Titus 1:1-4
1:1 Paul, a bond-servant 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, 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who
cannot lie, promised long ages ago,
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,
4 to Titus, my true child in a
common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Salutations!
The
outline that we are using calls this section of the book of Titus the
Salutation or greeting. This greeting is
one of the longest of all of Paul’s greetings and it is packed with meaning.
The primary focus of this greeting is who Paul is a servant of: God.
It talks about God the Father and His character. Paul is very clear who is in charge, and what
we need to be concerned about.
Verse
1
Paul,
a bond-servant 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,
bond-servant
Other
translations use the word “slave” to translate this word. The word Paul uses here is doulos. It is the Greek word for slave. In the Roman times there were many
slaves. In fact, by many estimates there
were more slaves than there were free people in the Roman Empire of this period. There were many ways in which someone could
become a slave or a bond servant. One
could be born a slave or a bondservant.
One could be sold into slavery by one’s father, or husband. You could also become a slave by being too
far in debt. Often times, people sold
themselves into slavery to pay off debts.
In the
Hebrew world we find many of the same regulations and rules for becoming a
servant. However, if a person fulfilled their debt, or somehow saved enough
money he could buy himself out of slavery.
We find in scripture that each of us was “bought with a price” (1 Corinthians
6:20) and gain much of our identity, as Paul did, by Who bought us, and the
price paid at the Cross.
apostle
The
word apostle comes from the Greek word apostolos. This word meant a commissioned
messenger. It was different from the
normal word for messenger in that it was someone officially commissioned to
complete a task, and was given all of the authority to complete that task. So if a King sent a messenger, that messenger
can only give the message, but an Apostle is given the ability to act in the
name of the King to make it happen.
Paul
is an apostle of the second category.
The first category of apostles are the 12 Apostles that Jesus appointed
during his ministry. Judas hanged
himself and was replaced by Matthias in Acts 1:26. However, there was a second category of
apostle who had only to have beheld (seen with their own eyes) the risen Lord,
and have been commissioned by Him. The
second category of apostle was not inferior to the first, but only different in
type.
for
the faith
Paul
makes it clear that his commissioning as an apostle, as well as his servant
hood to God is for a purpose. It is for
the faith of others that Paul has been called into the ministry. There is a purpose for his sufferings and his
struggles, this is the reason.
chosen
of God
The
word for chosen of God is eklektos, or the elect of God. It comes
from two words: ek meaning “out,” and lego meaning “word” or
“called.” So this is the
“out-called.” So these are the ones who
are called out by God. Remember always
that the idea of election should only be applied personally, not applied to
others. It should give you the assurance
in your daily walk that you are chosen, and called by God. In times of distress and trouble, and in your
daily struggle with Sin and with the threefold enemy of the believer (the
flesh, the world and the devil) that you are chosen out of that, and God will
not let His choice fail.
This word had an interesting use in the culture
of the New Testament times. William
Barclay observed about this concept:
“F.J.A. Hort rightly
points out that originally the word does not mean, as it is so often stated, a
body of people who have been ‘picked out’ from the world. It has not in it that exclusive sense. It means a body of people who have been ‘summoned
out’ of their homes to come and meet with God; and both in its original Greek
and Hebrew usages, that sense was not exclusive but inclusive. The summons was not to any selected few; it
was a summons from the State to every man to come and to shoulder his
responsibilities; it was a summons from God to every man to come and listen to
and to act on the word of God.
“In essence, therefore,
the Church, the ekklesia, is a body
of people, not so much assembling because they have been chosen to come together,
but assembling because God has called them to Himself; not so much assembling
to share their own thoughts and opinions, but assembling to listen to the voice
of God.”[1]
knowledge
The
Greek word that Paul uses for “knowledge” here is epignôsis. It means real, or true knowledge. It is also focused on the intense
relationship between the knowledge and the learner. This is the kind of knowledge that comes from
being personally involved in the substance of what is learned.
is
according to
The word kata, in the Greek, would
better be translated “in complete accordance with.” This is a particle of great importance in
this passage and here it means that it is fully in accordance with truth. This would be quite striking in the context
of the Cretan culture, where lying, cheating and stealing would have been
looked up to.
godliness
This
is an interesting word. It is translated
“godliness” but the word itself is eusebeia.
