The Pulpit Commentary — Titus — Section 39

ship of God. This is the aim and the work of the "grace of God." Without this \!rRCe there woulrl be no salvation. 3. It is tM love of God revealed to all. "Hnth appeared to all men." The gospel is not for a tribe or a clas8, but for man as man, Like the co11c1\\'e f,..1\l'ens, it embraces the wide world; it is for "all men." I I. THE rRocF.ss OF TRUE SOUL-CULTURE. 'l'his process involves three things. L. The re1mnc,:11tion of a wrong course. "Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts," These expn•ssious are an epitome of all that is sinful and wrong in human lile. Aro they not all-pre,·alent and all-potent? "Ungodliness," or practical atheism, where is ,t not? "Worldly lusts," the imp_ulses of sensuality, selfishness, pride, a11d ambition, they are the springs of worldly action the world over. Now, these are not only to be renou11ced, repudiated, but they are to be defied, resisten, and renounced; they must be given up. " U11,_:odlim·ss" must give way to true piety, "worldly lusts" must be renounced for impulses spiritual and Divine. 2. The adoption of a right course. "We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." It is net enough to renounce the evil; tl:e good must be adopted. Negative excellence ia not holiness. S1 rip the soul of a.II evil, and if it has not "Oodness in it, it "lacks the one thing" without which, Paul says, "I am nothing." We must live "soberly,n holding " mastery over our own passions and impulses; "righteously," re1,dering to all men their due; "12:od ly," practically realizing the presence, the claims, and the love of God in our e\'ery-day life. All this" in this present world," or in the present course of tl1ings. This " present world" urgently requires such a course of life, for it is dan- c:erous and transitory withal. 3. The .fizing of tM heart upon a glorious future. ·• Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the [appearing of the glory of our] '.!reat God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Are there two personalities liere, or one'? 011e, 1 think. "The great God our Saviour," or our great God and Saviour. The object of hope is, then, the future epiphany of the Divine, all glorious to behold. To see the redemptive God as we have never yet seen him in this morally hazy scene, this is the "blessed hope." Such a hope implies: (1) A vital interest in the epiphany. We never hope for that for which we have not a strong desire. (~) An assura11ce that such an epiphany will take place. Desire, of itself, is not hope. We desire many things we cannot hope for. It becomes hope when it is com- bined with expectation, and expectation implies the existence of grounds or reasons. That there will be such a manifestation, there a.re abundant reasons found in the "PP"rent irregularities of Divine Providence in its operations here, in the instinctivto longings of the human soul throughout all lands and ages, as well as in the clear and frequent declaration~ of the written Word. IIL THE END OF TRUE souL-01,LTURE. "Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniqui1y, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Observe: 1. The end is moral redemption. "Redeem us frorn all iniquity."' Redemption is not something that takes place outside of a man; its achievement is within. It is a raising of the soul from ignorance to knowledge, from vice to virtue, fron, selfishness to disinterestedness, from materialism to spirituality, from the mastery ul the devil to the reign of God. 2. The end is spiritual re.~toration to Chri.~t. "Purify unto himself a peculiar people [a people for his own possession]." Restoration to his likeness, his friendship, his service. 3. The end is ·oomplete deuotedness to holy labour. "Zealous of good works." What are good works? Not any particular class of works. A.ll works are µ:ood that spring from a good motive; and the good mQtive is supreme love for the Supremely Good. Works springing from this motive, whethrr manual or mental, social or personal, civil or eccl,,siastic, public or private, a.II are good. 4. The end involvtJS tM ,elf-sacrifice of Christ. " Who gave himself." Here i~ the grandest sacrifice ever made in the universe. Nothing grander could be. (1) 'I'he greatest pos,essic,n a man has is himself. What are rnillionR of acres, or the rule of kingdoms, in the estimation of the owner as compared to himself? "Skin for skin," etc. (2) The greatest self in tM whole creation is Christ. He was, in some Kpecial sense •penetrable to us, the only begott,,,n Son of God, and he gave himself. If he had given a univer,e, his gift would not have been equal to this. His gift teacbe1 r.be enormity of moral evil.-D T. UH. W. 1-16.) THE EPISTLE TO TITUS.