Titus 2.13-Godly Living and Rejection of Satanic Standards is Accomplished By Anticipating the Appearing of Jesus Christ at the Ratpure of the Church
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday June 1, 2014
Titus: Titus 2:13-Godly Living and Rejection of Satanic Standards is Accomplished by Anticipating the Appearing of Jesus Christ at the Rapture of the Church
Lesson # 24
Please turn in your Bibles to Titus 2:2.
Titus 2:2 Older men are to be characterized as level-headed, dignified, sound-minded by being characterized as sound in the Christian faith, in the uniqueness of divine-love, in the uniqueness of godly perseverance. 3 Likewise, older women are to be characterized as reverent ones in the area of conduct, not slanderers, not enslaved to much wine, teachers of good 4 in order that they would be able to train younger women to be lovers of their husbands, lovers of their children 5 sound-minded ones, pure ones, homemakers, performers of divine good, those who voluntarily obey their own husbands so that the Word originating from God will not be slandered. 6 Likewise, you continue making it your habit of exhorting younger men to be sound-minded 7 while in each and every circumstance continuing to make it your habit of showing yourself to be an example of integrity, dignity, sound speech, irreproachableness who produces excellent works by means of the teaching 8 in order that the one who is from the opposition would be put to shame because they possess absolutely nothing bad to say about us. 9 Slaves are to make it their habit of voluntarily obeying their own masters in each and every task so as to be pleasing, by not talking back 10 by not stealing. But rather, by making it their habit of voluntarily demonstrating complete trustworthiness, namely performing divine good in order that they would be modeling the teaching of God, our Savior in each and every task. 11 For the grace originating from God has been manifested offering salvation for the benefit of each and every member of the human race. 12 It simultaneously instructs us that we are to live in a self-controlled manner, righteously as well as godly during this present age while rejecting that which is characterized as ungodliness, specifically, that which is characterized as worldly desires. 13 The means of doing this which benefits ourselves is by making it our habit of anticipating the confident expectation which is characterized by transcendent happiness, specifically, the appearing of the Glory who is our great God as well as Savior, namely Jesus Christ. (My translation)
Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. (NASB95)
“Looking” is the verb prosdechomai (προσδέχομαι), which means “to await, to anticipate” since it pertains here to looking forward to some event as certain to take place.
Here it is used of anticipating the appearing of Jesus Christ at the rapture or resurrection of the church which is described as the confident expectation, which is characterized by transcendent happiness.
The present tense of the verb is a customary present signaling an action that is to regularly occur indicating that the Christian is to live a godly life while rejecting the standards of the devil’s world by making it their habit of anticipating the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ at the rapture of the church.
The participle form of the verb prosdechomai is a participle of means indicating that the Christian is to live godly during the present age and reject the standards of the devil’s world “by” anticipating the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ at the rapture or resurrection of the church.
“The blessed hope” is composed of the following: (1) adjective makarios (μακάριος), “the blessed” (2) noun elpis (ἐλπίς), “hope.”
The noun elpis means “confident expectation” and describes the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ at the rapture of the church as a confident expectation of blessing since it will be at the rapture that the church age believer will receive their resurrection body which will complete their sanctification and salvation.
The adjective makarios means “blessed” in the sense of being “transcendent happiness” indicating that the Christian’s anticipation of receiving their resurrection body is characterized by “transcendent happiness.”
In other words, this anticipation of the rapture is characterized by a happiness that is beyond comprehension and is thus inexpressible.
“And the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” defines specifically for the reader what Paul means by the confident expectation which is characterized by transcendent happiness.
“The glory” is the doxa (δόξα), which refers to the Lord Jesus Christ who as the incarnate Son of God is the glory of God since He manifests through His words and actions the absolute perfection of God’s character, which is His holiness (cf. John 1:14; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 1:1-13).
“Of our great God” affirms the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and describes Him as possesses a superior power and rank and dignity than any man or angel.
“Savior” affirms that He is the member of the Trinity who accomplished salvation through His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross as well as His resurrection.
