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Tit_2:12. Παιδεύουσα ἡμᾶς , ἵνα κ . τ . λ .] On this the chief emphasis is laid. By παιδεύουσα the apostle makes it clear that “the grace of God has a paedagogic purpose” (Heydenreich). Here, as also elsewhere in the N. T., παιδεύειν does not simply mean “educate,” but “educate by disciplinary correction.” Hence Luther is not incorrect in translating: “and chastises us.” This reference is to be noted here, as is shown by the next words: ἀρνησάμενοι κ . τ . λ . Ἵνα does not indicate the purpose here, but the object to be supplied, for παιδ . is not subjective, but objective; the sentence beginning with ἵνα might also have been expressed by the infinitive; comp. 1Ti_1:20; not therefore “in order that we,” but “that we.” On this use of ἵνα , see Winer, pp. 314 ff.[4] [E. T. pp. 420–426].
ἀρνησάμενοι ] see Tit_1:16 : “denying,” i.e. renouncing, abandoning.
τὴν ἀσέβειαν ] is not equivalent to ΕἸΔΩΛΟΛΑΤΡΕΊΑΝ ΚΑῚ ΤᾺ ΠΟΝΗΡᾺ ΔΌΓΜΑΤΑ (Theophylact), but is the opposite of ΕὐΣΈΒΕΙΑΝ : the behaviour of man, ungodly, estranged from God, of which idolatry is only one side.
ΚΑῚ ΤᾺς ΚΟΣΜΙΚᾺς ἘΠΙΘΥΜΊΑς ] ΚΟΣΜΙΚΌς only here and in Heb_9:1, but there in another connection. The ΚΟΣΜ . ἘΠΙΘΥΜΊΑΙ are not “desires or lusts referring to the earthly, transient world” (first edition of this commentary; so, too, Wiesinger), but “the lusts belonging to the ΚΌΣΜΟς , i.e. to the world estranged from God,” which, indeed, is the same thing (so, too, van Oosterzee). Kindred conceptions are found ἐπιθυμία σαρκός , Gal_5:15; Eph_2:3; ἈΝΘΡΏΠΩΝ ἘΠΙΘΥΜΊΑΙ , 1Pe_4:2.
ΣΩΦΡΌΝΩς ΚΑῚ ΔΙΚΑΊΩς ΚΑῚ ΕὐΣΕΒῶς ΖΉΣΩΜΕΝ ] see Tit_1:8 ( ΣΏΦΡΟΝΑ , ΔΊΚΑΙΟΝ , ὍΣΙΟΝ ). This denotes the life of Christian morality in three directions. Immediately after ἘΠΙΘΥΜΊΑΙ we have the opposing conception ΣΩΦΡΌΝΩς , which expresses self-control. ΔΙΚΑΊΩς denotes generally right conduct such as the divine law demands, having special reference here, as in Tit_1:8, to duty towards one’s neighbour. ΕὐΣΕΒῶς (opposite of ἈΣΈΒΕΙΑΝ ) denotes holiness in thought and act.
Even the older expositors find in the collocation of these three ideas an expression for the whole sum of duties. Wolf: optime illi res instituunt, qui per ΤῸ ΕὐΣΕΒῶς officia adversus Deum, per ΤῸ ΔΙΚΑΊΩς officia adv. proximum, per ΤῸ ΣΩΦΡΌΝΩς vero illa adv. hominem ipsum indicari existimant; still it might be doubtful whether Paul regarded the ideas as so sharply distinct from each other.
ἘΝ Τῷ ΝῦΝ ΑἸῶΝΙ ] Paul adds this to remind Titus that for the Christian there is another and future life towards which his glance is directed even in this;—still these words cannot be construed with ΠΡΟΣΔΕΧΌΜΕΝΟΙ .
[4] Wiesinger translates: “educating us, that we … live holily,” but thinks that ἵνα is to be retained in its proper signification as denoting the aim of the παίδευμα . In its proper signification, however, ἵνα does not give the aim, but the purpose. If it be taken in this sense here, we cannot but translate it “in order that.”