106. TIT 2:11-12. THE GRACE OF GOD IN BRINGING SALVATION TO ALL MEN
Tit_2:11-12. The Grace of God in Bringing Salvation to All Men
"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all men," &c.’97Tit_2:11, Tit_2:12.
This epistle is full of practical directions. Bishops are instructed in ch. i. ver. 5-10. Aged men and aged women, ch. Tit_2:2-5. Young men, ver. 6-8. And Servants, ver. 9, 10. Then the apostle enforces the whole by exhibiting the original cause and great end of the gospel; "For the grace of God," &c.
In the text we have the Origin, the Extent, and the Influence of Salvation.
Notice in the text, i. The Origin of Salvation.
"The grace of God, that bringeth salvation." Salvation is a most comprehensive term, including the whole of that great scheme, by which God hath redeemed unto himself the fallen posterity of Adam. It includes the application of that scheme to the soul of man in his justification, regeneration, and complete sanctification in;his life. And it includes the consummation of the whole in the gift of eternal life.
Now this salvation is the result of grace, that is, of the sovereign goodness and unmerited clemency and favor of God. This must be evident if we consider,
1. That man did not deserve it.
He had no lawful claim. He could refer to no equitable grounds of right or title to it. He was a rebel, a transgressor, and as such was justly exposed to the infliction of the threatened penalty of death.
2. It was unsolicited.
Man never sought God. He never presented any petition, never urged any plea. He shed no tears of contrition. He expressed no bitter regret. He manifested no signs of repentance. He displayed no solicitude about salvation.
3. Then it was entirely the result of divine grace.
God beheld him, pitied him, and mercy condescended to interpose in his behalf "God so loved the world," &c.
The grace of God,
(1) Made all the arrangements necessary for salvation. Devised the astounding plan. Fixed upon the means, time, &c. The grace of God,
(2) Brought the author of salvation. "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," &c.; 2Co_8:9.
(3) It brought the message of salvation. Gospel is emphatically the gospel of the grace of God; Act_20:24.
(4) It brings the application of salvation to the soul. We are called by his grace’97justified freely by his grace’97sanctified by his grace’97kept and preserved by his grace’97and the topstone is brought on, amid ascriptions of "Grace, grace unto it." Notice,
II. The Extent of Salvation.
"It hath appeared unto all men." Or rather, "The grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men, hath appeared." Before the end of the Christian era, no doubt, the grace of God will appear, by the preaching of the gospel, to all men. But the other reading was ever true, and ever will be so, that the grace of God hath brought salvation to all men. This will appear if we consult,
1. Those passages which refer to the mercy and love of God to all men.
"His tender mercies are over all his works." "God so loved the world," Joh_3:14-17.
2. Those passages which speak of Christ as the Saviour.
"The Father sent the Son to bo the Saviour of the world." "Who tasted death for every man." "He is the propitiation, not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world," 1Jn_2:2.
3. Those passages which offer salvation to all men.
The gospel is to be preached to all the world, 1Jn_2:2, to every creature. God "would have all men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth." "Christ is the Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe." All are exhorted to repent and believe the gospel. And Christ says, "Him that cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out," 1Ti_2:4-6; 1Ti_4:10; Joh_6:37.
The grace of God bringeth salvation,
(1) To all classes and degrees of men. To the rich and the poor; noble and ignoble; monarch and the peasant; the ruler and the slave.
(2) To men of all grades of moral guilt. It includes the moralist, and excludes not the profane. It will save the Pharisee and the publican; the decent and the degraded; the formalist and the skeptic. "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven," &c. The thousand as well as the hundred pence debtor.
(3) Men of all ages. It despises not the child; it warmly embraces the young. It receives the middle-aged, and rejects not the old hoary-headed transgressor. In short, it treats with man as a sinner, helpless and perishing, but as redeemed by Christ. And no exception is made to country, or color, or tongue; but whosoever believingly calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. Consider,
III. The Influence of Salvation on the moral Character of Man.
"Teaching us that denying ungodliness," &c. The salvation of the gospel is a salvation from the dominion and love, as well as from the future effects of sin. Hence it teaches and enforces the necessity,
1. Of the abandonment of ungodliness and worldly lusts.
It withdraws the mind from all that is unlike or opposed to God, and from a sinful desire after the pleasures or riches of this world. This evil course is forsaken and verbally and practically denied. It enforces,
2. Sobriety of conduct,
In meats, drinks, recreations, speech, temper, &c. Moderation in all things, using this world and not abusing it.
3. Righteousness of life.
Love of justice. Equity in all transactions. The adoption of the golden rule, as the unvarying test in all our dealings with our fellow-men. It teaches,
4. Godliness of heart.
Supreme love to God; universal obedience to God; and constant, delight in God. Godliness includes the transforms tion of the soul into the Divine likeness into which we are changed from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord. The grace of God produces sobriety, or self-government, in reference to ourselves; righteousness, in reference to mankind; and godliness, in reference to the Supreme Being.
Application
1. How we should rejoice in the riches and fulness of Divine grace.
2. How necessary that we cordially receive the invaluable boon it presents
3. And how important that, we practically exemplify the moral lessons it communicates.
Autor: JABEZ BURNS