Introduction to Paul’s Epistle to Titus

Table of Contents

• General Info
• Brief Survey
• Key Verses
• Author, Date and Recipients
• Historical Background
• Timeline
• Themes, Purpose & Theology
• Interpretation Hints and Challenges
• Outline

General Info

As with other New Testament (NT) letters written by the Apostle Paul, this epistle is titled according to its recipients, or in this case recipient, namely his co-worker Titus who is mentioned a total of a dozen times outside of this book in Galatians, 2nd Corinthians, and 2nd Timothy.  Thus the letter became canonized as the Book or Epistle to Titus (the title in the Greek literally reads “To Titus”).  Paul left Titus in charge of the church at Crete, a church that was even younger and less organized than the church at Ephesus that Timothy was shepherding, so Paul wrote the letter to give his spiritual son or student some wise and practical advice on organizing and leading the new church.  Combined with Paul’s two letters to Timothy, the three pastoral epistles served as a basic leadership and training manual for the young pastor.

Like the two letters to Timothy, the Book of Titus is an essential part of the biblical and NT canon.  The three epistles are firmly constructed on, and are consistent with, the groundwork laid by the Old Testament (OT).  They are also consistent with the missions and theological teachings of the early NT churches.  In addition, they were clearly written by an apostle, in this case the Apostle Paul, which was an important requirement for canonization.   Although they contain some distinctive differences when compared with the other ten letters in the rest of the Pauline collection, they also contain many similarities in both content and style.

Traditional historical evidence has been uncovered that Paul’s letters were already being compiled as a single collection as early as the beginning of the second century, thus making Paul’s writings the first of the NT books to be both written and assembled into a collection.  Although the earliest collection excluded the pastoral letters of 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus, all three were added to the collection without protest by the end of the second century, making the compilation of all thirteen letters of Paul quite common amongst the various Christian communities.  As a side note, the Book of Hebrews by comparison, was not so readily accepted due to the uncertainly of its author.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Brief Survey

In the letter’s introduction, Paul identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ whose purpose is to increase the faith of the elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness (1:1).  He then instructs Titus, who he identifies as his true son in the faith, on the attributes to look for in those who he intended to appoint as church elders (1:5-9).  He then instructs Titus to oppose and rebuke the false teachers who had infiltrated the new church and then elaborates on some of their practices  (1:10-16).  He also instructed Titus to teach proper behavior to the various categories of people among the membership such as older men, older women, younger men, and masters and slaves, noting that the grace of God offers salvation to all classes of people (2:1-15).

In the final chapter, Paul reminded Timothy that he and his people should be obedient to the civil authorities, do good deeds, and avoid foolish controversies and arguments (3:1-11).  He then closed the letter with a few short personal remarks, requests and final greetings (2:12-15).

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Key Verses

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—in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 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, To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.  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. (1:1-6).

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.  They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.  They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.  You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. (1:15-2:1).

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory 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, eager to do what is good.  These, then, are the things you should teach.  Encourage and rebuke with all authority.  Do not let anyone despise you. (2:11-15).

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.  We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.  This is a trustworthy saying.  And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.  These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. (3:3-8).

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Author, Date and Recipients

See Author, Date and Recipients for 1st Timothy for additional information.

The author and recipient are identified in the opening verses, the author “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ” in verse 1 and the recipient “Titus, my true son in our common faith” in verse 4.  Apart from the few usual modern liberal critics, the authorship of Paul is essentially uncontested.

The Epistle to Titus was written between 62–64 AD, while Paul was ministering in Macedonia to the local churches between his first and second Roman imprisonments.  The apostle had recently left Crete (1:5) and was going toward Nicopolis, where he intended to spend the winter (3:12).  Paul doesn’t reveal the exact location in which he was writing the letter, but he either wrote it while travelling to Nicopolis, or after reaching there.  The letter was likely delivered to Titus by Zenas and Apollos (3:13).

Titus most likely accompanied and assisted Paul on both of his second and third missionary journeys.  Like Timothy (2Tim 1:2), he had also become a beloved disciple (1:4) and fellow worker in the gospel (2 Cor 8:23).  In the last known mention of Titus (2Tim 4:10), Paul records that he had gone for ministry in Dalmatia (now modern Yugoslavia).

See A Brief Bio of the Apostle Paul and the Historical Background of Acts for additional info on his life and ministry.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Historical Background

See the Historical Background of 1st Timothy for information.

