This is the last part of the sentence that began in verse 4, and it explains the purpose for the giving of the Holy Spirit; this is signaled by so that at the beginning of the verse.

Justified comes from a verb that is related to the word “righteousness.” Generally in the New Testament letters, “to justify” (and the noun form “righteousness”) as an activity of God refers to his righting a wrong, the goal of such “righting” being people. God’s justifying act therefore is his putting people in a right relationship with himself, that is, with God. Part of this justifying act is God’s forgiveness of people’s sins, and this is accomplished by means of Jesus’ death on the cross.

For grace see 1 Tim 1.2, 14. His can refer either to God or to Jesus Christ; either one is possible, and the translator will just have to make a choice. In many languages it will be helpful to begin a new sentence at the beginning of this verse; for example, “He did this so that through his [God’s] kindness he might put us [inclusive] right with himself” or “He did this so that through the kindness of Jesus he [God] might put us right with himself.”

For hope see 1 Tim 1.1. For eternal life see 1 Tim 1.16.

Heirs in hope of eternal life translates exactly the Greek text, which does not make the meaning clear. Ordinarily an heir is one who receives either money or property as a result of someone dying. The biblical understanding is quite different. To a Jew in New Testament times, the word “inheritance” was a reminder of God’s promise to give to Israel Canaan, the promised land, and also a reminder of what God has done in order to fulfill that promise. As a development of this, the word “inheritance” came to be used figuratively to refer to favors and blessings from God. To be an “heir” is to receive what God has promised.

With this background heirs in hope of eternal life can be restructured as “we might hope to receive eternal life, as God has promised us” or “… the eternal life that God has promised us.”

It should be noted that we might be justified by his grace is a participial phrase, which literally translated is “having been justified by his grace” (New Revised Standard Version). A possible interpretation is then that the purpose of the gift of the Holy Spirit is not our justification but our becoming recipients of eternal life. Justification can then be viewed as a given, as something that is already in effect, and which gives the reason for the hope of eternal life. The following restructuring of verses 6-7 properly expresses these relationships:

• Through Jesus Christ our Savior, God poured out abundantly the Holy Spirit on us, so that we might hope to receive the eternal life that God has promised us. And we have this hope because, by God’s saving love, he has put us into a right relationship with himself.

The saying is sure refers back to the previous section, namely verses 4-7. This is the fifth of the so-called “faithful sayings” in the Pastoral Letters. The other occurrences are in 1 Tim 1.15; 3.1; 4.9; and 2 Tim 2.11. While this statement is part of verse 8, it is better treated as the conclusion of the previous paragraph, as most translations have it. In fact, it is advisable to begin a new section with 8b (compare Jerusalem Bible) in order to make certain that 8a refers to what precedes rather than to what follows.

Alternative translation models for verses 6-8a are:

• God used Jesus Christ our Savior to freely give us the Holy spirit, so that we might hope to receive the eternal life that God has promised to give us. And we can be sure of this because God, through his saving love, has put us right with himself. This is certainly a true message.

Or:

• Through Jesus Christ our Savior God freely gave us his Spirit. He did this so that through the loving kindness of Jesus he [God] might put us right with himself, and we will receive from him the eternal life that we are hoping for. What I have been saying is all true.

Or:

• God sent Jesus Christ our [inclusive] Savior … He [God] did this so that through his [God’s] loving kindness he might put us right with himself ….

For desire see 1 Tim 2.8. A literal translation of the Greek (for example, Revised Standard Version) sounds a bit awkward; Good News Translation‘s “I want you to” sounds much better. The word for insist occurs only here and in 1 Tim 1.7, where it is translated as “make assertions,” and for which see discussion there. The verb means to state something with confidence, firmness, and certainty, hence to affirm, to emphasize (compare Good News Translation “give special emphasis”). These things includes the saying just referred to, but perhaps it also refers to the first seven verses of this chapter, as shown by the emphasis on good deeds that is also the concern in verse 1. These things may also be rendered as “the matters I have just spoken about.”

The purpose for insisting on these matters is to motivate Christians for good deeds. Have believed literally translates the perfect participle, which indicates an action that occurred in the past but with its effect continuing to the present. Those who have believed in God obviously refers to Christians; Paul may have used this expression here deliberately in order to emphasize the place of faith in the salvation process, especially since it is not at all mentioned in verses 4-7.

May be careful translates the subjunctive form of a verb that occurs only here in the whole New Testament, and that focuses on putting serious consideration and careful thought on something (so Good News Translation “be concerned,” Jerusalem Bible “may keep their minds constantly occupied,” Phillips “may concentrate upon,” or one may use an idiomatic expression such as “set their minds [hearts/livers] to”).

To apply themselves translates a verb that is often translated “to rule” or “manage” (see, for example, 1 Tim 3.4, 5, 12). Here the sense is “to make something one’s primary concern,” “to completely devote oneself to something,” “to engage in something with intense devotion” (so Good News Translation “giving their time,” Jerusalem Bible “occupied in”). In the present context, that something to which they should devote themselves to is good deeds (for which see 1 Tim 2.10), which, as previously mentioned, is also the theme of verse 1. These good deeds are spoken of as both excellent (for which see 1 Tim 1.8) and profitable (for which see 1 Tim 4.8, where the word is translated “value”) to men, which in this context may be equivalent to “all men” in verse 2; hence Good News Translation “everyone” (also New Revised Standard Version).

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• I want you to firmly insist that the Christians there follow these teachings that I have just talked about. This will enable them to be concerned with using their time to do good deeds that will be good and useful for everyone.Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to Titus. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1995. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .