Character Development
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, Titus 2:11-12 NASB
Live righteously – Righteousness. What do you think that means? If righteousness is a gift from God, if it means being in right relationship with Him, then how can Paul suggest that dikaiōs is something we have to live? I thought it was a term about our status before God, something fixed by the forgiveness offered through His son. If that’s so, then why would God need to instruct us? We either have it or we don’t, right?
The problem, of course, is our confusion about what this term means. Dikaiōs isn’t about God’s view of our standing before Him. It’s about our character. It includes things like justice, moral behavior, upright actions in both a legal and moral sense. It’s about doing the right thing, over and over, time after time, until doing the right thing is just a function of who we are. And that doesn’t happen because God forgives. That happens because we choose to act on the basis of God’s forgiveness, day after day. Dikaiōs is character development.
Did you notice that Paul couples dikaiōs with “godly”? That Greek term is ĕusĕbōs. You might recall that we brushed up against this word in our investigation of asebḗ (“ungodliness”). Did you remember that eusébeia is the opposite of ungodliness? Did you remember that eusébeia is very rare in the LXX and, except for Peter and the Pastorals, is never used in the apostolic writings to refer to Messianic life and faith. “Godly” isn’t quite what we thought.
What matters is díkaios—keeping the Law! But here is eusébeia, as an adverb, clarifying that dikaiōs isn’t just doing the right thing according to the culture. It’s doing the right thing according to the Torah. You can appreciate why Paul had to include this. He’s writing to an audience that was intimately familiar with doing the right thing according to the Roman way of life. Paul wants them to know that living a good life in the social setting isn’t enough. God saved you for something more than being a good person. He saved you so that you could become a light on the hill, a lamp on a post, a living witness to a different way—His way. Díkaios by itself is just justice, but díkaios ĕusĕbōs is God’s justice.
By the way, it’s worth noting that Paul doesn’t think of díkaios ĕusĕbōs as an eschatological reality. díkaios ĕusĕbōs isn’t waiting for heaven. It’s here “in the present age.” God expects (and trains) you to act with biblical justice here and now. Otherwise, quite frankly, you are not much use to Him. Remember He didn’t save you for you. He saved you for His purposes.
Because we live in a post-Christian age, we might not appreciate how radical this idea really is. We are used to a Judeo-Christian ethic (although the signs of its collapse are more obvious every day), so we assume that díkaios ĕusĕbōs is normal. We assume that just being religious fulfills the requirement of díkaios ĕusĕbōs. But Paul’s original audience knew differently. Religion in the ancient world of Rome was comprised of ritual obligations. It didn’t involve active, daily ethical commitments. It was enough to make the appropriate sacrifices, pay homage on the right days, say the right oaths and offer something to the household gods. How I lived was a different matter. Now Paul comes along and says that God Himself wants something more. He wants living examples of biblical ethics (God’s character) in action today—and every day. Perhaps you’re thinking that those biblical characteristics are already part of your everyday life. Perhaps they are. But it’s worth asking, “How much of my behavior is still shaped by the culture and environment I’m in rather than by the character of the God of Israel?” Go back to Exodus 34:6-7 and see if you match up.
Topical Index: díkaios ĕusĕbōs, justly, righteously, godly, Titus 2:11-12
