Titus 3:1-15

Titus 3:1-7:

^3:1You must remind them to be ruled-persuasively by rulerships (including) to be subject to authorities, to be prepared towards all good work, ^.2to blaspheme not-one-person, to be without-fighting, considerate, pointing-out all meekness towards all men; ^.3for even we used-to-be at-some-time unmindful-people, un-persuaded-people, being caused-to-wander, serving-as-slaves to variegated intense-yearnings and delights, leading (our lives) in badness and envy, haters, hating one-another – ^.4but when the benevolence and the love-for-man of God our Savior was brought-to-light-upon (us), ^.5not out-from works, the (works) in righteousness which we did, but according to His mercy, He saved us by means of (the) washing of re-genesis and (the) newing-up of holy spirit ^.6which He poured-out on us wealthily by means of Jesus Christ our savior ^.7in order that having been made-righteous with the grace of that-one we may be caused-to-become inheritors according to hope of eternal life –

You (Titus) must remind them (cause those who have previously been taught to remember, to recollect, to call to their minds)…

to be ruled-persuasively by rulerships (to obey the persuasion, conviction that has been given to them by those who are in the first-placed, chief, dignified hierarchical positions and therefore rule in accordance with God and the Lord Jesus Christ)

…including and related to this is…

to be subject to authorities (to be in submission, arrange themselves in the position of being underneath, under the authority of those who are in the positions of authoritative power, who have the permitted right to exercise that authority in accordance with God and the Lord Jesus Christ)….

Only Godly rulership and authority have true reality since God raised Christ up giving him his spiritual body – all other rulership and authority have no effect spiritually to/with/against Christ, the head, and his body of holy-people (refer to Romans 13:1-7; Ephesians 1:19-23; Colossians 1:13-19 and 27, and 2:9-12).

You must remind them to be ruled-persuasively by rulerships including to be subject to authorities,

to be prepared towards all/every good work (to be ready, in the state of readiness to proceed in motion for the purpose of all work that issues from God Who is good and sets the standard for what is good, every good thing wrought, every deed, every effect-produced having acted expending his/her 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),
to blaspheme not-one-person (to speak evilly of no-one, to treat nobody with lack of Godly reverential respect, to calumniate not one person),
to be without-fighting (to be in the state of not-fighting, not to be brawlers, not contentious people),
considerate (disposed to yielding appropriately with fitting-suitableness considering the rights of others in a righteous/just manner, which is according to what God and the Lord Jesus Christ indicate),
pointing out all/every meekness towards all men (indicating, as though with a finger, displaying towards all mankind all tender receptiveness or receptivity towards God and the things of God).

In truth, during a past time-period (before we believed what God says and received the gift of holy spirit) emphatically we were continuing to be:

unmindful-people (lacking the application of our minds and therefore were unlearned or unintelligent),
un-persuaded-people (unwilling to be persuaded or convinced by the Godly instruction given to us),
being caused-to-wander (caused to err, not-staying in our rightful place, being led astray from the truth of God's Word, like a planet is constantly moving around when viewed from the earth unlike the stars which retain their position relative-to each other),
serving-as-slaves (serving in the position and capacity of being slaves, bound-people carrying-out service) to variegated (manifold, various)…
- intense-yearnings (lusts, strong-desires attached or fixed upon certain objects other-than God and the things of God) and
- delights (the feelings of relish of taste, pleasurable sensations, sweetnesses),
leading our lives (thoroughly conducting or conveying the course/mode of our everyday living) within the sphere of action of
- badness (all forms of being bad, that-which is contrary to God's will) and
- envy (being jealous or resentful of another's considered-advantage with the desire to gain the same 'advantage' for oneself),
haters (people who feel and evidence extreme hatred, who behave in a very hateful and detestable manner),
hating one-another (this verb “hating” does not have the same root word as the noun “haters” above; this means: having active ill-will towards one-another)…

…but when…

the benevolence (the kindness, supplying what is appropriately needed for use in specific situations) and
the love-for-man (the brotherly or friendly kind of love for/towards mankind, human-beings)
- belonging to and emanating from God our Savior (the only true God is the source of salvation for all holy-people)

…was brought to light upon us (God’s benevolence and His love for man as one unit was caused to have its light shone upon us, and so it was made evident to us, visible shining this light forth upon us)…

not originating out from works, emphatically and specifically the works in righteousness (the deeds within the sphere of action, character and attributes of justness, justice) which emphatically we did (performed) [the truth being that we were not righteous at that time and so we definitely could not do any works in righteousness],
but on the contrary –
it was according to His mercy (it was in accordance, conformity and proportion to God’s mercy, His active-relief withholding merited judgment, not bestowing punishment on us who deserved to be punished),

…He saved us by means of (God made us safe through):

the washing of re-genesis
- (the re-genesis washing; the word “washing” is a noun referring to a bathing place, as in a wash-vessel or bath, including the action and process of washing; here it is the washing that pertains to regeneration, it has the character and quality of genesis again, the second genesis, the second origin or source as opposed to the first genesis; the washing that consists of the second genealogy of lineage, race, kind, descent of mankind)
and included together with that is –
the newing-up of holy spirit
- (the holy spirit newing-up; the word "newing-up" is a noun referring to a newness, as in that-which is made new with an upward motion, including the action and process of newing upwards; here it is the newing-upwards that pertains to holy spirit, it has the character and quality of sanctified spirit, it consists of holy spirit; this holy spirit, which is the spirit of Christ, is newly-made and is different from what was previously in effect, new because it is different from that which had been formerly, new because it replaces the old, new compared to what was there previously for/with mankind)….

