Introduction To Titus

Like I said, I just want to really set the context of the letter before we jump in to our verse-by-verse study.

And the first thing we want to do is understand the characters of the letter.

Who's actually involved here as it relates to this letter to Titus?

So let's first talk about the author, whom we're told in verse 1 of chapter 1 is the Apostle Paul.

Paul wrote this letter, but there is some mystery around the time that he wrote it.

There has been some effort to try to take the pastoral epistles in particular and fit them within the timeline of the book of Acts that tells the story of the early church and focuses so much on Paul's ministry.

But the overwhelming evidence, not only biblically but extra-biblically, suggests that there were two imprisonments for Paul.

You'll remember that Acts 28, it ends with Paul in prison in Rome.

He had been in prison for four years.

When we study the book of Philippians, we see that Paul truly believed that he was going to be released from that imprisonment.

He didn't believe that he was going to die at that particular moment.

He was prepared to die, but he told the Philippians that he believed that the Lord was not going to make that the case, that he would be released from it.

When we understand that he wasn't actually in a dungeon in Rome at that particular point, whatever their version of a dungeon would be,

he was just on house arrest.

He had some freedom to move about and to do some things there in Rome.

It becomes clear that Paul ultimately ended up being released from that imprisonment.

And from there, he traveled.

It seems that he traveled on a few more missionary endeavors for maybe four, five, six years before he was incarcerated again under the reign of Nero.

And then in the process of that incarceration, he was actually legitimately imprisoned and ultimately beheaded for his faith and martyred.

It was during this time frame in between the two imprisonments that Paul and Titus at some point journeyed to Crete,

probably started a few churches there sometime in the mid-60s.

And Paul wrote this letter to follow up with his colleague.

And special consideration needs to be given to Paul's age and circumstance when we evaluate the content and the style of the letter.

Paul recognized that the apostolic age of the church was coming to an end.

And the pastor or epistles are written from the perspective of a man who knew his days were numbered.

The apostles' doctrine, as far as I mean apostles, as in all the apostles, what we have contained in the New Testament,

had already been thoroughly recorded in other books.

Titus, having traveled extensively with Paul in his ministry, didn't need an explanation of doctrine or of particular practices.

He already knew those things.

And Paul trusted Titus regarding those issues, which is why he left him in Crete to lead these churches and to help establish them.

This letter should be understood, really, as a summary challenge to a young companion

to which the baton of church leadership was about to be passed.

Donald Guthrie said,

Titus contains the natural and human expressions of the apostles' own reflections about the future of the work he is obliged to delegate to others.

Most of you know that my dad has pastored for over 40 years.

And beginning January 1st, he transitioned out of a role of lead pastor at Promised Land Baptist Church

and now is on staff as an assistant pastor at Laurel Baptist in Charlotte.

And in the process of the last three years, he didn't know he was going to end up at Laurel,

but he knew that his time, he could sense that his time as a lead pastor was coming to an end,

either through retirement or transitioning to a different form of vocational ministry.

And over the last three years, you know what he's done?

He's prepared his church for that moment.

He's preached through the pastoral epistles.

He's tried to disciple leaders in the church to be prepared to lead the church through a temporary absence of a pastor,

a lead pastor in the church.

He's tried to prepare them for his departure.

That's what Paul's doing here.

When he writes to Timothy and he writes to Titus,

he is writing from the perspective of a man that knows his days are numbered.

He knows that the ministry of the church and the care of the churches

are going to have to be passed on to the next generation of church leaders.

And what we see happening and unfolding in this letter is the final statements, in a sense,

of what he believes these young preachers and pastors must remember as they lead these churches forward.

This helps us understand the urgency of tone in this letter.

Much of Paul's counsel is written in the imperative mood,

which challenges anyone who would take a casual or passive approach to church doctrine and church practice.

Because there are many people who would say,

I don't care about doctrine.

That's boring.

Or who cares about the way the church is structured and the way that things are carried out in a church.

I just want to go and be a part of the things that are scheduled if it's convenient for me.

No, this letter, the urgency of this letter, challenges that type of spirit.

It challenges Christian passivity.

It challenges those who would demean doctrine and who would demean the necessity of helpful church practice and polity.

Just look at a few examples.

Look at verse 13 of chapter 1.

In regards to false teaching, Paul says,

Rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith.

There's urgency there.

Look at chapter 2 and verse 15.

At the end of this section on discipling, he says,

Titus, declare these things.

Exhort and rebuke with all authority.

Don't let anyone disregard you.

Chapter 3 and verse 8.

The saying is trustworthy and I want you to insist on these things.

So that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.

There's urgency in this letter.

Here, Titus, don't mess around.

Do these things.

Preach the word.

Be faithful.

Lead the churches.

There's urgency here.

Let's look at the recipients as well.

