¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, BRINGING SALVATION TO ALL PEOPLE, ¹²instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and in a godly manner in the present age, ¹³ looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our GREAT GOD AND SAVIOR, Christ Jesus, ¹⁴ who gave Himself for us to deliver us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself A PEOPLE FOR HIS OWN POSSESSION, ZEALOUS TO PERFORM GOOD WORKS (Titus2:11-14).

The first two chapters of Titus are full of good things taught by Paul, but most of it has no direct relevance to what I’m primarily seeking to impart, namely regarding the breadth of our loving Creator’s benign providence. The above passage is a notable exception, especially the capitalized phrases. The first verse summarizes the situation, and the Greek word order indicates it should be translated as I have above, which accords with the NASB and some other translations, but not the KJV. That reads “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” which is very different from “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people (NASB).

God’s personal possession

But in terms of gospel salvation, we know from Paul’s teaching that is absolutely not the case. God has no intention whatsoever of bringing all people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, at least not in the present gospel age. As the last featured verse indicates, Christians, like elect Jews of the Old Testament, are “a people for God’s own possession”, not the totality of those for whom Christ died or who are loved by God. The Church are described in Hebrews as the assembly of the firstborn ones (12:23). They are a “kind of first fruit” for all humanity (James1:18), the first to trust” (προηλπικότας) in advance of the returning Christ (Eph1:12). “First___” indicates order not exclusivity.

For contrary to the implications of the KJV translation, many in the current gospel age will not have had the opportunity to hear a faithful rendition of the Good News. They do not know about “the grace of God” and how it should be applied. Yet as Paul teaches elsewhere, God desires that all  humanity are ultimately saved and come to a knowledge of the Truth (1Tim2:4).

Manner of life

But for those who are given the blessing and responsibilities of being “God’s personal possession”, how are they to live? Paul describes it as living “sensibly, righteously and in a godly manner” (v12). Contrary to the emphasis of my Evangelical days, Paul does not regard the Church as merely “an assembly of justified sinners”  but a people who have been purified for divine service and who  are zealous (ζηλωτὴν) for good works (v14). Notice also that Paul doesn’t here or indeed anywhere particularly urge Christians to look forward to going to heaven when they die (which he describes as “falling asleep” – 1Thes4:13&15,) but joyfully to await the appearing of Jesus Christ from Heaven. For He will herald in the new age, an essential element of which for the Christian shall be “the redemption of the body” (Rom8:23).

God – the Father

Finally, this  is virtually the only instance Paul refers to LJC as God whereas more typically he insists that “for us there is only one God – the Father, FROM whom are all things, and we exist FOR Him; and one Lord – Jesus Christ, BY whom are all things, and we exist THROUGH Him” (1Cor8:6). The monarchical status of the Father and the fact that  aspects pertaining to timing, dispensations and kingdom personnel are under His personal authority (cf. Mt20:23; Mk13:32; Acts1:7)  is essential to understanding certain mysteries that I am unravelling. That especially applies to what Paul was referring to in Eph3:9-12 concerning the secret plan hidden in God (the Father), being the mystery of the Gentiles unforetold spiritual inheritance (cf. Rom11:11,12,15) that has such profound implications to broader providence.

The Little Book of Providence:

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