KINGS 2:13-14. HE TOOK UP THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH

13He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan.14He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” When he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha went over.

“He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan” (v. 13). Elijah leaves nothing material behind as an inheritance except this mantle. The mantle, however, signifies his authority as Yahweh’s prophet, and that is Elijah’s real legacy.

“He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, ‘Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?’ When he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha went over” (v. 14). The parallel between this action and that of Moses stretching out his hand to divide the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21) is obvious.

Elisha’s ability to part the water confirms that he now possesses Elijah’s spiritual powers.

2 KINGS 2:15-19. POSTSCRIPT

In these verses (not included in the lectionary readings), a company of prophets beseeches Elisha to allow them to send fifty strong men to search for Elijah. Elisha initially denies their request, but eventually he succumbs to their repeated entreaties. They search, but find nothing. This serves to confirm that Elijah has been transported to heaven rather than being hurled across the landscape by a whirlwind.

SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS are from the World English Bible (WEB), a public domain (no copyright) modern English translation of the Holy Bible. The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version (ASV) of the Bible, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament. The ASV, which is also in the public domain due to expired copyrights, was a very good translation, but included many archaic words (hast, shineth, etc.), which the WEB has updated.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Achtemeier, Elizabeth, in Van Harn, Roger (ed.), The Lectionary Commentary: Theological Exegesis for Sunday’s Text. The First Readings: The Old Testament and Acts (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001)

Brueggemann, Walter, Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings (Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Incorporated, 2000)

Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R.; and Newsome, James D., Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV — Year B (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993)

Dilday, Russell H., The Preacher’s Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1987)

Fretheim, Terence E., Westminster Bible Companion: 1-2 Kings (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999)

Hens-Piazza, Gina, Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries: 1-2 Kings (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006)

Hinton, Linda B., Basic Bible Commentary: First and Second Kings (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1988)

Hobbs, T. R., Word Biblical Commentary: 2 Kings, Vol. 13 (Dallas, Word Books, 1985)

House, Paul R., New American Commentary: 1, 2 Kings, Vol. 8 (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995)

Inrig, Gary, Holman Old Testament Commentary: I & II Kings (Nashville: Holman Reference, 2003)

Leithart, Peter, Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible: 1 & 2 Kings (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2006)

Nelson, Richard D., Interpretation Commentary:I and II Kings (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1987)

Provan, Iain W., New International Biblical Commentary: 1 and 2 Kings (Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, 1995)

Seow, Choon-Leong, The New Interpreters Bible: 1-2 Kings, Vol. III (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999)

Smith, Norman H. (Exegesis) and Sockman, Ralph W. (Exposition), The Interpreter’s Bible: Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Job (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1954)

Tucker, Gene M. in Craddock, Fred B.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year, B (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1993)

Wiseman, Donald J., Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 1 & 2 Kings (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1993)

