Titus chapter one:
The key verse is in the greeting: “. . . the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness.” [v1] In other words, sound doctrine leads us to proper obedience. Paul warned later in verse twelve, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” So, it appears Paul’s purpose in writing to Titus was to encourage him to encourage the Christians to be different from the norm, to rise above evil and sloth and to follow Christ.
Sidenote: Some friends are missionaries on the island and they tell me not much has changed. The people still are much the same as Paul described.
v2 – Paul claims that God gave the hope of eternal life even before He created us; “promised before the beginning of time.”
v5f – Paul left Titus on Crete to raise up leaders in every town. The criteria for an elder:
- Blameless,
- Husband of one wife,
- This is obvious, Paul is talking about divorce and faithfulness, but some people want to split hairs, claiming he means non-polygamous, to allow for those who have been unfaithful to be in positions of leadership and preaching.
- Whose children are believers and not wild and disobedient,
- Not overbearing,
- Not quick tempered,
- Not given to drunkenness,
- Not violent,
- Not pursuing dishonest gain,
- Hospitable,
- Loves what is good,
- Self-controlled,
- Upright,
- Holy,
- Disciplined,
- Holds firmly to the trustworthy message as Paul taught,
- So he can encourage others by sound doctrine, and
- He can refute those who oppose sound doctrine.
v10f – Speaking of sound doctrine: Paul refutes those “of the circumcision group,” the Judaisers.” These were those who taught you cannot be saved without following the law. We see this today: those who want to add rules to being a Christian. But it comes down to Paul’s warning in Hebrews chapter ten, that if we add to our faith, we are trampling on the cross of Christ. Paul also refutes this false doctrine in the book of Galatians. We come to Christ by faith. It is the Holy Spirit within us leading us in obedience that causes us to do good works but we cannot add good works to our salvation.
So, Paul says they claim to know Christ but deny Him by their actions. The actions are two-fold: one the one hand, you have the Judaisers, and in the modern sense, some fundamentalists, who add works to faith for the obtaining of salvation. On the other hand you have those who are lazy and do not want to leave their life of sin. Both deny Christ by their actions and neither one is saved, whether they gave a confession of faith or not.
Titus chapter two:
Paul reinforces the importance of sound doctrine, without which error will creep into the church. In chapter three, he ends this segment with a warning to avoid foolish controversies. In every instance that he preaches on sound doctrine, he tempers with this warning. It is human nature to be carried to extremes. Thus, “sound doctrine” could be carried to the extreme of the Jewish leaders and their book of Torah, where they even define how far one can walk on a Sabbath. Sound doctrine always leads to following Christ with a pure and faithful heart but it never adds works or frivolity to our faith.
A list of things to teach (in accord with sound doctrine):
- Teach the older men to be
- temperate,
- worthy of respect,
- self-controlled and
- sound in faith, love and endurance
- Teach the older women to be
- respectable in their lifestyle,
- not slanderers,
- not addicted to much wine,
- teach what is good.
- Then they can train the younger women
- The younger women should be taught by the older women (as opposed to male teachers) to:
- love their husbands and children,
- be self-controlled and pure,
- be busy at home (not busybodies travelling the globe in their SUVs),
- be kind,
- be subject to their husbands (sensitive one in these modern, feminist times).
- Encourage the young men to be self-controlled (encourage, as opposed to teach?)
- Set them an example by doing what is good
- In teaching demonstrate
- integrity,
- seriousness,
- soundness of speech that cannot be condemned (as opposed to the modern practice of frivolity and pushing the envelope)
- Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything
- try to please them,
- not talk back to them,
- not steal from them,
- demonstrate integrity and faithfulness and so make the teachings of the gospel attractive.
Sidenote: The Bible, while not promoting nor condemning slavery, recognizes the reality of it. Paul told those who were slaves, if they were able to obtain their freedom (lawfully) to pursue it (1Co 7:21). Nonetheless, regardless of status, we are all slaves of Christ and we are to act in that respect.
Here is the fundamental of what Titus was instructed to teach:
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldy passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, [who are] eager to do what is good.” [v11-14]
Titus chapter three:
Continuing the list of teachings in sound doctrine:
6. Teach the people
a. to be subject to rulers and authorities,
b. to be obedient (as opposed to being rebellious),
c. to be ready to do whatever is good (this requires keeping your eyes open as well as maintaining a pure heart),
d. to slander no one (even politicians you do not like),
e. to be peaceable and considerate,
f. to show true humility to all men (while humility is not being a milk toast or a doormat, we serve Christ first and others over ourselves).
Paul reminds us that we were once foolish and caught up in the world with all its passions, sin and hate, but God saved us, “not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy.” [v5] This reminds me of Daniels prayer: “We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy.” [Dan 9:18] So, it is not because of us but because of God and His plan – keep that in mind. And we are reborn and renewed through the Holy Spirit, given generously to us through our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Because of this, we should hold to sound teaching, or doctrine, but not get caught up in “foolish controversies,” or “disputable matters,” as Paul says in Romans chapter fourteen. We hold to truth but we do not create division. Division is properly defined as dividing people against Christ. A divisive person is to be warned, once, then twice. The third time, have nothing to do with him. This person condemns himself and demonstrates that he is “warped and sinful.”
Philemon:
Paul asks Philemon’s permission to free his servant so that he is available to work with Paul. As we said before, the Bible is generally neutral on slavery, neither condemning nor condoning, except for specific instances. Most people understand that slavery is wrong, with few exceptions. In America, we condemn it and we stand in judgment above our predecessors with little regard or acknowledgment for the realities of the day. Slavery is real today in most the world: and those who condemn our predecessors (as if their fault were our own) fail to address the injustice around the world today.
