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2 John 1:5, Romans 13:10-13

The Law of Love

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 6, 2023

It seems that many of the believers in the church that John is addressing have stopped “walking in the truth.” That truth is the truth that Paul explains to us in Romans 7. He clearly says in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fallen short.” No one lives up to the standards of a perfectly holy God. When we think we don’t have sin, we alienate the world and others, and we end up fighting wars and hating one another. John wants us to live in love with each other. So in 2 John 2:5, he pleads with the members of this dear church that he refers to as “dear lady.” He says, “And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.” Jesus did not come to save the righteous or the healthy. He came for sinners and the sick. If we believe we can live up to the standards of the law, we don’t need Jesus. If we think a righteous life is achievable through our own efforts, we expect others to live up to these standards and become judgemental and critical. It’s always wise to remember Isaiah’s words, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Paul repeats this in the New Testament. It’s only when we’re walking in this “truth” that we are able to love one another. We will never hold unconditional love for others if we expect them to behave in certain ways.

Now we know that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We know that we cannot keep the Law perfectly.  The scriptures make that clear – “there is none righteous no not one.” But you have to notice what Paul says in Romans 13:8.  He who “loves” his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Then Paul explains this. When we truly love our neighbor, we will never sin against him. There is no need for the law that says, though shalt not steal from someone, when you truly love that someone as much as you love yourself. We do not need a law telling us not to kill someone we love.  We always hold the best interest of those that we love as our highest priority. The same goes with thou shalt not commit adultery. When you love others you will not hurt them. The same goes for thou shalt not covet. You don’t desire to have what belongs to someone you love. Paul then closes his discussion concerning the law of love in Romans 13:10 and says, “love does no wrong to a neighbor, love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.”  Thus we have come to refer to this as the law of love.

Is it possible to command us to love one another? It seems to me that the command to “love one another” is not a call to an emotion. It’s a call to action.  That’s what God’s love is all about.  Hollywood has deceived us into believing that love is either sheer sentimentality or else the feeling that comes over a person when an attractive member of the opposite sex comes into view. That is not what God means by love. When we speak of God’s love for mankind, we do not think of the warm feelings he has about us, but what He did for us. He sent His son to die for us.  Again, quoting Paul, God took action to take care of our sin problem by sending His son to pay the penalty of our sin for us. His love was not an emotional response, but a willful decision to act in our behalf. That’s what Agape, or biblical love is. It is to act for the good of another, regardless of the emotional state with respect to that person. No, better, it is to act for the good of another, in spite of a negative emotional state towards that person.  You see, biblically speaking, love is action on behalf of another! It is not sentiment, but action.

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1 John 1:5, Various

No Darkness in Jesus

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 5, 2023

John explains twice in his first epistle his purpose for writing. The chief purpose is found in 1 John 5:13, where he explains that he wants his readers to “know” beyond any doubt that through their faith in Jesus, they have eternal life. The Catholic translation, Douay Rheims Version, says that John wants his readers to “realize” that they have eternal life. Either way, it expresses a certainty that John wishes his readers to have. I’d argue that the second purpose that John states in his letter is directly related to his first one. In 1 John 1:4, he wants his readers to join him and other believers in the joy that comes from knowing Jesus and having our eternities secure. After expressing his desire to share the joy that comes from knowing Christ in this way, John tells us that Jesus makes all the difference in the world. It’s like light and dark. In John 1:5, he says, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

 Living in the dark is living with our minds fixed on the things of the flesh. It’s only the here and now that matters. We are just an accident of time and space and matter and have no more ultimate purpose in life than a dandelion. We’re just one of the, albeit higher, stages of the evolutionary process. All of our appetites, therefore, crawl along the ground. We only care about the physical world and the pleasures of the flesh. John will refer to the distractions being the world, the flesh, and the devil. In Genesis 3:14, God cursed Satan by, saying, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.”  It appears that most people live in the darkness. They follow Satan whose appetites are all bound to the earth. They crawl along on their bellies and eat the produce of the earth instead of the heavenly food of Jesus Christ. He came to feed us just as the Israelites at Mana from heaven, Jesus is the food that came down from heaven and gives us true life. Whoever eats his flesh will never die. I’m arguing that denying our eternal existence is living or walking in darkness. The light of life, Jesus, gives us an eternal perspective. As Peter says, “through of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we have a living hope.”

