Titus 1:1-16

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter (epistle) in accordance with the information that God and the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to him.

Titus was a holy-person (a sanctified-person, Christian, saint, a child of the only true God) of the Greek Gentile background who traveled with Paul and delivered Paul’s letters for him from time to time.

Titus 1:1:

^1:1Paul, a slave of God but an apostle of Jesus Christ….

Paul begins this letter by first identifying himself to Titus by name: Paul. Then he identifies himself by 'job-title' or 'work-function' relative-to his working/service relationship with God and then with Jesus Christ.

He writes that he is God’s slave. He was bound to serve God. In the first place, God was his Master as regards his work being a holy-person. This service as a slave meant that his whole being was at the service of, in service to – God. Paul carried-out his service by his own freedom of will. Wherever Paul was and whatever he was doing he was to behave as a slave of God, not a slave serving anybody or anything else, even though at times during his life he was physically-bound with physical-chains to soldiers in prison! Even so, God was ultimately his Master, the One Whom Paul believed and obeyed and from Whom Paul took his instructions. During Biblical times, a master was obligated to take-care of his slave (bond servant) and the slave was obligated to do all his master would ask of him. It was a mutually-beneficial relationship between the master and his slave.

Secondly, as regards Paul’s working/service relationship with Jesus Christ, he writes that he is an apostle. An "apostle" is a person sent-forth or sent-away by someone on a specific mission or assignment to someone else, and we read that Paul was sent-forth by Jesus Christ (refer to Acts 9:1-20, 22:1-21, and 26:1-23).

When Paul writes "Jesus Christ" he is emphasizing the Lord Jesus Christ's obedience and service to God his Father on a horizontal level to benefit people. Jesus who is the resurrected Christ continues today to serve His Father, the only true God.

The word "Jesus" is explained in Matthew 1:21 by the Angel Gabriel when he spoke to Joseph:

Matthew 1:21:

^.21She [Mary] will bring-forth a son and you [Joseph] will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

"Jesus" means "God saves / Jehovah (Yahweh) the Savior," and the Lord Jesus Christ was given that name "Jesus" because he is the one who carried-out God's will to make it available for people to be saved, to be made-safe. It is by means of Jesus, the Christ, that people are able to be saved and thereby have a true and vital spiritual relationship with the only true God. Jesus Christ is God's son – he is alive today! He is now at God's right-hand side, second-in-command to God his Father.

The word "Christ" means the "anointed-one" or "Messiah." In the lands and during the time-period of the writing of the Bible, holy oil was poured on the high priest of God to begin his ministry for God, and it was also used to anoint kings. Many people and things were anointed with holy oil to signify their making holy or sanctified for a specific purpose, etc, which can be read about in many scriptures in the Bible (refer to Exodus 30:22-33; Acts 2:36, and 4:27, and 10:38). The resurrected Christ continues doing God's will today.

Paul makes it clear to Titus, and anyone else that would read this letter afterwards, that he had not decided this all by himself, nor was there some "unknown force" driving him to do the things that he was doing, nor was he deluded into thinking that he was somebody else, nor did he decide that he had reached the level of being "good enough" to be an apostle to his neighbors or to the whole world, nor was there a committee involved in this decision, nor had he "forced" God or Jesus Christ into making him an apostle!

Titus 1:1-3:

^1:1Paul, a slave of God but an apostle of Jesus Christ according to (the) belief of (the) selected-people of God and full-knowledge of truth, the (truth) according to reverence, ^.2on hope of eternal life which the un-lying God promised before agelong (chronological-)times ^.3but He manifested His word at (His) own (specific-)times in a heralded-proclamation, which I was trusted-with according to (the) command of God our Savior –

Paul, a slave of God but an apostle of Jesus Christ…

in accordance with (conformity and proportion to)
- the belief of the selected-people of God (the faith, trust that God’s elect people have, all of us who have been chosen-out by Him from other people because we voluntarily accepted what God makes available to mankind, we believed what He says regarding Himself and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and became holy people, Christians) and
- full-knowledge of truth (full, clear and exact personal knowledge of what the essential reality is, the inherent verity),
  - emphatically and specifically the truth according to reverence (the truth in accordance with good service, it is well, service towards God being respectfully reverential of Him),
on hope of eternal life (resting upon, based on the expectation definitely coming to pass at a future time which will be life that is lifelong-life, everlasting life, life that lasts throughout all durations of life, all ages)
which the un-lying God promised before agelong chronological times (God Who is without any lie, no false statements, lie-less, proclaimed or declared the message of His intentions concerning this eternal life in front of, in advance of, prior to the duration-of-life during the chronological times; these agelong times began when God put His gracious plan of redemption and salvation into active motion)
but He manifested His word at His own specific times in a heralded-proclamation (God has shown forth the spoken account of His inner thoughts at the specific time-periods or seasons that He decided, He evidenced His word at the relevant times, in a proclamation being heralded forth, He brought it to light),
- which heralded proclamation emphatically I was entrusted with according to the command of God our Savior (in accordance with what God commanded with authority, His authoritative arrangement, what He put in order upon or over a person and therefore must be obeyed, God Who is the source of salvation for all holy-people).

