Bible Commentaries
Titus 1

Verses 1-3

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness – Titus 1:1

Here Paul calls himself a "servant of God" a title he uses nowhere else in his superscriptions.^(F1) However, he often designates himself as servant of Christ. He also calls himself an apostle or "sent one," a title which is characteristic of Paul's writings. The term "servant" was a most servile term in the Greek culture. It spoke of one who was born in slavery.^(F2) Yet, it began to be used as a term designating all true believers in Christ. We even see this term used to designate certain believers in the Old Testament, such as Moses (Joshua 1:2) and Joshua (Joshua 24:29). Of course, the title was used of Jesus, who would be the supreme picture of God's servant (Isaiah 49:5; Romans 15:8).

Paul was called of God and sent of him regarding the faith and knowledge of believers everywhere. The expression "full knowledge" (Gk. epiginōskō), is a favorite one of the apostle. It means a "full experiential knowledge," or a knowledge leading to true conversion (cf. John 8:32; 1 Timothy 4:3; 2 Timothy 2:25; 1 John 2:21; 3 John 1:1).^(F3) Everywhere around us today we see a cultural Christianity that does not result in full experiential knowledge, nor does it result in real salvation.

This knowledge is a knowledge of the truth. It is a sad thing today that we are rapidly losing our grip on truth. In the last half-century or so our society has been overwhelmed by what we might call "false truth" or "broken truth." This postmodern concept of truth was created by a group of philosophers – Michael Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Jean-François Lyotard and Richard Rorty. This postmodern philosophy now declares that all reason is deeply flawed and affected by bias. It holds that all information, even hallowed scientific information, can no longer be trusted.This doctrine proclaims that all "truth" is culturally conditioned, and that what is true for one group may not be true for another.^(F4) Truth is therefore an ever-changing and relative thing.

The Christian philosopher and researcher, Nancy Pearcey, says, "The divided concept of truth produces young people who are double-minded, unstable in all their ways."^(F5) Pearcey goes on to say, "That's why it is crucial for Christians to address the crack-up of truth itself. Before they can make the case that Christianity is true, they first have to clarify what they mean by truth."^(F6)

We can see how seriously truth has been eroded in recent times with some research by the Barna Group that was published in Christianity Today back in 1992. Barna asked if there was such a thing as absolute truth. He discovered that an amazing 66 percent of American adults believed that there was no such thing. What was really shocking was that 72 percent of those 18-25 years of age did not believe in absolute truth.^(F7) How clearly this situation seems to parallel Romans 1:25 where it is said, "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator…"

There is an additional thing that is apparent in this first verse. Real truth or "true truth" leads to godliness or God-centeredness (Gk. eusebia). The English scholar John Stott says here, "Any doctrine which does not promote godliness is manifestly bogus."^(F8)

Paul goes on in verse 2 to speak of "in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,…" (1:2). Matthew Henry (1662 – 1714), the English Presbyterian minister and commentator says of this, "Here is the stability and antiquity of the promise of eternal life to the saints."^(F9) The faith and knowledge of God's saints rests on the hope of eternal life. In our day hope has become a weak and wobbly matter for many. It is almost a wistful thing with no certainty attached to it. People say, "I hope tomorrow will be a nice day" or "I hope I get the job." Unlike this, biblical hope is certain, because it is based on the word and promises of God.^(F10)

The Christian hope is based on the eternal life which God has promised us, and God cannot lie. How beautiful and exciting this gospel of eternal life must have sounded to those pagans who heard it for the first time. Since ancient days people had concerned themselves about life after death, but before the gospel there was no real hope of such a life (2 Timothy 1:10). We see here that this eternal life was actually promised before time began. The Greek language had difficulty with the concept of eternity. The expression used is "chronon aionion," and it has the meaning "before the times of the ages…that is before time began to be reckoned by aeons." ^(F11)

Paul says, "and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior…" (1:3). There is always an appointed time or season for God's work. The word for appointed season or times of God is the Greek kairos, and it means "those strategic times in the calendar of God."^(F12) When Christ came to earth it was indeed a strategic time. There was a common Greek language all over the Roman world. Travel was easy and relatively safe because of the Roman roads and protected sea lanes. The known world was generally at peace (pax Romana). People were also uniquely conscious of their need for a savior.^(F13)

In this ideal season the apostle Paul was sent out with the gospel or the good news of salvation. He did not go of his own will but he was commissioned by God and divinely sent out (Galatians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:1; & Romans 1:1). It was the proper message for the proper time (1 Timothy 2:6; Galatians 4:4). God had chosen to send out his saving message through the "foolishness of what was preached" (1 Corinthians 1:21). Although preaching is generally spurned and even ridiculed by the people of this age, it is still God's way of saving souls.

