Titus 1

Titus 1:1

It was after he had been released from his first imprisonment in Rome that Paul most likely traveled to Crete and left Titus there to establish a work on the island. The Greek phrase translated “according to the faith” is better translated “for the furtherance of the faith.” Paul is saying, “I just want to see God’s people go farther, and do better. I want to see the kingdom expanded and people deepened.” Such was Paul’s heart. Although the King James Version reads, “truth which is after godliness,” the idea here is “truth which produces godliness.”

Titus 1:2

Paul’s intent is that people do better and go farther in the glorious hope of eternal life. “And this is eternal life,” Jesus prayed in His High Priestly prayer, “…that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (Joh_17:3). We usually think of eternal life as existing someday far away in heaven. But that’s only part of it. According to Jesus’ prayer, eternal life is to know the Lord here and now in our hearts. Thus, the farther I get from the Lord, the more hellish things become. But in the days I spend time with the Lord, I experience something of heaven on earth. The closer I walk to the Lord, the more heavenly my days will be. It was after Enoch fathered his son, Methuselah, that Scripture records he began to walk with God (Gen_5:22). Kids will make one walk with Godespecially a kid like Methuselah. Living to the age of 969, he must have been home for five hundred years! “Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Gen_5:24). I can almost hear the Lord saying, “You know, Enoch, this walk we’ve enjoyed together has been so wonderful. You’ve walked with Me so closely that now we’re closer to My house than yours. Come on Home.” “This is eternal life,” Jesus prayed, “that they may know You, Fathernot out there geographically, but here and now intimately.”

Titus 1:3

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul talks about the foolishness of preaching (1Co_1:21). So, too, when people hear that you drive to church to sit in a pew for a couple of hours, they say, “That’s foolish.” But the preaching of the Word causes our hearts to be happy, our spirits to be warmed. Let the world call it crazy, but to those of us who are a part of the kingdom, there’s nothing like it.

Titus 1:4

Like Timothy, Titus was one who was probably led to Jesus by the apostle Paul. We know from Galatians 2 that Titus, a Greek, traveled with Paul to the Jerusalem council, wherein it was decided that, because salvation came by grace through faith alone, circumcision was not a requirement for salvation (Acts 15). We see Titus again in 2 Corinthians 8, where he is instrumental in the raising of money by the Corinthian church to help those who were hurting in Jerusalem. After that, Paul sent Titus to the island of Crete, and later to the region of Dalmatia, or present-day Bosnia. When you put Titus’ travel log together, you realize he went down to Jerusalem to deal with the controversy over circumcision, then to Corinth, which was a difficult ministry, then to Crete, where there was no shortage of problems, and finally on to Bosnia. It was an arduous program, but Paul had great confidence in Titus, for like Timothy, Paul esteemed him highly. As he did with Timothy, Paul evidently was the one who brought Titus to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. To his usual salutation of grace and peace, Paul adds mercy in his letters to Timothy and Titus because they’re his sons in the faithand all fathers know their sons need mercy! As in his usual salutations, Paul bestows grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever wondered why the Third Person of the Trinitythe Holy Spiritis not mentioned? In John 16, Jesus taught us that when the Spirit came, He would not speak of Himself. Therefore, as He inspires Paul, the Holy Spirit does not mention Himself in the opening credits because His ministry is not to speak of Himself. The ministry of the Holy Ghost is singular: to point people to Jesus Christ. When churches, people, or movements are centered on the Holy Spirit, I am suspicious because the ministry of the Spirit is to spotlight Jesus.

Titus 1:5

Because Titus was to set the church of Crete in order, we can assume Paul didn’t start the church there. Who did? We can’t be surebut this we do know: When the Holy Spirit came upon the believers in the Upper Room, men from Crete are listed among those who heard the gospel in their own tongue (Act_2:11). Thus, it could very well be that those who heard the message of salvation on the Day of Pentecost got saved and returned to Crete. At Babel, languages and culture groups were separated (Genesis 11). The great reversal of Babel happened at Pentecost when suddenly different language groups and cultures were brought together through the power of the Holy Spirit. Whatever attempts man makes in the flesh toward unity are doomed to fail. It is only in the Spirit where the effects of Babel are reversed. There’s no room for political maneuvering in spiritual leadership. “You are to ordain elders,” or literally “You are to appoint elders,” Paul instructed Titus. “Choose you out men, Moses, whom you know to be elders and appoint them to be rulers over tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands” (see Exo_18:21-25). The very first time we see elders in Scripture, they weren’t voted into office. They were appointed. In the same way, Paul says to Titus, “You appoint elders as I appointed you.”

