Saving Grace Appearing to All Men
Paul writes to Titus in a letter, an epistle, a Gentile man converted through evangelism in the Gentile region of Crete, a pagan island in the Mediterranean Sea, in Titus 2:11:
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.
What was this grace of God that appeared to all men? What appears to all men? Does the message of Jesus Christ appear to all men?
We know from scripture what appears to all men. It is general revelation. How does general revelation though bring salvation? Only the gospel, a message of special revelation, will save someone. General revelation falls short of being a gospel message.
Paul in Romans
Chapter 2
God intends to do more than condemn through general revelation. It is a vehicle toward special revelation by which God will save men. The Apostle Paul in Romans 2 in dealing with pagan Gentiles, who never heard of God’s law, which was a schoolmaster toward faith, says in verses 14-15:
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
The law of God in their hearts in accompaniment with their consciences bear witness to Gentiles. These uncircumcised pagans can and do become circumcised inwardly by faith. It is a circumcision (verse 29) of “the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” God receives praise for this work of grace in the hearts of Gentiles, even as no human explanation for this working exists.
Chapters 3 and 4
Pagan Gentiles without the special revelation of God are proven under sin before God (3:9) by means of the law in their hearts and their consciences. This law in their hearts stops their mouths that they might be guilty before God (3:19). He is not the God merely of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles and He justifies not just the circumcision but also the uncircumcision by faith. God operates in the hearts of those not through physical tables of the law but through inward tables in their hearts, also working toward justification by faith.
Like with the pagan Gentiles, God imputed righteousness to Abraham by faith in his uncircumcision (4:10). Abraham became the Father of them who believe, who are not of the circumcision (4:12). This is how Abraham is a Father of many nations (4:18).
Paul as Missionary in Crete and in Athens
The work toward Gentile salvation came without the written law and yet with the law in their hearts. That was the grace of God appearing to all men, that brings salvation. Salvation does require conviction of sin through God’s gracious means. This occurs with everybody. When God saves Gentiles in remote regions where a missionary brings the gospel for the first time, God already started working in those persons’ hearts. Paul under the inspiration of God reveals that in the first three chapters of Romans. This is what Paul wrote to Titus for such a people as those on the isle of Crete.
When God condemns a Gentile, he rightly condemns one for rejecting Jesus Christ, even if he never heard of Jesus. Every person possesses the possibility of receiving Christ, which is why Paul says he is without excuse. When the Apostle Paul went to Athens, he preached to them Jesus. Paul said that they ignorantly worshiped Jesus, when they worshiped “the unknown God” (Acts 17:22). It was not true worship, because it lacked sufficient truth, but Paul says that some kind of revelation occurred with them, albeit ignorant. Paul sprang off that foundation, that was already there, to preach to them.
Then Paul revealed the true identity of the unknown God, showing them that man God ordained, whom He raised from the dead, would judge them in righteousness. God had a basis to judge them even though they did not perfectly know Him. They knew Him enough because of the grace of God that appeared to them. That same grace brings salvation. Some of the Athenians mocked Paul, but others said, “We will hear thee again in this matter” (17:32). Certain men clave unto him and believed, and others with them (17:34).
The Story of Receiving the Gift of Faith that Saves
Do the stories of the Cretians on Crete and the Athenians in Athens reveal the work of God toward receiving the gift of faith? Yes. In the way toward saving faith comes someone with enough reception of the unknown God for the Apostle Paul to piggy back off of it to preach Jesus Christ. Missionaries going to godless pagans take this as an optimistic example and a model for how to do the work there.
My major purpose of writing this series is explaining how someone receives saving faith. At least some of the time, if not most of the time, someone will not receive saving faith until he receives a lesser faith based on general revelation. As a stronger position, I believe that everyone that receives special revelation first receives general revelation. This leads to large numbers of heathen conversions. Scripture and then history shows these examples.
Born Again of Special Revelation
The Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:21 and 23-25:
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. . . . . 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
When you look at those verses, you see something to what Paul wrote in Romans 10:17 and what James wrote in James 1:18:
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Someone must hear the word of God for salvation. This is akin to Paul in Romans 1:16:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Is the gospel the word of God? It is, but it is not the word of God in general. It is part of the word of God that deals with true salvation. These verses themselves explain that in the original language.
Word and Word
Peter uses two different Greek words for “word” in 1 Peter 1:23 and 25. The “word of God” in verse 23 is logos, the word of God in general. However, in verse 25 Peter uses the word, rhema, twice. This speaks of a specific passage or passages with the gospel in it. There is special revelation and then there is the special message within the special revelation. Someone must receive that. That is “the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” “Word of God” in Romans 10:17 is also rhema. Logos is in James 1:18.
When God begets, meaning someone is born again unto salvation, through the Word of God (logos), someone preaches a particular word of God (rhema) with the gospel in it. People use scripture to preach a false gospel, so it isn’t the Word of God in general that saves. It is the true message of the Word of God, the rightly divided Word of truth that saves.
More to Come
In part 2, it was said:
“It is like saying that the reason I have a flat tire is because I haven’t fixed the leak, but in reality the cause was that I ran over a nail. Avoiding the solution (belief) will keep my tire flat, but it was the nail (sin) that was the cause.”
Do not argue against one another. It is sin that keeps us from God. You must acknowledge that sin first as one moves forward to salvation (repentance towards God). Not acknowledging the truth of the nail or only seeing $10 worth of truth (pride cometh before destruction) is being “moved” into the belief of the truth.
Believing the truth is that “Jesus Christ died for our sins” acknowledges belief in that sin is keeping a sinner from God.
God than draws a man if he is willing to be of a contrite and humble heart (prodigal son vs. the rich man) to having faith in God as the only means to salvation (not by works of righteousness) where then God even gives unto him “the faith of Christ” unto true belief that Jesus Christ is the only way unto God apart from anything.
That is the best way I can express it seeing that both sin and belief begin to work all the way through true salvation.
I hope this at least one understands how I see scriptural salvation.
By the way, I am writing from Manila Philippines. Will be ministering here until March 6th. Much to do and rejoicing because God is good.
Tom