Verse 4

TITUS, PAUL'S HELPER

To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. Titus 1:4

As we have said, Titus was one of Paul's best helpers and trouble-shooters. The renowned American Greek scholar A. T. Robertson thought it very strange that Titus was never mentioned in the Acts account written by Luke. He suspected that Titus was possibly Luke's brother.^(F14) If he was related to Luke, this gospel writer may have considered it unprofessional to mention him.

Titus had been Paul's helper since before the Jerusalem Conference, which was held around AD 50. Robertson mentions that Titus had been successful in Corinth while Timothy had not been.^(F15) All in all, he was a very faithful and successful apostolic legate for Paul. The apostle mentions that he was a true son in the common faith. We must be aware that our faith can never be just an individual thing. We are part of a body, a household, a fellowship of Christians, and that fellowship is world-wide. This goes against much that is believed in our present day.

The expression "Christ Jesus our Savior" is worth our special attention. This expression clearly links God the Father with Jesus the Messiah by use of the term "Savior." This was a common way for New Testament writers to assert the deity of Christ (cf. Titus 2:10,13; 3:4-6).^(F16)

Verse 5

THE WORK OF TITUS ON CRETE

The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. Titus 1:5

So obviously, Titus was left by Paul on Crete. The implication is that the two had worked together there for a period to establish churches on the Island and that it was finally necessary for Paul to leave Titus there alone to finish the work. The Greek word for "left" used here is apoleipo and it has the meaning of leaving behind temporarily. Obviously, Paul was giving Titus only a temporary assignment on the island.^(F17) The work on Crete could have been widespread since the early Greek writer Homer had called the island, "Crete of the hundred cities."^(F18)

Work with the natives of Crete could have been especially challenging with what we know from historical records. Crete was infamous for its many liars and lazy people. Its residents were noted for their drunkenness and licentiousness. Even a temple to Bacchus was there on the island.^(F19) Bacchus was known as the Greek god of wine.

Paul left Titus to "put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders." This was obviously no easy task for young Titus. The Greek word here is epidiorthōsē. It is an unusual one occurring nowhere else in the New Testament. It means "to set right or correct." Some writers see it as speaking of correcting a broken limb. The seventeenth century Anglican commentator John Trapp says it means to "straighten the things that grow crooked in the church."^(F20)

In order to permanently correct things on Crete, Titus was instructed to appoint elders there. This is a rather common-sense thing in any form of management. At this writing our youngest son is a district manager over a number of large retail stores. Since he cannot personally care for all these stores, he has the job of choosing, training and establishing local managers in stores below him. Without good managers, the stores would not be productive and would likely not survive. When a particular store is suddenly without top leadership, our son sometimes has to go there himself and assume temporary management until he can find a qualified person to do that job.

Elders in the New Testament certainly did not conform to managers in the business world but there were some similarities. There were also a lot of differences. For instance, biblical elders were chosen with the help of the Holy Spirit as we see in Acts 20:28.

The Greek word for "elders" is presbuteroi, and it is a word that is seen as synonymous with "overseers" and "pastors." Elders reflect a Jewish background, while "overseers" reflect a Greek political-administrative background. It is interesting here that the requirement of "not being a new convert" has been left out (1 Timothy 3:6). Obviously, the churches of Crete were not old and established ones like Ephesus but were new churches that were just being formed.^(F21)

Verses 6-7

REQUIREMENTS FOR ELDERS

An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Titus 1:6

We note here that these requirements for elders are very similar to those found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. It would be helpful for the reader to return to these verses and if possible to review our comments about them for a fuller discussion of these elder requirements.

