ทิตัส 3:6 วิจารณ์

The apostle here directs Titus about the faithful discharge of his own office generally (Tit 2:1), and particularly as to several sorts of persons (Tit 2:2-10) and gives the grounds of these and of other following directions (Tit 2:11-14), with a summary direction in the close (Tit 2:15).

INTRODUCTION TO TITUS 3 In this chapter the apostle exhorts Titus to press various duties incumbent on Christians, with arguments engaging to them; gives him some directions about dealing with heretics, and some instructions about private matters, and particular persons, and closes it with salutations. And first, he charges him to put his hearers in mind of their duty, to be subject to civil magistrates, and readily perform whatever is right and proper for them to do; and to abstain from blaspheming and brawling, and to exercise gentleness and meekness to all men, Tit 3:1. The arguments inducing thereunto are taken partly from their former state and condition, while unregenerate: when they were as ignorant and as wicked as other men, they are exhorted to behave well to; and partly from the consideration of the salvation they were now partakers of, Tit 3:3 which leads on the apostle to give an account of its causes and means: the moving cause of it is the love and mercy of God; the way and means in which it is brought about, are not works of righteousness done by men, but the regenerating and renewing grace of the Spirit, which is plentifully bestowed through Jesus Christ the Saviour, and justification by the free grace of God, by virtue of which men become heirs unto, and have an hope of eternal life, Tit 3:4 which several blessings of grace should be constantly insisted on in the ministry of the word, in order to engage believers carefully to perform good works; and because such doctrines are good in themselves, and profitable to men; whereas questions, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law, are foolish, vain, and unprofitable, and to be avoided, Tit 3:8, wherefore an heretical man should be rejected from all Christian conversation and communion, after he has been admonished at least twice, seeing he is off of the foundation, has sinned, and is self-condemned, Tit 3:10. Next the apostle desires Titus to meet him at Nicopolis, where his design was to pass the winter, upon sending two ministering brethren to Crete, who are mentioned by name, Tit 3:12 and that he would accommodate two others, who are also named, with everything convenient for their journey, Tit 3:13 and charges him to exhort the brethren under his care to learn to be diligent and industrious in the performance of good works, which have their necessary uses, and prevent unfruitfulness, Tit 3:13. And the epistle is concluded with salutations, and the apostle's usual benediction, Tit 3:15.

Which he shed on us abundantly,.... "Or richly"; either which love he shed abroad in the hearts of those whom he regenerated and renewed by his Spirit; or which water of regeneration, that is, grace, comparable to water, he plentifully shed, and caused to abound where sin had done; or rather whom, or which Holy Spirit, with his gifts and graces, such as faith, hope, and love, and every other, he poured forth in great abundance on them; see Isa 44:3 through Jesus Christ our Saviour; the love and kindness of God the Father our Saviour, comes through him; the mercy of God streams through him; the salvation itself is by, and through him; the grace communicated in regeneration and renovation is out of his fulness; the Spirit himself is given forth from him; and every supply of grace, by which the work is carried on, comes out of his hands; and everything wrought in us, that is well pleasing in the sight of God, is through him; and even the gift of God, eternal life itself.

Ver. 6. "Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour." Thus we need the Spirit abundantly.

For we also were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7) Someone might ask how Paul was foolish, unbelieving, wandering, and serving various desires and pleasures in wickedness and envy, hateful and hating, before the goodness and mercy of our Savior made him safe through the washing of regeneration: not by works of righteousness which he had done, but by his mercy, poured out abundantly and richly upon the apostles and believers through Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit: that, having obtained the inheritance of grace, they might possess the hope of eternal life. And indeed, we read that he was circumcised on the eighth day without objection according to the righteousness under the Law (Philippians 3:5): he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, according to the Pharisaic Law, of the tribe of Benjamin, educated at the feet of Gamaliel, and instructed from childhood in the sacred writings (Acts 22). To which it is replied that the Jews who were versed in the Law before the coming, passion, and resurrection of the Savior, although not full, nevertheless had some righteousness: just as Simeon and the prophetess Anna were also found serving in the temple of God. But once the people cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him; we have no king but Caesar!" (John 19:15) and "His blood be on us and on our children!" (Matthew 27:25), the kingdom of God was taken away from them and given to a nation producing its fruit. From that time on, anyone who did not believe in Christ was foolish, wandering, unbelieving, and serving various desires. Does it not seem to us [you] that Paul was foolish when he had zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; and was persecuting the Church: and was keeping the clothes of those stoning Stephen? When he had been so inflamed with hatred against the Savior that he received a letter from the priests, he went to Damascus to have those who believed in Christ bound? He could not have any virtues apart from the virtue of God, Christ Jesus, or put out the burning flame of desire, since he was not a temple of God? But what could be a greater evil and envy, than to take letters against those who are absent, and to destroy Christ's disciples everywhere; not wanting Him to be saved and envying those who were able to be saved; hating Christians and consequently earning hatred from everyone? What greater error both in obedience and in folly than to want to keep the Law that was abolished, and to say: Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, and to desire to be given milk like an infant when solid food is appearing and manly? Let us pay closer attention, and we will find in this present chapter the most obvious Trinity. For the kindness and mercy of our God and Savior, not of anyone else but of God the Father himself, justified us to eternal life through the regeneration of baptism and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. The salvation of believers is the mystery of the Trinity. Some understand this passage in such a way that they think it is not about Paul and the apostles, but rather, spoken by another under the apostles' authority, about others; this is so that just as under his own name, Apollo, and Cephas spoke about the dissension and schism he was pointing out in the Corinthians, so also in the present passage, he who names himself and the apostles shows what kind of people who had believed in Christ, no matter what they were like before the regeneration of spiritual baptism. At the same time, his humility is admirable, that he, who disregarded all humility and righteousness of the Law as if it were mere refuse and garbage, rightly remembered how he served without Christ and all his flaws.

whom He poured out richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. He poured out richly upon us. Which spirit? The one whom, Paul says, poured out richly upon us through Jesus Christ. He says that we needed great spiritual grace, so that not only might we be justified from past sins, but also become heirs of life; for this reason, He poured out. by His grace. Of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. we might become heirs. He says, Let us become heirs of eternal life, which is now in hope for us. — So be it. Let us become heirs of eternal life, as we also hope.

