as we await the blessed hopeThis phrase emphasizes the Christian anticipation of future fulfillment and redemption. The "blessed hope" refers to the second coming of Jesus Christ, a central tenet in Christian eschatology. This hope is not just a wishful thinking but a confident expectation based on the promises of God. In the context of the early church, believers faced persecution and hardship, making this hope a source of encouragement and perseverance. The concept of hope is deeply rooted in the Old Testament, where it often relates to God's deliverance and faithfulness (e.g.,
Psalm 130:5-7).
and glorious appearance
The "glorious appearance" signifies the visible and triumphant return of Christ. This event is described in various New Testament passages, such asMatthew 24:30 andRevelation 1:7, where Christ's return is depicted as a powerful and unmistakable event. The term "glorious" underscores the majesty and divine nature of this appearance, contrasting with Christ's first coming in humility. In the Greco-Roman world, appearances of deities were often associated with glory and splendor, which would resonate with the original audience's understanding of divine manifestations.
of our great God and Savior
This phrase affirms the deity of Jesus Christ, identifying Him as both God and Savior. The use of "great God" aligns with Old Testament descriptions of God's unparalleled power and majesty (e.g.,Deuteronomy 10:17). The dual role of Jesus as God and Savior is central to Christian doctrine, emphasizing His divine authority and His role in salvation. This identification also serves as a polemic against any teachings that might diminish Christ's divinity or His unique role in redemption.
Jesus Christ
The name "Jesus" means "Yahweh saves," and "Christ" is the Greek equivalent of "Messiah," meaning "anointed one." This title encapsulates His mission and identity as the promised deliverer. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is portrayed as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah (e.g.,Isaiah 9:6-7,Micah 5:2). His life, death, and resurrection are seen as the culmination of God's redemptive plan, and His anticipated return is the final act in this divine narrative. The early church's confession of Jesus as Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36) was both a declaration of faith and a counter-cultural statement in a polytheistic society.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
TitusA Gentile convert and a trusted companion of the Apostle Paul. He was left in Crete to organize the church and appoint elders.
2.
PaulThe Apostle who wrote the letter to Titus, providing guidance and instruction for church leadership and Christian living.
3.
CreteAn island in the Mediterranean where Titus was ministering. Known for its diverse population and moral challenges.
4.
Jesus ChristReferred to as "our great God and Savior," emphasizing His divinity and role in salvation.
5.
The Second ComingThe anticipated event of Christ's return, described as a "glorious appearance."
Teaching Points
The Blessed HopeBelievers are called to live with an expectation of Christ's return, which provides hope and motivation for holy living.
The Divinity of ChristThe passage affirms the deity of Jesus, calling Him "our great God and Savior," which is foundational to Christian faith.
Living in AnticipationChristians are encouraged to live righteously and godly in the present age, as they await the return of Christ.
Encouragement in TrialsThe promise of Christ's return offers comfort and strength during difficult times, reminding believers of the ultimate victory.
Witness to the WorldThe hope of Christ's return should inspire believers to share the gospel, as it underscores the urgency of salvation.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Titus 2:13?
2.How does Titus 2:13 encourage us to live in anticipation of Christ's return?
3.What does "blessed hope" in Titus 2:13 mean for a believer's daily life?
4.How does Titus 2:13 connect with 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 about Christ's return?
5.How can we demonstrate readiness for the "glorious appearing" mentioned in Titus 2:13?
6.How does Titus 2:13 inspire you to share the gospel with others?
7.How does Titus 2:13 affirm the deity of Jesus Christ?
8.What is the significance of "blessed hope" in Titus 2:13?
9.How does Titus 2:13 relate to the Second Coming of Christ?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Titus 2?
11.What is Jesus Christ's glorious appearing?
12.What is the meaning of the blessed hope?
13.What is Jesus Christ's glorious appearing?
14.Why do Christian beliefs about the end times (e.g., rapture, second coming) keep changing?What Does Titus 2:13 Mean
As we awaitWaiting in Scripture is never passive. Paul has just urged believers “to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:12).