In the New Testament, elders are generally mentioned in the plural. This could very well be the case because each city had several house churches, with each one requiring an elder. John Stott says, "The emergence of three orders of ordained ministry (bishops, presbyters and deacons) belongs to the beginning of the second century. It is not found in the New Testament."^(F22)

First of all, an elder must be blameless (Gk. anenkletos). The great reformer John Calvin remarks of this, "When he says, that a bishop must be…blameless, he does not mean one who is exempt from every vice, (for no such person could at any time be found,) but one who is marked by no disgrace that would lessen his authority. He means, therefore, that he shall be a man of unblemished reputation… not only must the bishop himself be free from reproach, but his whole family ought to be a sort of mirror of chaste and honorable discipline."^(F23)

An elder must be faithful to his wife. The idea here is that he must be "a one-woman man."^(F24) Of course, there has been much discussion about this idea through the centuries. Long ago Jerome (347-420) said that the bishop had to teach monogamy and continence by his example.^(F25) The popular 20th century commentator, John Dummelow, held that this is likely not an objection to polygamy since this was rare, but rather it was a reference to divorce and remarriage, which was a common thing. Dummelow did not think it was a reference to remarriage after the pastor had lost his first wife in death, and that he would thus be disqualified from office.^(F26) Peter Pet of England adds, "Being the husband of one wife excludes polygamists, divorced persons, adulterers, those engaged in sexual misbehavior and probably, but not necessarily, single men (the point might be not more than one wife)."^(F27) We must remember however that Jesus and Paul were single men.

The elder is also to have believing and obedient children. This is no easy task. I remember in the days of my youth that there were several really bad "preacher's kids" around. In fact "preacher's kid" almost came to be synonymous with "bad." Such a condition cannot help but bring reproach upon the church and also upon the pastor. This is exactly what Paul is trying to prohibit with his instructions.

In the Bible we learn that careful instruction is vitally important for children. In Genesis 18:19, God says of Abraham, "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice…" (NKJ).^(F28) Abraham's ability to instruct his children seems to have influenced God's choice of him in the Lord's redemptive plan. The Scottish Greek scholar William Barclay says here, "The true training ground for the eldership is at least as much in the home as it is in the church."^(F29)

"Since an overseer manages God's household, he must be blameless – not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain" (1:7). The whole idea behind all this is that the overseer of God's household must be blameless. He must have a good reputation. The overseer who is God's steward (oikonomos) reflects two Greek words, oikos, "house," and nomos, "law." He is one who administers the house.^(F30) "By describing the overseer as God's steward, Paul brings to mind the picture of the church as God's household (cf. 1 Timothy 3:5; 1 Timothy 3:15; 2 Timothy 2:20-21; Ephesians 2:19-22)."^(F31)

Because he is administering the house of God he cannot be "overbearing" as the NIV has it. The Greek words are me authade and should read self-willed, stubborn or arrogant.^(F32) Next, he should not be quick tempered (Gk. me orgilon). He must be "not a choleric man; one who is irritable; who is apt to be inflamed on every opposition; one who has not proper command over his own temper."^(F33) "Someone said: 'Temper is such a wonderful thing that it's a shame to lose it.'"^(F34)

The bishop cannot be a wine bibber. This would have been rather natural in the wine-loving society of Crete. The Greek word here is paroinos and it has the meaning of being given over to wine indulgence. Later the meaning was broadened and eventually described outrageous conduct as well.^(F35)

The list continues. The bishop must not be a striker or brawler (Gk. plekten). He must not be given over to the lust for disgraceful gain (Gk. aischrokerdes). Polybius said of the Cretans, "They are so given to making gain in disgraceful and acquisitive ways that among the Cretans alone of all men no gain is counted disgraceful…Plutarch said that they stuck to money like bees to honey. The Cretans counted material gain far above honesty and honor."^(F36) The pastor had to steer clear of all this lust for gain.

John Trapp said, "It is better, saith one, to live so as thine enemies may be amazed at thy virtues than that thy friends should have cause to excuse thy vices."^(F37)

Verses 8-9

MORE ABOUT ELDERS

Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. Titus 1:8

An elder, bishop or pastor must be hospitable. The Greek word is philoxenos and it literally means that he is to be a lover of strangers.^(F38) The first century world was sorely in need of this virtue. There were plenty of Christians who were on the move, and some because of severe persecution. Others were Christian traveling ministries. They needed Christian homes opened to them. At that time the inns were notoriously bad and some were mere houses of prostitution.^(F39) Travelers and strangers needed to be taken into the home and showered with love and blessing. There are several scriptures that emphasize the command of hospitality (cf. Romans 12:13; 1 Timothy 3:2; Hebrews 13:2; 1 Peter 4:9; 3 John 1:5). Of course, it was expected that the pastor would take the lead in this.

