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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadEzekiel, Jonah, and Pastoral Epistles by Patrick Fairbairn - Titus 3:6 - 3:6
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Ver. 6. Having named the Holy Spirit as the efficient author of the renovation accomplished in believers, the apostle goes on to indicate, in further proof of the lovingkindness and mercy of God in the matter of our salvation, the copiousness of the gift; it is bestowed, not with a grudging, but with a free and benignant hand: which He poured out ( ïὗ ἐîÝ÷ååí , the ïὗ by attraction with the preceding Ðíåýìáôïò ἁãßïõ , not in any way dependent on ëïõôñïῦ ) on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. The form of expression is derived from the language of Old Testament prophecy (Joe_2:28; Zec_12:10), adopted by the apostles at the commencement of the New Testament church (Act_2:17, Act_2:33, Act_10:45)—language proceeding on the similitude of the Spirit’s grace to quickening and refreshing streams of water. As such He is represented, not simply as given, but as poured out,—nay, poured out richly, in order to convey some idea of the plenteous beneficence of the gift. This rich bestowal is peculiar to New Testament times; and here, as elsewhere, it is expressly connected with the mediation of Christ, who as Saviour has opened the way for it, and Himself sends forth the Spirit as the fruit of His work on earth, and the token of its acceptance with the Father (Joh_14:16, Joh_14:26, Joh_16:7; Luk_24:49; Gal_4:6; Eph_4:7-11). So that the whole Trinity appears here as concurring in the blessed work of our salvation: we are saved by God the Father, through the ministration of His life-giving ordinances, rendered such by the presence and agency of the Holy Spirit; and this, again, proceeds on the ground of what was done for us by Christ as our Saviour, and what He still does in mediating between us and the Father respecting the bestowal of the Spirit. Such a style of representation could never have been used unless Father, Son, and Spirit had been co-ordinate agents in the work of salvation. And as regards the more specific topic in this verse—the, rich outpouring of the Spirit—there can be no doubt that, as the apostle is speaking more immediately of the salvation of individuals, it must be primarily understood with reference to this, though still of this only as a part of that general effusion of the Spirit’s grace which commenced on the day of Pentecost. The individual, in such a case, cannot be viewed apart from the general; and it is needless here to distinguish minutely between the two.