Titus 3

Titus 3:1

V. EXHORTATION IN THE CONGREGATION (3:1-11) 3:1 Titus was also to remind believers in the Cretan assemblies of their responsibilities toward their government. The Christian approach is that all governments are ordained of God (Rom_13:1). A regime might be very unchristian or even anti-christian, but any government is better than no government at all. The absence of government is anarchy, and people cannot survive for long under anarchy. Even if a ruler does not know God personally, he is still the anointed of the Lord in his official position, and should be respected as such. Christians should be obedient to rulers and authorities.

But if a government leaves its God-ordained sphere and commands a believer to disobey God, then the believer should refuse on the principle of Act_5:29 : We ought to obey God rather than men. If he is punished he should bear the punishment meekly as to the Lord. He should never join in rebellion against the government or seek its overthrow by violence.

EXCURSUS ON THE CHRISTIAN AND THIS WORLD Believers should obey the laws, including traffic laws, and pay their taxes and other levies. In general they should be law-abiding, respectful, obedient subjects. However, there are three areas in which Christians differ considerably as to their proper responsibility. These are the matters of voting, of seeking elected office, and of going to war with the armed forces. With regard to the first two, the following helpful guidelines are laid down in the Bible:

1. Christians are in the world but are not of it (Joh_17:14, Joh_17:16).
2. The whole world system is in the hands of the wicked one, and has been condemned by God (1Jo_5:19 b; 1Jo_2:17; Joh_12:31).
3. The Christian’s mission is not to improve the world, but to see men saved out of it.
4. While the believer is almost unavoidably a citizen of some earthly country, his primary citizenship is from heavenso much so that he is to look upon himself as a pilgrim and an alien down here (Phi_3:20; 1Pe_2:11).
5. No soldier on active duty should entangle himself with the affairs of this life, lest he displease the one who has enlisted him (2Ti_2:4).
6. The Lord Jesus said: My kingdom is not of this world (Joh_18:36). As His ambassadors, we should represent this truth to the world.
7. Politics tend to become corrupt by their very nature. Christians should separate themselves from iniquity (2Co_6:17-18).
8. In voting, a Christian would normally vote for a man thought to be upright and honest. But sometimes it is God’s will to exalt the lowest of men (Dan_4:17). How could we know and obey the will of God in such cases? The other question is whether a believer should go to war when ordered by his country. There are strong arguments on both sides, but it seems to me that the balance of evidence is against participating. The principles listed above bear on the problem, but there are additional ones. (1) Our Lord said, If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight (Joh_18:36). (2) He also said, All who take the sword will perish by the sword (Mat_26:52). (3) The whole idea of taking human life is opposed to the teaching of Him who said, Love your enemies (Mat_5:44). Those who are opposed to bearing arms can be grateful if they live in a country where they are allowed to register as conscientious objectors or non-combatants. On the other hand, many Christian men have served in combat with honor. They have noted that the NT presents centurions (e.g. Cornelius and Julius) in a very favorable light. Also, figures of speech from military life are used to illustrate the Christian warfare (e.g. Eph_6:10-17). If soldiering were inherently wrong it is hard to see how Paul could call on us to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Whichever view a person holds, he should not judge or condemn those who disagree. There is room for differing opinions. An additional obligation of the Christian disciple is that he be ready for every good work. Not all jobs are honorablemuch modern advertising is built on lies, and some businesses sell products that are harmful to man’s spiritual, mental, and physical health. In all good conscience, these occupations should be avoided.

3:2 A Christian should speak evil of no one. Elsewhere the Bible specifically forbids speaking evil of a ruler (Exo_22:28; Act_23:5)a command that all Christians should remember in the heat of a political campaign or in times of oppression and persecution. But here the injunction is broadened to protect everyone from ridicule, slander, insult, or verbal abuse. What oceans of grief and trouble could be avoided if Christians would obey this simple precept to speak evil of no one! We should be peaceable and avoid quarreling. It takes two to generate a dispute. When someone tried to pick a quarrel with Dr. Ironside over a matter of minor importance which he had preached on, he would reply, Well, dear brother, when we get to heaven, one of us is going to be wrong, and perhaps it will be me. That spirit put an end to all argument. We should be gentle. It is hard to think about this quality without thinking of the Lord Jesus. He was mild-mannered and kind, peaceful and conciliatory. And we should show all humility, or courtesy, to all men. It seems so proper that courtesy should be taught as one of the Christian virtues. Essentially it means humbly thinking of others, putting others first, and saying and doing the gracious thing. Courtesy serves others before self, jumps at opportunities to assist, and expresses prompt appreciation for kindnesses received. It is never crude, vulgar, or rude. 3:3 Once again, in the midst of a strongly ethical section the apostle introduces a doctrinal classic on our salvation, with emphasis on the goal of salvation being a life of good works. The flow of thought is: (1) Our condition before salvation, verse 3; (2) the nature of our salvation, verses 4-7; (3) the practical result of salvation, verse 8. God’s picture of us before our conversion is not flattering. Professing to know all the answers, we were actually foolish, unable to comprehend spiritual truths, and unwise in our choices and conduct. We were disobedient to God and perhaps to parents and other authorities as well. We were deceived by the devil and our own perverted judgment, always missing the right way and ending up on dead-end streets.