Living with the certainty of eternal life is to live in the light. When this reality enters into our reality, there is no place for darkness. William Barclay suggests that darkness has many sides to it. He suggests that darkness stands for the Christless life. In Christ is eternal life, in the dark is only the flesh and the now. God has delivered us from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his dear son. Darkness, as Barclay puts it, “is hostile to the light.” The pull on us to live in the moment, to respond to the lusts of the flesh, are serious distractions from living life in the light of our eternal natures. Darkness is to live in ignorance. Jesus said that the one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Darkness is also the chaos of life without God. Without God’s light shining out in all of its glory in the person of Jesus Christ, our lives do not have order, design, purpose, or meaning. It makes no sense at all. Darkness is living as a slave to the impulses of the flesh. We are incarcerated by the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and the lust of the eyes. Paul tells the Romans that the natural man loves the works of darkness because their deeds are evil. They love the darkness and despise the light. They seek the shadows because they cannot stand the light of the glorious nature of God as demonstrated in Jesus. Darkness in unfruitfulness. If growing things are deprived of the light, their growth is retarded. No fruit of the spirit can be produced in the darkness.  Further, “The darkness is connected with lovelessness and hate. If a man hates his brother, it is a sign that he walks in darkness (1 John 2:9–11). Love is sunshine and hatred is the dark.”[1]

[1] Barclay, William, ed. 1976. The Letters of John and Jude. Daily Study Bible Series. Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster John Knox Press.

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2 Peter 1:3

God’s Unconditional Love

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 4, 2023

Knowledge of Jesus is key to living the good life. Peter focuses on that truth in both his first and second epistles. The knowledge of Jesus opens our lives to all the good things of life in the here and now, along with securing for us our eternal destiny of having a place prepared for us in the kingdom of heaven. This security has been guaranteed through His resurrection. The resurrection declared to the whole world his glorious majesty and divine power over sin and death. So, then through faith in Christ, we get his righteousness deposited in our exhausted bankrupt accounts. We have no resources in and of ourselves. We are lost sinners saved by grace. Growing in this knowledge is what changes us from the inside. As we learn more and more about God’s love for us, as expressed in Jesus, we become more and more like him. It’s interesting that becoming more like him has its basis in growing in the understanding of how less like him we really are. We have nothing, but in Christ, we have everything. Notice what Peter says in 2 Peter 1:3, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness….” We, indeed, are powerless in everything that really matters. We have everything with respect to two things: life and godliness.

First of all, we have everything for life! Everyone faces the reality of death, and there is no escape. Like the honored doctor once said upon receiving an award for saving many lives, “I have yet to perceive that the mortality rate is still 100 percent.” It is appointed for man once to die, and there is no escape. We are completely powerless regarding our lives and the lives of our loved ones. But, in contrast to our powerless nature, Jesus has divine power. He raised Lazarus from the grave to show Mary and Martha that he is “the resurrection and the life.” He rose from the dead himself to show once more his divine power over death. Jesus does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He raises our consciousness from this mere mortal plane to an eternal perspective. We all know that death is imminent for us, but now through our faith in Christ, we know that it’s not the end of anything. It simply opens the door to eternity for us. Jesus told the thief on the cross, “this day, you will be with me in paradise.” Notice that this perspective and conviction of eternal life is something that has been “granted.” It is not something that can be earned or deserved. It’s a gift from God. Everything we need for eternal life is provided for us in Christ. The resurrection power that is key to understanding Peter’s epistles is something that is not earned or deserved. It’s something that’s given to all believers by God’s grace through faith.