• “Await” pictures active expectancy—hearts set on Christ while hands stay busy in obedience (cf.Luke 12:35-37;1 Corinthians 15:58).
• Our citizenship is in heaven, and “we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20-21).
• Peter puts it this way: “looking forward to the day of God and hastening its coming” (2 Peter 3:11-12).
The Spirit keeps us alert, resisting worldly distraction, so we can say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight… and now there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
the blessed hopeHope in the Bible is not wishful thinking; it is a settled certainty secured by God’s promise.
• “Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts” (Romans 5:5).
• It is “blessed” because it brings indescribable joy (1 Peter 1:8-9) and because it rests on God’s unbreakable oath (Hebrews 6:17-19).
• This hope includes the resurrection and transformation of our bodies (Romans 8:23-25) and the catching away of living believers: “the dead in Christ will rise first… and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
• Christ in you is already “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27); His visible return will bring that glory into full view.
and glorious appearance“Appearance” points to a sudden, unmistakable unveiling of majesty.
• Jesus Himself promised, “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30).
• The angels echoed it: “This same Jesus… will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
• John was given a preview: “I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse… His name is the Word of God” (Revelation 19:11-16).
• For believers, this glory means reward and vindication (1 Peter 5:4); for the unbelieving world, it means judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
The certainty of a visible, triumphant return motivates holy living now (1 John 3:2-3).
of our great God and Savior Jesus ChristPaul leaves no doubt about who is coming. The One we await is both “God” and “Savior,” a single Person—Jesus Christ.
• John opens his Gospel the same way: “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God… The Word became flesh” (John 1:1, 14).
• Isaiah foretold a Child called “Mighty God” (Isaiah 9:6); Thomas later confessed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
• Peter employs identical wording: “our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1).
• Hebrews celebrates Him as “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3).
Acknowledging Jesus’ full deity means His promises are as sure as God Himself, and His saving work is perfectly sufficient. The One who paid for our sins will personally return to complete our salvation (Hebrews 9:28).
summaryTitus 2:13 strings together four priceless truths: believers live in active expectation, anchored by a hope guaranteed to bless, fixed on a soon-to-be-revealed glory, and centered on the divine Person of Jesus Christ. Knowing He will appear spurs us to purity, perseverance, and joyful anticipation until the day faith becomes sight.
(13)
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing.--The Greek should here be rendered,
looking for the blessed hope and manifestation of the glory. And that holy life, just urged on the believer, of quiet self-restraint, of love to others, of piety towards God, must be lit up by a blessed hope, by a hope which is far more than a hope; that holy life of the faithful must be a continued waiting for a blessed hope--"the hope laid up for us in heaven" (
Colossians 1:5). It may be asked, What
is this hope? We answer, it is "the hope of glory" which we shall share with the Son of God, when we behold Him as He is. So for us the hope of glory is intimately bound up with the second coming of the Lord. Then the life of the lover of the Lord must be one continued looking for, waiting for, the coming of the Lord in glory--must be a looking for that hour when we shall see in all His divine majesty, Him who redeemed us. In that life and light, in that majesty and glory, His own will share.
Of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.--The translation here should run,of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. From the English version, it would seem that Paul's idea was that the Christian should live waiting for the glorious appearing of the great God, accompanied with our Lord Jesus Christ. The rendering we have adopted, on what seems conclusive grounds, speaks of a Christian life, as a life ever looking for the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
In this sublime passage the glory of the only begotten Sonalone finds mention. Taken thus, it is a studied declaration of the divinity of the Eternal Son, who is here styled "our great God and Saviour." Reasoning merely on grammatical principles, either translation would be possible, only even then there is a presumption in favour of the translation we have adopted. (See Ellicott's Note on this verse.) But other considerations are by no means so nearly equally balanced. The word "manifestation" (epiphany),the central thought of the sentence, is employed by St. Paul in his Epistles five times, and in every one of them to describe the manifestation ofChrist,and in four of them to designate the future manifestation of His coming in glory, as here. The term epiphany isnever applied to the Father.
