Titus

Paul writes to Titus, one of his protégées, a young pastor and fellow missionary now entrusted to the care of the faithful on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea.  We last see Titus mentioned in 2 Timothy, wherein Paul reports that He had sent Titus to Dalmatia, modern Yugoslavia.  Titus was a Gentile and may have been led to Christ during Paul’s first missionary journey.

Paul’s purpose in writing was to give encouragement and counsel to a young pastor who, while well trained and faithful, faced continuing opposition from ungodly men in the churches where he ministered.  Titus was to pass on that encouragement and counsel to the other leaders he was to appoint in the churches.  Unlike so many of Paul’s letters, the letter to Titus does not focus on explaining or defending doctrine.  Except for the warning about false teachers and Judaizers, the letter contains no theological correction, indicating Paul’s confidence in Titus’ strong doctrinal grounding.  Rather, Paul affirms several key doctrinal principles, which include: 1) God’s sovereign election of believers (1:1,2); 2) His saving grace (2:11; 3:5); 3) Christ’s deity and second coming (2:13); 4) Christ’s substitutionary atonement (2:14); and 5) the regeneration and renewing of believers by the Holy Spirit (3:5).

The major theme of the letter is that of equipping the churches for effective evangelism, indicated by Paul’s repeated reference to God and Christ as Savior and the “saving plan” emphasized in 2:11-14.  Other major themes Paul emphasizes are works (1:16; 2:7,14; 3:1,5,8,14); soundness of faith and doctrine ( 1:4, 9,13; 2:1,2,7,8,10; 3:15); and salvation (1:3,4; 2:10,13;3:4,6).

Chapter 1 – Greeting and Titus’ Work in Crete

Paul always puts things into the proper perspective.  In the space of three short verses, he establishes his submissive role to Christ as His Savior and continues by proclaiming his mission as a messenger of the message of salvation.  People constantly wonder what their “purpose” in life is.  Paul’s purpose should be ours as well.  The reason we study His Word is to educate and bless ourselves and others with the knowledge of His Word, to further the faith of God’s elect through evangelism and to educate them in the knowledge of God’s truth (Matt. 28:20 – preach the gospel to all nations and teach them to observe all things Christ commanded).

1.1 – He shows his willing and complete submissive and voluntary servant attitude toward Christ by being His “bondservant.”  As an “apostle,” he declares himself a messenger or literally a “sent one” in service to Jesus Christ.  His message is to “those God has chosen (His elect),” those who have been graciously chosen “before the foundations of the world” (Eph. 1:4), but who must exercise personal faith prompted and imparted by the Holy Spirit.  This is a critical and important doctrine that many “believers” today choose to dispute.  In reality, God’s choice of believers always precedes and enables their choice of Him (John 15:16; 6:44; Acts 13:46-48; Rom. 9:15-21; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:8,9; 2:10; 1 Pet. 1:1,2).  It is the elect’s faith that Paul is called to uphold and to “teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives.”  What “truth” does Paul have in mind?  The gospel truth, the saving message of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 2:3,4; 2 Tim. 2:25).  This saving truth leads to “godliness” or sanctification.  The “world” cannot teach us the truth that leads to holiness, only God’s Word can.

1:2 – This saving truth is our anchor through the storms of life and leads us to confidence in the promise of life eternal.  Why?  Because God promised it before the world even began.  He cannot lie!  He is truth and the source of all truth.

1:3 – “And now at the right time,” God made known His wonderful program of salvation and eternal life through Jesus His Son.  He had not fully revealed it in the OT times and it remained an incomplete and blurry image of His holy plan.  The time has come to announce the plan to everyone and is so commanded by the Savior Himself.  We are His hands, His mouth, and His feet.

MacDonald explains Paul’s blessing on Titus this way –“For his young lieutenant Paul wishes grace, mercy, and peace.  Grace means the divine strength needed for life and service.  Mercy is compassion on man’s deep need.  Peace means freedom from anxiety, panic, and distraction despite adverse circumstances.”  These come from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.  God is the source of all we have.

