COMMENTARY ON TITUS


LESSON NUMBER 19


Tit 3:7 That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:7)

 

DIVINE OBJECTIVES


INTRODUCTION

              It is essential that those who are saved consider the reason behind their salvation. We will find that salvation – deliverance or rescue – is really not an end of itself. It is absolutely essential, to be sure, but it is what follows salvation that gives it true meaning. I am becoming more and more impressed with the manner in which the salvation of God has been distorted in the minds of men. Our text deals with the matter of salvation, and how our lives in this world bear upon it. There is a strong reason for being sober and godly – for seeing to it that the Word of God, and God Himself, are not maligned because of our conduct. We have been begotten again to a living hope that has to do with things that will take place after we leave this present evil world; after the present heavens and earth pass away; after the dead are raised, and death has been swallowed up in victory; after the day of judgment, and after the public exoneration and glorification of the saints of God. In view of such arresting consideration, the people of God cannot afford to become absorbed into the world order, for “all that is in the world . . . is not of the Father, but is of the world.” The text before us is designed to assist us in fine tuning our objectives, so that we are not caught unawares by the coming of the Lord and the consummation of everything that is seen and sensed by the flesh. Seen properly, salvation is infinitely more that the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing of the conscience, and the conferment of a new heart and a new spirit. All of those were necessary to the realization of a higher and eternal purpose that was conceived by the Almighty before He made the world. Our existence in this world is not the point – and woe be to that poor soul who conducts their life as though that was the case. I realize it is in vogue for Christian leaders to focus on the temporal needs and aspirations of the people. That kind of focus is necessary to the maintenance of their religious careers. However, God is not a Problem Solver, for that presumes the preeminence of the ones who have the problem. Such an approach sees human objectives as primary – but they are not, and no person can afford to approach life as though they are.


OUR PRESENT CONDITION

               Titus 3:7a “That being justified by His grace . . . ”


               This verse announces the reason for the previous affirmation of Divine action: God saved us by the washing of regeneration and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, who was lavished on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. This was all done in strict accord with kindness and love, which are fundamental to His nature. That is, God did not save us because we needed to be saved, but because of His kindness and love (vs 4-6). As is stated in Solomon’s Song, the believer can say, His desire is toward me” (Song of Sol 7:10). Paul; has made clear that this was not owing to any works of righteousness on our part. Our extrication from the dilemma of sin was not owing to any right thing we did, but according to God’s “mercy,” which is a righteous expression of His kindness and love, or desire to bless men. Just as Abraham was not justified because he obeyed God’s command to circumcise himself and his household, so we were not justified because we obeyed what we were commanded to do (Rom 4:10).


               Paul is tracing our salvation to its cause – what constrained God to save us. Although obedience is imperative, and those who “obey not the Gospel,” will be thrust from God’s presence (2 Thess 1:8), yet that obedience is not the cause of salvation. Now our text will confirm why this is the case. It is because of the purpose of salvation – the objective that is intended to be accomplished through it. It is a cause that is too lofty for human achievement – even the accomplishments of those who have been regenerated and given the Holy Spirit.


               THAT BEING. Other versions read, “having been,” NKJV “so that we might be,” RSV “as a result,” GWN “since we have been,” NET and “once justified.” TNT


               The intended objective of salvation depends upon a very real existence of a condition that is experienced by those of reference. What will now be affirmed is not a goal for believers, but is a condition in which the determination of God is commenced.. Those in whom the gracious intention of God is being fulfilled have experienced certain things, and are in a certain acceptable state. They are described as loving God, and as having been called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). They “have redemption” (Eph 1:7), have “obtained like precious faith” (2 Pet 2 Pet 1:1), have “received the Spirit of adoption” (Rom 8:15), and have “received the knowledge of the truth” (Heb 10:26). These are very real conditions – what the people of God are.