Before we continue - it is interesting to notice some things:

The word “times” in verse 2 refers to chronological times (different times lasting for particular durations, quantities, lengths of time), but the word “times” in verse 3 refers to specific times (the opportune or precise periods, occasions, seasons pertaining to specific matters).

The Greek word aionios may be translated into English as “eternal” or “agelong” depending on the context.

In verse 2 the phrase “on hope of eternal life” - the life being referred to will not end. It is eternal, agelong in terms of not ending, lifelong, everlasting. It lasts throughout all durations of life, all ages from the time a person receives it. This life can only be received by God's giving of holy spirit by means of the Lord Jesus Christ. All holy-people (Christians) have received holy spirit-life within us, which is the spirit of Christ in us. It is the deposit, token, earnest of what we will receive at a future time. This holy spirit-life will remain for the duration of God's life which will not end. The full completeness for us will come to pass when our Lord Jesus Christ will come to gather all holy-people together with him giving us new spiritual bodies, the life of which will be holy spirit-life like the body he has already received from God, his Father and our Father, when God raised him up alive from among the dead-people.

Also in verse 2, the phrase “agelong times” again has the Greek word aionios. It is used in this context to refer to the agelong times that began in chronological motion from the day when God first spoke the promise of the coming savior, the Christ, in Genesis 3:15, and then God expelled mankind from Paradise that same day in Genesis 3:23 and 24 putting His gracious plan of redemption and salvation into active motion. These agelong times had a starting point and they will also have an ending point. They will not last forever but will end when all things will be subjected to Christ and then he gives the kingdom over to God and himself also in subjection to God (refer to I Corinthians 15:20-28). All the people who will receive new spiritual bodies with holy spirit-life will be together with God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ in Paradise on earth (Revelation chapters 21 and 22).

In verse 3, the Greek verb translated as "trusted-with" comes from the root-word pisteuo which means "to believe, to have faith, to trust." When it is in the passive form of the verb with accusative, as it is in this context here, it has the meaning that the recipient of what is given is being believed-in by the giver that he is willing and capable of taking-care-of and fulfilling all that is involved pertaining to that-which is given to him. The recipient is entrusted with what is given to him by the giver. God entrusted Paul with the heralded proclamation relevant to this specific time - what a great privilege and responsibility had been entrusted to him!

Rereading verses 1-3 and continuing into verse 4:

Verses 1-4:

^1:1Paul, a slave of God but an apostle of Jesus Christ according to (the) belief of (the) selected-people of God and full-knowledge of truth, the (truth) according to reverence, ^.2on hope of eternal life which the un-lying God promised before agelong (chronological-)times ^.3but He manifested His word at (His) own (specific-)times in a heralded-proclamation, which I was trusted-with according to (the) command of God our Savior – ^.4to Titus a genuine child according to (the) common belief; grace and peace from God (the) Father and Christ Jesus our savior.

Paul addresses this letter: to Titus a genuine child (literally: a legitimate, genetic child born to/from me, and including the figurative sense of being an affectionate term of endearment – a genuine child) according to what? According to the common belief (in accordance, conformity and proportion with/to the faith that is common to us, the trust that you and I and all the selected-people share in common; refer to verse 1 above and Romans 10:8-17);…

grace (what is freely bestowed without any merit on the recipient's part)…

…and …

peace (tranquil-harmony without strife)…

…from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.

Grace is what is freely bestowed without any merit on the recipient's part; it includes reference to the attitude and quality of the one giving something favorable to another. Grace is not bestowed because somebody deserves a wage that is owed for something they said or did, nor because they begged so hard, nor because they forced the giver to give! Grace is bestowed because the giver wants to give by his own freedom of will to the recipient - it is completely unmerited favor from the giver to the recipient.

We may think of peace as the opposite of war, the opposite of conflict, the opposite of being at odds with the other party. Who are the other parties as far as holy-people are concerned? God and the Lord Jesus Christ. All of God's children are at peace with God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ because it is given to us from God and the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore all Christians should behave peaceably with one-another too.