Titus, like Timothy, was a frequent companion and helper to the Apostle Paul.  Prior to being left in Crete to serve the church there, he was particularly active in his service for Paul in the Corinthian church, as evidenced by Paul mentioning him a number of time in 2nd Corinthians (2:13; 7:6, 13-14; 8:6, 16, 23; 12:18).  Thus Titus was already familiar with the false teachers in the church at Corinth.  This served him well at Crete, where he also encountered the Judaizers who, among other doctrinal errors, insisted that all Christians, Gentile as well as Jew, were bound by the Mosaic law.  Titus had also accompanied Paul and Barnabas years earlier to the Council of Jerusalem where that very same heresy was a primary subject (see Acts 15; Gal 2:1–5).

He was now assisting Paul in serving God at the young church in Crete.  Crete was one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, measuring 160 miles long by 35 miles wide.  The island, that was located south of the Aegean Sea, was the subject of an adventurous journey by Paul on his voyage to Rome (Acts 27).  He would then return to the island for ministry and later left Titus to continue the work, much as he left Timothy at Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3), while he travelled on to Macedonia.  He would later write the letter to Titus, probably in response to a letter or a report from Titus or other church elder from Crete.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Timeline

(1)  These dates are either one or the other (Nisan 14 Passover falling between Thursday sundown to Friday sundown on the Jewish calendar).  The earlier date is the most popular, but there are good evidences and arguments to support either date.

~ Dates are approximated.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Themes, Purpose and Theology

The themes and purposes for Titus are very similar to those of 1st Timothy.  Paul states his reasons in the letter, namely to complete the work that he started by appointing and training church elders (1:5), correcting false teaching and bad behavior (1:10-16) as well as teaching sound doctrine and behavior (2:1-3:11).

Theologically, the apostle wastes no time, and begins in the first verse by noting that the believer’s faith leads to godliness and eternal life (1:1).   Paul would later revisit the related theme of devoting ourselves to godliness, which inevitably leads us to do good works (3:3-8).  Chapter 2 contains two marvelous theological treatises on the grace that God has given in Christ Jesus (2:11-14 and 2:4-7; see “Key Verses” above).

Regarding Paul’s discussion on the relationship of faith and works, he is not saying that we are saved by doing good works.  He strictly insists that salvation is by grace alone.  We were morally unattractive to God and gave Him no reason to prompt Him to save us (3:3).  Our salvation stems from “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior” alone (3:4).  Thus He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. (3:5).  It is through Jesus our Savior alone that we have received the Holy Spirit, that we are justified by grace alone by faith alone, and that we become joint heirs of eternal life with Christ (3:5–7).  Of course, we continue to lead a life of obedience in appreciation of all that Jesus has done for us, and this obedience also springs from faith, and is evidence of our possession of faith in Jesus Christ.

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

 Interpretation Hints and Challenges

The Epistle to Titus presents no major theological challenges.   We’ll however address a few minor issues.

In Titus 1:12, Paul quotes one of Crete’s own prophets in rebuking some false teachers.  Some have suggested that this pronounces the source as being “inspired”, but this is not always the case, particularly with with non-canonized sources.  Paul is merely pronouncing this particular statement as being true.  Upon examining the Scriptures, we find many instances where the author may quote a non-inspired source, such as in Josh 10:13 and Ac 17:28, among others.  Jude actually quotes or alludes to two non-canonized sources such as the Jewish Testament of Moses (Jude 9) and the Jewish First Book of Enoch (Jude 14).  In each case, the inspired author is not proclaiming the source itself to be inspired, and thus inerrant, but only that the quoted statement is true.

The second issue in an ecclesiastical one.  Titus 3:10-11 states that: “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time.  After that, have nothing to do with them.  You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.”  Is this commanding that the divisive person be instructed or expelled from the church?  I think that the action by the church should depend on a couple of factors, the seriousness of the sin and the attitude of the offender.  The only unforgivable sin mentioned in the Bible is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mt 12:22-32).  Moving to the response of the offender, we find two examples in the letters to the Corinthians.  In the case that the offender(s) is unrepentant and even defiant, Paul commands the offender(s) to be excommunicated after two warnings (Tit 3:10), since their sin can have a contagious and deteriorating effect on others (1 Cor 5:5–7).  On the other hand, if the person repents, he or she should be forgiven and welcomed back into the fellowship (2Cor 2:6-7).

[TOC]    [Top of Page]

Outline

[TOC]    [Top of Page]