Titus 3:6-7

Titus 3:6-7

⁶whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,  ⁷so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Verse 6

⁶whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

whom

Whom indeed?  There are two things that need to be pointed out.  First is: Who is Paul talking about here?  The verse immediately before tells us quite clearly that the Holy Spirit is the subject that this pronoun is speaking about here.  Yet there is another easily missed point here.  The Holy Spirit is not a “what” so much as a whom.  He is a personality not some impersonal, unknowable force like the new age teachers may teach, or even as Islam teaches.  The Holy Spirit is a knowable personality, not a blind force that cannot be seen, heard or known.

Poured

This is a cool word in Greek, and our English translation “poured” does not quite catch the whole meaning of it.  In English the word “poured” can bring to mind something with a spout that can carefully and precisely pour just the right amount into without spilling a drop.  Our word pour very often brings to mind a pitcher pouring water.  This word, however, is much bigger than that!  This word could also be translated “spilled” or even “sloshed.”  The idea is that the Father doesn't just carefully pour the right amount of “the Holy Spirit” into our lives as if he wanted to save some for later.  He generously is throwing Himself into our lives and filling our lives with His grace and His power like a child joyously throwing a bucket full of water on his friend during hot summer's water fight.

Richly

Here we see, as we see so many times in Scripture, the idea of riches being related to the Holy Spirit.  The first chapter of Ephesians is littered with references to “the riches of his grace” and the book of Philippians tells us about how the Lord will meet our needs according to His “glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”  The references go on and on but what is being communicated is that we are rich because of what God has given us in the Spirit.  Furthermore, he poured it out richly!  It is so amazing to thing that God doesn't give us “just as much as we can handle” and he doesn't give in a way that is at all cheap or begrudging.  Furthermore there is no “HOLY SPIRIT LIGHT” or “Diet Holy Ghost” that we are offered.  God richly gives of his riches in Christ and fills us with His Holy Spirit.  No take backs, no half portions!  We don't need to beg Him for more of His Holy Spirit, nor do we need to go in for a “refill” every week.  He is richly pouring Himself out upon us! 

Through

This word through is “dia”  in the Greek and has the idea of agency.  It gives us the picture that Jesus is the instrument through which the Father gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus Christ our Savior

This is a special verse for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, we see here that Paul is giving Jesus the title of our savior once again.  This again, in Greek would be even better rendered: “The Savior of us.”  This is the same thing that was said earlier about God the Father (Titus 1:3).  So, quite obviously, by equivalence the deity of God the Son is once again showed to be the orthodox Biblical teaching.  There is no doubt about the fact that all of the New Testament authors held firmly to the absolute Godship of the Son.

            The second thing that is special about this verse is that it shows all three members of the trinity working perfectly together in their divinity and their different parts in our salvation.  Here we see very clearly God the Father pouring God the Holy Spirit into our lives by means of God the Son.  This is yet more clear Biblical evidence of the doctrine of the trinity.

Verse 7

so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

being justified

This is the only place in the pastoral epistles that Paul writes about the Justification that the believer has in Christ.  This word justification had, as it still does to some degree, a legal definition.  In a court of Law it was the duty of the Judge to declare a person guilty or innocent.  It is in this way that we are justified.  We find that God views us with the Righteousness that Christ had and views the penalty as being paid by Christ's perfect work on the cross.  Notice a few things: 1 – This is a completed past action.  We are not being justified we ARE JUSTIFIED.  2 – This is, in Greek as well as English, in the passive voice.  We are not justifying our selves, nor did we justify ourselves.  But we are justified.  3 – Think about the court illustration.  If a prisoner is brought to trial and is completely justified before the court that justification stands.  He need not worry about being tried again on the same terms.  This justification is God's Holy and Righteous judgment, and nothing is going to change it.

Grace

Once again we see this Doctrine of Grace cropping up.  It's as if we can't escape it.  Better put...WE CANNOT ESCAPE IT.  We are saved by God's grace, we are sanctified by his Grace and we will be glorified by his grace.  Furthermore, Ephesians 2:7 makes it clear that we will be spending all of eternity watching the glory of his grace be revealed to us.  We will spend eternity in awe of this great grace that has been one of God's most amazing characteristics.

would be

This is a difficult passage to translate.  The subjunctives give this sense that something may or may not happen, or that it is somehow dependent upon us to get the ball rolling.  In this case it could even give the idea that His grace came that we could be heirs, but we could still not wind up there if we aren't careful.  This meaning, however, is not found in the Greek.  In the Greek it is quite clear that it is something that has already been gotten.  We are already heirs, and it is God's grace that has done that great work in us!

according to

This word “according to “ here is kata and it means “in full accordance with” meaning that this is something that is in keeping with another promise that we have in Christ which is the promise of eternal life.  These two things are entirely in keeping with each other.  It is God's great pleasure to save us, as well as to sanctify us and it will be to show us his Glory all throughout eternity.

Hope

The word “hope” in English is not the same as its Greek translation.  It must be understood that “hope”  in the Biblical sense, is something that we are sure of, and of which we are assured.  We are not to be walking around thinking “I hope I have eternal life.”  But rather we are to be viewing every struggle and trial with the great knowledge of the fact that we have been made heirs and permanently given the gift of eternal life!  Hallelujah!