Titus
Set in order the things that are wanting: sound doctrine, sound leaders, and sound living in the local church.
Paul had visited Crete with Titus after his release from the first Roman imprisonment and left Titus there to “set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city” (1:5). The Cretan churches, perhaps founded by Cretans converted at Pentecost (Acts 2:11), were disorganized and troubled by false teachers, especially “they of the circumcision,” who subverted whole houses for filthy lucre’s sake.
The letter is short and practical. Chapter 1 gives the qualifications of elders and tells Titus to rebuke the false teachers sharply. Chapter 2 tells him to speak the things that become sound doctrine to older men, older women, younger women, younger men, and servants, grounding their conduct in “the grace of God that bringeth salvation” and the blessed hope of Christ’s glorious appearing (2:11–13). Chapter 3 reminds believers of their conduct toward government and outsiders and of the kindness and love of God our Saviour, who saved us “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy” (3:5).
Titus insists that doctrine must be adorned by life. Sound doctrine produces good works; the gospel is something a believer wears as well as believes.
Writer: Paul
Written: After Acts 28, near the time of 1 Timothy; AD 63–66
Name: Named for Titus, Paul’s partner and fellow helper.
Title and authorship
The epistle to Titus, a Greek believer and trusted co-worker of Paul.
Paul wrote the letter (1:1). It is the third of the pastoral epistles, written about the same time as 1 Timothy.
Historical background
Written after Acts 28, probably from Macedonia or on the way to Nicopolis where Paul planned to winter (3:12), about AD 63–65. Crete is a large island in the Mediterranean south of Greece.
Titus, Paul’s representative in Crete, and the churches he was organizing.
Titus
Titus was a Greek convert of Paul (1:4) who was not compelled to be circumcised (Galatians 2:3), a test case at the Jerusalem council. He carried Paul’s severe letter and 2 Corinthians to Corinth and organized the collection there (2 Corinthians 8:6, 16–23). He later went to Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:10).
Cretans
Paul quotes a Cretan prophet, Epimenides (sixth century BC): “The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies” (1:12). The Greeks coined a verb, “to cretize,” meaning to lie. Paul adds, “This witness is true.”
Nicopolis
Nicopolis (“city of victory”) was probably the city in Epirus on the western coast of Greece, founded by Augustus to commemorate his victory at Actium. Paul planned to winter there (3:12).
Key passages
Titus 1:5
Set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city.
Titus 2:11–13
The grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to deny ungodliness and look for the blessed hope.
Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.
Titus 2:11–14
Saving grace teaches godly living while believers await Christ.
Titus 3:8
Faith in God is to issue in useful and profitable good works.
Outline
1 · Sound leadership
Elders must be qualified in life and doctrine and able to resist deceivers.
2 · Sound conduct
Age, household responsibilities, and work provide settings in which believers adorn the doctrine.
3 · Sound witness
Grace produces good works, wise conduct toward outsiders, and firm dealing with divisiveness.
Original language
πρεσβύτερος (presbuteros, G4245) — “elder”
An older man, and then an office of oversight. In Titus 1:5–7 elder and bishop describe the same person. The presbytery (1 Timothy 4:14) is the body of elders.
ὑγιαίνω (hugiaino, G5198) — “sound”
To be healthy or whole (our word hygiene). Sound doctrine is healthy teaching that produces spiritual health. The word appears repeatedly in the pastoral epistles.
κοσμέω (kosmeo, G2885) — “adorn”
To arrange, decorate, or beautify (our word cosmetic). Servants are to “adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things” (2:10) by faithful conduct.
παλιγγενεσία (paliggenesia, G3824) — “regeneration”
New birth, renewal. God saved us “by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (3:5). The word is used elsewhere only of the renewed world in the kingdom (Matthew 19:28).
μακαρία ἐλπίς (makaria elpis, G1680) — “blessed hope”
The joyful expectation of the Lord’s appearing (2:13). The “great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” are one person—a clear statement of Christ’s deity.
Doctrinal study
Grace that teaches
“The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (2:11–12). Grace not only saves; it trains. Looking for the blessed hope motivates holy living.
Salvation by mercy
God saved us not by works of righteousness but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, “that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (3:5–7).
The deity of Christ
Titus 2:13 speaks of “the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,” and in 1:3–4 and 3:4–6 the title Saviour is given interchangeably to God and to Jesus Christ. Christ is God our Saviour.
Commentary notes
Three chapters
Chapter 1: the qualities of the man of God and soundness in leadership. Chapter 2: the conduct of the man of God and soundness in the lives of believers in the church. Chapter 3: the challenge of the man of God and soundness in the world—dealing with heretics and supporting one another.
Drawing lines
Titus is a book of authority: set in order (1:5), mouths must be stopped (1:11), rebuke them sharply (1:13), speak with all authority (2:15), affirm constantly (3:8), reject a heretic after two admonitions (3:10). A ministry needs men able to draw clear lines with character and sound doctrine to enforce them.
Titus and Timothy
Timothy seems to have needed more encouragement than Titus in similar situations, perhaps because Titus, raised a pagan, had been toughened by life’s hardships.
Christ in the book
- The great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (2:13)
- The one who gave Himself to redeem us from all iniquity and purify a peculiar people (2:14)
- God our Saviour whose kindness and love appeared (3:4)
Applications
Historical
- Paul’s letter of encouragement to his spiritual son Titus, laboring to establish God’s order and priorities in the churches of Crete.
- Titus was a trusted coworker who had already served in difficult situations, including the Corinthian ministry and its collection.
- Crete’s churches needed established order and leaders able to oppose disruptive teaching.
Doctrinal
- God lays out what is needful in the church: sound leadership, sound doctrine, and sound living—the goals of every local church and church planter. Believers live soberly in this present world while “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (2:13).
- Salvation comes through God’s mercy and the regenerating work of the Holy Ghost, apart from works of righteousness performed by man.
- The grace that saves also instructs the saved; doctrine and godly conduct belong together.
- Elder and bishop describe the local church office from related perspectives, with oversight requiring proven character.
Devotional
- There is no effective ministry in a life or a church where order and discipline are not present. Doctrine is not only something to believe; it is something to wear.
- Self-control, integrity, kindness, faithfulness, and honest work commend the doctrine through conduct consistent with its teaching.
- Paul directs Titus to avoid unprofitable disputes and to deal firmly with teaching and divisiveness that damage the church.
- Live usefully toward others while waiting for the blessed hope.
Answering the critics
Titus is attacked along with the other pastoral epistles as post-Pauline.
See the notes on 1 Timothy. The letter’s personal references—Zenas the lawyer, Apollos, Artemas, Tychicus, Nicopolis—and its fit with Paul’s ministry after Acts confirm it.