…which holy spirit He poured-out on us wealthily (God shed forth holy spirit down on us richly)…

- how? –

…by means of Jesus Christ our savior (through Jesus Christ who is our savior because he accomplished what was needed to be done by mankind so as to save mankind, to make us safe)…

- why? –

…for the purpose and result that,

after we were made-righteous (justified) with/by the grace of that-one (the freely bestowed unmerited favor belonging-to and emanating-from that one, Jesus Christ our savior, no-one else),

…we may be caused to become inheritors according to hope of eternal life (we would come to pass to be heirs, people who have the inheritance, the assigned lot, the allotted portion, in accordance, conformity and proportion to the expectation that God has given to us of a future event occurring, which is lifelong life, everlasting life, life that lasts throughout all durations of life, all ages).

The Greek word aionios may be translated “eternal” or “agelong”. In the context here, the life being referred to will not end. It is eternal, agelong, 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.

[Reference: Genesis 1:26-28, 2:7, 3:15 and 24; Matthew 19:28 and 29, 25:46, 27:18 and 39; John 3:5; Acts 1:5-8, 2:1-4, 17, 18 and 33, 5:29 and 32, 10:45, 27:3 and 21, 28:2; Romans 1:4, 14, 29 and 30, 2:4, 3:24, 4:13 and 14, chapter 5, 6:23, 8:16, 17, 23-25 and 29, 9:11-33, 11:30-32, 12:2 and 12, 13:1-6; Appendix to Romans; I Corinthians 1:4, 4:21, 6:11, 10:30, 15:24-58; II Corinthians 4:16, 8:9, 10:1; Galatians 3:1, 3 and 29, 4:7, 5:21-23, 6:1; Ephesians 1:21, 2:3-10, 3:10, 4:24, 5:26, 6:12; Philippians 1:15, 3:20, 4:5; Colossians 1:13, 16 and 27, 2:10 and 15, 3:10; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I Timothy 1:1 and 16, 2:2 and 3, 3:3, 6:4 and 9; II Timothy 1:10, 2:1, 14, 3:2, 4, 6, 13, 16 and 17; Titus 1:2, 3, 4 and 16, 2:10, 11 and 13; Hebrews 10:22; I Peter 1:3-5, 2:25; I John 5:11.]

Verse 8(a):

^.8(a)the word (is) believable –

The word (the spoken account) is believable (faithful, trustworthy). This is the same phrase as written by Paul in I Timothy 1:15, 3:1, 4:9; II Timothy 2:11 and all relate to the availability of redemption and salvation. Paul emphasizes that what he is writing/saying is believable – see verses 4-7 above. The spoken account of the inner thoughts of God, which Paul is writing in this letter, is believable. We can rely on God’s Word, what God says.

Verses 8(b):

^.8(b)and concerning these-things I deliberately-determine you to throughly-make-firm in order that the (people) having believed² God may be-thoughtful to stand-before beautiful works. These-things are beautiful and profitable to men.

Also, about these-things (what I am writing to you in this letter) I purposefully will you (Titus) to throughly make them firm (thoroughly make these things steady, surely affirm them) for the purpose and result that the people who have already believed and are still believing God (having faith relative to God, trusting God, believing what He says and does) would actively be thoughtful to stand before beautiful works (would have in their mind’s thoughts to cause themselves to stand in front of beautiful deeds, to behave as leaders presiding over the beautiful things worked, the beautiful effects they produce having acted expending their energy, the activities that have a manifested decorous, harmonious and acceptable goodness).

This does not mean that we are all to go around bossing and domineering and giving orders to each other and telling everybody else what to do! But it does mean that we are to behave ourselves in a manner that is leading by doing and maintaining and managing and guarding all that is involved pertaining to beautiful works, which would also demonstrate to others how to behave this way because they can see you and the beautiful works and they can learn to do likewise.

Paul clarifies: these things (explained here in this letter) are…

beautiful (they have a manifested decorous, harmonious and acceptable goodness) and
profitable (they are beneficial, advantageous)

…to men (for/with mankind).

[Reference: Matthew 5:16; Romans 12:8, I Thessalonians 5:12; I Timothy 1:7, 3:1(b), 5 and 12, 4:8, 5:17; II Timothy 3:16 and 17; Titus 1:9, 2:7 and 14.]

