Titus

Titus Intro and Chapter 1

Titus Intro and Chapter 1

Shawn Bumpers / General

Titus / Titus; Elder in the NT; Faith

Introduction to the letter to Titus and chapter 1

Introduction

Now we step back in time.

2 Timothy was written while Paul was imprisoned by Rome for a 2nd time … about to be put to death as if a criminal for his Christian faith.

At his arrest, Paul sent them out to the churches in Galatia, Greece, Syria, and Asia Minor.

So we step back in time to 65AD, just prior to Paul’s second imprisonment which would occur in 66AD.

Paul wrote to Timothy in Ephesus and to Titus in Crete.

Titus 2:1 NKJV

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine:

While Timothy was laboring in Ephesus, Titus had his hands full on the island of Crete.

Crete is an island southeast of Greece between the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. 

Titus was a Greek believer.

Galatians 2:3 NKJV

Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.

Titus had served Paul well on special assignments to the church in Corinth.

In 56AD, Paul sent Titus from Ephesus to Corinth to minister in the wake of fallout from his first letter to the Corinthians and a disciplinary visit Paul had made.

Titus had probably been saved through the ministry of Paul.

And, like Timothy, Titus was discipled by the Apostle.

Titus received this letter by the hands of Zenas and Apollos, whom he then sent on their way.

It would seem from verse 13 of chapter 3 that they had some assignment from Paul to continue on to.

Some of the problems Titus faced and which Paul will address were the need for qualified leaders, false teachers, and a difficult congregation.

As we saw in the later second letter to Timothy, Titus eventually left Crete and was at one point present with Paul in Rome during his second imprisonment.

Verse 12 of chapter 3 seems to indicate that Titus met Paul at Nicopolis, and may have been with Paul when he was arrested.

v1-2

As was Paul’s typical modus operandi, and as was the norm of the day, Paul begins his letter with an introduction.

He identifies himself as the author of the letter, but also as a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.

“According to” is one possible understanding of the Greek word κατά Kata (kuh-TAH) but it’s use would seem to indicate that his apostleship somehow depended on the faith of believers.

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 1

Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of the chosen of God

English Standard Version Chapter 1

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect

John 2:6 NKJV

Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.

Or as I’ve said before, “Sound doctrine promotes righteousness.”

And, as verse 2 says, it also gives us hope for the future.

That word “hope” is ἐλπίς Elpis and means hope and expectation.

Numbers 23:19 NKJV

“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

1 Peter 1:3 NKJV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

In contrast to the Living God who “cannot lie” are the pagan deities that the native Cretans would have been familiar with.

In Greek myths, deities readily deceived mortals.

The Doctrine of God is a vast topic that covers all aspects of Who God is.

2 Corinthians 1:20 NKJV

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

This keys into a very important doctrine … The Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy.

This doctrine states that all the books of the Bible, as they were originally written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were 100% inerrant, accurate, authoritative, and true.

v3

It is the Greek words ἴδιος καιρός idios kairos.

v4

To identify the recipient of a letter was the common convention of the time.

Here, as I hope you would expect, Paul identifies Titus as the intended recipient of this letter.

• First, there is a parallel in 1 Timothy 1:2 where Paul refers to Timothy as “A true son in the faith.”

1 Timothy 1:2 NKJV

To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

• Secondly, there is the phrase, “Our common faith” which we find here, but not in 1 Timothy 1:2.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 NKJV

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Romans 10:13 NKJV

For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

v5

Titus 2:1 NKJV

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine:

Romans 6:1–2 NKJV

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

For the church to be healthy, Titus needed to “speak things which are proper for sound doctrine.”

And that’s what is going to follow.

2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

v6-9

Titus had already received this command at the time that he was left to his work on Crete.

And so, Paul gives him what is a reminder of what he already knows.

1 Corinthians 4:2 NKJV

Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.

Philippians 4:8 NKJV

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Philippians 4:9 NKJV

The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

1 Peter 1:16 NKJV

because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Timothy 2:17 NKJV

And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort,

Matthew 4:4 NKJV

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

v10-16

It did not take long for false teachers to arise in the early church …even on an Island like Crete.

Wherever God sows the truth, Satan quickly shows up to sow lies. 

Titus 1:12 NKJV

One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

Titus wasn’t to stand by and allow this to happen … he was to speak up against it!

He was to “exhort and to convince” them by means of “sound doctrine” as Paul wrote in verse 9. 

2 Timothy 4:2 NKJV

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

Galatians 5:9 NKJV

A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

John 8:31–32 NKJV

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”