God is the Father of Christ Jesus. God is also the Father of all selected-people (all holy-people, Christians) because we have received the gift of holy spirit within us. Titus and Paul were children of God. God was their Father - spiritually.

God is the source, the originator of our salvation. God decided the plan of the redemption and salvation of mankind and then His son, Jesus the Christ, carried it out with God’s help. Christ Jesus is all holy-people’s savior, the one who saves, makes us safe. Without him, nobody could be saved from sins and their consequences, from destruction back to God. When Paul writes "Christ Jesus" he is emphasizing the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the resurrected, anointed-one of God.

[Reference: Genesis 3:15; Acts 1:7, 2:44, 3:20, 4:32, 9:1-20, 22:1-21, 26:1-23; Romans 1:2-4, 2:7, 6:22 and 23, 8:33, 10:8-17, 16:25-27; I Corinthians 1:21, 2:4, 15:14; II Corinthians 2:13, 7:6, 13 and 14, 8:6, 16 and 23, 12:18; Galatians 2:1 and 3; I Timothy 1:1, 2 and 11, 2:1-7, 3:16, 6:3, 11 and 15; II Timothy 1:9-11, 2:10, 4:10 and 17; II Peter 1:3; I John 2:25; Jude 1:3.]

Verse 5:

^.5For-this-grace I left you away in Crete in order that you may set-upright the-things leaving (undone) and you may constitute elders according to a city as I throughly-arranged with you;

It is for this grace (in grace of this, because or for the reason of this unmerited, undeserved favor) that I left you (Titus) away from me in the island of Crete for the purpose and result that…

you would set-upright the-things leaving undone (set the things that are still left to be done on a thoroughly straight and level position, correcting those things that are not upright) and
you would constitute elders (cause people to be made elders, place or cause people to stand-down in the level or position of being elder-men) from city to city
- as emphatically I throughly-arranged with you (in comparison to how I arranged these things through and through with you, as I put fully in order with you).

The “elder” men in this context are referring to those having more knowledge, wisdom, dignity, etc, relative to God and the things of God; they were elders in service to/for God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and not the literal meaning of being older in age than other people. Paul continues to explain this in verse 6 onwards.

[Reference: Acts 14:23, 20:17; Ephesians 3:1 and 14; I Timothy 4:14, 5:17-20; II Timothy 3:16.]

Verses 6-9:

^.6if someone is not-arraigned, husband of one wife, having believing children not in accusation of unsavedness or unsubjected, ^.7for it is necessary (for) the overseer as God’s steward to be not-arraigned, not self-delighted, not wrathful, not wine-oriented, not quick-to-stroke, not shameful-gain, ^.8but loving-strangers, loving-good, sound-thinking, righteous, holy, self-controlled, ^.9holding-fast-to the believable word according to the teaching in order that he may be able also to encourage in the teaching, the (teaching) being sound, and to refute the (people) contradicting (it).

If somebody is…

not-arraigned (in the state of having no charge or accusation to be called or brought against him during the everyday living of his life awaiting Christ’s coming to gather all holy-people together),
husband of one wife (an adult-male, a grown man of one woman, not having a woman in every location he may visit),
having believing children (the word translated ‘believing’ is an adjective describing his children: faithful, trusting relative-to God, believing what God and the Lord Jesus Christ give them to believe, believers),
- not in accusation of unsavedness (not being in the state of having a public judicial spoken matter directed down against them pertaining to evidencing the life and character of unsaved people, those who do not believe what God says and therefore lack holy spirit-life)
- or unsubjected (not in subjection to God’s words, who do not submit themselves, who do not arrange themselves in the position of being under the authority of what God says, which should be what their parents are saying to them),

…for it is necessary for the overseer (it is binding for the watcher, the one who scopes, the one who has been given the duty or function of having watchful-care and guardianship pertaining to other holy-people – the overseer must, he ought), as God’s steward (God’s house-manager, an administrator of God's household-matters), to be…

not-arraigned (as verse 6 above),
not self-delighted (not sweet on himself, not having the feeling of relish of taste towards his own interests, etc, he should not be focused on his own pleasure, as opposed to delighting in God and the things of God including other holy-people),
not wrathful (not in the state of having a lasting angry vengeance, like the heat of a burning fire; in this context Paul is talking about wrath that is contrary to God's will),
not wine-oriented (not beside wine always having it alongside him with the corresponding conduct),
not quick-to-stroke (not ready to hit with strikes or stripes, smite with blows or words),
not shameful-gain (not for gain that is shameful, indecent profit, ugly benefit, deformed advantage),…