www.lectionary.org

Copyright 2007, 2010, Richard Niell Donovan

(11) For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.—More accurately translated, For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men. “For” gives the ground, the base upon which the practical exhortations to freemen as well as to bond-servants, contained in Titus 2:1-10, rest. These words might be paraphrased thus: “Yes, exhort all classes and orders, every age of life, each sex, bond as well as free, to struggle after pure, good, righteous lives, for I tell you, in very truth, like a sun on a darkened world has the grace of God arisen with salvation in its beams.” Compare the grand Isaiah passage, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee” (Isaiah 60:1); and also the words of Malachi (4:2), “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” (See, too, Isaiah 9:2.) The thought of these passages was not improbably in St. Paul’s view while he wrote the words to Titus telling him to exhort his flock, for God’s grace had appeared to all men. The Greek word translated “appeared” occurs in Luke 1:79 and Acts 27:20—both writings closely connected with St. Paul, if not in great part written by him—and in each of these passages it is used to express the shining of the sun. The “grace of God” here spoken of is that divine favour to and love for men upon which the whole work of redemption was based, the object of which redemption was the ultimate restoration of man. The epiphany, or manifestation of this grace to the world, commenced with the incarnation of our Lord; but the reference here must not be limited to that or to any one event in the blessed Life. The expression “bringing salvation to all men” is another of those hard sayings which have been pressed into the service of that kindly but erring school of expositors which shuts its eyes to the contemplation of the many unmistakable sayings which warn the impenitent and hardened sinner of the sad doom of eternal death. The “grace” alone brings salvation to all men—in other words, it is that grace of God whereby alone it is possible for mankind to be saved. The expression by no means asserts that all men will be saved by it, but that it is the only means by which salvation is possible.Titus
THE SCHOOL OF GRACE
Titus 2:11-12.
THE Apostle has been giving fatherly admonitions as to very elementary pieces of morality, addressed to both sexes, and to all ages. He winds up with inculcating on Christian slaves some obvious duties, such as obedience and honesty. In my text he bases all these on what was to him the motive and the power for all sorts of righteous living - viz., the fact of Christ’s mission. The ‘for’ with which my text begins carries with it the whole relation between Christian thinking and Christian action, and shows us that the loftiest truths are then most honoured when they are brought to bear on the lowliest duties. Slaves are not to pilfer nor wrangle, ‘for the grace that brings salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching.’
Now there are two remarks that I must make of an expository kind in order to come to the understanding of the words before us. One is that the collocation in our Authorised Version, ‘hath appeared to all men,’ is not what Paul means, but these last words, ‘to all men,’ should be connected with the previous ones, ‘that bringeth salvation.’ It is not part of his purpose to declare, what was not in fact true then, and is not true now, that the grace of God has appeared to all men, but it was part of his purpose to declare that that grace brings salvation to all men, howsoever the present range of its manifestation may historically be contracted. The other remark that I would make is that ‘teaching’ is by no means a sufficiently comprehensive expression to cover the Apostle’s thought, for the word which he employs, whilst it does mean the communication of instruction, carries with it inseparably the other ideas of correcting faults and of chastisement. It is the same which is used in the well-known words, ‘Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.’ So that what the Apostle says here is that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, schooling, or training, or disciplining.
I. Let us, then, first look at the appearance of the grace.
Now that word ‘grace’ played a much larger part in the thoughts of our fathers than it does in ours; and I am not sure that many things are more needed by the ordinary Christian of this generation than that he should rediscover the amplitude and the majesty of that old-fashioned and unfashionable word. For what does ‘grace’ mean? It means a self- originated love. Grace is love that has no motive but itself. Grace is a self-motived love that is in full energetic exercise. Grace is a self-motived, ever-acting love that delights to impart. Grace is a self-motived, ever-acting, communicating love which bends in tenderness over and floods with gifts those that stand far beneath itself. Grace is a self-motived, ever-acting, communicating, and stooping love which brings in its hands the gift of forgiveness, and deals with those on whom it lavishes this tenderness, not according to their merits, but according to the pulsations of its own heart. And thus grace is the shorthand word for the self-motived, ever-acting, communicating, stooping, and pardoning mercy which has its very home and throne in the heart of God Himself. It is this galaxy of stars blended into one diffused light, and yet capable of being resolved into so many suns, which the Apostle here says ‘hath appeared.’ He uses a most significant and picturesque word, for it is the expression which is proper to describe the raying out in the heavens of its great lights, and in the only place in Scripture in which it is applied to physical things is in reference to the sun and stars which, clouded by tempest, for many days did not ‘appear,’ nor could beam their sweet light on the darkened earth. In all other cases where the word is employed it has a definite and plain meaning. It always refers to the coming of Jesus Christ, either his first coming in the Incarnation, or his second coming to Judgment. That manifestation is the raying out, as it were, of a sun, which has been obscured by the mists of sin, rising from the undrained swamps of our own hearts, and it pours itself down upon the mists; and thins them away until its radiant light is spread over all the glittering and rejoicing earth.
So the Apostle has a definite meaning, and points to a definite historical fact, when he declares that, in the Person and life of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, all this self-originated, active, communicating stooping, pardoning love finds its highest manifestation. The fire-mist, if I might so say, which was diffused through a chaotic universe, is gathered together into a sun, and it blazes down upon the world.
Now, of course, that conception of the life of Jesus Christ as the appearance of the grace of God rests upon the other belief that Jesus Christ has a special and unique relation to the God whose love He manifests. And this is the point of view from which the approaching Christmas festival has to be regarded by Christian people. Unless we can say, ‘the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,’ we cannot go on to say, ‘We beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.’ Christmas celebrates not merely the birth of a man: but the Incarnation of a God. The ‘grace that bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared.’ Ay, there is the great peculiarity, there are the power and the blessedness of Christianity in its teaching, that now we no longer need to grope after God, searching painfully for traces of His footsteps in the maze of the world’s history, or consulting the ambiguous oracles of nature, or looking for Him in the intuitions of our own hearts, our hopes and fears, but that we can turn to historical facts and say, ‘Lo! this is our God. We have waited for Him, and He will save us.’ The day of peradventures is past, when we listen to his ‘Verily! verily! I say unto you... he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.’
And so the Word was flesh, and wrought With ,human hands the creed of creeds In loveliness of perfect deeds, Higher than all poetic thought.’
‘The grace of God hath appeared.’
II. Note the gift of the grace.
It ‘bringeth salvation to all men.’ Now I suppose one reason which recommended what I have already designated as an erroneous connection of words in our Authorised Version is the difficulty of believing in the face of facts that Christ, in His character of the embodied grace of God, did bring salvation to all men. But the explanation of the seeming difficulty is not to be found in twisting the words out of their proper order, but in understanding the words in the order in which they occur. For when the Apostle says that this grace brings salvation unto all, he does not say that all receive the salvation which is brought to them. There is a whole world of difference between the two expressions. And the word that he employs - for it is one word in the original which is rendered in our Version by the three ‘that bringeth salvation’ - does not describe an actuality, but a potentiality and a possibility. The aim and purpose, not the realised effect, is what is pointed out in this great word of our text.
For there is a condition necessary from the very nature of the case. If God could save all men, be sure that He would do it; the love that thus takes its rise in the councils of Eternity, and flows on for ever through the waste and barren ages of human history, and is ever waiting to bestow itself, in its tenderness and in its liberality upon all men, is not made leas universal, but it is conditioned by the nature of the gift that it brings. Salvation cannot be flung broadcast and indiscriminately upon all men of all sorts, whatever their relation to God. If it could, be sure that it would be. But just because it is a deep and inward thing, affecting men’s moral and religious state, and not only their position in regard to some future hell, it cannot be given thus broadcast, it must be sown in the fitting places. The one thing that is requisite, and it is indispensably requisite, is that I shall trust Him who brings