THE MASTER'S SEMINARY

COMMENT AND APPLICATION

ButwhenthekindnessandtheloveofGodourSaviortowardmanappeared,notbyworksofrighteousnesswhichwehavedone,butaccordingtoHismercyHesavedus,throughthewashingofregenerationandrenewingoftheHolySpirit,whomHepouredoutonusabundantlythroughJesusChristourSavior,[Link],andthesethingsIwantyoutoaffirmconstantly,[Link],genealogies,contentions,andstrivingaboutthelaw;[Link],knowingthatsuchapersoniswarpedandsinning,beingself-condemned.

FOR
Hector Omar Angulo Bórquez

OSORNO, CHILE
OCTOBER 2020
 CONTENT

Context...

V4

V5

V6

V7

V8

V9

V10 ...................................................................................................................................6

V11

Application

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 Context

Paul writes this letter to Titus in the year 62 A.D.1This disciple of Paul is in Crete, a

of the largest islands in the Mediterranean2From this place, Tito was to lead and order the

Church of the Lord (Titus 1 and 2), Paul told him not to let anyone despise him for teaching the truths

what God has commissioned him regarding the family, society, and Church. Since chapter three

begin to instruct him that he must teach how to live among society (v.1-2), then that

They must be ready for every good work (v. 2). In verse three, Paul reminds Titus of the

condition they were in before knowing and being freed by the Lord Jesus, this condition was the

same as the rulers and men with whom the Church in Crete was relating.

Some of the qualifiers were; Lost, rebellious, slaves to evils, haters, etc.

But when the kindness of God our Savior appeared, and his love for mankind
men.

This verse begins with 'but', a contrast to what was said earlier, of the

fishermen who were the believers of Crete, according to Barclay; greedy, fighters, contentious,

cheaters, false, lovers of money, liars in the past3to what they are by grace of

Christ Jesus in the present. That is to say, despite all the sin of humanity, He 'manifested'.

it was presented, now the 'goodness' of God was revealed, this word in Greek 'crestótés', indicates to us

May God show kindness through a concrete act of tenderness and compassion in the work of

Jesus Christ.4

1Charles L. Quarles, "Tito", Apologetic Study Bible, ed. by Owen B. Chad, E. Ray, Copan Paul and
Moreland J.P (Nashville, Tennessee: Hollman Bible Publishers, 2011), 1650
2John F. MacArthur, "Titus", MacArthur Study Bible (Nashville, Tennessee: Nelson, 2015)
3William Barclay, Commentary on the New Testament: Volume 12, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon

(Barcelona: Clie, 1970), 275-276.

4W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words Comprehensive (Nashville:

Caribbean, 2002), 601.

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In the OT, everything pointed to Jesus, a servant who would come and remove the deep stains.

of sin (Is.53), the prophets inquired about this, but they did not know when this would happen (1 P.

until the moment arrives and Jesus appears on the earthly scene, grows, learns and

He fulfills the work of his Father, dies and rises to save men because he loves them, says John.

3:16 that in this way the Father demonstrates His 'love' for the world or literally

philanthropy5love for men, by Philo, love and anthropos, man, this includes the

believers in the same way.

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy,
by the washing of regeneration and by the renewal in the Holy Spirit.

When the goodness of God is manifested, a change of scene occurs, 'he saved us' says the

text, of all those sins (3:2), that made the believers similar to the Cretans without Christ.

The word saved in Greek is 'sozo' and it is an expression of freedom.6The human being was a slave

from those evils and could not be freed, it was necessary then for someone to save or liberate the

men, who would cut the chains. That was Jesus and he did it not for "works of righteousness" that

the Cretans would have had, or good things that made them deserving of something like the

sorry, in fact, all those efforts to achieve justice are regarded as rags

filth (Isaiah 64:6).

This work was thanks to the 'Mercy,' in Greek 'eleos' of God, when he sees the

misery of the heart of man, his weaknesses and he pities to the extreme7.

5Vine, Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 506.

6James Strong, Strong's Dictionary of Original Words of the Old and New Testament (Nashville:

Caribbean, 2002), 206.

7Vine, Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1234.
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He did it through a 'washing,' he cleaned the dirt of sin, he took it out, he...

whitened like wool (Isaiah 1:18), this washing as Hendriksen says has nothing to do with

with the flesh or matter, but it is spiritual8and it is only possible through "regeneration", in

Greek is 'palingenesis', which translates to new birth9. The only way to eliminate

Sin and seeing the kingdom of God is to be born again, Jesus told this to Nicodemus (Jn. 3:7), if being

humans are dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1), it was necessary for this work of salvation to be done

bring the dead back to life in order to be truly clean.