We were serving various unclean habits, enslaved by an evil thought-life and besetting sins of all kinds. Life was a constant round of bitter malice and envy toward others. Unlovable and selfish, we were miserable and made others miserable. Hateful and hating one another: What a sad commentary on life among quarreling neighbors, warring fellow employees, cut-throat business competitors, and feuding families! 3:4 The dismal picture of man’s depravity is interrupted by one of the great buts of Scripture. How thankful we can be for these nick-of-time conjunctions that signal God’s marvelous intervention to save man from destroying himself! Someone has called them God’s roadblocks on man’s way to hell. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared … This occurred when the Lord Jesus appeared to the world over nineteen hundred years ago. In another sense, God’s goodness and lovingkindness appeared to us when we were saved. It was a manifestation of these attributes that He would send His beloved Son to die for a world of rebellious sinners. The word used for love … toward men is the Greek word from which philanthropy comes; it combines the thoughts of love, graciousness, and compassion. The title God our Savior refers to God the Fatherour Savior in the sense that He sent His Son into the world as our Sacrifice for sin. The Lord Jesus is also called God our Savior (Tit_2:13) because He paid the necessary penalty in order that we might be pardoned and forgiven. 3:5 He saved us from the guilt and penalty of all our sinspast, present, and future. They were all future when the Savior died, and His death covered them all. But one of the simplest, clearest truths of the gospel is the most difficult for man to receive. It is that salvation is not based on good works; one doesn’t become a Christian by living a Christian life. It is not good people who go to heaven. The consistent testimony of the Bible is that man cannot earn or merit salvation (Eph_2:9; Rom_3:20; Rom_4:4-5; Rom_9:16; Rom_11:6 Gal_2:16; Gal_3:11).