The early Christian writer Hermas (late first century) speaks of, "Bishops given to hospitality, who always gladly received into their houses the servants of God, without hypocrisy. And by their ministry, these bishops never failed to protect the widows and those who were in need. And they always maintained a holy life."^(F40)

The pastor was to be a lover of good. This Greek word philagathos can have various meanings. It can mean a lover of good people or it can also mean a lover of good things.^(F41) The meaning could possibly include just loving good things in general, like good books, music or any other good thing.^(F42)

The pastor must also be self-controlled or temperate (Gk. egkratē). While this virtue is often connected with abstinence from liquors, it includes much more. It can mean having control of the earth's passions and appetites. We note that it is mentioned as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:23. The bishop is to be upright. The Greek word is sophron which has the meaning of self-controlled, sensible and prudent.^(F43) He is also to be holy and disciplined.

"He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it" (1:9). If there ever was a time when this scripture was relevant, it is surely today. We have seen in the Pastorals that even the church of God is sometimes deep into mythology and make-believe. We have seen in our society how our postmodern philosophers have cut the ground out from under the very meaning of "truth." Today, Bible knowledge is almost nil with our younger generations. It is surely time to rebuild and restore the foundations of many generations. It is a time to teach and preach the Word of God. It is no time for theological speculations and academic doubts.

As we have seen several times in the Pastorals, Paul once again brings up the subject of "sound doctrine." Here again the idea is healthy doctrine (hugiainouse) and it is from the Greek root of this word that we get our word hygiene. We have already pointed out in the Pastorals how much of the teaching today even in the church is unhealthy. The same is certainly true out in the world. As Christians we need to rise up and proclaim the truth instead of the myths that are so popular. By healthy doctrine and sound doctrine we need to refute these peddlers of error. Calvin once said, "A pastor needs two voices, one for gathering the sheep and the other for driving away wolves and thieves."^(F44)

Star Parker, the popular writer and TV personality illustrates for us just one area of unhealthy doctrine. She says:

A growing body of evidence suggests that a high percentage, as high as 90 percent, of women who have an abortion suffer emotional and psychiatric stress, including as many as10 percent requiring psychiatric hospitalization or other professional treatment. As many as 30,000 women each year suffer emotional trauma severe enough to render them unable to work. And women who have had abortions are nine times more likely to commit suicide than those who haven't. Over 200,000 women who have had abortions in America have joined post-abortion support groups such as Women Exploited by Abortion,…^(F45)

No doubt, many Christians and even some pastors think abortion is OK. But here we see that abortion, like so many things in our society, is positively unhealthy.

Verses 10-11

REBELLIOUS PEOPLE, TALKERS AND DECEIVERS

For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. Titus 1:10

Through most of Paul's ministry he was dogged by false Jewish believers. Because they claimed to be Christians, they were given easy access to the congregations. However, their beliefs were legalistic and had much resemblance to the Pharisees (cf. Acts 15:5). These people felt that the gospel was much too simple and that one had to come under the authority of the Jewish law in order to be saved. They also gave much credence to Jewish traditions, fables, genealogies and certain teachings of the Rabbis. One of the worst things about them was that they were not under authority and refused to acknowledge apostolic doctrine.^(F46) We can imagine how impressive their appearance, credentials and message might have been, since many of them probably came from Jerusalem. They no doubt discounted and scoffed at Paul's authority and at his version of the gospel.

The pastor and commentator Warren Wiersbe advises here, "Beware of teachers who will not put themselves under authority."^(F47) If we are wise and observant we will see that there are lines of authority everywhere and in all areas of life. There are lines of authority at home, at work, and in the community.^(F48) The wise person will always look for these lines and submit to those in authority. This takes the steam out of the devil's program because he was and is a rebel and he teaches others to be rebellious.

Let us look at some of the descriptive Greek words Paul uses here. Not only were they rebellious and insubordinate (anypotaktos) but the false teachers were purveyors of empty and fruitless talk.^(F49) This word is mataiologoi and it means empty talkers.^(F50) It is very similar to the "meaningless talk" or "vain jangling" of 1 Timothy 1:6. Along with their Judaism, these empty talkers no doubt tried to impress people by throwing in a little Greek philosophical thought which was an early form of Gnosticism. Such Gnosticism with its mysticism is still very attractive to itching ears today.