Again, thewhole of the context of the passage specially relates to the "Son of God." The introduction of the epiphany "ofthe Father" would be a thought not merely strange to the whole New Testament, but would bring quite a new idea into this statement, which sets forth so sublimely the epiphany ofChrist as the ground of the Christian's hope--an idea, too, no sooner suggested than dropped, for the passage goes on to speak only of the Son. Perhaps, however, the weightiest argument that can be adduced is the consensus of the Greek orthodox fathers, who, with scarcely an exception, concur in the interpretation which understands the expression "of our great God" as used of Jesus Christ. To select two examples out of the long chain of fathers reaching from the apostolic age who have thus understood this text: "St. Paul here calls Christ the great God, and thus rebukes the heretical blasphemy which denies His Godhead" (Theodoret). "What can those persons say," asks Chrysostom, referring to this passage, "who allege that the Son is inferior to the Father?" (See Wordsworth's Note here.)
Verse 13.- The for
that, A.V.;
appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior for
the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Savior, A.V.
Looking for (
προσδεχόμενοι); the word commonly applied to waiting for the kingdom of God (
Mark 15:43;
Luke 2:25, 38;
Luke 12:36;
Luke 23:51;
Jude 1:21).
The blessed hope. The
hope here means the thing hoped for, as in
Acts 24:14 (where both the subjective hope and the thing hoped for are included);
Galatians 5:5;
Colossians 1:5 (comp. too
Romans 8:24, 25). Here the hope is called emphatically "the blessed hope," the hope of Christ's second coming in glory, that hope which is the joy and life, the strength and comfort, of every Christian soul. This is the only place in the New Testament where
μακάριος is applied to an object which does not itself enjoy the blessing, but is a source of blessing to others. Of the fifty passages where it occurs it is applied in forty-three to persons, twice to God, three times to parts of the body (the Virgin's womb, and the eyes and ears of those who saw and heard Christ), once impersonally ("It is more blessed to give," etc.,
Acts 20:35), and once, in this passage, to the hope.
And appearing of the glory. In construing this clause, as well as the following, the same difficulty occurs. There is only one article to the two subjects. The question arises - Can two different subjects stand under one article? Huther affirms that they can, and refers for proof to Buttman and Wince; and, indeed, it is impossible to treat "the hope" and the "appearing" as one subject. Accepting this, the clause before us should be rendered,
Looking for the blessed hope, and the appearing of the glory of the great God. This is a description of the second coming of the Lord, of whom it is expressly said that he will "come in the glory of his Father" (
Matthew 16:27;
Mark 8:38). The appearing of Christ will be the appearing of the glory of the great God, not the appearing of God the Father, to whom the term
ἐπιφανεία is never applied, but of the Son, who is the Brightness of his Father's glory.
