Titus 1: Establish a secure church

[Chapter Synopsis: Establish the churches on Crete more firmly by appointing elders and deal with those ungodly, disruptive teachers on the island]

• v.1-4 Paul’s Greeting to Titus
• v.5-9 Titus’ Task of Appointing Elders
• v.10-16 Titus’ Role in Rebuking the Rebellious Unrighteous

v.1-4 Paul’s Greeting to Titus

[Passage Synopsis: Paul goes to some length to lay out his role and calling, almost, it seems, as if to say to Titus, this is the same for you)

v.1 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

v.2 — in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,

v.3 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,

v.4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

[Note: Paul: servant & apostle, to draw in God’s elect and lead them into godliness through the gospel to his son in the faith, Titus.]

v.5-9 Titus’ Task of Appointing Elders

[Passage Synopsis: Titus has to set up elders in each of the churches on Crete – their requirements, positive, negatives and more positives]

v.5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint[a] elders in every town, as I directed you.

v.6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.  

v.7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.  

v.8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.

v.9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

[Note: Titus, was to appoint elders with clear stated character requirements. Titis must be one who holds to the truth taught, to encourage the saints, and oppose the unbelievers.]

v.10-16 Titus’ Role in Rebuking the Rebellious Unrighteous

[Passage Synopsis: Paul addresses the problem of ungodly and unrighteous disrupting false teachers who Titus will have to oppose.]

v.10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group.

v.11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

v.12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”

v.13. This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith

v.14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.

v.15 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.

v.16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

[Note: Be aware of ‘the opposition’ and silence their disturbing false teaching. The Cretan philosopher Epimenides condemned such people; he was right, so rebuke them. The pure bring purity, the corrupt bring corruption, and what they say about themselves is untrue.]

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