August 19, 2014 Titus Chapter 1

Titus Chapter 1

Originally posted Monday, October 6, 2008

Titus, Chapter 1:1-4 Salutation

Titus was an important coworker in Paul's missions in Macedonia and particularly in Corinth. He is mentioned nine times in Second Corinthians and twice in Galatians. We remember him most for the mediating work he did between Paul and the Corinthians during a period when Paul and the church were at odds over church discipline. Titus also was a major leader in the collection among the churches which he and Paul took to Jerusalem. Like Timothy, the author's choice to address so popular an evangelist is based on how well these two were received as representatives of Paul and Paul's authority.

In this salutation Paul is identified as a slave of God, a unique title not used elsewhere. His apostleship is defined in this case as being "for the benefit of" those who are believers. A better translation would be "for the welfare of." The apostle preaches for the welfare of the hearers who are lost in their pagan idolatry and dissolute lives. His goal is to offer them the "knowledge of the truth" of hope in God's gift of eternal life, thereby bringing them to a state of godliness (a word used only in the three Pastoral Epistles and 2nd Peter). This is the word that Paul has revealed in proclaiming that which was entrusted to him by "God [his] savior (a phrase used only in the Pastorals and Jude).

Titus, Chapter 1:5-16 Titus' Assignment in Crete - Appointments and Heretics

The author of Titus, as was that of Timothy, is concerned about the organization of the churches. In the latter part of the first century specific leadership roles were pastoral in nature (Bishops and Deacons of 1 Tim. 3:1-16). They also were faced with heightened "mix breed" heresies - some merging Judaism with Christianity from a Jewish perspective (see 1 Tim. 1:3-4; 4:1-5; 2 Tim. 3:1-7), which had to be opposed. The author instructs the churches on the appointment and qualifications of overseers (presbyters) "in every town." The requirements are similar enough to those of 1 Tim 3:2-5 to have been penned by the same writer or by someone who had a copy of 1st Timothy. Vs. 9 pertains most closely to the issue at hand - the presence of false teachers opposed to the truth, "especially those of the circumcision." Such persons are to be "silenced" ("their mouths are to be stopped" vs. 11) and their teachings rebuked. Not only are their teachings false, they are being offered for material gain and are "upsetting whole families."

We are not told whether these false teachers were from the outside or part of the communities. I Tim. 4:1-5 might lead us to believe they are Jewish Christians who, in view of the impending last days, are urging Gentile Christians to be circumcised and become ritually observant. On the other hand by the time of this letter's composition there were separate Jewish Christian communities in which following the law was required for salvation. The weight of vss. 11, 13 makes it most probable that the source of these teachings was from believers within the churches.

In view of the locale of these communities on the island of Crete and in what seems to be a serious lack of tact, the author portrays the offenders' character by quoting the words of the Cretan speaker of oracles, Epimenides (6th century BCE). Calling him a prophet whose testimony is true, the writer applies the stereotypical epithets saying they are "always liars, wicked beasts and lazy gluttons." One would hope the author was able to explain that such remarks referred only to those "rebellious people" and not to Cretans in general. The instruction to the church is to "reprove them severely" with the hope they may become "healthy in the faith," turning away from "Jewish myths" (legends and folk tales; see 1 Tim. 1:3-4) and "human commands" (the Law of Moses). In vs. 15 the writer adds as a counter point to those who want to impose human holiness traditions declaring that for the pure - those with sound faith in Christ, all things (food, etc.) are pure, while for the corrupt (the false teachers) and non-believers without sound faith nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupt making them detestable and "unfit for any good work."