Verses 9-11:

^.9But dull seekings and genealogies and strifes and law fights you must stand-around (from), for they are unprofitable and futile. ^.10A sectarian man after one or two admonitions you must refuse, ^.11having known² that the person-of-this-kind was turned-out² and he sins being self-condemned.

But you (Titus) must stand about on the perimeter aloof from:

dull seekings (not-acute, absurd, foolish, moronic actions of seeking, questions, looking for answers, searches, inquiries, quests) and
genealogies (family-tree tracings, word discussions about generations) and
strifes (any form of it, such as rivalries, wrongful competitiveness, contentions, disputes and quarrellings) and
law fights (battles, combats pertaining to law),

…in truth, they are unprofitable (without benefit, lack advantage) and futile (empty as to any results, meaningless and useless).

The word “sectarian” is an adjective describing a person who is heretical, making choices, opinions or chosen-ways that are different to the traditional way of thinking – used here in the bad sense of choosing what is against God.

You must refuse a sectarian man (you must excuse yourself from a heretical person, entreat that you would not have to listen to him, ask aside from him) – when? – after one or two admonitions (times of you putting God’s Word in his mind so that he could learn from what you tell him and therefore understand that he ought to behave himself living his life in agreement with what God has given us to believe)….

After one or two admonitions you must refuse a sectarian man – why? – you knew and still know (perceive, see) that the person of this sort (such a person) has been turned out from where he should be and is still turned-out (moved out for the worse, as a tree that has been uprooted or a garment turned inside-out) and he sins (he is actively missing the mark of what God says, His Word) being self-condemned (in the state of making judgment down against himself, bringing or pronouncing sentence against himself relative to the walk/behavior category at that time). He condemns himself by his conduct continuing to reject your admonitions.

[Reference: Acts 25:7; Romans 1:29, 13:13; I Corinthians 1:11, 3:3, 10:11; II Corinthians 12:20; Galatians 5:20; Ephesians 6:4; I Timothy 1:4 and 8, 4:7, 5:11, 6:4; II Timothy 2:5, 14, 16 and 23; Titus 1:10.]

Verses 12-15:

^.12Whenever I may send Artemas towards you, or Tychicus, you must be earnestly-diligent to come towards me into Nicopolis for there I judged² to winter-alongside. ^.13With-earnest-diligence you must send Zenas the law-person and Apollos forward in order that nothing may leave (undone) by them. ^.14But our-people also must learn to stand-before beautiful works with-a-view-to the constraining needs in order that they may not be fruitless. ^.15All-people with me greet you. You must greet the (people) loving us in belief. (May) the grace (be) with all of you.

At whatever time that I may send Artemas towards you, or Tychicus, you (Titus) must be earnestly diligent (have speedy application or performance, assiduity, endeavor with earnestness) to come/go towards me into Nicopolis, for I have made my decision to spend the winter (the time for stormy weather) there.

Using speedy application or performance (assiduity) you must send Zenas the law-person (skillful in law) and Apollos forward on their journey for the purpose and result that not one thing would be left remaining to be done by them.

Emphatically our people (the people who belong to us, to you Titus and I, Paul; our own people, the holy-people whom emphatically we are responsible to teach, etc, according to God’s truth; our people) also must learn (they must become informed intellectually as students, our people must actively do the learning, willingly learn) to stand before beautiful works (as in verse 8b above)…

with-a-view-to the constraining needs (into, directed-to, for the urgent necessities due to lack, the needful-things required for use where force is being applied on our people regarding these needs)
in order that they may not be fruitless (for the purpose and result that our people would not be without fruit, would not be in the position of having no produce themselves).

All the holy-people who are in company and association with me greet (salute) you. You must greet (salute, draw to yourself) the holy-people who are loving us, you and I with the brotherly or friendly kind of love, in belief (within the sphere of action of faith, trust relative to God and the things of God).

May the grace be with all of you (plural). Paul's opening address to Titus included grace, and now as he closes this letter he expresses his prayerful desire for every one of the holy-people – may it be that the grace (that-which is freely bestowed without any merit on the recipient's part, the unmerited or undeserved favor from God or the Lord Jesus Christ) is in company and association with all of you during the everyday living of your life, Titus, and all those who may read this letter after your initial reading. It is via our holy spirit, which is the spirit of Christ in us, that God and our Lord Jesus Christ extend their grace to us.

[Reference: Matthew 7:17, 13:8, 22 and 23; Acts 13:46, 18:24 - 19:1, 20:4; Romans 1:13, 6:22, 7:4, 12:8, 15:28; I Corinthians 1:12, 3:4-9 and 22, 4:6, 9:7, 14:14, 16:12; II Corinthians 9:5-12; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 4:28 and 29, 5:9 and 11, 6:21; Philippians 1:11 and 22, 2:25, 4:15-19; Colossians 1:10, 4:7; II Timothy 2:6, 4:12 and 15; Titus 1:5, 2:7 and 14; II Peter 1:8. 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.]

(May) the grace (be) with all of you.