God Our Savior

INTRO

This is another letter from Paul to an individual, Titus, who was then in Crete, an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Titus was mentioned thirteen times in the New Testament. Paul wrote the letter while he was journeying through Macedonia between his imprisonments in Rome (AD 62–64). This was probably his fourth missionary journey but took place after Luke had ended the Book of Acts. Therefore, Titus was written between 1 and 2 Timothy from either Corinth or Nicopolis.¹ According to Titus 3:13, the letter was delivered by Zenas the lawyer and Apollos.

Possibly Paul led Titus to faith either before or during his first missionary journey. When Paul was being taken to Rome for his first imprisonment, they briefly landed at Crete. Paul later returned to Crete after he was released from prison and took Titus with him to minister at Crete. Paul left Titus there to continue the ministry when he moved on. Paul later sent either Artemas or Tychicus to carry on the ministry there so Titus could join him in Nicopolis for the winter (Titus 3:12).² Titus is mentioned in 2 Corinthians where Paul called him “my brother” (2 Corinthians 2:13) and “my partner and coworker” (2 Corinthians 8:23). Paul always seemed to be looking for the gifts converts had, so he knew where they would fit best in ministry. Titus was aware of the false teachers in the church and even accompanied Paul and Barnabas to the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) to address the subject of false teachings.³

Paul, an apostolic leader, left both Timothy and Titus in places to continue ministries he had started. Although Paul left both areas, he continued to pour into both young men through his letters and his prayers. It is a wonderful model of ministry. Paul wrote to Titus in response to a letter he had received, from either Titus or someone else in Crete, sharing what was happening in Crete. MacArthur points out that Paul’s letter did not include anything on doctrine because he was confident in Titus’s “theological understanding and convictions.”⁴ Instead, Paul warned Titus about the false teachers in Crete. Sadly, many of the believers in Crete would have been young, immature believers, because the ministry there was so new. MacArthur describes the situation in Crete: “In order to gain a hearing for the gospel among such people, the believers’ primary preparation for evangelism was to live among them with the unarguable testimony of righteous, loving, selfless, and godly lives (Titus 2:2–14) in marked contrast to the debauched lives of the false teachers (Titus 1:10–16).”⁵ The work in Crete was especially difficult because the people there were “always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12-13).

Acts 2:11 states people from Crete were at Pentecost and spoke out in the Holy Spirit. Maybe this is how the gospel of Christ first came to the Cretans. Paul must have known that the Holy Spirit had already reached Crete. The Holy Spirit had gone before Paul.

TEACHING

Titus 1:1-4: In verses 1–2, Paul brought greetings and stated his calling was to build up the faith in godliness and truth in the eternal hope that God had promised. He could be certain of that calling because God cannot lie. In fact, the first recorded discipline that God took on the early church was for lying to Him, Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:3). In 1 Timothy 4:1–2, Paul said the later times will have those who depart from the faith, deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, “through the hypocrisy of liars.” God does not—cannot—lie! Paul acknowledged he had been entrusted with God our Savior’s revealed message (v. 3). As New Testament believers, we don’t typically acknowledge God as Savior, but that is the entire thread of the Old Testament. For that reason, the theme for Titus is Savior. God is Savior, who saved us through the work of His Son on the cross. Salvation is nothing that we do for ourselves. We have been justified (made right) through Christ. We are all sinners, and we are saved by Christ’s death on the cross. The letter to Titus has a huge theme of God as Savior.

Titus 1:5–9: In verses 5–9 Paul gave the characteristics needed for elders. These include: (1) having faithful children; (2) being the steward of God; (3) not self-willed or arrogant; (4) not easily angered; (5) loving what is good; (6) righteous; (7) holy; (8) self-controlled; and (9) holding to the faithful message of Christ. This list is a little different from the list in 1 Timothy 3.

Titus 1:10–16: In verses 10–16, Paul warns about false teachers, including what they were like and why they taught falsely.

CLOSING

Paul closes the letter with this warning about false teachers: “They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified for any good work” (v. 16). We too must watch for false teachings and false teachers because we have been saved and made holy through God our Savior.