salvation, and, trusting Him, shall take it out of His hand. If the medicine stands on the shelf, in the bottle with the stopper in, the sick man will not be cured. That is not the fault of the medicine; it is a panacea, but no remedy can work where it is not applied. This great ocean of the divine love goes, as it were, feeling along the black cliffs that front it, for some cranny into which it may pour itself, but the obstinate rock can fling it all back in impotent spray. Though the whole Atlantic surges against the cliff, it is dry an inch inwards. Thus the universality of the gift, the universal potency of the gift, is not in the slightest degree affected by the fact that, where it is not taken, its benefits are not realised. Have you shut your hearts to it, or have you opened them?
Paul recognised that this grace of God came with a gift that was meant for everybody, mainly because he knew that it had come with a gift that had done what it aimed at for him. Like every true Christian man, he felt, as you and I ought to feel, that if it were able to save me it is able to save anybody, and that if it can cast out my faults and sins, though I may not have fallen into gross sins, or what the world calls crimes, there is no man whose iniquities will foil it. ‘Of whom I am chief’ is not an exaggeration, but it is the verdict of an honest conscience that knows the inside of one man, at all events, and knows how much of his surface innocence is deceptive, and how much of it is due not to himself, but to circumstances.
‘The arms of love that compassed me
Would all mankind embrace.’
You know, some of you, that He has cleansed you. You know that He would have cleansed you more completely if you had let Him; and, knowing that, can you doubt that He would cleanse everybody?
The universality of the gift is manifest in the fact that it addresses itself only to needs which belong to every man, for the deepest of all needs is the need that our relations to God shall be set right, and that we shall be delivered from the bondage and the tyranny of our sins.
And that universal potentiality and universal aim are still further written in unmistakable characters upon the mission and work of Jesus Christ, inasmuch as it requires only, as its condition, that which all men can render. For if it had been meant for sections it would have called for qualifications which only classes can possess. If our understanding had been the organ for receiving the truth, it would have been a gospel for the wise men of the world, and the wayfaring man, the fool, would have been shut out. But now there is but the one condition of trust in the one omnipotent grace, and since all men, if they would, could put forth a believing hand, the very condition, instead of being a limitation, is a demonstration of the universality of the gift.
We have to look out over all the world, the outcasts, the slum-dwellers, the barbarian races, and as the main thought about them, to cherish the undying assurance that not one of them but is capable of being lifted by the grace of God from the depths into which they have fallen. That is not the way in which people look at ‘the dangerous classes’ of civilisation and at the savage races outside its pale. Some of us are looking now at the latter mainly as beasts of burden, and hoping to exploit their muscles in the search after wealth and glory. Jesus Christ looks at them, and you and I ought to look at them, as possible candidates for the elevating influences of His grace. There is no metal so hard but, cast into that furnace of love, it will melt and flow. There is no reed so broken and trampled into the mud but that His gracious hands, with His deft and loving gentleness of touch, can bind it up and make it whole, and make it blossom. And there is no foulness so black but that this detergent can wash it white. There is no man on the face of the earth, nor ever has been, so brutalised but that, by the grace of God, he may be deified, made ‘ partaker of a divine nature.’ Grace ‘brings salvation to all men.’
III. Lastly, let me point you to the discipline of the Grace.
As I have already said, ‘teaching’ here implies not only the communication of instruction, either outwardly or inwardly, but also a disciplinary process of correction that includes necessarily chastisement. Jesus Christ comes to us, and brings the external means of communicating instruction in the record of His life in this book. And He comes to us, also doing what no other teacher can do, for He passes into our spirits, and communicates not only instruction but the Spirit which teaches them in whom it abides, and guides them with gentle illumination into ‘all truth! concerning God, Christ, and themselves, which it is needful for them to know.
Nor does His work stop there, for He corrects and rebukes.
