Read or listen Epistle to Titus online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

Opening greeting – Titus 1:1-4

Only here, in verse 1, does Paul call himself a servant of God. For example, in Romans 1:1 he writes: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ," and in Phil 1:1: "A servant of Jesus Christ." (See also James 1:1: "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ").

The purpose of Paul's ministry was to proclaim the gospel, which is why he also called himself an apostle (verse 1). Apostle comes from the Greek word meaning to send: he has been sent to proclaim the good news.

Faith and knowledge (verse 1) belong together. Our faith is built on facts. Modern thinkers say that the historicity of Jesus' resurrection, for example, is irrelevant to Christian faith, but Paul and other early Christians thought otherwise (see 1 Cor 15:17-20). God does not lie (verse 2): his word in the Bible is true. Men (compare Titus 1:12) and Satan (John 8:44) lie, but God does not.

Before the beginning of time, God had decided to save humanity from the power of sin and death (verse 2, cf. Eph 3:8-11, Col 1:25-26, 2 Tim 1:9). In God’s chosen time (verse 3), that plan of salvation was implemented (Gal 4:4) and God gave it to his apostles, including Paul, to proclaim (1 Tim 2:6).

Paul uses the word Savior (Greek “sooteer”) only twelve times, half of which are in the Epistle to Titus. Three times he uses that word about God (Titus 1:3, 2:10, 3:4) and three times about Jesus (Titus 1:4, 2:13, 3:6).

Qualities of a Church Leader – Titus 1:5-9

Paul had left Titus on the island of Crete (verse 5). The Acts of the Apostles does not record that Paul preached the gospel in Crete, only that he stopped on the island while he was a prisoner on his way from Caesarea to Rome (Acts 27:7-12). So Paul had only been on the island on missionary work after his release from his first Roman imprisonment.

Titus was to organize the affairs of the churches and appoint elders in every city - which of course means the church in that city (verse 5, cf. 1 Tim 4:14, 2 Tim 1:6).

Elder (verse 5, presbyteros) and overseer (verse 7, episkopos) meant the same thing in the first century, that is, the leader of the church. It was not until the second century that the practice was established where congregations were led by elders and the congregations of one city were led by a bishop or overseer (compare Acts 20:17,28, where the same leaders of the congregations in the city of Ephesus are called both elders and overseers, see also 1 Pet. 5:1-2).

Paul left the leadership of the congregations to trusted men, while he himself continued his journey to new cities (1 Cor. 1:7, 3:5-11, 16:10-12, Phil. 2:19).

Jews from Crete were already present on the first Pentecost to hear Peter preach (Acts 2:11), but the congregation on the island apparently did not come into being until the 60s (cf. verse 5). This is also indicated by the fact that the requirements for the congregation leaders do not include “not recently converted” (compare 1 Tim. 3:6). The congregation was young, so there were no mature Christians at all.

The list of requirements for a church leader is very similar to the list of requirements in 1 Tim 3:1-12, although the Epistle to Titus emphasizes self-control and moderation more than the letters to Timothy (verse 8, Tit 2:2,6,12).

The husband of one wife (verse 6) emphasizes marital fidelity, the question is not that church leaders should definitely be married or that a widow cannot remarry (compare 1 Tim 3:2, 5:9, see also 1 Tim 5:14).

The task of a church leader is not to invent new doctrines or interpretations, but to teach the doctrine inherited from the apostles (verse 9). Paul often speaks of “sound doctrine” in his pastoral letters (compare 1 Tim 1:10, 6:3, 2 Tim 1:13, 4:3, eight times in total), but not at all in his other letters. This does not mean that he does not also speak of the Christian faith as “doctrine” elsewhere; he simply uses different expressions, for example in Rom 6:17 and 16:17 he speaks of teaching. From the beginning, the Christian faith has taken on a certain “doctrinal form”.

Note that the preacher of the gospel must be able to encourage Christians, but at the same time be able to refute heresies.

To the pure all things are pure – Titus 1:10-16

Verse 10 suggests that the heresy that spread to Crete was of Jewish origin. This is not necessarily the case, as Gnosticism was a "melting pot of religions", which could take influences from very different religions. It is possible that the Gnostics in Crete taught in a way that appealed specifically to Christians who had converted from Judaism. In any case, the heresy was within the congregation, not outside it.

The heretics made house-to-house visits, thus converting entire families (verse 11). The heretics sought financial gain in their actions, perhaps wanting the “converts” to pay them a salary (verse 11, see 1 Tim 6:5-10). Paul calls the heretics “vain talkers” (verse 10, compare 1 Tim 1:6). The mouths of the heretics were to be stopped (verse 11). There was no point in discussing or arguing with them, they had already chosen their path (compare Titus 3:10).

Verse 12 quotes a poem by the Cretan poet Epimenides, who lived in the 6th century BC. He was also considered a prophet. Perhaps Paul wants to emphasize with the word “prophet” that Epimenides was right in this matter (verse 13). In Greece, the same word means both “to be a Cretan” and “to lie.” The people of mainland Greece considered the inhabitants of Crete to be so untrustworthy.

To fall into heresies means to turn your back on the truth (verse 14) - and at the same time on God. The heresy was associated with asceticism: you were not allowed to do certain things or eat certain foods, etc. (verse 15, 1 Tim 4:1-5). The Christian knows that God’s good gifts are freely enjoyed, and are not an obstacle to salvation (Matt. 15:10-11,16-20, Mark 7:14-23, Acts 10:9-16, Rom. 14:19-23, Col. 2:20-23).

The lives of the false teachers revealed that they did not know God, despite their claims (verse 16). It is worth looking at what the lives of the teachers reveal, and not just asking what they teach or preach. Paul rebuked the Jews for not living up to their preaching, therefore their preaching bore no fruit (Romans 2:17-29).