Titus 3

1. Put them in mind, etc. “For the Cretans, inclined as a people to rebellion, such an exhortation was necessary, especially at a time when those of Jewish proclivities were showing a disposition to resist the authority of the heathen magistrates” (Lange).

to obey magistrates. See Rom. xiii. 1–5, and notes.

4. But after that. Rather, “But when.”

5 works of righteousness, etc. Rather, “works done in righteousness, which we ourselves did” (see being emphatic).

the washing of regeneration. Rather, “layer of regeneration”: see note on Eph. v. 26. If there is here any allusion at all to baptism, it is as the emblem of spiritual cleansing (see Acts xxii. 16, and 1 Pet. iii. 21): for the apostle immediately names the believer’s renewal by the Holy Spirit as the thing he intends.

6 which. Namely, the Holy Spirit. In this passage (4–6), the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit appear in their distinct offices in the great work of man’s salvation.

7 justified by His grace. God “shed on us” the Holy Spirit, in order to produce in us the faith through which we are justified.

8 [This is] a faithful saying. See on 1 Tim. i. 15. The phrase is most naturally understood in reference to the preceding verses, although in general the “faithful saying” designates what follows.

9 avoid foolish questions. See note on 1 Tim. i. 4.

10 heretic. Properly, “A heretical (or schismatical) man”; i.e., one who makes a division or party in the church for the sake of some notions or aims of his own (cp. Gal. iv. 17). Such a man, if found incorrigible after repeated admonition, was to be shunned as unfit for fellowship: and he would be self-condemned, as having rejected the admonition of the church, and still persisting in the course condemned (11).

12. Nicopolis. Many cities bore this name, “City of Victory”; but it is generally supposed that the one here meant was that in Epirus.

13. Bring. Or, “Set forward” (R.V.), by providing for the journey, and accompanying the travellers part of the way. Zenas may have been either a Roman or a Jewish “lawyer.”

14 ours. Our brethren in Christ: cp. Rom. xii. 13. good works for necessary uses. Rather, “honest occupations for the supply of the necessary wants.”

[It was written to Titus, etc.] See Introduction to this Epistle.

THIS brief letter is noteworthy because of its bearing on the question of slavery. Onesimus was a slave who had run away from his master Philemon. St. Paul (A.D. 62) addresses the master as a brother Christian both of Philemon and of his slave Onesimus (ver. 16; cp. Col. iv. 7–9). With tactful wisdom he expresses his thankfulness to God for the love and faith shown by Philemon not only to the Lord Jesus but to all His followers (vers. 4, 5, 7), and prays that his faith may become effective in practical kindness (ver. 6). After this introduction he comes to the special object of his letter, an earnest appeal on behalf of the slave (vers. 8–12). So much did Paul value Onesimus that he would like to have kept him as his helper in the Gospel (ver. 13). But to do this would have been to break the Roman law, and he recognises that he would require the consent of the master, Philemon (ver. 14). He therefore contents himself with beseeching Philemon to receive him back, but this time not as a slave but as a brother, as if, indeed, he were so receiving Paul himself (vers. 15–19), and states his confidence that Philemon will do this, and even more (ver. 21).

Here, surely, is the germ that will one day make an end of slavery. As Bishop Lightfoot says (Colossians and Philemon, p. 323), “the word ‘emancipation’ seems to be trembling on his lips, and yet he does not once utter it. When we realise how firmly slavery was entrenched not only in the Roman Empire but throughout the whole world at that time, we can understand the reason for this. It was gradually that the overthrow of slavery was to be accomplished—by implanting a new spirit in the hearts of men, the spirit of Christ and of brotherhood. The whole subject is very fully dealt with by Storrs in his Divine Origin of Christianity, and is admirably summed up by Archbishop Alexander in his Introduction to Philemon in the Speaker’s Commentary.

I a prisoner. A designation repeated in ver. 9, and adapted to excite Philemon’s sympathy, and so to dispose him to comply with Paul’s request.

