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But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
Titus 3:4 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared,
  • KJV But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
  • NKJV But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
  • NASB But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
  • NLT But— When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love,

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

But then the kindness and love of God our Savior toward mankind appeared. It matters because God's gracious initiative, not our worth, is the turning point of salvation.

Overview

Against the bleak picture of verse 3 stands the decisive 'But when.' God's kindness and 'love toward mankind' appeared in the coming of Christ. The emphasis falls entirely on God's saving character, setting up the clear statement of grace-based salvation in the verses that follow.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Eph 2:4–10But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
  • Titus 2:10–11not stealing from them, but showing all good faith, so that in every respect they will adorn the teaching about God our Savior.
  • 1 Tim 4:10To this end we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe.
  • Rom 5:20–21The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
  • Rom 2:4Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
  • 2 Tim 1:10And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,
  • Heb 9:26Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
  • 1 Tim 2:3This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,
  • Titus 1:3In His own time He has made His word evident in the proclamation entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.
  • 1 Tim 1:1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Titus videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Titus 3:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on TitusMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

We await 'the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us' and purify a people of his own.

How Titus 3:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.