By Marvin Duncan
Titus 2:11-13
Every Pastor wants his congregation to live their Christian life free from the stains of sin. Some Pastors, thinking to protect their flock, set forth a list of activities that are forbidden for his congregation. His message becomes negative for his emphasis is on things that are to be avoided instead of presenting what Christ has done for His redeemed. There is a fear among many Pastors that if they were to teach the Grace of God it would lead to loose, immoral living by the saints of God. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Grace of God, if it is understood by the saints of God, will lead them to live above the things of this world. Paul points this out to Titus by saying:
“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 age” (Titus 2:11-12).
When Christ died on Calvary’s Cross, His death provided salvation for all men. No one will be refused if he comes to God acknowledging he is the sinner for whom Christ died and claiming Christ’s shed blood as the payment of his sins. If there is anything the Christian needs, it is how to live in this sin-cursed world. God’s Grace teaches us how to live so that we are in the right relationship with ourselves, with others, and most importantly, how we are to live before God. The Grace of God teaches the Christian to live soberly in relation to himself; before others he is to live righteously and in our relationship to God we are to live godly. No set of rules could do this.
Along with teaching the Christian how to live his Christian life, the Grace of God also teaches the Christian to look for “that Blessed Hope” (Titus 2:13). If the Christians of this dispensation knew and understood what was involved in this “Blessed Hope,” there would be no need to set forth a list of activities that he is not to do. Once a man begins to see the high exalted position he has in Christ and realizes that very shortly he will see his Savior face to face, he will have no desire for the things of this world. Let us look into the Scriptures to see what the Grace of God has done for the Christian and what our “Blessed Hope” is.
Our Heavenly Position
In his letter to the Saints at Colosse, Paul encourages them to:
“Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2).
The reason for this upward look is found in verse one of this same section of Scripture. Paul’s encouragement is:
“Since you have been risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.”
In his letter to the Saints at Ephesus, Paul had written that the Christians of this dispensation have already been raised up and made to sit with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6). As far as God is concerned, we have already been seated in the heavenlies . This is a sure promise that we can rely on. It is this heavenly position we have as members of the Body of Christ that Paul is referring to in his letter to the Colossians when he encourages them to “seek those things which are above.” If we can grasp our heavenly position, this fact will direct our activities as we live our Christian life here in this sin-cursed world. |
Our Citizenship Is In Heaven
One of the truths of Paul’ Eepistles is that today God is calling out a body of believers to dwell in heaven. Israel was God’s channel for redeeming an earthy people. The Body of Christ is God’s means of redeeming a Heavenly people. Everything about the Body of Christ is directed to the heavenlies. Our position is that of a son of God. In as much as God’s eternal family dwells in the heavenlies, Paul tells the Saints at Philippi that our citizenship is in heaven. We are seen as already being a part of that heavenly community. We see this truth in Philippians 3:20. In this verse, the King James translators used the word, “conversation,” instead of citizenship but when we understand what this word meant in 1611, which was the English used by the translators, we will see that they were saying the same thing that we understand by the word, citizenship. In 1611, the word, conversation, meant manner of living. A person’s manner of living was determined by the society in which he lived. Thus, we have the idea of citizenship included in this Old English word. In Philippians 3:20, Paul says: |
“For our conversation (our citizenship) is in Heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
It is because we are heavenly people that we are to live above this earthly sphere. In Romans 6:4, Paul speaks of our being identified with Christ in His burial and His resurrection. The purpose for this identification, and for God seeing us as having already been resurrected, is that we should “walk in newness of life.” Actually, Paul is saying that every member of the Body of Christ should be living the resurrected life right now. The reason for this is because we are heavenly people and we should be living as heavenly people here on this earth. If we can grasp this truth of Romans six, it will change our lives. We will understand that we actually died with Christ at Calvary as far as God is concerned. Not only did we die with Christ, we were also buried with Him and raised with Him, NOW, as dead sinners and resurrected Saints, we are to recognize that we are dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:11-13) so that we are not to yield our members to sin, but are to live righteously in this evil age..
Not only are we positionally seated in the heavenlies, but one day very soon, we will be literally caught up to dwell with Christ in the heavenlies for all eternity. This catching up of the Body of Christ to meet our Lord in the heavenlies is called “that blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).