How is this evident? "Whom He poured out," he says, "upon us abundantly." He not only recreated us through Him, but also generously bestowed Him upon us, so that this too might be manifest through Him. And rightly so. After He had cleansed us, He abundantly filled us with the Spirit as well. This is what "poured out" means. For what is clean does not enter into the unclean. And this was accomplished through Jesus: He is the mediator and bestower of all blessings.

But what power can cause the heart to be cleansed? The power that comes from the holy and undivided Trinity: "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt 28:19). Hence at Christ's baptism were present the Father in the voice, the Son in the flesh, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Hence he says, of the Holy Spirit, i.e., which the Holy Spirit accomplishes: "you shall send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created: and you shall renew the face of the earth" (Ps 104:30). Again, there is the regeneration through the Spirit. "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father" (Gal 4:6); "for you have not received the spirit of slavery again in fear: but you have received the Spirit of adoption of sons, in whom we cry: Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15). But God the Father gives this Spirit, whom he has poured forth upon us abundantly, that he may describe an abundance of grace in baptism; hence there comes about the full remission of sins. "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 3:1); "I will pour out my Spirit upon your seed" (Isa 44:3). And on account of different gifts of grace. "Who gives to all men abundantly and does not upbraid" (Jas 1:5). This, too, is given through Jesus Christ. "The Paraclete . . . I will send him to you" (John 16:7). For in Christ we find two natures, and it pertains to both that Christ give the Holy Spirit. It pertains to the divine nature, which is the Word, from which, as also from the Father, the Spirit proceeds as love. Now love in us proceeds from a conception of the heart, whose conception is the word. It pertains to the human nature, because Christ receives the Spirit's highest fullness, in such a way that from him it streams forth unto others: "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). And a little after: "and of his fullness we have all received, grace unto grace" (John 1:16); "for it is not by measure that God gives the Spirit; the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand" (John 3:34). And therefore baptism and the other sacraments have no efficacy except by virtue of the humanity and passion of Christ.

The necessity of obedience to the civil powers, and of meek and gentle deportment towards all men, is to be diligently enforced, Tit 3:1, Tit 3:2. The wretched state of man, previously to the advent of Christ, Tit 3:3. The wonderful change which the grace of God makes, and the means which it uses to bring men to glory, Tit 3:4-7. The necessity of a holy life, and of avoiding things which produce strifes and contentions, and are unprofitable and vain, Tit 3:8, Tit 3:9. How to deal with those who are heretics, Tit 3:10, Tit 3:11. St. Paul directs Titus to meet him at Nicopolis, and to bring Zenas and Apollos with him, Tit 3:12; 13. Concluding directions and salutations, Tit 3:14, Tit 3:15.

Which he shed on us abundantly - Οὑ εξεχεεν· Which he poured out on us, as the water was poured out on them in baptism, to which there is here a manifest allusion; but as this was sometimes only sprinkled on the person, the heavenly gift was poured out, not in drops, but πλουσιως, richly, in great abundance. Through Jesus Christ - Baptism is nothing in itself; and there had been no outpouring of the Holy Spirit, had there been no saving and atoning Christ. Through him alone all good comes to the souls of men.

WHAT TITUS IS TO TEACH CONCERNING CHRISTIANS' BEHAVIOR TOWARDS THE WORLD: HOW HE IS TO TREAT HERETICS: WHEN AND WHERE HE IS TO MEET PAUL. SALUTATION. CONCLUSION. (Tit 3:1-15) Put them in mind--as they are in danger of forgetting their duty, though knowing it. The opposition of Christianity to heathenism, and the natural disposition to rebellion of the Jews under the Roman empire (of whom many lived in Crete), might lead many to forget practically what was a recognized Christian principle in theory, submission to the powers that be. DIODORUS SICULUS mentions the tendency of the Cretans to riotous insubordination. to be subject--"willingly" (so the Greek). principalities . . . powers--Greek, "magistracies . . . authorities." to obey--the commands of "magistrates"; not necessarily implying spontaneous obedience. Willing obedience is implied in "ready to every good work." Compare Rom 13:3, as showing that obedience to the magistracy would tend to good works, since the magistrate's aim generally is to favor the good and punish the bad. Contrast "disobedient" (Tit 3:3).

Which--the Holy Ghost. he shed--Greek, "poured out"; not only on the Church in general at Pentecost, but also "on us" individually. This pouring out of the Spirit comprehends the grace received before, in, and subsequently to, baptism. abundantly--Greek, "richly" (Col 3:16). through Jesus Christ--the channel and Mediator of the gift of the Holy Ghost. our Saviour--immediately; as the Father is mediately "our Saviour." The Father is the author of our salvation and saves us by Jesus Christ.