Titus

Titus (mentioned 13 times in the New Testament) was a Gentile, converted to Christianity by Paul but left intentionally uncircumcised; he went from Antioch with Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem (Galatians 2:1-3; cross-reference Acts 15:2). According to 2 Corinthians 2:13; 7:6,13-14, which he delivered, Titus was with Paul on his third missionary journey; his name, however, does not appear in Acts. He had the responsibility of taking up the collection in Corinth for the Christian community of Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:6,16-19,23). Apparently, Paul took a fourth missionary journey between his Roman imprisonments; one leg of that journey was a visit with Titus to Crete (Titus 1:5), where Paul left Titus to wrap up the organization efforts of the local congregations. Titus was to meet Paul at Nicopolis (on the western coast of modern day Albania) once the churches were ordered properly and set for self-administration. The last time we hear of Titus, he headed to Dalmatia (a mountainous region north of Nicopolis on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea in Illyricum, modern day Bosnia / Croatia), presumably on a mission trip (2 Timothy 4:10). See the map:


With Titus in charge of the church on the island of Crete, Paul sent a letter of encouragement with Zenas and Apollos, who were on a journey that took them through Crete (Titus 3:13). He wrote his first letter to Timothy and this epistle to Titus at the same time, between 63-65 AD, likely from Macedonia en route to Nicopolis, after his release from house arrest and prior to his final imprisonment in Rome (sometime on his uncharted fourth mission trip). I wrote, in Biblical Glasses, “Titus was the administrator of the Christian churches on the island of Crete, a place notorious for its liars and thieves and laziness. Paul encouraged Titus to overcome these vices with right living among pagans, so they would see his good deeds and praise God in heaven. Paul recommended that Titus teach the believers to teach others.” False teachings throughout the Roman Empire were similar in 60-65 AD.

Calvin says of the Cretans, “There were some who, through ambitious motives, wished to be elevated to the rank of pastors, and who, because Titus did not comply with their wicked desires, spoke unfavorably of him to many persons. On the other hand, there were Jews who, under the pretense of supporting the Mosaic law, introduced a great number of trifles; and such persons were listened to with eagerness and with much acceptance. Paul therefore writes with this design, to arm Titus with his authority, that he may be able to bear so great a burden; for undoubtedly there were some who fearlessly despised him as being but one of the ordinary rank of pastors. It is also possible that complaints about him were in circulation, to the effect that he assumed more authority than belonged to him when he did not admit pastors till he had made trial and ascertained their fitness. Hence we may infer, that this was not so much a private epistle of Paul to Titus, as it was a public epistle to the Cretans [see 3:15, addressed to “you all”]. It is not probable that Titus is blamed for having with too great indulgence raised unworthy persons to the office of bishop, or that, as an ignorant man and a novice, he is told what is that kind of doctrine in which he ought to instruct the people; but because due honor was not rendered to him, Paul clothes him with his own authority, both in ordaining ministers and in the whole government of the Church. Because there were many who foolishly desired to have another form of doctrine than that which he delivered, Paul approves of this alone – rejecting all others – and exhorts him to proceed as he had begun. First, then, he shows what sort of persons ought to be chosen for being ministers. Among other qualifications, he requires that a minister shall be well instructed in sound doctrine, that by means of it he may resist adversaries. Here he takes occasion to censure some vices of the Cretans, but especially rebukes the Jews, who made some kind of holiness to consist in a distinction of food, and in other outward ceremonies. In order to refute their fooleries, he contrasts with them the true exercises of piety and Christian life; and, with the view of pressing them more closely, he describes what are the duties which belong to every one in his calling. These duties he enjoins Titus diligently and constantly to inculcate. On the other hand, he admonishes others not to be weary of hearing them, and shows that this is the design of the redemption and salvation obtained through Christ. If any obstinate person oppose, or refuse to obey, he bids him set that person aside. We now see that Paul has no other object in view than to support the cause of Titus, and to stretch out the hand to assist him in performing the work of the Lord.”

Ligon Duncan notes, “The world is in the church, and Paul is concerned that the church would be distinct, especially in her life and witness in this immoral context. And so, in this letter Paul will write to Titus to instruct him how to deal with these kinds of matters. But interestingly, just like in First Timothy, Paul will deal with matters of church organization, leadership, and administration; and you may well ask yourself the question: if the crying need of the hour was for Christians in this congregation to live more godly lives in the context of a pagan and immoral culture, why in the world would Paul spend time talking about elders; about different groups within the church; about dealing with false teaching that was troubling the church; about matters of church administration. Why would he touch on these subjects? Was Paul somewhat wandering from his focus by doing this? And of course, the answer is, “No,” because Paul knows that if godliness is going to be established in this local congregation (or congregations), it is going to require elders – godly elders, qualified elders according to Scripture, biblical elders shepherding the people of God. He knows that it is going to take sound teaching, because false teaching is not going to produce godliness. He knows that if godliness is going to prosper in this congregation the different groups and the divisions that exist are going to have to be brought together and healed, because the gospel always evidences itself not only in individual moral transformation, but in social transformation, and the way that Christians relate to one another, and the way they love one another and support one another…Paul wants to help Titus pastor Christian congregations in the context of an immoral culture, and to encourage those Christians and congregations to adorn the gospel of God our Savior in all of life by the way that we live. That, in fact, is the great focus of this book: adorning the gospel of God our Savior in all things. The gospel has the moral power to transform lives and social relationships, and that gospel power serves as a witness to the world around us that the gospel is not the fabrication of our “wish fulfillment,” but it is in fact a reality worked in us by the Holy Spirit.” Let’s read and study Paul’s pastoral epistle to Titus.