…but contrary to that kind of behavior, it is necessary for the overseer to be…

loving-strangers (a lover of foreigners, loving strangers with the brotherly or friendly kind of love, hospitable towards guests, those who are not immediate family members),
loving-good (a lover of good, loving good with the brotherly or friendly kind of love, he loves what issues from God Who is good and sets the standard for what is good, loves what is perfectly admirable from God's viewpoint and according to His words and intention because He is the source of all true goodness),
sound-thinking (having thoughts in his mind that are sound, safe in God’s viewpoint, prudent, thoughts in alignment with his salvation),
righteous (just, behaving in a justified manner),
holy (this word translated "holy" means: one who practices holiness which is pure Godliness free from all crime, one who is in the state of constantly observing all God says, who practices every duty and function and thereby fulfills every obligation which God has given to be believed and carried-out),
self-controlled (he is strong within himself, he has mastery or dominion over himself, he exerts inner force, effects power and exercises strength in himself),
holding fast to the believable word according to the teaching (firmly holding the faithful word, the spoken account of God’s inner thoughts which are trustworthy - as though holding the believable word up before himself firmly so as to support it and keep it firm during the everyday living of his life – how? – in accordance with the authoritative instruction, the doctrine, the contents of what is taught)
- for the purpose and result that he would be able (capable, have able-power, ability, be dynamic) also to encourage in the teaching (to exhort others within the sphere of action of the instruction, the doctrine; this word ‘teaching’ includes the teaching itself and the action of teaching it),
  - emphatically and specifically the teaching being sound (this word "sound" refers to being healthy, in good health, well),
- and to refute the people contradicting it (to prove those who are speaking against it to be wrong, to convict and convince the people who are saying things against the teaching of their error).

[Reference: Matthew 18:15; John 16:8; Acts 2:27, 13:34, 35 and 45, 20:28, 24:25; Romans 7:22, 10:21, 12:13; I Corinthians 4:1 and 2, 9:25, 14:24; Galatians 5:3; Ephesians 4:24, 5:11, 13, and 18; Philippians 1:1; I Thessalonians 5:14; I Timothy 1:9, 10, 2:8, 3:1-8, 10, 12, 5:20, 6:3; II Timothy 1:13, 3:4 and 16, 4:2 and 3; Hebrews 13:2; I Peter 4:9; II Peter 2:10.]

Verses 10-16:

^.10For there are many unsubjected-people, futile-worded-people and mind-deceivers, especially the (people) out-from the circumcision, ^.11whom it is necessary to stop-the-mouth, the-people-who overturn whole houses not teaching the-things-which are necessary for-the-grace of shameful gain. ^.12Someone out-from them, their own prophet, said “Cretans (are) always liars, bad wild-animals, workless bellies.” ^.13This witness is true; because-of which cause you must refute them cuttingly-away in order that they may be sound with the belief, ^.14not having-attention to Judean fables and commandments of men being turned-away-from the truth. ^.15All-things (are) clean with the clean-people, but with the (people) having been stained² and with unbelievers nothing (is) clean but both their mind and conscience was stained²; ^.16they express-agreement to have known² God but they deny (Him) with works being abominable-people and un-persuaded-people and unapproved-people towards all good work.

In truth, there are a lot of…

unsubjected-people (those who are not in subjection to God’s words, who do not submit themselves, who do not arrange themselves in the position of being under the authority of what God says; refer to verse 6 above),
futile-worded-people (those who speak their inner-thoughts which are empty as to any results, meaningless and useless) and
mind-deceivers (deluders of the mentality, beguilers of the seat of all mental emotions, feelings, faculties, intellect, etc),
- most-of-all the people out-from the circumcision (those of the circumcision background, Judeans/Israelites who have become physically circumcised to demonstrate their adherence to the old covenant, adhering to and preaching adherence to circumcision and the law of Moses, which of course has been superseded by the covenant of spirit),…

…whom it is necessary to stop-the-mouth (it is binding to put something on their mouths, their mouths ought to be checked as putting a bit in their mouths, like what is done with horses, so they speak and behave appropriately).

These are the people who overturn whole houses not teaching the-things-which are necessary (they turn up, subvert, upset entire households by not instructing the things that it is binding to teach, what ought to be taught) – why do they do this? – for the grace of shameful gain (in favor of indecent profit, because they want to receive ugly benefit, for the reason or sake of deformed advantage; refer to verse 7 above).