               JUSTIFIED. Here is the state of those in Christ Jesus: they are justified. Justification is a two sided coin. First, they have been “justified from all things” (Acts 13:39). Their sins have been “blotted out” (Acts 3:19), and they have been “washed” from their presence and contamination (Acts 22:16). They are no longer “enemies” (Col 1:21), are no longer “alienated from the life of God” (Eph 4:18), and are no longer sheep going “astray” (1 Pet 2:25). Second, they have been “made righteous” (Rom 5:19) by imputation – that is, God has imputed His own righteousness to them upon the basis of our faith (Rom 4:23-24).


               From a practical viewpoint, this means that the saved have a “new heart” and a “new spirit” (Ezek 36:26), have God’s laws written upon their hearts and minds (Heb 10:16), and are “reconciled to God” (Rom 5:10). By nature, the saved are not the people they once were (1 Pet 2:10). Being justified, or “made righteous” in the eyes of God, the saved are now described as “partakers of Christ” (Heb 3:14), and are presently qualified to be “partakers of the Divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4). In reality, “we are the sons of God,” and “should be” so called (1 John 3:1-2). This is because we have not only been separated from our former selves by “the circumcision of Christ” (Col 2:11), we also have been “joined unto the Lord” (1 Cor 6:17). We have not only ceased to go astray, but have “returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls” (1 Pet 2:25). There is no such thing as a state of justification in which one retains a fundamental love for sin, and the propensity to continue going astray. Justification involves a fundamental change that removes what is displeasing to God from the believer, and imparts what is pleasing to Him.


               BY HIS GRACE. Elsewhere it is stated that men are “justified by faith” (Rom 3:28; 5:1; Gal 3:24). That is, it is by the means of the faith that justification is personally realized. But there is another view of justification, and it is imperative that we see it. We are, for example, said to have been “justified by His blood”(Rom 5:9), and “justified by Christ” (Gal 2:17). Now, we also read of being “justified by His [God’s] grace.” “Faith,” “His blood,” “Christ,” and “His grace” are not four causes of equal value, and they must not be so perceived. Two of these descriptions speak of means, and two of causes. “Faith” on our part and “His blood” are appointed means. It is by means of our faith that we appropriate justification, and it is by means Christ’s blood that God gives it. On the other hand, “Christ” and God’s “grace” are the causes of justification, or what make it happen. Here the point is that no action on the part of man would have proven effective if God, by His “grace” did not cause us to be “justified from all things,” and “made righteous.” By “means,” I refer to the point at which the gate is opened for the benefit to be received. By “cause,” I mean the reason that makes the stated benefit pass through that gate to the individual. Our faith did not cause God to justify us. It rather enabled us to appropriate justification. However, it was God’s “grace” that moved Him to justify us. It is insightful the recognition of this distinction that will provoke faithfulness.


WHY WE HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED

                3:7b . . . we should be made heirs . . . ” Other versions read, “should become,” NKJV “might be made,” NASB “might become.” NIV


               WE SHOULD BE. This is the purpose that drove the justification of sinners. The cause of the justification, as set forth in this text, was “His grace.” The means through which justification is appropriated, as declared in apostolic doctrine is “faith.” Now, we come to the purpose, or objective, of justification. Because “it is God who justifies” NKJV (Rom 8:33), we ought to expect this objective to be worthy of His Person, power, and Divine qualities. It is not possible that such a purpose can be confined to time or this present world, for He has determined the cessation of them both. The objective of God is in strict harmony with His eternality and righteousness. It must center in Him, not those with whom He is working.


               Whatever views men may entertain concerning the procurement, maintenance, and objective of salvation must be in harmony with what God has revealed about that salvation. It must be theo-centric, not man-centered. As a general rule, those who have a man-centered religion are actually seeking to exploit men, for God engaged in no such focus. In the ages to come it is “the exceeding riches of His grace” that will be “shown,” or “clearly demonstrated,” AMPLIFIED in “His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7). It will be what God Himself has done in us that will be the subject of exposition and demonstration. The perception of this reality will deliver man from a religion that majors on the correction of human behavior.


