Titus 2:13

Titus 2:13. The Christian's duty during this present life (world in Titus 2:12 = age or epoch of the world), does not exclude but include a reference to that which is to come. The Christian's hope is another or second ‘epiphany' still future. The first is an epiphany of grace (Titus 2:11) as the source of Christian life; the other of ‘glory' as its end. (So Wiesinger.) This appearing of the glory (literally) of the great God is to be at the Second Advent.

Much disputed if God as well as Saviour refers to our Lord. Some arguments for and against involve a knowledge of the original; but the following are among the chief: For (a) context refers to Christ: (b) the word ‘epiphany' (appearing) never occurs in relation to God the Father elsewhere; (c) the adjective ‘great' would be uncalled for, if ‘God' were here used of the Father; (d) the weight of opinion among the Fathers lay on this side. Against (a) the word ‘God' is nowhere else thus joined as a simple attribute to Christ; (b) the phrase ‘God and our Saviour' occurs six times in the Pastoral Epistles, and always refers to the Father; (c) it is usual with Paul thus to conjoin God the Father and our Lord; (d) the addition of ‘great' serves to isolate ‘God' as a different subject. The result may be summed up thus:

There is a grammatical presumption in favour of referring ‘God' to our Lord in this passage; yet not such as can be much depended on, seeing the usage of the writer tells the other way. No argument for our Lord's divinity can be safely built on such exegesis. The doctrine is amply sustained and can dispense with the support of an ambiguous text.