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QUICK FACTS!
TITUS 2:13 — DOES THIS VERSE PROVE JESUS IS GOD?
FULL article here:
PART 1 — Titus 2:13: Does This Verse Really Call Jesus God?
- What Trinitarians claim
- The question: Who is Paul referring to?
- The “quick facts”
- Philippians 3:14 comparison
PART 2 — Who Is Returning? God, Jesus, or Both?
- Revelation 1:8
- Matthew 16:27
- Jude 1:14–15
- How God and His Son act together
PART 3 — God and His Son Working Together as One
- John 10:38
- John 14:10–11
- Immanuel (“God with us”)
- Jesus revealing the Father
PART 4 — The Biblical Pattern: God and Jesus Mentioned Together
- 1 Peter 1:21
- Hebrews 9:28
- Zechariah 14:5
- Philippians 3:20
- 1 Thessalonians
- 2 Thessalonians
- Revelation 11:15
PART 5 — The One True God and the Trinity Question
- Isaiah 45:5
- Deuteronomy 6:4
- Mark 12:29
- Romans 3:30
- James 2:19
- Trinity doctrine explanation
- 1 John 2:22–25 conclusion
A vertical Bible study banner featuring Simon Brown examining Scripture. The image highlights Titus 2:13 and the importance of studying biblical context, comparing passages, and carefully examining what the Bible teaches about God the Father and Jesus Christ.
PART 1 — TITUS 2:13: DOES THIS VERSE REALLY CALL JESUS GOD?
One of the most frequently quoted verses in discussions about whether Jesus is God is Titus 2:13.
Many Trinitarian Christians understand this verse as directly calling Jesus both “God” and “Savior.”
Titus 2:13 reads:
“Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
— Titus 2:13
At first glance, especially in many modern English translations, this can certainly sound as though Paul is describing Jesus Christ as “our great God and Savior.”
For this reason, Titus 2:13 is frequently presented as evidence for the deity of Christ.
But should we simply stop there?
Or should we do what every careful Bible student should do:
EXAMINE THE CONTEXT.
COMPARE PAUL WITH PAUL.
COMPARE SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE.
And ask whether another understanding is possible.
THE CENTRAL QUESTION
Who was Paul referring to when he wrote Titus 2:13?
Was he referring to ONE PERSON:
“Our great God and Savior Jesus Christ”?
Or was he referring to TWO:
OUR GREAT GOD
AND
OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST?
This question matters enormously.
If Paul is identifying Jesus as “our great God,” Titus 2:13 becomes an important text in arguments for the deity of Christ.
But if Paul is referring to God and Jesus Christ together, then the verse does not establish that Jesus is the great God.
So how can we investigate this?
One important method is to examine Paul's normal way of speaking about God and Jesus.
PAUL REGULARLY DISTINGUISHES GOD FROM JESUS CHRIST
Throughout Paul's writings we repeatedly encounter a very clear pattern.
Paul speaks about GOD.
Then he speaks about JESUS CHRIST.
For example:
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
— Philippians 1:2
Notice the distinction:
GOD OUR FATHER
AND
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
Paul does the same thing elsewhere:
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
— Romans 1:7
Again:
GOD OUR FATHER
AND
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
And again:
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
— 1 Corinthians 1:3
This distinction appears repeatedly throughout Paul's letters.
That should immediately make us cautious about taking one disputed construction and interpreting it without considering Paul's wider language.
WHAT DOES PAUL SAY IN TITUS ITSELF?
This becomes even more interesting when we examine the opening of the very same letter.
Paul writes:
“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ...”
— Titus 1:1
Notice again:
GOD
AND
JESUS CHRIST.
Paul identifies himself as:
A SERVANT OF GOD
AND
AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST.
Two are being distinguished.
Then Titus 1:4 says:
“Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.”
Once again:
GOD THE FATHER
AND
CHRIST JESUS OUR SAVIOR.
This is extremely important when interpreting Titus 2:13.
Only a short distance before the disputed verse, Paul has explicitly distinguished:
GOD THE FATHER
FROM
CHRIST JESUS OUR SAVIOR.
Therefore, when we reach Titus 2:13, we should at least ask whether Paul could again be speaking about God and His Messiah together.
COMPARE PHILIPPIANS 3
There is another interesting comparison.
Paul writes:
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
— Philippians 3:14
Notice the order:
GOD
then
CHRIST JESUS.
Later in the same chapter Paul writes:
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
— Philippians 3:20
Again Paul distinguishes the God who calls believers through Christ from Jesus Christ whom believers await as Savior.
This is consistent with Paul's normal theological language.
THE FATHER IS CALLED GOD
Paul could hardly have been clearer in passages such as 1 Corinthians 8:6:
“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him.”
— 1 Corinthians 8:6
Notice carefully:
ONE GOD — THE FATHER.
ONE LORD — JESUS CHRIST.
Paul does not erase the distinction between them.
He preserves it.
This same distinction appears again in Ephesians:
“One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
— Ephesians 4:6
And again:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
— Ephesians 1:3
Think about those words:
THE GOD AND FATHER
OF
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
This raises an obvious question:
If Paul's normal language identifies the Father as God and distinguishes Jesus as God's Christ and Lord, should Titus 2:13 automatically be interpreted as overturning that pattern?
THE GRAMMAR MUST BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY
We should also be fair with the evidence.
Many scholars and translators argue from the Greek grammar of Titus 2:13 that “our great God and Savior” refers to one person—Jesus Christ.
That interpretation should not simply be ignored.
However, grammatical arguments must still be considered alongside context, Pauline usage, and the wider biblical testimony.
This is precisely why Titus 2:13 deserves careful examination rather than being reduced to:
“Paul called Jesus God. End of discussion.”
The discussion is not that simple.
PAUL'S OWN WORDS MUST INTERPRET PAUL
Before deciding what Titus 2:13 means, we should therefore examine how Paul consistently speaks elsewhere.
Does Paul normally teach:
JESUS IS THE ONE GOD?
Or does he normally distinguish between:
GOD THE FATHER
AND
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST?
The repeated pattern is unmistakable.
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
— 1 Timothy 2:5
Notice again:
ONE GOD.
Then:
ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND HUMANITY.
Who is that mediator?
CHRIST JESUS.
The mediator is distinguished from the God between whom he mediates.
Therefore, Titus 2:13 must be examined within this much larger biblical framework.
THE QUICK FACT
The Trinitarian interpretation of Titus 2:13 understands “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” as referring entirely to Jesus.
My understanding is different.
I believe Paul is speaking within the same pattern found repeatedly throughout his writings:
THE GREAT GOD — THE FATHER
AND
THE SAVIOR — JESUS CHRIST.
But we should not reach that conclusion merely because Simon Brown says so.
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES.
Examine the Greek arguments.
Examine the context.
Compare Titus with Paul's other letters.
And determine which interpretation best fits the complete biblical evidence.
In PART 2 we will examine another major question raised by Titus 2:13:
WHO IS COMING IN GLORY?
Is Scripture speaking only about Jesus?
Or does the Bible describe BOTH God and His Son being revealed together in the final establishment of God's Kingdom?

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