Titus Study #1

“Adorning the Doctrine” 

Titus 1:1-4

Study #1 in Titus Series

 

INTRODUCTION: 

One of the biggest industries in America is the cosmetics industry. Millions of dollars are spent each year on adornment.

·       In some cases, it is a lost cause (e.g., the Annual Pug Festival).

·       The goal is to adorn or make attractive something that is plain or unlovely (e.g., Professional models are often just ho-hum plain janes away from the cosmetics and cameras.)

·       But even a drop-dead strikingly beautiful woman can be made even more lovely with makeup, a fresh hairdo, and a designer gown.

 

TRANSITION: 

In Titus 2:10 Paul tells us that Christians, by the way they live, can make Christian teaching become attractive to people. “…but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.” I think this may well be the key verse of Titus.

·       “…to adorn” – The Greek verb, cosméo, which means to adorn, garnish, arrange, or put in order.

·       “…in every respect” – This means beautiful from every angle.

·       “…the doctrine of God our Savior” – This takes in the whole of Christian theology but especially God’s plan of salvation, which we refer to as the Gospel.

 

So, who was Titus? Titus was one of Paul’s trusted fellow-workers in the Gospel. This tiny little letter is one of the 4 “Pastoral Epistles” – 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Although Titus was active in ministry alongside Paul during many of the events recorded in the Book of Acts, he is never mentioned by name there. However, his name appears 13 times throughout the New Testament. Titus 1:4 leads us to believe that Paul led Titus to faith in Christ. Paul calls Titus, “my true child in a common faith.” In Galatians 2:1-3 Paul recalls the events recorded in Acts 15 when he went up to Jerusalem to meet James and the other church leaders there. He says that he took Titus with him to that meeting for “show-n-tell.” Titus was a Gentile, specifically a Greek, but he had been converted and was now a disciple of Jesus. He was sort of the poster child of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles. The leaders wisely concluded that Gentile converts like Titus did not need to be circumcised but were to be welcomed as full-on brothers in Christ and were as much a part of the Church as the Jewish-Christians.

 

The chronology of Titus’ ministry is somewhat sketchy, but we know that he worked with Paul in Ephesus for a considerable time during Paul’s third missionary journey (cf. 2 Cor. 8:23). From Ephesus Paul sent Titus to Corinth to help strengthen the church there (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:12-13, 7:5-6, 8:6). After Paul’s release from his first Roman imprisonment, he and Titus worked briefly in Crete (cf. 1:5). Paul left there to go back to Macedonia, but he commissioned Titus to remain there to be his representative and to organize and strengthen the work, starting with developing a team of elders to work alongside him. In 3:12 Paul tells Titus that he is sending someone to replace him, either Tychicus or Artemus, and asks that Titus come join him in Nicopolis (“city of victory,” located on the west coast of Greece where he planned to spend the winter.

 

What do we know about the church in Crete?

·       In general, the Cretans were rude, crude, and hard to get along with so it would take a special kind of pastor to work with them. Apparently, Titus was that guy.

·       The seeds of the Gospel may have been planted by Jewish-Christians coming back from Jerusalem who were converted on the Day of Pentecost.

·       Paul and Titus visited there after his first Roman imprisonment and preached the Gospel and got the church started.

·       Paul left Titus there to continue the work, just like he left Timothy at Ephesus.

 

The last glimpse we have of Titus in the NT is recorded in 2 Timothy 4:10. There Paul says that “Titus has gone to Dalmatia,” undoubtedly at Paul’s own insistence. Dalmatia was a Roman province including the whole central area of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It encompassed the northern part of present-day Albania, much of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia. 

 

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 1: Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness, 

·       “a slave of God [Greek, doulos theou] and an apostle of Jesus” – This is a formula used in many of Paul’s letters. It mingles humility and pride for Paul.

·       HUMILITY because:

Ø  Doulos is the most abject word for a slave. It refers to one born into slavery, not for one taken in war and sold as a slave (i.e., andrápodon, ἀνδράποδον).

Ø  Doulos refers to one who is the undisputed possession of another, having no will, no time of his own, serving another regardless of self-interests.

Ø  Therefore, Paul is the possession of God. His will is swallowed up in God’s will. His life is totally submitted to God.