Our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. No doubt the Greek words can be so rendered, and perhaps (grammatically) most naturally, as
e.g. in
2 Peter 1:11, where we read, "The kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ;" and so
2 Peter 3:18. But, on the other hand, according to what is said above, they need not be so rendered. "The great God" and "our Savior Jesus Christ" may be two separate subjects, as "the blessed hope" and "appearing of the glory" are. Anti we have to inquire, from the usual language of Scripture, which of the two is most probable. Alford, in a long note, shows that
σωτὴρ is often used without the article (
1 Timothy 1:1;
1 Timothy 4:10;
Philippians 3:20); that in analogous sentences: where
Κύριος is used as our Lord's title, an exactly similar construction to that in the text is employed, as
2 Thessalonians 1:12;
2 Peter 1:1;
2 Corinthians 1:2;
Galatians 1:3;
Ephesians 1:2;
Ephesians 6:23, etc. He also observes, after Wince, that the insertion of
ἡμῶν after
Σωτῆρος is an additional reason for the omission of the article before
Σωτῆρος, as in
Luke 1:78;
Romans 1:7;
1 Corinthians 1:3, and elsewhere; and that the epithet
μεγάλου prefixed to
Θεοῦ makes it still more difficult to connect
Θεοῦ with
Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Ξριστοῦ; and lastly, he compares this passage with
1 Timothy 2:3, 5, 6, and thinks the conclusion inevitable that the apostle, writing two sentences so closely corresponding - written, it may be added, so near to one another in time - would have had in view, in both passages, the same distinction of persons which is so strongly marked in
1 Timothy 3:3, 5. On these grounds he pronounces against the rendering which is adopted by the Revised Version. Huther's conclusion is the same: partly from the grammatical possibility of
two subjects (here
Θεοῦ and
Ἰησοῦ Ξριστοῦ) having only one article, which leaves the question of whether there are here one or
two subjects to be decided on other grounds than simple grammar; and partly and chiefly from the double consideration that
(1)nowhere in Scripture isΘεός connected directly withἸησοῦς Ξριστός, asΚύριος andΣωτήρ so often are; and
(2) that the collocation of God (Θεός) and Christ as two subjects is of constant occurrence, ase.g.1 Timothy 1:1, 2;1 Timothy 5:21;1 Timothy 6:13;2 Timothy 1:2;2 Timothy 4:1;Titus 1:4; to which may probably be added2 Peter 1:1;Jude 1:4;2 Thessalonians 1:12; he decides, surely rightly, that the clause should be rendered,the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Another question arises whetherthe glory belongs to both subjects. Probably, though not necessarily, it does, since we are told inMatthew 17:27 that "the Son of man shall come in the glory of the Father;" and inMatthew 25:31, "the Son of man shall come in his glory" (comp.Matthew 19:28). The whole sentence will then stand thus:Looking for the blessed hope, and for the appearing of the glory of the great God and of our Savior Jesus Christ, etc.The great God (τοῦ μεγάλου); not elsewhere in the New Testament (except in the T.R. ofRevelation 19:17), but familiar to us fromPsalm 95:3, "The Lord is a great God," and elsewhere, KSDeuteronomy 10:17;Deuteronomy 7:21;Psalm 77:14, etc. InMatthew 5:35' we read "the great King" of God. This grand description ofτοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος, "the world to come," is in contrast withτῷ νῦνοἰῶνι, "this present world," in which our present life is passed, but which is so deeply influenced by "the blessed hope" of that future and glorious world.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
as we awaitπροσδεχόμενοι(prosdechomenoi)Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 4327:From pros and dechomai; to admit (figuratively) endurance); by implication, to await.theτὴν(tēn)Article - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.blessedμακαρίαν(makarian)Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3107:Happy, blessed, to be envied. A prolonged form of the poetical makar; supremely blest; by extension, fortunate, well off.hopeἐλπίδα(elpida)Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1680:Hope, expectation, trust, confidence. From a primary elpo; expectation or confidence.andκαὶ(kai)Conjunction
Strong's 2532:And, even, also, namely.gloriousδόξης(doxēs)Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1391:From the base of dokeo; glory, in a wide application.appearanceἐπιφάνειαν(epiphaneian)Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2015:Appearing, manifestation, glorious display. From epiphanes; a manifestation, i.e. the advent of Christ.ofτοῦ(tou)Article - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.ourἡμῶν(hēmōn)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473:I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.greatμεγάλου(megalou)Adjective - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3173:Large, great, in the widest sense.GodΘεοῦ(Theou)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316:A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.andκαὶ(kai)Conjunction
Strong's 2532:And, even, also, namely.Savior,Σωτῆρος(Sōtēros)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 4990:A savior, deliverer, preserver. From sozo; a deliverer, i.e. God or Christ.JesusἸησοῦ(Iēsou)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2424:Of Hebrew origin; Jesus, the name of our Lord and two other Israelites.Christ.Χριστοῦ(Christou)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 5547:Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ. From chrio; Anointed One, i.e. The Messiah, an epithet of Jesus.
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NT Letters: Titus 2:13 Looking for the blessed hope and appearing (Ti. Tt.) 