God grants us everything we need for eternal life! That means he “gives” it to us!  We have it not because of our goodness, but because of his goodness. We know we have it, not because we’ve been good and deserve it, but because he has promised it to us on the basis of his own goodness. If we believe we can earn it through some form of religion or good deeds, we are missing the boat! Richison points out, “Given” “means to give with no strings attached. God does not say, ‘If you do this or that, I will give this or that. If you give a tithe to me, I will bless you. If you witness for me, I will bless you.’ No, God gives freely, without strings. He does this out of His own perfect character. In other words, He does not benefit personally from what you do. He does not benefit from what He gives us. He gives simply out of His perfectly generous character. He does it no other way.”[1] It is the expression of his unconditional love. The only love we can ever truly experience must be unconditional because none of us have lived up to the conditions by which we might be deserving of it.

[1] Richison, Grant. 2006. Verse by Verse through the Books of 1 & 2 Peter. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems.

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1 Peter 1:3-4, John 14:3

Our Living Hope!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 3, 2023

Peter’s addressees are the “scattered elect” of God. He is specifically addressing the Christians that have been scattered at the persecution that took place in Acts chapter seven. Stephen was stoned to death in that chapter, and the church was scattered around the Mediterranean basin. The Church at Antioch on the Orontes was formed by scattered believers. That’s the church where the believers were first called “Christians.” Having been driven from their homes, many felt the pangs of homesickness. They missed the familiar things of their childhood as well as the people with whom they lived most of their lives. Peter wanted to encourage believers around the world that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead carried with it the promise of eternal life in a much better place for all who believed. In 1 Peter 1:3-4, he told them, and us, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”

 Faith in Christ makes us heirs of Christ. We have a guaranteed inheritance to be received beyond this valley of the shadow of death. Eternal life is ours! But it’s ours to be lived out in a much better place. It’s imperishable. It’s undefiled. And it’s unfading. It’s interesting to note that Peter does not try to tell us what heaven, our eternal home, will be like. Instead, he focuses on what it will NOT be like. When Peter says, it’s imperishable, of course, it means that our home is not capable of perishing. It won’t go away. But even better than that is that it includes the idea that it cannot be destroyed. When you face the kind of opposition the early believers faced, this was important. Many of them had their homes taken away from them and destroyed by political authorities motivated by the enemies of Christ. Peter wants us all to know that our homes are not made of wood, hay, or stubble but of indestructible material. The big bad wolf won’t be able to blow it down. When he speaks of it being “undefiled,” it means that it is not polluted. “To pollute means to make something dirty or harmful, especially with poisonous or waste products. It can apply to air, water, earth, or anything that can be soiled or contaminated. It can also mean to make something morally unclean or defile it. The word comes from the Latin word pollut, meaning ‘soiled.’”[1] To be “undefiled” is to be Free from stain, blemish, evil or corruption; immaculate; uncorrupted. Not polluted, not vitiated, not corrupted. Finally, Peter says it will be “unfading.” According to one commentator it, “means our inheritance is everlasting. It never becomes old. It never wears out. It is imperishable. Its beauty never fades. It never dries up. It is everlasting and forever undiminished. Our inheritance is perennially fresh. It never becomes old and worn. Time does not impair it.”[2]

When Jesus was about to go to his crucifixion, he encouraged the disciples that he had left behind by telling them; I am going to prepare a place for you (John 14:3). Jesus speaks to his followers about what he will do in the future. Peter tells us that it is finished now and waiting for us. Our heavenly home is our living hope that is guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We sometimes get so enamored by the things in the world that we don’t think of heaven very much and are not too anxious to go there. C. S. Lewis addressed this issue and said, “There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven, but more often I find myself wondering whether in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else.… It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want, the thing we desired before we met our wives or made our friends or chose our work, and which we shall still desire on our deathbeds when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work.”[3]

[1] https://www.bing.com/search?q=what+does+pollute

[2] Richison, Grant. 2006. Verse by Verse through the Books of 1 & 2 Peter. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems.