Add the text to this that also went through the 'renewal' or in Greek

‘anakainosis’, this means that it not only causes to be born again, but also guides the believer in a

process of sanctification where thoughts align with the thoughts of the mind of

God10, of course this is a work of the "Holy Spirit", the third person of the Trinity

acting in its mission in the new covenant.

V.6 Who poured out abundantly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.

In saving Jesus, not only does He wash, regenerate, and renew, but He "pours out," spreads of His

The Holy Spirit was not poured out abundantly on all humanity, but on the believers.

in those who surrender their lives to Him and acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior. Not in the manner of the

Old Covenant, where he would come, empower, and then leave or withdraw. In the NT we have the Spirit.

Holy Spirit living in the believer permanently (Jn. 14:17). It is extremely necessary that the

The Holy Spirit is in the life of the believer; otherwise, they could not be formed in the image of

Christ or Christ formed in the believer (Gal. 4:19).

8William Hendriksen, Commentary on the New Testament: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus (Grand Rapids: Portavoz,
2006), 310.
9Strong, Strong's Dictionary of Original Words from the Old and New Testament, 154.
10Vine, Expository Dictionary of Words from the Old and New Testament Exhaustive, 1504
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It is extremely important that it is not just a little, but the complete essence of the Spirit to

to be able to renew ourselves to the mind of God and prepare ourselves for the task of the ministry with His

done.11Jesus said that it was better for the disciples that he go away, because then the

Holy Spirit to teach them and guide them to all truth (John 16:13). All the believers of Crete

they had this grace poured out upon them, therefore, they could submit to the authorities and live

wisely among sinful people.

V.7 So that, justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of
eternal life.

The 'for what' indicates the reason for the salvation mentioned above, and adds the

the term "justified", understood as declaring someone just in legal terms, but

for this case, it is used only as a synonym of salvation, in general terms, as mentioned

MacArthur12Now this salvation or justification is by 'grace' or in Greek 'charis', which is

relates to an act offered in good will, receiving enjoyment from the recipient in

debt13reiterating again that it is not by the good works of justice that one is made

human but by the goodness of God (v.3).

The purpose of this salvation is for believers to be "heirs" together with

Jesus of the 'eternal life' that he conquered in his death and resurrection, he promised it and now

every believer sees it as 'hope'. This new life is closely related to the

glorification that we will receive as an inheritance from the Father (Rom. 8:17)14.

11Hendriksen, Commentary on the New Testament: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, 311.
12John F. MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy
Tito (Grands Rapids: Spokesperson, 2012), 176.
13Vine, Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words Exhaustive, 480.
14Walter L. Liefeld, Biblical Commentaries with Application, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus (Florida: Vida, 2015)
123.
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This is a faithful word, and I want you to insist on these things firmly, so that those who believe
In God, strive to engage in good works. These things are good and useful to men.

In the original text, the verse begins with 'Faithful is this word', highlighting the

characteristics of what has been said earlier, which we could describe as the gospel,

what he said is trustworthy15Pablo wants Tito to speak clearly these

truths, that "insist firmly", since they have proven to be faithful and powerful for

to change people. God has manifested His goodness and love to all men when they were

fishers and can change their hearts by motivating them to act in "good works"16,

these works are different from the works of justice to attain mercy, rather they are the

result of a life transformed, washed, reborn, and renewed by the Holy Spirit, is not made

to attain God's favor, but rather by the motivation of gratitude and worship of the believer

to his savior. These good works are concrete actions in which the believers of Crete should

to take care, these should reflect God's goodness to men, only in this way would they be useful

and good for them, they would be beneficial, they will serve for something that goes beyond the earthly and the

questions of no benefit presented by the following verse.

V.9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and arguments about the
law; because they are vain and of no benefit.

By starting the verse with a 'But,' it is understood that what follows is different from what

Earlier, there are useful and good things in verse eight and now in verse nine there are things u

works without benefit. Paul tells Titus to 'avoid' these things, not to take them into account or

do, that are not for the good of others, that do not show the kindness and love of God, these are

15Vine, Expository dictionary of words from the Old and New Testament exhaustive, 747.
16ArminW. Schuetze, The Popular Bible: 1, 2 Timothy Titus, ed. Roland Cap Ehlke, Armin J. Panning, Gary
P. Baumler (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Northwestern, 1999), 208.
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"foolish issues" are morally undignified.17these unproductive things distract attention from

the truth18The Jewish 'genealogies' serve to establish a lineage and pride.

