For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.1
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'" And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.3
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.4
For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, Says the LORD of hosts, That will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.5
Since we never know exactly when an imminent event will occur, three things are true. First, we cannot count on a certain amount of time transpiring before the imminent event happens; therefore, we should always be prepared for it to happen at any moment. Second, we cannot legitimately set a date for its happening. As soon as we set a date for an imminent event, we destroy the concept of imminency because we thereby say that a certain amount of time must transpire before that event can happen. A specific date for an event is contrary to the concept that the event could happen at any moment. Third, we cannot legitimately say that an imminent event will happen soon. . . . an imminent event may take place within a short time, but it does not have to do so in order to be imminent. Thus imminent is not equal to soon.11
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.12
Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.14
Does Christ own us? Are we one of His special people? Is His ownership of us evident in this age? We pray it may be so!
Endnotes:
[1] | NKJV, Tit. 2:11-15 |
[2] | There is some ambiguity in the Greek here as to the identity of that which Paul says applies to all men. Some translators understand it to be the appearance of the grace of God (KJV, NKJV), others as salvation itself (NASB, ESV, HCSB). |
[3] | NKJV, John 1:14-18 |
[4] | NKJV, John 3:16 |
[5] | NKJV, Mal. 4:1-2 |
[6] | Ref-0093, 84 |
[7] | Ref-0129, 276 |
[8] | Concerning "God and Savior Jesus Christ," the Granville Sharp Rule applies and indicates that both nouns apply to one individual: Jesus Christ. This rule states that if you have two nouns, the first with an article before it, the second without, and they are connected by the word and, both nouns are describing the same person. . . Since this rule was recognized as being valid for the Greek language after the translation of the King James Version, those translators did not follow the rule. . . it's not that the translation is wrong. It's just not as clear as it could be. One could misconstrue the text to be differentiating between the terms God and Savior. But when Granville Sharp's rule is taken into account, the rendering is much clearer: Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.6. It has frequently been alleged that θεος [theos] is a proper name and, hence, that Sharp's rule cannot apply to constructions in which it is employed. We have already argued that θεος [theos] is not a proper name in Greek.7. |
[9] | Ref-0380, s.v. |
[10] | It is used even of Christs first coming (2Ti. 1:10). |
[11] | Ref-0220, 127 |
[12] | NKJV, 1Jn. 3:1-3 |
[13] | Ref-0785, Vol. 11 No. 32, March 2007, p. 6 |
[14] | NKJV, 1Th. 1:8b-10 |
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