Ø  Paul was born into slavery to sin at his first birth. The term doulos refers to one bound by bonds so strong that only death could break them. Paul’s death with Christ (cf. Romans 6:3) broke the bonds that bound him to Satan. After salvation Paul became bound to Christ as a willing bondservant in bonds that only death could break. But since Jesus Christ will never die again, Paul’s union to Christ is unbreakable.

·       PRIDE because:

Ø  The term “slave of God” is used in Scripture of Moses, Joshua, and the prophets. It is a term of honor and respect.

·       “…and an apostle of Jesus Christ” – In Paul’s mind this was the greatest honor anyone could be given and even more for him who had been a persecutor of the Church and had done horrible things against those who were followers of the Way. He was daily amazed at the grace of God.

·       “…for the faith of those chosen [elect] of God and the knowledge of the truth” – Paul understood that his life was to be dedicated to spiritually benefit lost Gentiles. His job was to bring them to saving faith in Jesus. He received this commission from the Risen Christ himself on the day of his conversion. Faith comes through knowledge of the truth, specifically, of the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

·       “…truth which is according to godliness,” – All truth is God’s truth, but not all truth is relevant to godliness. For example, it is true that the Earth is in orbit around the Sun, but that knowledge won’t save a soul from Hell. It is not truth that accords with godliness.

 

Verse 2: …in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,

·       “…in the hope of eternal life” – This is not the kind of hope that a child has at Christmas – “I hope Santa brings me a pony and a new red bicycle.” Rather, it is the quiet waiting on God to act on our behalf, knowing with absolute certainty that help is on the way. 1 John 5:14-15 adds this: “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”  

·       “…which God, who cannot lie, promised…” – This eternal life is not a wish, but a hope. In this sense, hope is an anticipation founded not on wishful thinking, but on a promise from the God who cannot lie.

 

Verse 3: …but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior,

·       “…at the proper time” – His own time (cf. Galatians 4:4, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law”). God has an amazing sense of timing. He is never early and never late. He always shows up right on time.

1.    Practically all the world spoke Greek, as well as their own languages. It was the language of trade, commerce, literature, and politics.

2.    There were virtually no borders or frontiers because of the Roman Empire. Therefore, no passports or visas were needed.

3.    Travel was comparatively easy. The Roman Roads were all over Europe and Asia. The Romans also tried to clear the land of highway robbers, and the sea of pirates.

4.    The world was mainly at peace. The “Pax Romana” was enforced.

5.    The world was conscious of its religious, ethical, and moral needs. They were thirsty for truth. The old religions had broken down.

·       I like the way this verse has been translated by the New King James Version: “…but has in due time manifested His Word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior.” – Preaching is the way that God’s eternal work meets people today. Preaching is the way God’s Word is made manifest today. This is exactly what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 1:21, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

·       “…in the proclamation with which I was entrusted” – Which was committed to me. Paul knew that the work of preaching/heralding/proclaiming the Gospel was entrusted to him, but not to him only. Preaching (kerúgma) is a work committed to all believers.

 

Verse 4: To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

·       Paul loved Titus very much, in the same way he loved Timothy.

·       Notice some of the things Paul says about Titus:

Ø  “…my true child in a common faith” – Even though Paul was a Jew and Titus was a Greek they were now closer than blood could make them. Paul had led Titus to faith in Christ, so he looked at Titus as his own son in the Lord. Now they are members of the same family. 

Ø  “…my brother” – 2 Corinthians 2:13

Ø  “…my partner and fellow-worker among you” – 2 Corinthians 8:23

Ø  “…one who walks with me in the same spirit and in the same steps” – 2 Cor. 12:18

Ø  “…an example” (Gr. túpos = pattern, template, ensample, model) for the Cretan believers to follow of what an authentic Christian life looks like (cf. Titus 2:7)

 

CONCLUSION:

At the beginning of this study, I referenced Titus 2:10 where Paul tells us that the way we live, can make Christian teaching become attractive to people. “…but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.” Excellent Christian doctrine is made believable and attractive by excellent Christian living. But the opposite is true as well. Christians who lead shabby, marginal Christian lives bring shame and reproach on the Gospel. I never want to be guilty of casting shade on Christ, His Church, or the Word of God.  

 

In 2 Corinthians 3:2 Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers saying, “You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; ³ being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” The greatest testimony of the reality of Christianity is the changed lives of believers who have been made new by the power of God, having passed from darkness to light, from death unto life, from the kingdom of Satan to the Kingdom of Christ.

 

May we live as Christ’s love letters, known and read by all men, adorning the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.