"They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain" (1:11). The Texas Baptist professor Bob Utley mentions three areas of exploitation. They are money, sexual freedom and claim to unique and direct revelation. He says, "If your religious leaders want your money, your wife, and claim God told them – run!"^(F51)

Paul says these false teachers must be silenced. The Greek word he uses here is epistomizo, and it means to "stop the mouth" or "to put something into the mouth, as a bit into a horse's mouth."^(F52) When he speaks of households being disrupted we need to remember that in the first century Christian assemblies met in private homes. Whole households spoken of could well mean whole churches.^(F53) Today we see the devil greatly attacking families and households. There is a reason for this strategy. William Barclay says, "Any teaching which tends to disrupt the family is false for the Christian church is built on the basis of the Christian family."^(F54)

Of course, one of the basic motivations of these false teachers was base gain. We see so many teachers today, especially on television, who seem to only be after the money.

Verses 12-14

CRETANS WERE INFAMOUS FOLKS

Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." Titus 1:12

The Cretans had a reputation and it was not a good one. Paul is quoting here from one of their own prophets by the name of Epimenides (659 BC). Interestingly, Paul sometimes quotes from other pagan prophets, philosophers and poets in the New Testament (cf. Acts 17:28). Their own prophet's description of them here is not flattering.

All over the Mediterranean world they were considered liars and cheats. The Greeks had coined a couple of words based on these Cretan characteristics. Their Greek words kretizo (lie or cheat) and kretismos (falsehood) were the result.^(F55) "As for being evil beasts or 'dangerous animals', Epimenides himself went further and joked that the absence of wild beasts on the island was supplied by its human inhabitants."^(F56)

"This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth" (1:13-14). When we hear Paul agreeing with Epimenides we want to say, "Wait Paul, you can't say those kind of things about people!" Yet, Paul is only stating facts about the Cretans that were well known and accepted throughout the Mediterranean world. The writer Simpson thinks that Paul was speaking with a "twinkle in his eye" and that he had the Cretans on the horns of a dilemma. "If they endorsed their prophet's statement, they condemned themselves; if they repudiated it, they made him the liar he said they were!"^(F57) Paul says that they were to be reproved sharply so that they could be "healthy" in the faith. The expression for rebuking sharply means "to cut off with a knife."^(F58)

We can now see why it was so important for Titus to appoint elders over all the churches. The people needed strict discipline if the churches were to survive. Despite the conditions on Crete, Paul knew that the gospel had power to change even the most vile and depraved.

Their ears had to be turned away from Jewish myths and commands. Possibly these were some of the very commands once condemned by Christ (cf. Mark 7:2-8). The inexhaustible commentator, James Burton Coffman, remarks here saying that their purpose was "to subvert Christianity by amalgamating it with Judaism, and not a true Judaism at all, but having an inordinate stress upon the Pharisaical doodlings which were condemned by Jesus…The population of Crete had a predominantly Jewish element."^(F59)

We cannot help but compare the situation on Crete with our modern and postmodern proliferation of various sects and cults. Philip Towner, dean of the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship of the American Bible Society, compares the situation in Crete with the cults that are so prevalent today. He notes the religious lies spun by the cult leaders in order to draw people to themselves. The cult's leader and the ruling elite draw away people to gratify themselves and they prey on the ignorance of their followers.^(F60)

Verses 15-16

GAINING A PURE MIND

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. Titus 1:15

Paul has already said in 1 Timothy 4:4-5, "For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." Long ago Chrysostom (d. 407) said, "Things then are not clean or unclean from their own nature but from the disposition of him who partakes of them."^(F61) The simple truth, overlooked by these Judaizers, is that Jesus made all foods "kosher." We see this in Mark 7:19 and we see it reflected in Romans 14:14. It is no longer a matter of what enters into us but of what comes out of us (particularly from our mouths) that renders us unclean (cf. Matthew 15:18-20).

Some have taken this verse and distorted it for their own selfish and sinful purposes. The "all things" here cannot mean sinful things. David Guzik, pastor and web commentator, is sure Paul would never include such sinful things as pornography and illicit drugs, and call them pure.^(F62) If our hearts are pure there is really not anything on earth that can defile us. And we remember that God looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).

"They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good" (1:16). They claim to know God but their knowledge is not a full-knowledge as is shown by their works. They are in fact detestable before God. The Greek word for "detestable" is bdeluktoi and it means abominable and to be abhorred.^(F63)

The other word used here for "unfit" is adokimos. Interestingly, it is used in Greek to describe a counterfeit coin, a stone with a flaw, a cowardly soldier or a rejected candidate for office.^(F64) Paul was saying by all this that the false teachers were pretty useless and worthless.