Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Titus
Chapter 2: The Great God and Our Saviour
Titus 2 shows how sound doctrine shapes every kind of person, and then reveals the grace that makes it possible. Titus is to 'speak the things which become sound doctrine,' teaching aged men to be 'sober, grave, temperate,' aged women to live 'as becometh holiness' and to train the young women, young men 'to be sober minded,' and servants to 'adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.' Then Paul unveils the engine of it all: 'For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.' Grace not only saves but trains us to live godly. And it fixes our eyes on the future: 'looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.' This chapter shows us grace that transforms and the God who gave Himself for us.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Titus chapter 2. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Paul shows how sound doctrine shapes the conduct of every age and station, and grounds it in the grace of God that saves and trains us as we await the appearing of our great God and Saviour. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Sound Teaching
Healthy doctrine for every age and station.
Adorn the Doctrine
A godly life that beautifies the gospel.
Grace That Teaches
Grace saves and trains us to live godly.
The Great God, Our Saviour
Looking for the glorious appearing of Christ.
Adorn the Doctrine of God Our Saviour (Titus 2:1-10)
Healthy teaching produces godly living in every age and station, so that the whole church adorns the doctrine of God our Saviour.
A Pattern of Good Works
"But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things."
Word Study
"sound," Greek hugiaino (ὑγιαίνω). The word means to be healthy, to be sound and well, to be in good health; it is the root of our word "hygiene." "Speak thou the things which become sound doctrine." Paul does not merely call the teaching "correct" or "true," though it is; he calls it healthy, health-giving. Sound doctrine is not dry information but living nourishment that makes the soul well, and it produces health in those who receive it, the moral and spiritual soundness Paul goes on to describe: sobriety, gravity, faith, love, patience, purity, faithfulness. Just as good food builds a healthy body, healthy teaching builds a healthy life. And the reverse is true, as Paul warned Timothy: false teaching "will eat as doth a canker," like gangrene rotting the body (2 Timothy 2:17). This is why the whole chapter moves from "sound doctrine" straight into how people are to live; the two cannot be separated. Wholesome truth grows wholesome character. So hugiaino teaches that doctrine matters intensely for daily life: what a church believes shapes what its people become. Right teaching is health for the soul, and its fruit is a godly life that "adorns the doctrine of God our Saviour." We are to hold and teach not merely accurate doctrine but health-giving doctrine, and to let it make us spiritually whole.
Explanation
Against the empty talkers of chapter 1, Paul tells Titus to "speak the things which become sound doctrine" — and then shows that sound doctrine produces sound living in every group. Aged men are to be sober and sound in faith; aged women reverent and teachers of good, that they may train the young women to love husband and children and keep the home; young men sober-minded, with Titus himself "a pattern of good works"; and servants faithful and honest, so that "they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." True teaching is not merely believed; it is worn, beautifying the gospel by godly conduct across every age and station.
Gospel Focus
Paul charges Titus to "speak the things which become sound doctrine," and then shows that sound doctrine always works itself out in sound living. He goes through the congregation by age and station. "Aged men" are to be "sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience", mature men marked by self-control and steadiness. "Aged women" likewise are to live "as becometh holiness," avoiding slander and drunkenness, and to be "teachers of good things," especially training "the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children," to be pure and diligent in the home, "that the word of God be not blasphemed." Notice that motive: how believers live either commends or discredits God's word before a watching world. "Young men" are exhorted "to be sober minded", the great need of youth is self-control. And Titus himself is to lead by example: "in all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works," with teaching marked by "uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity" and "sound speech, that cannot be condemned," so that opponents are "ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you." A blameless life silences critics. Even servants, at the bottom of that society, have a high calling: by being "obedient," honest, and faithful, "not purloining" (not pilfering), they "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." That phrase is beautiful. The word "adorn" is the root of "cosmetic"; it means to beautify, to set off like a jewel in its setting. Even a lowly slave, by an honest and faithful life, makes the gospel look beautiful to onlookers. So the whole church, old and young, men and women, free and slave, is called to let sound doctrine shape a godly life, so that the teaching of "God our Saviour" is not blasphemed but adorned, displayed as lovely to the world. Doctrine and life are one; what we believe is meant to make us beautiful in holiness, so that others are drawn to the God we serve.
The Glorious Appearing of the Great God and Our Saviour (Titus 2:11-15)
The grace of God has appeared to save and to train us for godliness, as we await the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ, our great God and Saviour, who gave Himself for us.
Who Gave Himself for Us
"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee."