Paul recognized that Philemon’s slave was his property. Regardless his views on the institution of slavery, he could not stand in judgment of his brother, nor could he declare his slave to be free because of his higher authority. Instead, Paul gracefully requests freedom on behalf of Onesimus. The Bible does not tell us the outcome of this request. Paul has confidence in his brother to do the right thing and it is reasonable to assume that is what happened.
With that run-through, here is what I see as the key verse to the book: “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” [v6] Isn’t it true, the more we share our faith in Jesus Christ, the more we understand what God has rescued us from?
About the author: cominus
Cominus is the pen-name for Dean Isaacson, who got involved in the GOP in 1983, the year my son was born. Chairman of the Snohomish County Republican Central Committee (Washington) 1990 to 1992. Conducted legal research for the late Supreme Court Justice William C. Goodloe for several years. In 1996, succeeded him to lead Judicial Forum (the year before he passed away). Moved to Idaho in 1999 and still reviews judicial candidates in the State of Washington. My core belief is you will choose to serve God or you will serve the state - tyrants, as William Penn called it.
Titus and Philemon – 13 December 2008
The key verse is in the greeting: “. . . the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness.” [v1] In other words, sound doctrine leads us to proper obedience. Paul warned later in verse twelve, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” So, it appears Paul’s purpose in writing to Titus was to encourage him to encourage the Christians to be different from the norm, to rise above evil and sloth and to follow Christ.
Sidenote: Some friends are missionaries on the island and they tell me not much has changed. The people still are much the same as Paul described.
v2 – Paul claims that God gave the hope of eternal life even before He created us; “promised before the beginning of time.”
v5f – Paul left Titus on Crete to raise up leaders in every town. The criteria for an elder:
v10f – Speaking of sound doctrine: Paul refutes those “of the circumcision group,” the Judaisers.” These were those who taught you cannot be saved without following the law. We see this today: those who want to add rules to being a Christian. But it comes down to Paul’s warning in Hebrews chapter ten, that if we add to our faith, we are trampling on the cross of Christ. Paul also refutes this false doctrine in the book of Galatians. We come to Christ by faith. It is the Holy Spirit within us leading us in obedience that causes us to do good works but we cannot add good works to our salvation.
So, Paul says they claim to know Christ but deny Him by their actions. The actions are two-fold: one the one hand, you have the Judaisers, and in the modern sense, some fundamentalists, who add works to faith for the obtaining of salvation. On the other hand you have those who are lazy and do not want to leave their life of sin. Both deny Christ by their actions and neither one is saved, whether they gave a confession of faith or not.
Titus chapter two:
Paul reinforces the importance of sound doctrine, without which error will creep into the church. In chapter three, he ends this segment with a warning to avoid foolish controversies. In every instance that he preaches on sound doctrine, he tempers with this warning. It is human nature to be carried to extremes. Thus, “sound doctrine” could be carried to the extreme of the Jewish leaders and their book of Torah, where they even define how far one can walk on a Sabbath. Sound doctrine always leads to following Christ with a pure and faithful heart but it never adds works or frivolity to our faith.
A list of things to teach (in accord with sound doctrine):
Sidenote: The Bible, while not promoting nor condemning slavery, recognizes the reality of it. Paul told those who were slaves, if they were able to obtain their freedom (lawfully) to pursue it (1Co 7:21). Nonetheless, regardless of status, we are all slaves of Christ and we are to act in that respect.
Here is the fundamental of what Titus was instructed to teach:
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldy passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, [who are] eager to do what is good.” [v11-14]
Titus chapter three:
Continuing the list of teachings in sound doctrine:
6. Teach the people
a. to be subject to rulers and authorities,
b. to be obedient (as opposed to being rebellious),
c. to be ready to do whatever is good (this requires keeping your eyes open as well as maintaining a pure heart),
d. to slander no one (even politicians you do not like),
e. to be peaceable and considerate,
f. to show true humility to all men (while humility is not being a milk toast or a doormat, we serve Christ first and others over ourselves).
Paul reminds us that we were once foolish and caught up in the world with all its passions, sin and hate, but God saved us, “not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy.” [v5] This reminds me of Daniels prayer: “We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy.” [Dan 9:18] So, it is not because of us but because of God and His plan – keep that in mind. And we are reborn and renewed through the Holy Spirit, given generously to us through our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Because of this, we should hold to sound teaching, or doctrine, but not get caught up in “foolish controversies,” or “disputable matters,” as Paul says in Romans chapter fourteen. We hold to truth but we do not create division. Division is properly defined as dividing people against Christ. A divisive person is to be warned, once, then twice. The third time, have nothing to do with him. This person condemns himself and demonstrates that he is “warped and sinful.”
Philemon:
Paul asks Philemon’s permission to free his servant so that he is available to work with Paul. As we said before, the Bible is generally neutral on slavery, neither condemning nor condoning, except for specific instances. Most people understand that slavery is wrong, with few exceptions. In America, we condemn it and we stand in judgment above our predecessors with little regard or acknowledgment for the realities of the day. Slavery is real today in most the world: and those who condemn our predecessors (as if their fault were our own) fail to address the injustice around the world today.
Paul recognized that Philemon’s slave was his property. Regardless his views on the institution of slavery, he could not stand in judgment of his brother, nor could he declare his slave to be free because of his higher authority. Instead, Paul gracefully requests freedom on behalf of Onesimus. The Bible does not tell us the outcome of this request. Paul has confidence in his brother to do the right thing and it is reasonable to assume that is what happened.
With that run-through, here is what I see as the key verse to the book: “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” [v6] Isn’t it true, the more we share our faith in Jesus Christ, the more we understand what God has rescued us from?
About the author: cominus