Verse 4
‘But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared,’
And that is why God stepped in. He is the One Who is full of kindness and love in such contrast to what we are (Ephesians 2:4; Ephesians 2:6; John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:8). And as ‘our Saviour’ His kindness (chrestotes - benevolence) and love (philanthropia - love for mankind at large) appeared in Jesus Whom He sent with the greatest gift of all, the ‘drenching in the Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 3:11). He sent Him to be the transformer of our lives, and to make it possible for us to be acceptable to Him in spite of what we are. And He did it as our Saviour through the cross.
This picture of a generous and loving God was new to the world in which Paul and Titus preached. The pagan gods were selfish, contentious and thought mainly of themselves. So the concept of God as benevolent and interested in them was something totally new.
The idea of God as Saviour is common in the Old Testament. See 2 Samuel 22:3; Psalms 106:21; Isaiah 43:3; Isaiah 43:11; Isaiah 45:15; Isaiah 45:21; Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 60:16; Isaiah 63:8; Jeremiah 14:8; Hosea 13:4. In Isaiah it is central to God’s continual promises of salvation and deliverance. Thus any connection with the use of the term in secular history is simply secondary.
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