Nor does His work stop there, for as He Himself has said, ‘As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten’ He comes ‘with a rod’ sometimes, but always ‘in the spirit of meekness.’ He uses not only inward but also outward chastisements. The knife mercilessly cuts away the tender, pliant tendrils of the vine, and the sap bleeds out at the wound, but the life does not; and the result of the pruning is larger and mellower clusters, ruddy in the sunlight and full of generous juice. So be sure of two things, dear friends, that it is grace which chastens, that the knife is held by a loving hand, and that the purpose of our outward sorrows, as well as of our inward discipline, is ‘that we may be partakers of His holiness.’ That grace is not like some unskilful surgeon, who cuts so deep that, in the effort to remove the tumour, he kills the sufferer; but His surgery knows to a hairsbreadth where to stop, and when the incision has Served its purpose.
‘The grace of God hath appeared disciplining.’ Disciplining? What for? Is the discipline to be sedulously carried on for threescore years and ten, and there an end? If we will only think of life as Christ’s school, we shall understand it better than from any other point of view; and be certain that all these capacities, which are imparted and unfolded and trained by us, exercised here, will find a better field beyond. Jesus Christ, the embodied Grace, has appeared to us. He prays us with much entreaty to receive His gift. If we will enroll ourselves in His school, and learn His lessons, and accept His corrections, and submit to His chastisements as tokens of His love and of His desire that we shall bear better fruit, then, as schoolboys say, we shall ‘get our remove’ when we are ready for it, and go up into the top form. And there not only Grace but Glory will be our teacher, and we shall learn from the Glory more than ever on earth we learned from the Grace.Titus 2:11-12. For the grace of God — The free, unmerited favour of God, which is the primary meaning of the word grace, see on Romans 11:6, and the influence of the divine Spirit, which the word grace also signifies; see 2 Corinthians 12:9; Hebrews 13:9; which bringeth salvation — The original expression, η χαρις του Θεου, η σωτηριος, is literally, the grace of God, the saving grace; that is, which is saving in its design and tendency, and which actually saves all who truly receive it, even in the present world, from the ignorance and error, guilt and depravity, weakness and wretchedness, in which they formerly lay involved, into the favour and image of God, and a state of fellowship with him, hereby giving them a title to, a meetness for, and an anticipation of, eternal salvation; hath appeared — Επεφανη, hath been manifested, or hath shone forth, even like the luminaries of heaven, as the word signifies; namely, in and by the gospel, which has not been kept concealed in a corner, as the Jewish law was, being confined to one particular people of little note in the world, but was commanded by its author to be preached to every creature, Mark 16:15; and even in the apostle’s days, had been made known in a great measure to all nations, for the obedience of faith, Romans 16:26; or to men of all nations and conditions, to barbarians as well as to Jews, Greeks, and Romans, to servants as well as masters, to bond as well as free. As if the apostle had said, (connecting this verse with the preceding,) It concerns all persons, in whatever situation or condition, and especially all members of the visible church, to perform their several duties faithfully and diligently, because the doctrine of the gospel, (which is the effect of God’s grace, and in a peculiar manner displays, offers, and invites men to receive it, and is the means whereby that grace is communicated, and whereby it saves men,) is published indifferently to all nations, as well as Jews, and therein to persons of all ranks and conditions. Or, if this interpretation be not thought to answer fully to the universality of the apostle’s declaration, the grace of God hath appeared to all men, there is no sufficient reason why we may not understand him as speaking of that unmerited love and favour he hath manifested by the works of creation, (which display his goodness, as well as his wisdom and power, to the whole universe,) and by the dispensations of his providence, and of those enlightening, awakening, convincing, quickening, and drawing influences of the Spirit of grace, which certainly are not entirely withheld from any child of man. See on John 1:4-9. Teaching — As a master his pupils, as they are able to receive his instructions, (so the word παιδευουσα signifies,) even all who are unbelieving and disobedient; that denying — Αρνησαμενοι, having renounced; ungodliness — Whatever is contrary to the knowledge, fear, and love of God; and worldly lusts — Επιθυμιας, desires, such as are founded in worldly men, and have the things of the present world for their object, as riches, honours, pleasures, including not only desires of unlawful things, but those which, though fixed on lawful objects, are inordinate and excessive. These must be resisted and renounced, as contrary to the sobriety and righteousness enjoined in the next clause, and utterly inconsistent with that spiritual and heavenly mind which Christianity is intended and calculated to produce. This is the negative part of religion. It has also a positive part, which Isaiah , 1 st, To live soberly — Greek, σωφρονως,