1:6-9 – Paul reminds Titus of the work he appointed him to do, that is, to correct wrong doctrine and practices in the Cretan churches, and appoint elders in each of the cities to act as mature spiritual leaders to shepherd and care for the flock.  Paul reminds Titus of the qualifications of the elders: he must lead a life beyond accusation and leading a good life; he must be a “one-woman man,” – this does not refer to divorce, but to a life of external and internal purity in the sexual area.  This does not disqualify single men.  His children (“faithful” in the NKJV) are not to be wild and rebellious, contradicting their assumed faith.  Paul goes on to list other necessary attributes: Must be blameless in his role of God’s minister; must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; must not be e heavy drinker, violent or greedy; He must welcome guests to his home and love all that is good.  Must live wisely and fair; must live a devout and disciplined life; must have a strong and steadfast belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; must encourage others with the same right teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.  If only we could all, live up to these standards!  It must be our goal!

1:10 – The order of the early church’s gatherings was different from todays.  If we look at 1 Cor. 14:26, we see what the services in Crete and many other early churches probably were like, especially if an elder or elders were not present to keep order.  The idea was to allow the Holy Spirit to lead the congregation in an “open” meeting.  However, human nature, being what it is, always takes over and where this kind of liberty exists, you always find men rushing in to abuse it with false doctrine, nit-picking and grumbling, devoid of the Spirit.  This was especially true for “those who insist on circumcision for salvation.”  This applied to the troublesome Judaizers throughout the church.  It has escalated to many forms of legalism today.

1:11 – Paul says these false Christians must be silenced because they have lead whole families away from the truth.  He says that these false teachers are only in it for the money.

1:12 –The Highly thought of Greek poet Epimenides described his fellow Cretans as the dregs of Greek culture: liars, as cruel as animals, and as lazy gluttons.

1:13-14 – How does one counteract these false teachers?  By requiring that true and pure doctrine was to be required of all those who spoke in the church.  They are to be rebuked to make them strong in the faith.  The Cretans were to turn their backs on the Judaizers and disregard those who taught their Jewish myths.

1:15 – We run into a problem when we read v.15, “ Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure.”  How can this be?  If we take the words of this sentence out of context as a statement of absolute truth in all areas of life, we are in trouble!  All things are not pure, even to those whose minds are pure.  People take and twist this verse to meet their own perverted desires.  Taken in context, Paul has not been speaking about things that are merely morally correct, things that are by themselves essentially right or wrong.  He has been discussing things that pose no moral problems for a believing Christian, that is, things that are ceremonially defiling for a Jew living under the law that are perfectly legitimate for a Christian living under grace. For example, the forbidden eating of pork for a practicing Jew is certainly not a requirement for the Christian.  Jesus said that it is not what one eats, but what comes out of one’s heart that defiles him (Mark 7:21-23).  It is not about what happens externally, but the works of the heart that determine if one knows God.

Chapter 2 – Promote Right Teaching

2:1 - In direct contrast to the false teachers, Paul admonishes Titus to teach what is proper for sound doctrine.  One commentator puts it this way; “He was to close the awful chasm between the lips of God’s people and their lives.”  This reflects the main theme of Titus –the practical outliving of healthy doctrine in good works.  Paul goes on to explain what these good works should be.

2:2 – As for the older men, teach them exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely.  They are to have strong faith, not bitter and cynical, but thankful and optimistic.  They are to be sound in love, not self-centered, thinking of others and should be filled with patience.

2:3-6 - to the older women he writes that they are to live in a way that is appropriate for someone serving the Lord.  He councils that women are not to be gossips, speaking evil of one another.  The word he uses here is diabolos (Greek for devil) because gossip is diabolical in its source and character.  Many Christians leave the faith because of malicious words spoken in anger or jealousy.  Not only should they not become slaves to drink, they should not be enslaved to anything that is harmful.  These women are to teach others what is good.  They are to train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to live wisely and be pure, to care for their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands.  The love Paul stresses here is unconditional, not based on a husband’s or a child’s worthiness, but is based on God’s will!  All of this so that they will not bring shame on the word of God.  Unbelievers see God and the church through our actions and how we live our lives. 

