Paul moves his focus from within the congregation to those outside of the church. Christians should submit to government as model citizens being a part of the good work that governments do (because every government, whether godly or not, has been instituted by God, Rom 13:1). Where a government usurps the authority of God and commands a believer to disobey God, then we should refuse on the principle that “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Christians should not speak evil of anyone avoiding ridicule, insult, and verbal abuse. This is especially important today when social media gives us a sense of anonymity and we feel we can say what we like. We should be peaceable towards others and avoid quarrelling, be gentle and considerate of others, being perfectly courteous towards all people, not just believers. Paul aptly reminds us that we were all once foolish and disobedient and deceived. We were slaves to various passions and pleasures. We spent our days hating and being hated and responding to others with malice and envy. Remembering this should cause us to be gracious to those who are still like that. Remembering that we were saved from that should give us compassion for those who are still slaves to sin. When God our Saviour, Jesus Christ, appeared, He saved us out of lives like that. He didn’t save us because of works of righteousness which we have done. That isn’t to say people don’t do righteous deeds. We are simply not saved because of any righteous deeds we have done. In fact, any righteous deeds we have done are seen as filthy rags before a perfect and holy God (Isa 64:6). We were saved by God’s mercy and compassion, close relatives to God’s grace. Our salvation included washing and regeneration because of the transformative work of the Holy Spirit within us. When we were saved we became new creatures (2 Cor 5:17). Because we were justified, made righteous before a holy God, by His grace, we are now heirs according to the hope of eternal life. We are now part of God’s family and while we have eternal life now, we will experience it most fully when we are with Jesus in heaven—that is the hope we live with. Because we have received such an incredible salvation our response as believers should be to devote ourselves to good works. While we focus on devoting ourselves to good works, we must avoid things that are unprofitable and worthless like quarrelling over things that are insignificant, putting too much emphasis on our preferences, and anything that causes division in the church rather than uniting us to the common goal of reaching the lost. Paul tells Titus that when dealing with people like that, he should warn them twice and then have nothing more to do with them. Someone who is focused on division shouldn’t be tolerated in the church. If they don’t respond to two warnings they prove themselves to be warped and sinful. They are self-condemned because they cling to their sinful practice. As with any church discipline like this, the goal is to have the person recognise their sin and return in repentance.

Paul’s closing greeting mentions Artemas and Tychicus who were possibly men who could relieve Titus and continue his work while he went to visit Paul in Nicopolis where he had decided to spend the winter. Paul was writing with the freedom to decide where to spend winter so it was likely after his first Roman imprisonment. Zenas was probably an expert in Roman law because of his Gentile name. Apollos was likely the preacher of (Acts 18:24). Both Zenas and Apollos may have carried the letter to Titus. He was encouraged to look after them and send them on their way. Paul again emphasises the need for believers to devote themselves to good works with a focus on helping those in need. This outward focus saves us from selfishness and an unfruitful life.

Are you living a life devoted to good works? What is one area you can help with within the church? Where can you contribute to those outside the church within your community? Both will give you the opportunity to show and share the love of Jesus.

Proverbs is a collection of wise sayings that are easily applied to everyday situations. Consider carefully which of the sayings you’ve read today are particularly applicable to you today and in the coming week. What do you need to change or do more of to make use of God’s wisdom in your life?

Paul moves from the general congregation to specific advice for Titus. It was important that he not only taught the truth but lived it as a model of good works. His teaching was to be characterised by integrity, dignity, and sound speech. With his teaching rooted in truth and unaffected by side issues no one would be able to fault him or have anything evil to say about him or others in Christian ministry.

Slaves were instructed to be submissive to their own masters in everything. The Bible acknowledges the existence of slavery without condoning its practice. Yet slaves had a great opportunity to be a witness to their masters in their conduct. They were to work well, not talk back, and not steal from their masters. They should be faithful in all matters and so exemplify the teachings of Jesus Christ. While not slaves, employees can certainly mirror these characteristics in their dealings with employers.

Paul sums up his instructions to the various groups of believers by pointing out that one of the great purposes of our salvation is to produce lives of holiness. The grace of God has appeared in Jesus Christ who brought salvation for all people. The salvation of Jesus is available to all people even though not all will avail themselves of it. This verse is not teaching that all will be saved, only that Jesus made it possible for all to be saved. God’s grace works in our lives to save us but also to train us to leave behind ungodliness and worldly passions (sexual sins, the lust for power, pleasure, fame, and all things worldly) and to strive to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. Our lives should stand in stark contrast to the lives of unbelievers around us. We should be motivated by the anticipation of the appearance of Jesus when He comes again. He gave Himself up for us to save us from lawlessness and to purify us as a special people who belong to Him and who are zealous for good works. Consider the intense passion people have for sports, politics, and other issues. We should have the same drive for good works.

Titus was to teach all of this and correct where necessary with boldness and authority. He was not to let anyone disregard him and undermine his authority, for he was speaking the word of God.