It means “well directed reverence”.
But the Word “God” is not in the Greek word at all. It really focuses upon the outward holiness
of the believer. Remember that this
focus on outward holiness comes only from the knowledge and faith in Jesus
Christ. The godliness is the result of
union with Christ, not a sign of it, nor is it proof, but it comes as a natural
product of our union with Christ.
Verse
2
in the
hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised
long ages ago,
hope
When
we talk about hope in English it is often used in the sense of something that
someone wishes will happen, but it may or may not happen. So in English we will say: “I hope it doesn’t rain!” meaning that we wish that it wouldn’t rain,
though it may very well rain anyhow.
In the
Bible, however, hope is a very different thing.
Hope is something that we know we will get, or that we know we have and
can rely upon. Hope is not a ‘maybe’ or
a ‘perhaps.’ When Paul talks about “the
hope of eternal life” in this verse, he means that the Eternal Life that we
have is to be the hope for our passing days. This is a definite way of expressing our
guarantee of Eternal Life. If there was
any chance that we could lose this eternal life, by any means or way, this
statement would not be true.
eternal
life
The
word for “eternal” in this verse is aionios. It is a
word that means without beginning or end.
It is something of an eternal character.
It has been said that something could last forever and still not be aionios. It is something that God has given that is no
longer affected by time as we know it.
“Life” in this sentence translates the word zoe. Zoe does not focus so much on
biological living (or breathing) but on the life in the spiritual sense of the
word. So, we see that we have the hope
(promise) of eternal life, meaning spiritual life that exists outside of time.
who
cannot lie
We
never see this statement anywhere else in Paul’s letters, and certainly not in
his introductions. Why would Paul take
time to point out that God cannot lie?
The culture of Crete was in admiration of the liars. It looked up to the liars and thieves. The god’s in Greek mythology would lie and
cheat just as soon as tell the truth.
But the Scriptures are clear: God
cannot lie. Any word that he says,
promise that he makes, can only be truth.
In the Greek this phrase comes across “the cannot-lie God” as cannot lie
is one word. When we read the promises
of Scripture we must always remember that God is the “cannot-lie God.”
promised
This
was something God promised long, long ago.
A promise from this “cannot-lie God” is very meaningful, and very
trustworthy. We can lean on this promise
with each passing day, at the end of our lives, and with our last breath, for
God’s promise is ALWAYS good.
The
phrase “long ages ago” could be more literally rendered “before times eternal.” And reminds us of the fact that God had made
His plan to send Jesus Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:3-4;
2 Tim. 1:9). Our salvation was planned
out before the ages of earth began, we can count on God’s sovereign plan to
save us, keep us, and bring us into glory!
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,
proper
time
This
phrase would be better translated “in His own timing.” This word for time can refer to the right
season, the perfect time, or a limited season of time. So when the time was perfectly right for
Jesus to come, God sent Him. Once again,
the Salvation of God is in no way careless, flippant or glib. It is not a plan that can fail, nor are there
any “surprises” to God.
proclamation
This
word for “proclamation” (“preaching” in other translations) means “heralded as
by a town crier”. Before internet,
television, and phone trees this was one way important information got around
in biblical times. Imagine someone
running through town crying out the good news of Jesus Christ. That is how Paul sees himself: preaching the
Gospel as a town crier out to share the good news.
entrusted
Paul
is quite clear that he did not come up with this, nor did he “figure it
out.” This was all given to him by God
to proclaim to the nations. Paul is
relaying God’s messages, not building his own.
He was entrusted with this message by God, as one is entrusted with
anything, and this message is of the greatest importance. So we find Paul being very careful to
preserve it and protect it. Throughout
Acts, and Paul’s epistles we see him protecting the doctrine of this teaching
with his very life, not allowing anything to pervert it. The Church of God is also entrusted to keep
this message, and its purity, not allowing people to destroy, or change it for
any reason (Acts 20:29-30; 2 Timothy 3:6-9,12-13; 2 Peter 3:16)
commandment
This
proclamation is in full accordance with the commandment (and authority) of
God. Once again, Paul makes it clear
that the source of all of this is God.