               MADE HEIRS. Other versions read, “have part in the heritage,” BBE “will inherit,” NLT “share in the wealth,” LIVING “now embrace,” ISV and “come into possession.” GNB Most versions of Scripture use the word “heirs” in this text. A few follow the dreadful practice of stating what they conceive the word to mean. Lexically, the word translated “heirs” means, “one who received by lot . . . one who receives his allotted possession by right of sonship,” THAYER “literally, one receiving an allotted portion.” FRIBERG We are speaking of a specific inheritance, intended for the individual – the apportioning of a part of the whole, even as each tribe of Israel received a portion of the promised land – a “lot” (Num 26:55; Josh 14:2; 23:4).


               From this we learn that the ultimate objective for the saved does not relate to this world, but the world to come. It is only introduced to us while we are “in the body,” in which we cannot receive the endmost blessing. “Heirs” refers to what we are, not what we have. At this time, the “heirs” receive from God what is required for them to maintain their status of “heirs.” This is necessary because God can disinherit those who are heirs, voiding their right to the inheritance. Thus some Israelites who came out of Egypt, did not actually inherit the promised land, for which they were delivered. (Heb 3:12). It is possible for “heirs” to come short of the inheritance, for the inheritance is obtained “through faith and patience” (Heb 6:12). Esau sold his “birthright,” which was the right of inheritance, and was not able to regain it. It is written of him, “when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected” (Heb 12:17).


               There is a gap between being “made heirs” and the act of inheriting. To be sure, no one will inherit the benefit who has not first been “made heirs” in this world. The process of being “made heirs” includes being saved “by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,” in order that we might be “made heirs.” Our experience of these marvelous realities is strictly owing to “the kindness and love of God” that moved Him to save us “according to,” or in unvarying accord with, “His mercy.” Then, the One who saved us also “made” us “heirs.”


               The status of “heirs” is one of amazing scope. Those appropriately termed “the children of God,” are said to be “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17). A picture of this is provided in Aaron, who was given no inheritance in the land of promise. The Lord told him why this was the case: “I am thy part and thine inheritance” (Num 18:20). This kind of inheritance is described by Jesus as entering “into the joy of thy Lord” (Matt 25:21).


               Viewing this whole matter from the standpoint of salvation in the consummate sense, the angels are said to have been sent by God to “minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Heb 1:14). James reminds believers they are “heirs of the Kingdom which He hath promised to them that ,love Him” (James 2:5). This aspect of the inheritance is also by lot, or apportionment. Jesus said to His disciples, “And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as My Father hath appointed unto Me” (Luke 22:29). Further expanding the concept of being “heirs,” Jesus said the meek would “inherit the earth” (Matt 5:5). As if that was not enough God Almighty said to John, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son” (Rev 21:7). Oh, the word “heirs” is pregnant with meaning that will challenge the mind.


               I understand the admonitions in the book of Titus to bear directly on the matter of maintaining the status of being “heirs.” Although we have been “made heirs,” we hold that position by means of our faith – for we are “kept by the power of God through faith” (1 Pet 1:5). All of the resources that are required to remain “heirs” are provided in Christ Jesus, and by means of our faith. Those resources are, in fact, the “first fruits” of our inheritance. Like the grapes of Eschol were to Israel, they are samples that acquaint us with what is to come.


THE PROMINENT POSITION OF HOPE

              3:7c “ . . . according to the hope of eternal life.


               ACCORDING TO. Other versions read, “having,” NIV “in,” RSV and “with the certain.” CJB The words “according to” are translated from a single word that means “motion or diffusion or direction from the higher to the lower,” THAYER and “down from.” LIDDELL-SCOTT The reference here is to the act of being “made heirs.” The status of heirs was Divinely determined with the following reality in mind. It was not for our betterment in this world that we were “made heirs,” but in prospect of what is to come. That is, there was a higher purpose that moved God to make us being made heirs.