2. Appia. Or, “Appia”; probably Philemon’s wife. Archippus, who was most likely their son, was a minister in the church at Colosse (Col. iv. 17), and seems to have been a fellow-sufferer with Paul and Timothy: cp. Phil. ii. 25.

5 which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, etc. Faith directed “towards” Christ, and evinced “to” the saints by “love” (6, 7). “Love to saints, as saints, is love to Christ Himself personally, because it is love to whatever of Christ is manifest in them” (Dr. A. H. Drysdale in Devotional Commentary).

6 that the communication of thy faith, etc. “That their participation in your faith may result in others fully recognising all the right affection that is in us toward Christ” (Weymouth). This result of faith, the practical knowledge of “every good thing” bestowed by God, would manifest itself in deeds of love.

7 the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. Their hearts (cp. 2 Cor. vi. 12) have been comforted by thy kind ministrations. The appellation “brother” forms a touching and persuasive close to the sentence.

8. Wherefore. Because I know thy Christian love.

11 unprofitable. “Unprofitable” and “profitable,” are in the Greek a play upon the words ἀχρηστον and εὐχρηστον, “useless” and “useful”; and the latter in turn has the same meaning as Onesimus, “profitable,” “serviceable.”

12 whom I have sent again. Whom I am sending back to thee with this letter.

16 a servant. Rather, “a bondman.” His conversion had put him into a new relation to his master in earthly things (“the flesh”), as well as in religion (“the Lord”). On the principle of the law in Deut. xv. 12, this would imply a claim to his manumission.

a brother beloved. Here is the ideal that in the end shatters the chains of slavery.

17 a partner. One in Christian fellowship with thee.

18 if he hath wronged thee. By running away from his service.

19 thou owest unto me even thine own self besides. As my convert thou owest me more than thy property, thy very self.

20 let me have joy. Rather, “let me have profit”: see note on ver. 11.

21. I wrote. That is, I have written what precedes.

that thou wilt also do more than I say. Hinting, probably, at Philemon giving Onesimus his freedom. “The apostle purposely refrains from being more specific, so as to admit of Philemon putting the largest construction on the marks of brotherhood and goodwill to be conferred upon Onesimus” (Drysdale). “So it came to pass that in this simple commonplace act of restoring a servant to his master, St. Paul was helping to lay the foundations of a new society, and was bespeaking those better relations between employer and employed which are even now slowly tending to solve some of the most pressing problems of our age” (Bishop Drury: The Prison-Ministry of St. Paul).

22 your prayers. The prayers of Philemon and his connexions.

23 saluteth thee. The persons here mentioned are the same as those named in the salutations to the Colossians (Col. iv. 10-14) with the exception of Justus, who is omitted here.

FOUR great topics are dealt with in this Epistle.

1. The perfect deity and the perfect humanity of our Lord.—He is the Creator of all things (i. 2, cp. John i. 3), the upholder of all things (i. 3), the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of His person (i. 3), the object of worship (i. 6) and the exalted King (i. 8, 13; ii. 8). And with that perfect deity He unites perfect manhood. He became partaker of flesh and blood (ii. 14). He was tempted in all points like as we are (iv. 15). He learned obedience by the things which He suffered (v. 8).

It was in virtue of this union of the divine and human that Jesus became a perfect Saviour. It was in His human nature that He suffered and endured the agony of Gethsemane and the cross, and thus became a perfect captain of our salvation (i. 10, 14; v. 9). In His human nature He was tempted, and thus able to help us in our temptations (ii. 18; iv. 15). But if He had been merely man, He could not have offered the perfect sacrifice for sins. He must be One who is able to save to the uttermost (vii. 25-28). “He is able,” says Dr. T. R. Glover, “is the refrain of the Epistle,” referring to ii. 18; iv. 14; v. 2; vii. 25; v. 9; and x. 19.