God is the source of our salvation, and the source of the Church. God is the source of the scripture, as it is
breathed of Him (2 Tim 3:16).
Savior
We
don’t see this phrase “God our savior” outside of the Pastoral epistles (1
& 2 Timothy and Titus) it is something that Paul chose to highlight more in
these books and not elsewhere.
In Roman times when the emperor
would come and visit a city, or a town everyone would gather to watch him pass
in parade. It was required that they
would be shouting and chanting “Savior, Savior.” The Romans credited the emperor with saving
the world. So for Paul to say that God
is THE savior would be to say that the emperor is not the savior. This doctrine would cause a lot of trouble
for Roman patriots.
Verse
4
to
Titus, my true child in a common
faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ
Jesus our Savior.
my
true child
Most
commentators seem to think that this probably referred Paul being the one who
led Titus to the Lord. However, it is
very well agreed that that Titus was Paul’s protégé. Paul discipled Titus for a
long period of time, training him up and teaching Him how to be a leader in the
Lord. This concept of discipleship is
sorely missing in the Church today. We
see in Biblical history that the emphasis on discipleship was always important
in the transmission of the faith, and the teaching that comes from years
studying the Word and walking with Christ, being passed down through
discipleship.
Common Faith
The
word “common” here is from the same word that we often translate as
fellowship. There are a number of
important applications that we can make from this. One is that our faith is not something that
exists only between us and God, but is something that is shared and exists
between believers. Christianity is a
faith that encourages us to understand the Body of Christ, our corporate
identity is important. This is
especially difficult to understand in light of the individualism of western
culture.
Additionally,
the fact of a common faith is something to preserve and work towards. We often find heretics are identified by the
things that they believe uniquely. We
see these men lurking around the body looking for a chance to share their own
“secret doctrine” that they disagree with.
In contrast to the lassez-faire attitude of the modern church we see the
command in Scripture repeatedly to be “speaking with one voice” (Romans 15:6),
be of “the same mind” (1 Cor. 1:10), and the reality that we should be
attaining to “the unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:13)
Grace
and peace
In
many greetings common to this time period the Gentile greeting would be Grace
and the Hebrew greeting would commonly be peace. Amongst the Gentiles grace was a sort of
undeserved gift, or a gift that was not expected to be paid back. This was something that the Gentiles would
NEVER expect of their gods. Greek gods
were worse than gumball machines. You
were expected to give and give to them and they may or may not give you your
request. They would never be the first
to give. But Paul opens his letter to
Titus reminding him that God has been the one who has freely given to us, grace
like an ocean or a waterfall to cover all of our needs.
Peace
is another thing that human kind is in sore need of. Through Christ’s death on the Cross we have
been given peace. Through Christ’s death
on the cross we have been given peace with ourselves, because Christ has separated
us from our old sin nature (Rom 6, Gal. 2:20).
We have been given peace with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ
because of the love and the peace that he pours into us. Most importantly, however, we have been given
peace with God. While we were still
enemies, Christ died for us and made peace between us and God possible. (Rom 5:8)
This
is how Paul chose to open his letter to Titus.
It is his message to the people of Crete. Grace and Peace were two things that Cretan
culture was lacking in great measure.
There was no grace between people who were constantly trying to cheat
each other, there could be no peace when your neighbor can never be
trusted. These things are the gift of
God. Paul is not demanding that the
Christians MAKE grace or peace, but merely live in the grace and peace that God
has given!
God
the Father
Once
again Paul chooses to highlight the fact that God is The Father, Our
Father. God is the Father of fathers,
and the origin of all fatherhood. Our
earthly fathers succeeded in so much as they were able to follow his model of
fatherhood. They failed in so far as
they weren’t able to follow the model of God.
He is our loving Father in Heaven.
Christ
Jesus our Savior
Here
we see Paul crediting this grace and peace as coming from “God the Father and
Christ Jesus our Savior.” It is
important to notice that God is referred to as “our savior” in verse 3 and
Jesus is “our Savior” in verse 4. This
is a reinforcement of the fact that Jesus was in every way God. He is united completely with God the Father
and one with him in the Holy Trinity.
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