Word Study
"the glorious appearing," Greek epiphaneia (ἐπιφάνεια). The word means a shining forth, a manifestation, an appearing; it is used of the visible, glorious arrival of a great one, and gives us "epiphany." "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Paul uses this word for the visible return of Christ in splendor, the epiphaneia, when the One who first came veiled in humility will come again in blazing glory. But notice carefully whose appearing it is: "the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." In the Greek, a single "the" governs the whole phrase, binding "the great God" and "our Saviour" together as one person, Jesus Christ. Paul is not looking for two appearings, one of God and another of Jesus; he is looking for one glorious appearing, that of Jesus Christ, who is Himself "the great God and our Saviour." This is a direct and stunning confession of the full deity of Christ: Jesus is not merely sent by the great God; He is the great God, our Saviour, appearing in glory. It fits the whole Apostolic confession: the one God who "was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16) will be manifest again in glory at His epiphaneia. And the same verse that calls Him "the great God" says He "gave himself for us", the great God who died. So the blessed hope of the church is the glorious appearing of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and to wait for it is to wait for God Himself.
Explanation
Here is one of the great gospel summaries. "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men" — and that grace does two things. It saves, and it schools: "teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly." Grace is no license to sin; it is a teacher of holiness. And it points forward, "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" — one Person, both "the great God" and "our Saviour," who "gave himself for us" to redeem and purify a people "zealous of good works." Grace saves us, trains us, and sets us watching for our God and Saviour.
Gospel Focus
Having called for godly living, Paul now reveals its source and power: grace. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." Grace has "appeared", it shone into the world in the coming of Christ, and it "bringeth salvation" offered "to all men," no nation or class excluded. But Paul makes a crucial point: grace does more than forgive; it teaches. "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." The very grace that saves us also trains us, disciplining us to say no to sin and yes to holy living, right now, "in this present world." Grace is not a license to sin but a school of godliness. And grace gives us a forward look: "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Here Paul makes one of the clearest confessions of Christ's deity in Scripture. He calls Jesus Christ "the great God and our Saviour", and in the original the grammar binds those titles to one person: Jesus is the great God and our Saviour. We are not waiting for two beings to appear, but for one, Jesus Christ, who is Himself our God. This is the Apostolic faith: the one God, who was manifest in the flesh, is our Saviour Jesus, and it is His glorious appearing we await. And this great God "gave himself for us." The God we look for is the God who died; He gave Himself "that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." His purpose in the cross was not only to forgive but to purchase and cleanse a people who belong wholly to Him ("peculiar" means His own special possession), a people passionate for good works. So the chapter comes full circle: sound doctrine produces godly living, and godly living flows from grace, the grace that appeared in Christ, that trains us to live holy now, and that fixes our hope on the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ, our great God and Saviour, who gave Himself to make us His own. "These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority," Paul concludes; this message is to be proclaimed boldly, for it is the heart of the gospel.
Chapter 2 in Review
Titus 2 binds sound doctrine to godly living, and grounds both in grace. Titus is to "speak the things which become sound doctrine," shaping aged men and women, young women and men, and even servants, so that all "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." Then Paul reveals the power behind it: "the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." And he fixes our hope on the future: "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
For the Apostolic reader this chapter shines with the deity of Christ and the power of grace. Its crown is verse 13, where Jesus Christ is called "the great God and our Saviour", one person, our God and Saviour, whose glorious appearing we await. The God who "gave himself for us" on the cross is the same God whose return in glory is our blessed hope; there are not two appearings but one, His. And the chapter teaches that grace is no mere pardon but a mighty teacher, training us to renounce sin and live holy in the here and now. The same grace that saved us disciplines us, and the same Christ who died for us is coming again as the great God. So we let sound doctrine shape a beautiful, godly life that adorns the gospel, we let grace train us in holiness, and we look with longing for the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself to make us His own.
- Sound (healthy) doctrine shapes godly living in every age and station (2:1-8).
- Even servants "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour" by faithful lives (2:10).
- "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men" (2:11).
- Grace teaches us to deny sin and "live soberly, righteously, and godly" now (2:12).
- We await "the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (2:13).
- Christ "gave himself for us... and purify unto himself a peculiar people" (2:14).
Questions for Reflection
- Does your life "adorn" the gospel, or give critics something to blaspheme?
- Are you letting grace not only forgive you but train you toward godliness?
- Do you confess Jesus as "the great God and our Saviour," one God appearing in glory?
- Are you "zealous of good works," as one of Christ's own purchased people?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. Sound doctrine shaping every age and station: Titus 2:1-8; 1 Timothy 5:1-2; 1 Peter 5:5. Servants adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour: Titus 2:9-10; Ephesians 6:5-8; 1 Peter 2:18. Grace that saves and trains for godliness: Titus 2:11-12; Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 6:1-4. The glorious appearing of Christ our great God and Saviour: Titus 2:13-15; 1 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:1; John 20:28; Galatians 1:4. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Sound doctrine for every age and station: Titus 2:1-8; 1 Timothy 5:1-2.
- Servants adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour: Titus 2:9-10; 1 Peter 2:18.
- Grace that brings salvation and trains us for godliness: Titus 2:11-12; Ephesians 2:8-10.
- The glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Titus 2:13-15; 2 Peter 1:1; John 20:28.