[3] C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, as quoted by Hughes, R. Kent. 1999. John: That You May Believe. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

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James 1:5

God is Ready to Help

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 2, 2023

James tells us that suffering can be a cause for joy rather than misery. Persevering through hardships can bring real maturity in our lives. If we see our trials as God’s personal work in our lives, we can surely become better people through them. Otherwise, trials and suffering in our lives will make us bitter. He wants us to realize that in life, we will all face hardships, but we don’t have to turn bitter on account of them. If we persevere in our faith that God loves us, even amidst our trials, and do not give in to bitterness, cynicism, and resentment, we’ll become much better people. But he also knows that this is not easy. It takes a trained mind to manage that. So, James tells us how to gain the right perspective in all of our trials. In James 1:5, he tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

 One of the most well-known quotes from the Bible is, “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” I don’t think that quote involves a “shaking in our boots” kind of fear. It’s more the reverence required when we take God seriously. Taking God seriously involves a deep sense of faith and trust in his administering the affairs of my life. I’ve often said that faith does not just believe that God exists. James will tell us later in this epistle that even Satan believes that. It’s more like trust. It believes that God has my best interest foremost in mind regardless of the circumstances He has allowed to invade my life. This is holding onto my conviction of a good God who loves me and has my best interest foremost in mind, even when it hurts. This is not an easy task. Job is well aware of this struggle and wrestles profoundly with all the pains and hardships that he experiences. He lost all his loved ones and his own health but persevered, saying, “though He (God) sleys me, yet will I trust in him.” He also said, “the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” He said, “naked I came into the world, and naked from it I will go.” But there are also 40 chapters of Job wrestling with the concept that God is good even though he suffers profoundly. I read a recent headline that said, “Highly religious people struggle the most with faith when they experience suffering, study finds.”[1]

It’s difficult, and we often need help! This verse lets us know that God is always ready and willing to help us with the “wisdom” necessary to accept His will for our lives with faith. Charles Stanley introduces his sermon on this passage in the book of James by saying, “One of the most common questions people ask is, “If God is a loving Father, why does He allow His children to go through painful and difficult trials?” God doesn’t promise to explain everything to us. However, if we keep a godly attitude and ask for wisdom in our circumstances, we can prevail over our difficulties, gain a sense of peace, and arrive on the other side with greater faith and stronger relationship with our Heavenly Father.”[2]

[1] MSN Edge News headline for March 23, 2023

[2] Wisdom For Life’s Trials (intouch.org)

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Hebrews 1:5, Various

The Message is in the Music

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 1, 2023

The writer of Hebrews knows his Old Testament well and uses passages from it to prove the superiority of Christ and His message to us and the world. In verse 5, he begins a commentary on Psalm 2:7 (ideas repeated by the way in 2 Samuel 7:14). He chooses verses that deal with Jesus’ superiority to angels. In verse 5, he writes, “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you?’ Or again, ‘I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son?’” It is not surprising to me that the quotes the writer uses in the first chapter of Hebrews are all from their songs. Kistemaker acknowledges this in his commentary; He gives the source of every quote: “indeed in his first chapter he avails himself of five passages from the Psalms and one from the Hymn of Moses (Deut. 32). The quotations are from Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14 in verse 5; Deuteronomy 32:43 (according to the readings in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint) in verse 6; Psalm 104:4 in verse 7; Psalm 45:6–7 in verses 8–9; Psalm 102:25–27 in verses 10–12; and Psalm 110:1 in verse 13.[1]

The writer of Hebrews wants us to grasp the reality of how the Old Testament is truly about Jesus! Everyone recognizes Psalm 2 as a song about Jesus or, in the case of the Jews, about the Messiah. Again, let me lean on a much better scholar than I to explain this truth. Kistemaker says, “The Jewish people understood Psalm 2 to be messianic, and their use of the psalm in the synagogue reflected that understanding. The individual writers of the New Testament also interpreted all the quotations and references from the second psalm messianically. For example, when Paul preached in Pisidian Antioch, he said, ‘What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: You are my Son; today I have become your Father’ (Acts 13:32–33). Quotations from Psalm 2 are given in Acts 4:25–26; 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5; Revelation 2:26–27; 19:15. Allusions to verses 2, 7, 8, and 9 can be discerned in Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Hebrews, II Peter, and Revelation.