Somebody from among them (those who overturn whole houses as described above), specifically a prophet belonging-to them and pertaining-to them (one of their own members, family, relatives, who speaks forth words to/for themselves, not to/for other people who live in the same location of Crete), said “On every occasion the inhabitants of the island of Crete are…

liars (they speak and live lies, falsifiers, they speak falsehoods),
bad wild-animals (savage beasts of prey who behave in a manner that is against God; by using the term “wild animals” when referring to people the prophet figuratively gave great emphasis to their behavior and adds the adjective ‘bad’),
workless bellies (again he used a figure of speech: “bellies” is used figuratively here to refer to people whose focus is to satisfy their inner gastric parts, their appetites for food, etc, and for a woman this word is used to refer to her womb, having a child – however the additional adjective “workless” describes these bellies as being without work, not expending and thus lacking active energy, idle, inactive).”

What is Paul’s comment by revelation on what that prophet spoke about the people whom Paul described above as: unsubjected-people, futile-worded-people and mind-deceivers, especially those out-from the circumcision, who overturn whole houses not teaching the-things-which are necessary for-the-grace of shameful gain?

He writes: This witness is true. This witness (attestation given, the witnessing, giving the declaration confirming it as being authentic information, knowledge concerning these people), which their own prophet said to/for them, is true. Crete is where Titus was at that time.

Paul continues: on account of this cause (the ground for charge, the reason for accusation, here used in the good sense explaining to Titus that the reason for the following is the witness that is true just written about) you must refute them cuttingly-away (prove them wrong, convict and convince them of their error, refute them severingly, abruptly, in a manner that is cutting – metaphorically: severely) for the purpose and result that…

they would be sound with the belief (this word "sound" refers to being healthy, in good health, well with/in/by the faith relative-to God and the things of God),
not having-attention to (not holding or turning their minds, thoughts and attention towards/for the purpose of)…
- Judean fables (Judean legends, fictional stories, myths) and
- commandments of men being turned away from the truth (the things that are enjoined or commanded by the members of mankind who are being turned away from the truth, from God’s essential reality, His inherent verity, from what He says).

All things are clean (free from any bad foreign mixture) with the people who are clean. Those who are clean behave in a manner that is clean in everything they do.

But with the holy-people who have been stained and continue stained (tainted, tinged, colored with something else) and with unbelievers (those who do not believe, who are faithless, do not trust God, referring to people who have not received the gift of holy spirit) not one thing is clean. Christians who are stained and the unbelievers behave in a manner that is not clean in everything they do.

Contrary to being clean, both their mind (mind-set, organ of mental perception, mentality) and their conscience were stained and continue stained. The word “conscience” refers to all of their knowing awareness, the perception of what is right which they put together for themselves in their minds as a result of all that they have already been taught and learned in relation to the one whom they recognize as their ruler, the one who has authority, ultimately this authority should be the only true God. Also it is interesting to note that the words “mind” and “conscience” are singular even though many people are being spoken about; this shows us that from God’s viewpoint regarding their behavior (their walk, their conduct) all those people have the same mind and conscience – stained.

Those people agree…. The verb “to express agreement” means: to say the same thing, speak the same words, speak agreement with, assent to the same spoken thing, the same words. They agree to/with what? They agree that they knew and still know God (that they see to the end of perceiving and knowing Him with their mind) – but they deny God with works (they disown, negate and reject Him with/by their deeds, the effects produced having acted expending their energy) being in their behavior…

abominable-people (they are abhorrent, disgusting, loathsome, stinking, detestable, revolting, repugnant as the bad smell of vomit or other voiding of the stomach) and
un-persuaded-people (they are unwilling to be persuaded or convinced by the Godly instruction given to them) and
unapproved-people towards all good work (they are not-approved by God, they are not passing God's test when examined and thus they are disapproved towards every work that issues from God Who is good and sets the standard for what is good; they are unapproved to go in motion for the purpose of working what is good, the good deed, the effect-produced having acted expending energy in accordance with what is perfectly admirable from God's viewpoint, according to His words and intention because He is the source of all true goodness).

[Reference: Matthew 24:15; Acts 26:19; Romans 1:28 and 30, 2:7 and 22, 10:9 and 10, 11:22, 14:20; I Corinthians 9:27, 14:20, II Corinthians 9:8, 13:10; Galatians 2:12, 6:3; Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 1:10; I Timothy 1:4, 6 and 9, 2:10, 3:7, 4:7, 5:10, 13 and 14; II Timothy 1:13 and 15, 2:18 and 21, 3:2, 8 and 17, 4:4. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (²) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]

Titus Chapter 2