Titus 2:13 The means of doing this which benefits ourselves is by making it our habit of anticipating the confident expectation which is characterized by transcendent happiness, specifically, the appearing of the Glory who is our great God as well as Savior, namely Jesus Christ. (My translation)
In Titus 2:2-14, Paul addresses the proper godly conduct of the Christian community on the island of Crete.
Then, in Titus 2:11, he presented the reason why he wanted these various groups in the Christian community to reflect godly standards in their lives which is the result of applying his apostolic instruction.
He reminds the Christian community on the island of Crete that the grace of God has appeared through the person and work of Jesus Christ whose death and resurrection provided the offer of salvation to each and every member of the human race.
The grace of God refers to the incarnation of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ as well as His earthly life, teaching, substitutionary spiritual and physical death’s on the cross as well as His resurrection from the dead, which provided eternal salvation for all mankind.
Next, in Titus 2:12, Paul continues this thought by teaching that while the grace of God has been manifested offering salvation for the entire human race, it is also simultaneously instructing all Christians to live in a self-controlled manner, righteously as well as godly during this present age.
At the same time it is teaching them to reject ungodliness and specifically worldly desires.
Now, here in Titus 2:13, the apostle continues his thought from verse 12 by teaching that the Christian is to live in a self-controlled manner, righteously and godly during this present age while rejecting ungodliness and specifically worldly desires by anticipating the appearing of Jesus Christ at the rapture of the church.
This appearance is a confident expectation for the Christian and is characterized by transcendent happiness since the Lord Jesus Christ will give the Christian their resurrection body at this particular time.
Paul is thus teaching the same thing that the apostle John taught in 1 John 3:2-3 in that they are both teaching that the rapture of the church serves as motivation to stay in fellowship with God and experience one’s sanctification and salvation.
John teaches that the Christian is fixes their confidence upon Jesus Christ will purify themselves which constitutes experiencing their sanctification.
In Titus 2:13, Paul is teaching the Cretan church that by anticipating the appearance of Jesus Christ at the rapture the Christian they will live in a self-controlled manner, righteously as well as godly during this present age and at the same time they will also reject ungodliness and specifically worldly desires
The “rapture” is a technical theological term for the resurrection of the church, which is imminent, and will be invisible to the world, and will terminate the church age dispensation.
It will take place in the earth’s atmosphere when the Lord Jesus Christ will suddenly and forcefully remove the church from planet earth in order to deliver her from the Tribulation period.
The rapture is taught in John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 1:7, 15:50-57, Philippians 3:20-21, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and Titus 2:13.
The resurrection or rapture of the church was a mystery that was not known to Old Testament saints (1 Corinthians 15:50-52).
The rapture is something every church age believer should be eagerly anticipating because at that time they will receive their resurrection bodies.
Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship exists from eternity past in the realm of the heavens, out from which also we ourselves at the present time are eagerly anticipating as Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ 21 who will cause our humiliating body to be outwardly transformed to be identical in essence with His glorious body because of the power that will enable Him to marshal all things created to Himself. (Author’s translation)
The resurrection body will be composed of flesh and bone and will not have blood as the physical body now has.
It will have a different molecular structure which will enable it to walk through walls as our Lord did in John 20:19.
It will be able to leave the earth vertically as our Lord did in Acts 1:9 and will be able to travel through space in an instant and appear in heaven.
The believer will still be able to eat and drink in a resurrection body (Luke 24:42-43).
The resurrection body will never get tired or sick and will minus the old sin nature and it will be a spiritual body with flesh and bones (1 Cor. 15:35-50).
The rapture of the church is “imminent” which means that the rapture could happen at any time.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 teaches that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night meaning that it will take place unexpectedly.
The only way the day of the Lord could break unexpectedly upon the world is to have it begin immediately after the rapture of the church, which is imminent.
Supporting the “imminent” return of Christ for His bride is that the Lord Jesus in John 14:1-3 first speaks of the rapture and does not mention any intervening events between preparing a place for His disciples in His Father’s house and receiving them to Himself.