Titus 1:6

This doesn’t mean that to be an elder a man must be perfect, or we’re all in big trouble! No, the idea here is that an elder must be one who’s not pointed at in derision. Ministry must be established at home before one can have credibility in the church. I once read an article about the first man to scale Mount Everest without oxygen. He was recovering in a hospital after falling off a wall at his home because he had locked himself out of his house. Here’s a guy who conquers every mountain in the world. But where does he fall? At home. There are men who can conquer mountains on the job or with finances, but as far as ministry is concerned, if a man can’t keep his balance at home, Scripture says he is disqualified from ministry in the church. That’s not a word of condemnation. It’s a word of re-prioritization. Get your home squared away, Dad. Get your kids grounded and walking with the Lord. Whatever you want to do in ministry, you can do with your kids. You can lead them in worship; you can serve them Communion; you can preach as long as you want! True ministry may one day extend beyond your family, but not before it is established within your family. Now that my kids are grown up and beginning to leave home, I don’t regret one moment I spent having devotions with them. I only wish I had done it more. I don’t wish I had taken them to more baseball games or more movies. I’m just thankful for the time we logged together talking about the Lord, learning His ways, studying His Word. Train up your kids, Mom and Dad. Other ministry will come, but that’s where it all starts.

Titus 1:7

“Steward” simply means “servant.” There’s a lot of talk about the need for men of faith. But an even greater need is for faithful men to simply and consistently direct traffic, change diapers, or put away chairs at their fellowships if that’s what the Lord has called them to do. As a spiritual man desiring to be used by the Lord to any degree, you can’t be one who loses your temper.

Titus 1:8

Whereas Paul told Timothy an elder should be hospitable (1Ti_3:2), here he tells Titus that an elder must be one who loves hospitality. I suggest the reason we don’t love hospitality is because we fall into the “Martha mentality”… “Tell Mary to help me prepare this meal,” said Martha to Jesus. “Martha, you’re troubled about many things, but only one thing is needful,” Jesus answered. Most people think the one needful thing Jesus referred to is sitting at His feet as Mary was doing. While that is important, indeed, I believe Jesus was also saying, “You’re cooking this big meal, Martha. Pots are boiling, toast is burning, stuff is spilling, but all I wanted was just one simple thing to eat” (see Luk_10:42). The key to loving hospitality is just being real, not trying to impress people, but simply enjoying one another’s company. In this, I am reminded of one of David’s mena man named Eleazar. The Israelites were fleeing from the Philistines. But Eleazar, whose name means “God is my help,” grabbed his sword and stood his ground. Samuel’s account says his hand “clave unto the sword,” and that the Lord brought a great victory (see 2Sa_23:9-10). May we be those whose hands cleave to the sword of the Word (Heb_4:12), who don’t let it go, who pack it around with us. A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t. Get in the Word. Stay in the Word, gang. Make it a nonnegotiable priority in your daily life. “To establish this work on the island of Crete, you must be a man who’s in the Word,” Paul instructs Titus, “in order for you to deal with the challenges that are sure to come your way.”

Titus 1:10

“The Judaizers with whom we dealt in Jerusalem are going to come your way, Titusthose who will try to place regulations and burdens upon others,” said Paul. “The only way you’ll fend them off is by sound doctrine.”

Titus 1:11

The mouths must be stopped of those who preach legalism and who put people in bondage about what day they should or shouldn’t worship, how they should dress, what they should or shouldn’t eat. I often wonder how many ministries would continue if there was no money coming in.

Titus 1:12

A Cretan poet named Epimenides called his own people liars and gluttons, and Paul agreed. Talk about politically incorrect! I like Paul’s courage and his honesty, as he was not afraid to go on record saying that the false teachers were in ministry simply for money, and that the Cretans were prone to lies and laziness. “If the Cretans behave according to stereotype,” Paul says, “rebuke them.”

Titus 1:14

Whether ministering to the Cretans with their laziness or the Jews with their tendency to get wrapped up in fables that distract people from the truth, Paul exhorts Titus to keep focused and centered on the Scriptures.

Titus 1:15

“I want you to be wise, knowledgeable in the things that are good, but naive in the things which are evil,” Paul told the church at Rome (Rom_16:19)a needed word for our culture as well. Believers should be those who know Scripture like the back of their hands, but are clueless regarding the double entendres and jokes of the world.

Titus 1:16

“Don’t judge me,” the world says to us. “Didn’t Jesus tell you to judge not lest you be judged?” Yes, Jesus did say that (Mat_7:1). But the Greek text renders the word “judge” as krino, which means “judging to condemnation.” In the same chapter, Jesus went on to say, “You’ll know false teachers and false prophets by their fruit” (see Mat_7:16). In other words, we’re not to judge others for purposes of condemnation, but we are to judge the fruit of others for purposes of identification. That is why Paul tells young Pastor Titus to beware of the religionists and mystics whose works prove they don’t know God.