Titus 2:12 Commentary and Bible Study

The apostle then proceeds to sum up. ‘Teaching us’ – he uses the word ‘training us’. You can imagine the trusted slave who is left in charge of the young children, and trains them, and takes them to school. It is the word used here. We are trained by the circumstances of life. ‘Teaching us that, denying [repudiating] ungodliness and worldly lusts.’ These are important words. Ungodliness is a lack of reverence for God. We are to deny anything that would diminish our sense of the majesty of God, and the fear of the Lord. ‘And worldly lusts’, money, superiority, over-attention to appearance, desiring notice and flattery. It is the pursuit of excessive pleasure, gratification, love of ease; we deny these things. If not, they will creep up on you and smother you. Therefore I deny that, I oppose that, I refuse that, I say no to that. Every day you begin the day, ‘Lord help me today. Help me to worthily represent thee’, and you ask yourself, ‘What will I deny myself and refuse today?’ ‘We should live soberly.’ That means to say, watchfully, moderately with self-restraint, guardedly. That is all in the word ‘soberly’ there. Literally, it is to do with abstention from intoxicating alcohol, but figuratively. That is how it is used throughout the epistles of Paul – it means watchful and restrained.‘Righteously’, which simply means honestly, scrupulously honestly, and fairly. Parents know the importance of being fair among their children, fair in all their dealings.‘And godly.’ When you see that word ‘godly’ in the New Testament, most of the time it does not mean simply piously or righteously, as you may imagine. It translates a Greek word which has to do with your attitude to the gods. If you are a pagan you would use this word. You must have a right and a reverent attitude to your gods. The New Testament uses the same word. It is of crucial importance that we have a reverent and right attitude to the one true and living God. Yes, he is our Father, and Christ is our Saviour, and the Holy Spirit is within. He is our familiar Father. We can cry, ‘Abba Father’. We can run to him as children run to a parent in love. Yes, we rejoice in him and before him; we have the joy of Christ. But we never detach reverence from all those blessings, and that is what is discarded by many who say they are Bible believers today. Reverence is gone.. ‘In this present world.’ That's all it is: a present age, a present world. It will be gone in no time and the verses that follow sore into the realms of eternity. For the moment we are in this world, just for a time, and these are the exhortations which we must take to heart.