Man cannot save himself by good works; all his righteous deeds are like polluted rags in God’s sight (Isa_64:6). He cannot become a Christian by living a Christian life for the simple reason that he has no power in himself to live a Christian life. It is not good people who go to heaven; it is sinners who have been saved by God’s grace! Good works do not earn salvation; they are the result of salvation. Wherever there is true salvation there will also be good works. So we read that God did not save us because of works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy. Salvation is a work of mercynot justice. Justice demands that the deserved punishment be administered; mercy provides a righteous way by which the punishment is averted. God saved us by the washing of regeneration. Conversion is really a new creation (2Co_5:17), and here that new creation is presented under the figure of a bath. It is the same figure used by the Lord Jesus when He taught the disciples that there is only one bath of regeneration but many necessary cleansings from defilement (Joh_13:10). That bath of regeneration has nothing to do with baptism. It is not a bodily cleansing by water, but a moral cleansing by the word of God (Joh_15:3). Baptism is not even a symbol of this bath; it rather depicts burial with Christ into death (Rom_6:4). Our new birth is also spoken of as a renewing of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God brings about a marvelous transformationnot putting new clothes on the old man, but putting a new man in the clothes! The Holy Spirit is the Agent in regeneration and the word of God is the instrument. 3:6 God poured out the Holy Spirit on us abundantly. Every believer is indwelt by the Spirit from the moment he is born again. The Spirit is sufficient to bring about the glorious renewal referred to. The Spirit is given through Jesus Christ our Savior. Just as the abundance of Pharaoh’s court was mediated to Jacob’s sons through Joseph, so the blessings of God, including the inexpressible blessing of His Spirit, are mediated to us through the Lord Jesus. Jesus is our Joseph.All three Persons of the Blessed Trinity are mentioned in connection with our salvation: God the Father, (v. 4); the Holy Spirit, (v. 5); and God the Son (v. 6). 3:7 The immediate result of our regeneration is that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, God reckons us righteous by an act of amazing grace. And we become heirs of all that God has prepared for those who love Him. Everything that is included in being with Christ and like Him for all eternity is our hope. 3:8 When Paul says This is a faithful saying are we to understand the preceding section, or the rest of the verse? The thrust of his argument seems to be that, having been saved from so much by such a great salvation, we should live in a manner worthy of our high calling. Titus was to insist on these things (discussed in vv. 1-7) in his ministry in Crete so that believers would be careful to maintain good works. Although the expression good works may mean honorable occupations, the wider meaninggood works in generalis probably the right one. Teaching which calls for behavior that is consistent with one’s Christian profession is excellent and profitable. All teaching should have a personal and practical application. 3:9 Of course, there are always traps to be avoided in the Christian ministry. In Paul’s day there were stupid disputes over clean and unclean foods, Sabbath regulations, and observance of holy days. Arguments arose over genealogies, both angelic and human. There was bickering over intricate regulations that had been superimposed on the law. Paul was disgusted with them as being unprofitable and useless. Servants of the Lord in our day may take Paul’s advice to heart by avoiding the following tangents: Pre-occupation with methods rather than with spiritual realities. For example, the ancient debates over whether to use fermented wine or grape juice, leavened or unleavened bread, a common cup or individual cupsas if these were important questions in the Bible! Quibbling over words. Majoring on one truth, or even one aspect of a truth, to the exclusion of all else. Allegorizing the Scriptures until they become absurd. Theological nit-picking that edifies no one. Wandering from the word into political by-paths and into Christian crusades against this and that. What a tragedy to spend precious time on these things while a world is perishing! 3:10 The man who majors on these minors is a divisive heretic. He usually has one note on his violin and plays it to death. Soon he gathers around himself a coterie of people with a negative outlook, and the rest he drives away. He will divide an assembly rather than abandon his doctrinal hobbyhorse. No church should put up with such nonsense. If after one or two warnings, he refuses to desist, he should be expelled from the fellowship of the local church and the Christians should refrain from having social contact with him. Hopefully, this ostracism will bring him to repentance and to a more balanced handling of the word of God. 3:11 Lest anyone think that such a person is not a serious threat to the church, the apostle castigates him as warped and sinning, being self-condemned. His behavior is a perversion rather than a version of Christianity. He is sinning by forming a sect or party. He is self-condemned because he stubbornly clings to his wickedness after being warned by responsible Christians.

Titus 3:12

VI. CONCLUSION (3:12-15) 3:12 The Epistle closes with a few short directives to Titus. Paul planned to send either Artemas, or Tychicus to relieve Titus in Crete. We have met Tychicus before (Act_20:4; Eph_6:21; Col_4:7), but Artemas we have not. It seems from 2Ti_4:12 that Tychicus was sent to Ephesus rather than to Crete, so Artemas was probably the replacement in Crete. As soon as he arrived, Titus was to go to Nicopolis, where Paul had determined to spend the winter. There were at least seven cities called Nicopolis in those days, but most commentators believe Titus chose the one in Epirus, in western Greece. 3:13 Titus was going to have visitorsZenas the lawyer and Apollos. Perhaps they were the ones who brought the Letter from Paul to Titus. There were two kinds of lawyers in those daysscribes, who expounded the religious law, and advocates, who handled matters of civil law. We are left to decide which fraternity Zenas belonged to. I cast my vote for the former, suspecting he may have been called in to help Titus quell the interminable squabbles over the Law of Moses (v. 9). If he was a civil lawyer, he was an honest one!

The only other Apollos of whom we read in the NT is the one mentioned in Act_18:24-28 and 1 Corinthians. Perhaps this is the same man. When Paul told Titus to send these two on their journey with haste, he included in his exhortation hospitality during their stay in Crete and everything necessary for their onward travel. 3:14 Titus was to teach the other Christians (our people) to show hospitality, to care for the sick and afflicted, and to be generous toward those who were in need. Instead of working merely to meet their own needs and wants, they should have the distinctly Christian vision of earning money in order to share with the less privileged (see Eph_4:28 b). This would save them from the misery of selfishness and the tragedy of a wasted, unfruitful life. 3:15 The closing greetings should not be thought of as trite and unimportant. In countries where Christians are few in number, despised, and persecuted, these kind words convey vast quantities of love, friendship, and encouragement. All who were with the apostle sent greetings to Titus, and Titus was asked to convey kind regards to all who loved Paul and his team in the faith. Finally, Paul closes the Letter on the theme that dominated his lifethe grace of the Lord. Grace be with you all. Amen.