Where are you on the walk from ungodliness to holiness? Are you still clinging to some worldly passions? What is the next step you need to take on the journey of grace towards good works?

Sound doctrine is vital to the health of the church. In contrast to those who were empty talkers and deceivers (Tit 1:10), Titus was to teach the truth with an application for godly living. Paul highlighted some areas of focus for different groups within the church congregation.

He first deals with the older men, most likely those of the age who have raised a family who are now raising their own families. They are to be sober-minded, that is level headed and self-controlled. They are to be dignified or worthy of respect. They should be self-controlled or temperate. Self-control is clearly an important characteristic for the believer because Paul gives it double emphasis here in two forms and it is highlighted for every group of people in this passage. Older men should be sound in faith, love, and endurance. Their faith should be healthy resulting in a love for others and enduring to the end. Older men should be an example of a life lived faithfully, running the race to its end and finishing strong (2 Tim 4:7).

The older women are to be encouraged with the same exhortations as the older men but with appropriate differences. They are also to be encouraged to be reverent in their behaviour, they should display outwardly their godly inner character. They should not be slanderers, this word comes from the word for the devil and suggests devilish use of the tongue must be avoided. They should not be addicted to much wine, perhaps the focus on this group was because of a cultural predisposition but it is not exclusively a requirement for the older woman, it applies to every believer (Eph 5:18). Positively they are to teach what is good, specifically older women have a ministry to teach younger women.

Titus was not told to teach the younger women directly but to have the older women mentor them. There is a huge benefit to practical, biblically-based training between two people who have shared experience. A woman can relate more closely to what she is teaching in these areas. This mentoring should include how to love their husbands and children. Interestingly, this is something that should be taught, it doesn’t always come naturally. Again self-control is raised. They should be pure, faithful to their husbands. They should be homemakers, even if there is a need to work outside the home, the role of wife and mother should be prioritised. They should be kind, including hospitality and serving others. They should be submissive to their own husbands, this does not place women under all men, nor does it make her subservient to her husband, but a woman must respect the role God has given her husband as the leader of the home. The world keeps a keen eye on Christians and their families where we have the privilege and the responsibility of upholding God’s word and keeping it from being blasphemed. When our lives are inconsistent with our talk, then unbelievers discredit the word of God.

Paul has very little directly to say to the younger men except to emphasise self-control again. But they are included in some sense with everything that has come before with the use of the adverb “likewise”.

Paul gives focus to different characteristics in each group but that doesn’t permit any group to ignore the characteristics of the others. We are all expected to manifest the fruit of the spirit in our lives.

Which characteristic stood out to you? Did something concern you because it wasn’t highlighted for another group, why? Did you notice something in a group you don’t belong to that you recognise you need to work on anyway? Are you in a mentoring relationship with someone older teaching you, or are you teaching someone younger? Who can you ask or invite into a relationship like that?

The reason the church needs elders who can correct error with sound doctrine is that unfortunately there are many who seek to deceive believers with empty talk. Paul highlights the circumcision party which were Jews who professed to be believers but who insisted that Christians be circumcised and observe other aspects of the Jewish law. This, like many other Christian errors, seeks to add works to salvation and in effect denies the sufficiency of Christ’s death on the cross for our complete salvation. These people were upsetting whole families and were driven by selfish gain.

Paul quotes a Cretan writer, Epimenides (c. 600 BC) who wrote, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” While clearly a generalisation, he was summing up the characteristics of the people of his nation. Paul was certainly not saying that the believers were like this but the false teachers certainly fit this description. It is not clear who Paul expected Timothy to rebuke, the false teachers or the believers who were falling for their lies. He could be referring to the believers who may already be wavering and turning away from the truth. Alternatively, if the false teachers are rising up from within the church, then they were to be rebuked for turning away from the truth and teaching what is other.

Paul clarifies that for those who are pure (clean) all things are pure (clean) but for those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure (clean). This parallels Jesus’ teaching (Mark 7:1-23) and Peter’s experience (Acts 10:9-15; 11:1-18). Those who have been cleaned through belief in Jesus are not going to be able to make themselves more or less clean through what they eat. But those who are still in their sin, no matter what religious observances they may choose to follow, will never be clean because their minds and their consciences are defiled. It doesn’t help to be clean on the outside in strict religious acts if we are not clean on the inside, changed by the Holy Spirit because of our new birth in Christ. These false teachers professed to know God but their actions told a different story. While they promoted good works as the requirement for holiness, Paul exclaims that they are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for good work. C. S. Lewis said something that fits this quite nicely, “Of all bad men religious bad men are the worse.”

God wants us to do good works for Him (Eph 2:10) but he doesn’t want us to put the cart before the horse. The good works we do must flow from a change within. We cannot hope to please God by doing good works which we decide to do. Are you doing “good works” from the wrong motive? Are you not doing the good works that show that you know God? To avoid error, it’s always best to return to the truth of God’s word.