Visiting many churches over the years and having attended hundreds of chapel services as well, I’m often moved by how the music contains better theology than the messages. Whereas the messages, however, seem to stray from the person and work of Jesus into the need for submission, obedience, and commitment on the part of the listeners. We’re frequently exhorted to try harder, give more, serve more, study more, read more, do more, etc., etc., etc. But the music nearly always remains faithful to the message contained in the person and the work of Jesus. Pay attention to that yourself sometimes. The messages sound much more like that which the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus’ day might preach and not what the writer of Hebrews is preaching about. But I must admit, much of the modern worship music is all about me and not about Jesus and his work on our behalf. Be careful of this kind of music. It detracts from worship and elevates the worshiper. There is some good modern Christian music, but I like the old hymns of the faith that have stood for decades. Some of them have lasted for over a century or two.  I agree with the blogger who writes, “Hymns, due to their length, often explore God’s character and our relationship with Him in great depth. Contemporary songs, on the other hand, often lack theological depth. This is not necessarily because they are inaccurate, but because they contain few words.”[2]

[1] Simon J. Kistemaker and William Hendriksen, Exposition of Hebrews, vol. 15, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 35–36.

[2] https://www.google.com/search?q=traditional+hymns+and+contemporary+worship

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Philemon 1:6

Runaway Slaves

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 31, 2023

Paul began his greeting to Philemon by thanking God for him and his faith in Christ as well as his love for his fellow believers. Then in Philemon 1:6, Paul adds a petition to his prayer of thanksgiving. He says, “And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.” Paul wants Philemon’s testimony to be fruitful. He wants those who have contact with Philemon to recognize his love for God and fellow believers to be obvious by the things that Philemon does in the general course of his daily life. He prays that when others look at Philemon, they see all the goodness that comes with faith in Jesus Christ.  Moule explains Paul’s prayer, “Yes, this is my dearest wish, my most earnest prayer; that your life of unselfish helpfulness may so tell around you that the observing world shall recognize, in your instance, all the beauty of the gifts Christ Jesus gives His people so that praise shall come ‘unto Christ Jesus,’ aye, and new disciples too.”[1] Christ sends His spirit into our lives, which brings all good things. The fruits that sprout in a believer’s life are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The fruits of the Spirit show themselves to others in good deeds. Good deeds are motivated by a convert’s appreciation for the great gifts that God has bestowed upon him through his faith in Jesus. The fruits of the Spirit cannot be earned or deserved but follow naturally in the course of one’s growth in the knowledge of the grace one receives. Good works in and of themselves do not bring the fruits of the Spirit. The Spirit brings good works into the lives of believers. As Beet said 120 years ago, “Paul desires that the spirit of brotherhood which belongs to Philemon’s faithfulness may produce results, and these so abundant and various as to evoke, as their surrounding element, a recognition by others of every excellence which dwells in Christians, and thus tend to the glory of Christ; or, in other words, that Philemon’s loyalty to Christ may assume form in a manifestation of Christian brotherhood, and thus secure recognition of all the excellences with which Christ has enriched His people.”[2]

But Paul had something very specific in mind, as we’ll see in the course of this short letter. He prayed that Philemon’s growth in the grace of Christ would have an impact on how he treated his former slave, Onesimus. Homer Kent makes this simple, “As Philemon increasingly recognized all the spiritual realities that Christ had provided in salvation, he would be stimulated to display a similar sort of grace to the undeserving Onesimus.”[3] Philemon’s personal faith found its source in his personal understanding that he could not save himself. There was nothing in his good works, moral character, or religious behavior such that he could earn or deserve anything from God. It would be all of grace. God saved Philemon even though he didn’t deserve it. Only this changes the workings of individuals to extend such grace to others who don’t deserve it. Onesimus, who apparently robbed Philemon and ran away to Rome, certainly did not deserve forgiveness. That’s the nature of Grace. It can only be given to those who don’t deserve it. After serving out his debt to society for his crime, Paul sends Onesimus back to his owner. Praying that his former owner, Philemon, would now see Onesimus as a fellow believer and receive him with open arms as a brother, not as a runaway slave. Like the prodigal son who comes home to the father to a warm reception, Paul wanted Philemon to receive Onesimus the same way. All believers, Philemon included, were once runaway slaves.

