May 18

The grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men. - Titus 2:11.

BY this the Apostle intends particularly to intimate that none are excluded from the benefits which the gospel reveals, and that none are exempt from its appointments. All men are included in the benefits the gospel reveals. We never in the Scriptures read any such language as this: If this person seek him he will be found by him; but if that person seek him he will reject him. So far from that, the language of the gospel is, “Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely;” “Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;” Go forth, and “as many as you find, both good and bad, bid to the wedding.”

In proclamations of grace among men there are always some exceptions; for instance, the ringleaders are excluded: their pardon would endanger the safety of the community. But “God’s thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor God’s ways as our ways.” We have, therefore, in the Scriptures some of the chief of sinners, the vilest of the vile, called on purpose to be patterns: not to induce people to continue in their sins, but to seek after salvation from them; and the Apostle, after mentioning the wickedness of his former course of life, says, “Nevertheless I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them who should hereafter believe in him to life everlasting.” And as none are excluded from its benefits, so none are exempted from its appointments.

It reaches to all men. It commands sovereigns and judges, as well as subjects and criminals. It says, “Be wise now, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth.” It says, “Blessed are all they that put their trust in the Lord.” None are beneath its notice. It enters into all the directions of actual life. If men are single, it prescribes their choice; if they are connected, it regulates their condition; if they are masters, it tells them of a “master in heaven;” if they are servants, it enjoins them to “adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things;” if wives, it enjoins that they reverence their husbands; if husbands, it commands them to love their wives; if children, to be obedient to their parents; and parents to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and thus we see how “the grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all men.”