"restraints" do not reflect a merciful character like the Lord, the "disputes of the law" place

the emphasis on human actions to seek justice for their observance, all of this is

"vain", senseless and has no "benefit" to receive the favor of God manifested in the work.

from our savior Jesus, nor to transform anyone's heart.

To the man who causes divisions, after one or two admonitions reject him.

Tito must avoid senseless arguments, but not leave these men without a verdict.

that disturb entire houses (1:11), mainly Jews, who surely use these things without

benefit from the previous verse to become vain and "cause division", these men must be

"to admonish them," in order to save them, but if they do not obey the third admonition (Mt. 18:15),

a drastic decision must be made, this is 'discard it', avoid them. The reason for this is that the

believers should engage in good works to show the Lord and men that they are not idle

in these matters they provoke people to divide, form sects and become heretics.19

V.11 Knowing that such a person has been perverted, and sins and is condemned by his own judgment.

If a person does not obey the admonitions, it is because they have already become "perverted", that is

for sure, it has become vain, it has been left at the mercy of its reasoning and "sins", it has not

repentant and therefore 'condemned by his own judgment', he condemns himself and does not fall again

In Titus, the accusation is because he acted as a good minister by admonishing him and discarding him.

17Vine, Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1073.

18
Everett F. Harrison, Moody Bible Commentary: New Testament, Titus (El Paso, TX: Baptist House,
1971), 442.
19Hendriksen, Commentary on the New Testament: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, 315.
 APPLICATION

V.4 But when the goodness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
men.

Believers can be at peace that God has already manifested his goodness, he is good and it

he did it for all men, they should no longer seek another savior or look for other proofs of his love.

They should not look for spiritual practices outside of the Bible, meditation, activities.

professionals or feats of physical prowess, to find a value, realization or purpose in their lives in

this world. Jesus died for human beings and that should be enough to find

motivation to live and direct any situation being experienced at the feet of Christ.

V.5 He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy,
by the washing of regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Believers must rest in that God saved them, it is a done deal, there is no

Nothing extra to contribute to salvation, Jesus has already supplied all the needs of God's justice.

Now we should not engage in any more acts of personal justice; such perfection could never be achieved.

doing good to please God. Salvation is not earned by performing rites or sacrifices,

including going to the temple, helping the poor, giving offerings, reading the Bible, praying more than others,

etc. All these things are results of salvation and if they never manifest in the life of

A person is a reason to consider whether they were truly saved, but it is not done to achieve that.

the favor of God. Everything was possible thanks to God's mercy, not due to physical abilities or

intellectuals. The believer must trust that he is now in Christ and is His righteousness that

keeps safe in the hands of God. This must also eradicate the pride of every disciple.

of Jesus, believing oneself to be better than another believer, recognizing oneself as wiser, more prepared, with greater

grace, etc. Everything is the work of the Holy Spirit.

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V.6 Who poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

The believer must acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is within them and that the changes that

What happens in his life is the work of Him and not by human effort, he must acknowledge that he can cry out.

for wisdom at the right time, the Lord is not far away, but His Spirit was poured out in

all his children, not just in the apostles or the brothers of the Church in Crete. The Christians

they must strengthen in the fact that there is someone who intercedes for them, who has compassion for their

weaknesses and sufferings, this groans internally (Rom. 8:26), weaknesses and sufferings of

any kind, be it diseases, persecutions, that affect the present time, while they

live in this world (Ro. 8:18).

V.7 That we, justified by His grace, might become heirs according to the hope of
eternal life.

The believer must trust in God's salvation and that it not only frees us from hell,

but it brings with it a promise, this is eternal life, that is to say, one must walk in this world,

in all daily activities as people who have another life, beyond the earthly, and it is

there where we must store treasures (Mt. 6:19). They are not what society says they are, not the

define a profession, or the amount of money, or the place where they were born or live, minus the class

of the blood family they have. Life does not consist of earthly possessions; the Christian should not

to go after them as an end, but to know that he has received a greater inheritance, similar to that of Christ,

an eternal life and a glorified body (Rom. 8:17), that transcends worldly desires and dreams,

they must fix their eyes on Christ, the author and perfecter of faith (Heb. 12:2), and walk in that

hope that your Lord will return soon.