Paul explained that the reason he left Titus in Crete was to “put what remained into order”. The churches there were not healthy. They were vulnerable to false teaching and the first step to fixing that was to appoint godly elders to lead the churches in every city.

The biblical pattern for church leadership is for each local body of believers to be led by a group of godly men. Paul uses two words to describe the church leaders: elder and overseer (or bishop). There is no idea of one man over one church or one man over many churches but rather many men over one church.

The qualifications Paul lays out for elders are substantially the same as found in 1 Timothy 3. An elder must be a man who is above reproach or blameless. They must be a man of integrity. This is not an expectation of sinlessness but of general righteousness of behaviour. He should be a one-woman man in the sense that his marriage should be an example of purity to the church. His children should be faithful and not accused of debauchery or insubordination. An elder should set an example of godly leadership in his home before he is appointed to lead the church family. An elder is God’s steward. He is leading God’s congregation, not his own. Paul repeats the call that he be blameless.

Next are five characteristics that are not befitting an elder. He should not be arrogant or self-willed—he needs to be one who works with others of differing opinions. He should not be quick-tempered. He must not be a drunkard. There is no biblical prohibition against drinking, the issue is a lack of self-control. He must not be violent. He must not be driven by greed.

On the positive side, he should be hospitable with his home freely open to strangers. He must be a lover of what is good, not linked to what is shady, questionable, and wrong. He must be self-controlled which is the positive counter to character issues of a quick-temper, drunkenness, violence, and greed. He should be upright, his dealings with others should be just. He must be holy, his relationship with God must be right. He must be disciplined, another way of expressing that he must be in control of his actions and emotions.

Probably the most important qualification for an overseer of God’s church is that he must be faithful to God’s word. He must hold faithfully to the word he has been taught. With a sound biblical foundation and knowledge, he must instruct others towards godliness and rebuke and correct those who speak against the truth.

Paul says that anyone who desires to be an elder desires a noble task (1 Tim 3:1). If that is you, then this is the list of character traits you need to be working on in your life. If you do not desire the task of elder (or as a woman you are unable to fulfil this particular task), that doesn’t mean you are off the hook for these character qualities. If the elders who lead the church need to live like this as an example, then this is the list of character traits everyone needs to be working on in their lives. Which character trait will you ask the Holy Spirit to help you with today?

Titus was a Gentile convert to Christianity who had traveled and ministered with the Apostle Paul. After leaving Timothy in Ephesus, Paul and Titus traveled on to Crete. Paul then left Titus behind to establish leadership in the churches. His task was to appoint elders and lead them with an example of teaching sound doctrine and being a model of good works. Paul wrote this letter in about A.D 63 to instruct Titus about what he should do and teach in the Cretan churches. The theme of the letter is summed up in Tit 3:8, “those who have believed in God [should] be careful to devote themselves to good works.” Salvation is by grace through faith alone but the result should be a life devoted to good works (Eph 2:8-10).

Paul uses the customary letter opening of the day and introduces himself as the author and outlines his qualifications. He is first and foremost a servant of Jesus Christ and then an apostle by appointment. Despite his authority as an apostle, he had a servant’s heart. Paul sums up his mission to build up the church, God’s elected or chosen people, and build up their faith through increased knowledge of the truth with the objective of producing godliness in their lives. This truth is based on the sure hope in the future of eternal life which is based on the promise of God who promised it before creation and revealed it over time through the Scriptures and most fully through the message God gave Paul to preach. God had promised a Saviour right back in Genesis 3:15 and revealed his plan more fully through Moses and the Prophets. God created a people for Himself in the nation of Israel and then in the New Testament introduced the church, a people for Himself from all nations, which had remained a mystery throughout the Old Testament period. But God is not done with Israel. He still has very specific plans for that nation which will come to fruition at the time of Christ’s return. Paul indicates that faith and a life of godliness rest in our hope of eternal life. The Christian’s hope is not based on wishful thinking but on the certainty of God’s promise, yet it is something we still wait for.

Paul wrote this letter to Titus, with specific instructions to him that have wider application to the whole church across the ages. Paul calls Titus his true child which possibly means he had the privilege of introducing Titus to his Saviour, Jesus. He also mentions they share a common faith. Paul, a Jew, and Titus, an uncircumcised Gentile, share a common faith (Gal 3:28).

Paul extends grace and peace, a customary greeting in Paul’s letters. Grace is unmerited favour bestowed on us by our Father and allows us to have peace with Him. God as Father is not universal but unique to believers who are adopted into His family and given the right to be children of God. This was made possible through Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

How would you define your salvation? Is it something you hope in but without surety? Are you battling to have the confidence that you are right with God and looking to how you live to find evidence? Or is it something you hope in as Paul describes, a sure thing because of the promise of God?

Proverbs is a collection of wise sayings that are easily applied to everyday situations. Consider carefully which of the sayings you’ve read today are particularly applicable to you today and in the coming week. What do you need to change or do more of to make use of God’s wisdom in your life?