 [1] Moule, Handley C. G. n.d. Colossian and Philemon Studies: Lessons in Faith and Holiness. Westwood, NJ: Fleming H. Revell.

[2] Beet, Joseph Agar. 1902. A Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and to Philemon. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

[3] Kent, Homer A., Jr. 2006. Treasures of Wisdom: Studies in Colossians & Philemon. Revised Edition. The Kent Collection. Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books.

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Titus 1:4

Jesus Makes Us Whole

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
July 30, 2023

When Paul addressed his disciple, Timothy, he reminded him of the strong heritage he had in his Christian mother and grandmother. When he speaks to Titus, he is addressing a first-generation believer. He came from a purely pagan family and had to face the alienation that this would most likely have caused him. Paul, on the other hand, the formal Jew, the Pharisee, looked past the ancient hatred Jews had for Gentiles and Gentiles had for Jews. That’s why he addresses Titus as a “true” child of the faith. In Titus 1:4, Paul addressed his letter, and we read, “To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.”

 Calling Titus a true son is Paul’s way of saying that the barrier between Jew and Gentile has been broken down. It has been broken down by the faith they have in common. This faith includes a clear recognition that their standing before God has nothing to do with their own merit or worth. In God’s eyes, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. There is no difference between male and female. There is no difference between the rich and the poor. Therefore, Paul and his Gentile convert both stand on equal footing with the God that made them. One commentary explains this well. “Our ‘common faith’—the recognition that all are in need of a Savior—removes any rationale for judgmentalism and any basis for pride. The need for comparison and competition dies in the recognition that Christ provides our only measure of glory before God. The necessity of Christ’s pardon of us all prompts forgiveness, understanding, and love in the Christian community. Among conscientious Christians, even the barriers of racial prejudice, national hatred, and ancient antipathies wither when the realities of grace blossom. This is evident when the former Pharisee named Paul calls a Gentile named Titus ‘my true son.’”[1]

The Grace that Paul and the rest of the Apostles received from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is the grace that results in peace. The writers of the epistles of the New Testament are very fond of commending grace and peace to the recipients of their letters that it’s impossible to overstate the importance of this. The commentary I quoted above added, “When persons become absolutely convinced that their standing before God is based entirely on his grace and not on any goodness in themselves, peace comes. This peace that Christ’s reconciliation provides is not only the end of antipathy between a rebellious heart and its Creator. Full understanding of grace also provides relief from the constant striving for status and affection that characterizes the natural human state. Assessments of who is more deserving of God’s affection or acclaim go away in the recognition that ‘all … fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23). Competition for recognition and regard fades in the realization that all the rewards of grace are unearned. We become equal members of the fellowship of those whose condition is desperate apart from Christ, and this humbling realization is the foundation of Christian harmony.” Just to conclude on the “grace and peace” commendation, notice that they both are attributed from both God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is then described by one word: Savior. Lea says, “The title Savior, used in this letter six times, is applied to God three times and to Jesus three times. Each occurrence of Savior applied to God is closely followed by Savior applied to Jesus. This interchange of such an important New Testament title suggests the mutual role of God and Jesus Christ in redemption, as well as the high Christology found in this letter. The use of the possessive pronoun ‘our’ with ‘Savior’ further demonstrates the ‘common faith’ of Paul and Titus. The cultural and religious barriers between Jew and Greek are dissolved in a common faith characterized by a personal relationship with God as Father that is based upon the redeeming work of the Savior, Jesus Christ.”[2]

[1] Hughes, R. Kent, and Bryan Chapell. 2000. 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus: To Guard the Deposit. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

[2] Lea, Thomas D., and Hayne P. Griffin. 1992. 1, 2 Timothy, Titus. Vol. 34. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

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