               THE HOPE. The idea here is that “heirs” matches “the hope.” Both ultimately have to do with the future. It is “the hope” that gives substance to the concept of being “heirs.” This is stated succinctly by John: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). This hope of being “like Him,” as well as seeing Him and being with Him, is what motivates us to engage in a sustained quest for personal purity. John continues, “And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” NASB (1 John 3:3).


               “Hope” plays such a prominent part in spiritual life that Paul was moved to pray that one of the premier churches Scripture might have the “eyes of their understanding enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling (Eph 1:18). Knowing that God has called you is one thing; knowing WHY He did is another matter. It is also good to know that you are “accepted in the Beloved” (Eph 1:6). It is even better to know the objective of that acceptance.


               If God made us “heirs . . . according to the hope,” how can it be possible for those “heirs” to live without regard to that hope? The working out of our salvation “with fear and trembling” is motivated by that hope, for “we are saved by hope” (Rom 8:24). This hope (a noun) is both certain and effective. It is not a nebulous wish that can be too good to be true. This is not a hope that originates with men, but is given to them in Christ Jesus. That is why it is written that God has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace” (2 Thess 2:16). There is certitude in hope – a firm expectation and anticipation of good things to come. Hope is, in fact, faith in its forward posture. Its solidity is seen in the depiction of hope as an anchor. “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Heb 6:19). It has to do with where we shall be, and the firm persuasion of the realness of that abode, while we journey through the world. We even “rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom 5:2), and “abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” NKJV (Rom 15:13).


               Much of the religion of our time fosters doubt, and even withdrawing fear. When men are taught they are fundamentally weak, or are always sinning, or must be in a state of continual repentance and remorse, it puts hope to sleep, for it cannot survive in such a mind-set.


               OF ETERNAL LIFE. The “hope” of reference is not the expectation of living a better life, or finding domestic or social stability. It is not hoping that we will be able to overcome a certain habit, or realize some kind of breakthrough in our understanding. Considered properly, there is nothing wrong with such objectives. However, they are not strong enough to promote a sustained effort for Christ. They are too weak, because they are tied to a world that is passing away. The determination to live for the glory of God is good, but it is not good enough to cause you to possess faith and patience to inherit the promises – something that has to do with “hope.” There is a form of religion that emphasizes self-discipline, regimen, accountability to one’s peers, and interpersonal relationships. There are vantage points from which such approaches look good – even humble and spiritual. However, they are like having a withered hand that cannot deliver the required results. Our affection is to be “set on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:2) – and that is impossible to do when you are dominated by things pertaining to life “in the body,” or things that have to do with living in this world.


               The hope of reference pertains to “eternal life” – not “eternal life” in its initiatory aspect, but in its fulness, in the world to come. There is a sense in which we have “eternal life” now, as we live by faith. Jesus said the person who ingests Him “hath eternal life” (John 6:54). It is written that “God hath given to us eternal life,” and that we can “know” that we have it (1 John 5:11,13). And yet, “eternal life” is depicted as being “promised us” (1 John 2:25). Jesus spoke of having eternal life “in the world to come” (Mk 10:30). Jude wrote of “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 1:21). Paul wrote of what we possess now, and what we will have in the end: “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Rom 6:22).


               We do have eternal life now, but not in its fulness. That is why those who do possess it are admonished to “lay hold on eternal life” (1 Tim 6:12,19) – that is, to obtain a more firm grasp of its reality. There is a sense in which we are laboring under a great handicap. We have the treasure of the knowledge of the glory of God in an “earthen vessel,” which is our “mortal body” (2 Cor 4:7; Rom 6:12). That circumstance confines us to the state of knowing “in part” – and eternal life is knowing God (John 17:3). Even under this circumstance, more can be possessed that we can imagine.