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This is a faithful word, and concerning these things I want you to insist earnestly, so that those who believe
In God, strive to engage in good works. These things are good and useful to men.

There are truths that must be insisted upon firmly, because they are truths of God.

a believer should not be silent nor doubt these truths, they are superior to the philosophies of the world, to

political, educational, or prosperity ideologies. The believer has the word of God and this is

Faith, there are no other truths outside of it, or half-truths, everything the Christian needs is here.

in the Bible, not a little bit of Buddha and a little bit of Christ, a little bit of Plato and a little bit of Christ, no

it's a bit of humanism, socialism, capitalism, and a bit of Christ, etc.

The truths of God are faithful and we, like Titus, must insist on them, in this case,

Because of the work of Christ and his salvation, believers must live by imitating their Lord,

taking care of the good works that he did, so that others may see the testimony of Christ and

glorify God, this should be at work, at home, as a father, husband, wife, children,

student, etc.

V.9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and disputes about the
law; because they are vain and unprofitable.

The believer should avoid issues that do not benefit faith or testimony, these

They can be those that do not glorify the sufficiency of Christ and try to add virtues to the Cross.

outside of Jesus. Nowadays, genealogy is not discussed, at least in this culture, but if there are others

the things that Christians tend to discuss are mixed with some

verses and more importantly are emotional or subjective. What can most relate to this

time is also the use of the law. Should one observe the Sabbath? Is it permissible to eat pork?

believers discuss. As Paul says to Titus, these things are of no profit if they are to

impose itself as an observance that helps the work of Christ.

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For the man who causes divisions, after one or two admonitions, reject him.

As Paul's letter to Titus is pastoral, this statement is for the elders of the Church.

that must make decisions about those who are always causing division with their

discussions that benefit nothing. The elders must act and ensure that the members

they are being discipled in the truth and anyone who contests to the extreme of attributing works to

the faith or that which generates sectarianism in the church, causing divisions, must be admonished, and if it

resisting the reprimand must be separated from the membership. The application of the meaning of

this text should not be different from the functioning of the church today, even though several have passed

for centuries, there are still people who cause divisions and they must be admonished and discarded if

as it warrants, although the secular and ecclesiastical thought of many has changed appealing

for inclusion and false love. Outside of leadership, every Christian should likewise avoid

people who always cause division and want to argue about everything over things that don't matter

they take advantage.

V.11 Knowing that such a one has become perverted, and sins and is condemned by his own judgment.

When a person constantly sins, they have become perverted, not paying attention to a call from

the elders. Not wanting to obey the instruction of the pastor or mature brothers on a certain topic

it demonstrates a state dominated by sin, that brings self-condemnation and the elders must

do something. Christians should not insist on sins after the admonition, they should

submit to their pastors (Heb. 13:17) and allow themselves to be discipled. They should not fall into pride and

self-sufficiency, but rather recognize the power of sin that assails them (Heb. 12:1) and not ignore the

schemes of Satan (2 Cor. 2:11).

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barclay William. Commentary on the New Testament. Barcelona: Clie, 1970

Harrison Everett F. Moody Bible Commentary: New Testament, Titus. El Paso, TX: House
Bautista, 1971.

Hendriksen William. Commentary on the New Testament: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus: Grand Rapids:
Spokesperson, 2006.

MacArthur John F. MacArthur Study Bible. Nashville, Tennessee: Nelson, 2015.

———. MacArthur Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Portavoz, 2012.

Quarles Charles L. Apologetic Study Bible, edited by Owen B. Chad, E. Ray, Copan
Paul and Moreland J.P. Nashville, Tennessee: Hollman Bible Publishers, 2011.

Quarles Charles L. Apologetic Study Bible, edited by Owen B. Chad, E. Ray, Copan
Paul and Moreland J.P. Nashville, Tennessee: Hollman Bible Publishers, 2011.

Schuetze Armin [Link] Popular Bible: 1,2 Timothy Titus, edited by Roland Cap Ehlke, Armin
J. Panning, Gary P. Baumler: Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Northwestern, 1999.

Strong James. Strong's Dictionary of Original Words of the Old and New Testament.
Nashville: Caribbean, 2002.

Vine W. E. Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words Comprehensive.

Nashville: Caribbean, 2002.

Walter L. Liefeld. Biblical Comments with Application, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus. Florida: Vida.
2015.