The Meaning of “HOPE“
The use of the term, “HOPE,” does not signify a wishful desire that may or may not cone to pass. The Scriptural usage of this word denotes a steadfast promise that God will bring to pass regardless of the circumstances at the time these promises are to be realized. When the Scriptures speak of the “hope” of Israel, that “includes the sure promise of God that Israel will be a kingdom of Priests (Ex. 19:6) and the head of the nations of the earth. The Gentiles will come to her (Isa. 60:3) because they know that God is with Israel (Zech. 8:23). Nothing can cause these promises to fail. God will bring these things to pass just as He has promised. Thus, Israel’s “hope” is sure and steadfast.
The same is true with God’s promises to the Body of Christ. The “hope” of the Body of Christ is that God will catch the Saints of this dispensation up from the earth and transport them into the heavenlies to be with Christ for all eternity (1 Thess. 4:17). To enable us to live and function in the heavenlies, God has promised us a new body like unto His glorified body. Our body of flesh and blood is fitted for this earth. But to dwell in the heavenlies, we will need a body that is fitted for heaven and for eternity. Such a body will be given to the departed Saints at the resurrection (1 Thess. 4:15-16). At the same time, we who are still alive will be changed and will receive our eternal body without our having to taste physical death. Paul speaks of this change for the living Saints in his first letter to the Corinthians. In First Corinthians 15:51-53, Paul tells the Corinthians that not everyone will die physically, but, the living members of the Body of Christ will be changed. This change will be so- quick we will not know what is happening until it has been completed. One moment we will be in our natural body living our natural life. The next moment we will be in our eternal body living our eternal life. This natural body we now have is subject to death and decay. This change will give us a body that is incorruptible and immortal. Instead of our being limited to this earth as we are now, in the eternal body we will be free to transverse the whole universe. And, we will dwell in the third heaven with God Himself.
One of the distinguishing characteristics between the eternal body and our natural body is that the eternal body will be a flesh and bone body whereas this natural body is a flesh and blood body. This flesh and blood body is temporal and corruptible. But the flesh and bone body is incorruptible and immortal. We see that the eternal body is flesh and bone by what Paul tells the Ephesian saints. In Ephesians 5:30, Paul says Christ’s body is a flesh and bone body and we are members of this body. It is this new characteristic that enables the eternal body to dwell in, the heavenlies and to. be immortal..
Our Blessed Hope
Paul calls the catching up of the Saints of this dispensation “that blessed hope.” But Theologians have coined a phrase for this event which is not found in the Scriptures. That phrase is the Rapture of the Church. The Rapture of the Church can take place at any time because there are no prophesied events yet to take place before Christ returns for the members of the Body of Christ. In Second Timothy 3:l-7,prophesied some events that were to come to pass in the last days of this dispensation of the Grace of God. Paul was writing to Timothy as a young Pastor, warning him of the conditions that were to come in the professing church just before Christ returns to the clouds of the air to call the Saints of this dispensation up unto Himself. If you can span the last fifty years of Church history, you will see that the professing Church is guilty of every one of these activities now. Since these activities within the professing church are a sign of the end of this dispensation and the return of Christ for His Church, we can say that we are now in the last days that Paul was speaking of. Realizing this, we should be “looking for that blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). This Blessed Hope is the “glorious appearing of our great God, even our Savior Jesus Christ.”
A Word Of Caution
When I have asked individuals what they thought of when they considered the Rapture of the Church, most said they would enter into their place in heaven and enjoy the blessings and rewards that Christ has reserved for them. It is true these things will be realized at the Rapture of the Church, but when Paul speaks of our blessed hope” he emphasizes something else. I think our attitude about our blessed hope needs to be corrected. What we should be looking forward to is our seeing our Savior faces to face. Isn’t this what Paul says our blessed hope really is? Notice again what Paul told Titus:,
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, even our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13)..
The Saints at Thessalonica had the right idea of the blessed hope. Paul says that all the known world had heard of this congregation’s faith (1 Thess. 1:8), how they had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thess. 1:9). Not only this, but these Thessalonians also knew the truth of the blessed hope for in verse ten, Paul says their faith was known around the world because they were “waiting for His (God’s) Son from Heaven.”
This should be our attitude, too. We should be waiting for Christ Jesus to appear and our meeting Him face to face.