Amazing 2 9 14 Commentary Verse

temperately, prudently, and in all purity and holiness. “Sobriety, in the Scripture sense, is rather the whole temper of a man, than a single virtue in him. It comprehends all that is opposite to the drowsiness of sin, the folly of ignorance, and the unholiness of disorderly passions. Sobriety is no less than all the powers of the soul being consistently and constantly awake, duly governed by heavenly prudence, and entirely conformable to holy affections.” — Wesley. Righteously — Righteousness, distinguished here from godliness, consists in abstaining from injuring any one in his person, reputation, or fortune; in discharging all the duties belonging to the relations in which a man stands to others, and to the station in which he is placed; in being true and just in all his dealings; in performing his covenants and promises faithfully; and, in short, in rendering to every man his due, and doing to all as he would they should do to him; and godly — Or piously, as persons devoted to God in heart and life, fearing him with a reverential, awful, filial, and watchful fear; loving him with a love of esteem, desire, gratitude, and complacency, because of his loveliness and loving-kindness; being zealous for his glory, and doing every thing in order to it; obedient to his will in all things, great and small, and that from a sense of duty to him; resigned and patient under the dispensations of his providence; aspiring after, and earnestly pursuing, a conformity to him, and the everlasting enjoyment of him; and, in order to all this, using every means of grace he hath appointed, and waiting upon him in all his ordinances; in this present world — Notwithstanding the many snares, difficulties, and dangers, the temptations, trials, troubles, pains, and pleasures of it. Or, in this present age, as εν τω νυν αιωνι properly signifies; that is, we must be thus godly and righteous in this ungodly and unrighteous age, and sober, as above explained, in this age, in which examples of intemperance, imprudence, and the disregard of such sobriety everywhere abound. No wonder that the apostle attributes this religion, in these various branches of it, to the free grace of God!2:11-15 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 hinderances. 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.For the grace of God - The favor of God, shown to the undeserving; see the notes at Romans 1:7.

That bringeth salvation - Margin, to all men, hath appeared. That is, in the margin, 'the grace which brings salvation to all men has been revealed.' The marginal reading is most in accordance with the Greek, though it will bear either construction. If that which is in the text be adopted, it means that the plan of salvation has been revealed to all classes of men; that is, that it is announced or revealed to all the race that they may be saved; compare the notes at Colossians 1:23. If the other rendering be adopted, it means that that plan was fitted to secure the salvation of all men; that none were excluded from the offer; that provision had been made for all, and all might come and be saved. Whichever interpretation be adopted, the sense here will not be essentially varied. It is, that the gospel was adapted to man as man, and therefore might include servants as well as masters; subjects, as well as kings; the por, as well as the rich; the ignorant, as well as the learned; see 1 Timothy 2:1-2 notes; Acts 17:26 note.

11. the grace of God—God's gratuitous favor in the scheme of redemption.

hath appeared—Greek, 'hath been made to appear,' or 'shine forth' (Isa 9:2; Lu 1:79). 'hath been manifested' (Tit 3:4), after having been long hidden in the loving counsels of God (Col 1:26; 2Ti 1:9, 10). The image is illustrated in Ac 27:20. The grace of God hath now been embodied in Jesus, the brightness of the Father's glory,' manifested as the 'Sun of righteousness,' 'the Word made flesh.' The Gospel dispensation is hence termed 'the day' (1Th 5:5, 8; there is a double 'appearing,' that of 'grace' here, that of 'glory,' Tit 2:13; compare Ro 13:12). Connect it not as English Version, but, 'The grace … that bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared,' or 'been manifested' (1Ti 2:4; 4:10). Hence God is called 'our Saviour' (Tit 2:10). The very name Jesus means the same.

to all—of whom he enumerated the different classes (Tit 2:2-9): even to servants; to us Gentiles, once aliens from God. Hence arises our obligation to all men (Tit 3:2).

