A long sentence from Paul

"But when the goodness of our Savior God and his love for men appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of works done in righteousness which we, we would have done, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, which He poured out richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior, that, having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." 3. 4-7

In many of his epistles, Paul introduces long sentences, which modern translations are obliged to cut into several short sentences. The record belongs to the sentence that runs between v. 3 and 14 of Ephesians 1 : in Greek, it has 202 words ! Yet Paul's literary genius also knew how to write in short, nervous sentences : read again the exhortations of Romans 12. 9-21 or 1 Thessalonians 5. 12-22.

So, if Paul sometimes uses such long sentences, it is for a specific purpose : only this literary form can give an idea of ​​the extent of the thoughts it presents and show how they are linked to each other.

Let us take as an example one of the shortest of his "long sentences", that of Titus 3. 4-7 (text of the day). In the preceding verse, the apostle had brought to light the dreadful state in which we once were. Then he develops the plan of salvation, qualifying God and Jesus Christ as "Savior". This plan has 4 main aspects :

- The source of our salvation is in the love of God. Paul declines it under four facets : goodness, philanthropy, mercy and grace !

- The basis of our salvation is not in our works, because they are unable to give us acceptable justice for God. It is in the work our Savior did on the cross : this is where the goodness of God appeared to give us life (2 Tim 1:10).

- The means of our salvation is in the action of the Holy Spirit: he has worked in us to give us a new life (regeneration), he acts in us continuously to renew us and he has included us in the Church on which he spreads his action and his gifts.

- The purpose of our salvation is in eternal life. Our present regeneration will have its full reach when the hope of glory becomes a reality.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)