2:6-8 – Notice that Paul does not urge Titus to teach the younger women – that task is assigned to the older, wiser women.  They bear a great responsibility.  He does instruct Titus to teach the younger men to be sober-minded, living wisely in all they do.  Titus is to be an example of all these things, doing good deeds of every kind.  That is a directive to all Christians everywhere – to live godly lives as an example of Christ in us.  What we do and say must reflect the integrity and seriousness of what we teach and that teaching must be so correct that it cannot be criticized.  Those who want to slander believers will then be left with nothing to say.  First, they must see the Christ in us - an awesome responsibility!

2:9 – Paul further addresses the issue of obedience by teaching that slaves (and by extension all employees) “must obey their masters and do their best to please them.”  The NT never condones or condemns slavery, but it teaches that freedom from the bondage of sin is infinitely more important than freedom from any human bondage a person may have to endure.  Believers are to be obedient and to seek to please those for whom they work, whether their “masters” are believers or not, fair or unfair, kind or cruel.  The only exception is when a believer is required to disobey God’s Word.  They must show themselves to be entirely trustworthy and good so that by their good example, the teaching about God our Savior is attractive in every way.

2:11-13 – The heart of the letter, emphasizing that God’s sovereign purpose in appointing elders and in commanding His own people to live righteously is to provide the good witness that brings God’s plan and purpose of salvation to fulfillment.  His plan is revealed through Jesus Christ Himself, God’s gracious gift to a sinful mankind.  If indeed we believe in His gracious work, then we are to “turn from godless living and the world’s sinful pleasures, living in self-control, right conduct.”  We live for the “blessed hope” (known as the Second Coming) and “glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” “Christ gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”  It is all about Him!

Chapter 3 –Do what is Good

Paul closes with an order for Titus to remind the Cretans of their responsibility toward government.  The Christian approach is that all government is God ordained (Rom. 13:1).  The thought is that even if a government is unchristian or even anti-Christian, any government is better than no government at all.  The absence of government is anarchy (lawless confusion and political disorder wherein each individual exercises his/her rights above all else (sound familiar?).  The Word says that even if a ruler does not know God personally, he is still “the anointed of the Lord” in his official position, and must be respected as such.  We need only to look at the OT as proof of this.  Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan king greatly used by the Lord for His purpose (see Daniel and Ezekiel).  He is but one of many God used to do His will.  Christians are to be obedient to rulers and authorities.  This is difficult for most people to swallow.  Just last night a friend of my wife vehemently expressed her hatred toward our President and hoped “he burns in hell!”  Today’s media seems to hold more sway over the thoughts of people, including so-called Christians, than Scripture has.  God makes it very clear how we are to behave, spiritually and civilly.  We are to obey and to be ready for every good work.  Eph.2: 10 makes it clear that God has made us “His workman ship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

3:2 – It remains difficult to be a good Christian, especially when we are admonished to “speak evil of no one, and avoid any quarreling, instead we are to be gentle and show humility to everyone.”

3:3 – Paul helps us to understand why we are to do these things, because “we too were foolish and disobedient, mislead by others and slaves to every wicked desire and evil pleasure.  Our lives were filled with evil and envy, hating others as they hated us.”

3:4-8 – Paul blesses us with the gospel message of salvation by grace and regeneration in these next verses.  “While we were yet sinners” – “But then our Savior showed us His kindness and love.  He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of His mercy.  He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit.  He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did.  He declared us not guilty (justified by His grace) because of His great kindness.  And now we know (not guess or hope) that we will (not “maybe” or “if I’m really good”) inherit eternal life (the NKJV says “having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”)  These are absolutes and the language is emphatic – Paul tells us that “all he has told us is true and that we are to insist on them so that everyone who trusts in God will be careful to do good deeds all the time.”

3:9 – Again, Paul gives Titus (and us) practical advice.  Rather than argue with the legalists, in Titus’ case, the Judaizers) who insist on obedience to the Mosaic law (or any other legalist tradition), we are not to become involved in useless discussion over things that detract from the doctrine of Justification by grace through faith alone.  It is unprofitable and useless.  Proclaiming the truth, not arguing error, is the biblical way to evangelize.

3:10 – To those who argue with doctrine, give them a first and second warning and then have nothing to do with them.  These divisive people are sinners and condemn themselves with their words.

3:12-14- Paul ends his letter to Titus, encouraging him to help those in need so that those people should not live unproductive lives.  They, and we, must learn to do good by helping others who have urgent needs.

3:15 – “May God’s grace be with you all.”