The gospel of our Lord Jesus, which containeth the glad tidings of salvation, is not now hidden, and obscurely delivered, as in the times of the Old Testament; but is risen up as the sun, or some bright star, directing all men their duties in their several stations, that is, all sorts of men amongst whom it cometh. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation,.... By which is meant, not the free love and favour of God, which lies in his own heart; for though that is productive of salvation, and is the source and spring of it, and what brings it forth, and is far from encouraging licentiousness, but instructs in real piety, and constrains to obedience to the will of God; yet this does not appear, nor has it been, nor is it made manifest unto all men, but is peculiar to the Lord's own people; nor does it design the grace of God wrought in the hearts of believers; for though salvation is strictly connected with it, and it powerfully influences the lives and conversations of such, who are partakers of it; yet it has not appeared to, nor in all men; all men have not faith, nor hope, nor love, nor any other graces of the Spirit: but by the grace of God is intended the doctrine of grace, the Gospel of the grace of God; called so, because it is a declaration of the grace of God, and of salvation by it: and is the means, in the hand of the Spirit, of conveying grace to the heart, and implanting it in it; in which sense the phrase is used in Acts 20:24 and this is called the Gospel of salvation, the word of salvation, and salvation itself, and so may be said to bring it; it brings and publishes the good news of it; it shows unto men the way of salvation; it gives an account of the Saviour himself, that he is the great God, and so fit to be a Saviour; that he was appointed by God the Father to be his salvation; that he was sent, and came to work out salvation; and that he is become the author of it; and that he is the only Saviour, and an able, willing, and complete one: it gives an account of the salvation itself; that it is the salvation of the soul; that it is a great one, and includes both grace and glory; that it is everlasting, and all of free grace; and it points out the persons who are interested in it, and shall enjoy it, even all those that are chosen to it, and are redeemed, reconciled, and justified by the blood of Christ, and are brought to believe in him: and the Gospel not only brings the news of all this to the ear, in the external ministration of it; but it brings it to the heart, and is the power of God unto salvation, when it comes, not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost; or when it comes under the powerful influences and application of the Spirit of God. Some read this clause thus, 'that bringeth salvation to all men'; to which agrees the Syriac version, which renders it, , 'that quickeneth' or 'saveth all'; and so the Arabic version: but then this cannot be understood of every individual person; for the Gospel has not brought salvation to everyone in any sense, not even in the external ministry of it; there have been multitudes who have never so much as heard the outward sound of salvation by Jesus Christ, and fewer still who have an application of it to their souls by the Spirit of God; to many to whom it has come, it has been an hidden Gospel, and the savour of death unto death: it follows indeed,

hath appeared to all men; which supposes it to have been hid, as it was, in the thoughts, purposes, and counsels of God; and in Jesus Christ, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid; and in the covenant of grace, of which the Gospel is a transcript; and in the types and shadows of the ceremonial law: it was in some measure hid from angels, who desire to look into it, and from the Old Testament saints, to whom it was not known as it is now, by the apostles and prophets; and it was entirely hid from the Gentiles, the times of whose ignorance God overlooked: and it suggests, that it now appeared or shone out more clearly, and more largely. The Gospel had been like a candle lighted up in one part of the world, only in Judea, but now it shone out like the sun in its meridian glory, and appeared to all men; not to every individual person; it has neither shined upon, nor in everyone: it did not in the apostle's time, when it appeared the most illustrious, and shone out the most extensively, as well as the most clearly; nor has it in ages since, nor does it in ours; there are multitudes who know nothing of it, and are neither under its form nor power: but this is to be understood of all sorts of men, of every nation, of every age and sex, of every state and condition, high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, masters and servants; which sense well agrees with the context, Titus 2:2 and the words are a reason why the apostle would have duty urged on all sorts of persons, because the Gospel was now preached to all; and it had reached the hearts of all sorts of men; particularly the Gentiles may be intended from whom the Gospel was before hid, and who sat in darkness, and in the shadow of death; but now the great light shined upon them, and the Gospel was no more confined to one people only, but was preached to every creature under heaven, or to the whole creation; namely, to the Gentiles, pursuant to the commission in Mark 16:15.

{5} For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

Amazing 2 9 14 Commentary 13

(5) The eighth admonition belongs to all the godly: seeing that God calls all men to the Gospel, and Christ has so justified us, that he has also sanctified us, all of us must therefore give ourselves to true godliness, and righteousness, setting before us a sure hope of that immeasurable glory. And this thing must be so learned by them that the deniers also must be reproved, by the authority of the mighty God.