Of course, you know, Titus is the primary recipient.

And when you think about Paul's companions in the New Testament,

Titus might not be the one that immediately comes to your mind.

There isn't a single passage that carefully describes who Titus was.

But if you examine all the little mentions about him in the New Testament,

and you bring them all together,

what you'll discover is that Titus was an incredibly faithful Christian and pastor.

His relationship to Paul was very similar to Timothy's.

He was a young believer that was probably personally led to Christ and discipled by Paul.

You see that in verse 4 of chapter 1.

To Titus, my true child in a common faith.

It's the same thing he said about Timothy.

These are not merely colleagues.

There is a discipling relationship that has occurred here.

And though Titus isn't mentioned by name in Acts 15,

Galatians 2 tells us that he was a Greek Christian

who traveled with Paul and Barnabas to the Jerusalem council.

Do you remember that in Acts 15?

You remember there's the controversy in the church

where the Jewish converts were saying these Gentiles need to be circumcised.

They need to commit to certain Jewish things before they can really truly be saved.

And the apostles gathered together in Jerusalem to confront the heresy

and to set the record straight that no, salvation is by God's grace.

It's apart from all works that don't matter.

Galatians 2 says that Titus traveled with Paul and Barnabas there.

And not only was he present,

but he became their prime example of a Gentile believer

who was truly converted to the faith,

who had the Holy Spirit of God resting on his life,

and yet he was not circumcised.

And they essentially say, here's exhibit A.

Look at Titus, which made him uniquely qualified

to deal with the Jewish heresies that were existent on Crete.

It's a fantastic character in the Bible,

but it doesn't just end there.

Titus was an apostolic delegate from Paul.

He was sent by Paul to Corinth,

to Dalmatia, and of course, Crete.

You can read all about it in 2 Corinthians.

Titus was known for his faithfulness,

his dependability,

and his competence to assist churches

with mounting theological and moral issues.

And here's the bottom line about Titus.

The fact that most of his ministry was carried out in Corinth and Crete

shows that he was a strong, patient leader

who was especially skilled at strengthening struggling churches.

And I'll put that in context for you.

If there was a church that we are aware of in our area

that the pastor left or retired or resigned

or whatever the situation may be,

and there wasn't someone already prepared in place

to kind of step up into that role.

And I was familiar with the church.

And they said, will you help us find a pastor?

I might would call a few friends of mine

that might would be interested.

One of the questions my buddies are going to ask

is what is it that you know about the church?

What's the truth about the church?

What's the issues that are going on there?

And I may know of a few issues,

and I'll describe the issues to them.

Now, let's say that it's a church like Crete or a church like Corinth.

I say, well, there's some pretty severe sexual immorality going on.

They are spiritually arrogant people.

They care a lot about their own giftedness,

and they're not very servant-hearted.

They're not very loving toward one another.

They're faithful to the gospel, but they're not very loving.

You know, they've allowed some kind of heretical theology to come into.

It's going to be a bit of a fight, to be honest with you.

Most pastors run away from that.

That's enough for them to say, yeah, I don't want anything to do with that.

I don't have the energy for that.

Titus ran to that situation.

In fact, 2 Corinthians tells us not only does he run to it,

but his love for Christ's church was far greater than his fear of church hurt.

2 Corinthians 8, 16.

Thanks be to God, Paul writes, who put into the heart of Titus

the same earnest care I have for you.

For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest,

he is going to you of his own accord, knowing the issues in Corinth.

Paul says, Titus isn't going to you begrudgingly because I asked him to do it.

This is not a favor for me.

No, he loves you.

He wants to come to you.

He's not running away from your issues.

He wants to help you.

His love for Christ's church was far greater than his fear of church hurt,

which brings us to an important question as we just think about this person of Titus.

How does your love for Christ's church compare?

Because our tendencies is to be the opposite of Titus.

Whenever we experience issues or whenever we experience hurt

or things don't go exactly the way that we want them to go,

our first inclination is to find another place.

Or maybe we stop attending so regularly.

Or we stop giving regularly to the offering.

Or whatever it is.

We stop going to the classes or the groups or whatever it is.

We get offended by somebody or whatever happens.

Not Titus.

His love was so great that he ran to the problems,

knowing that it was going to be a struggle

and that he was going to have to deal with real people.

People ask all the time.

When I see them that don't belong to our church,

they ask, how's things going with the church?

And I love the question on one hand

because it encourages me that people care.

And I think the most helpful answer is

things are going really well

and we're also people

who have issues.

because we all are.

Titus didn't run away from that.

No, he loved the church.

That's the kind of person he was.

And Paul says,

he's my partner and fellow worker

and he's my true child in a common faith.

But this letter isn't just addressed to Titus.

It's also for churches.

Paul's letter was indeed personal.

That doesn't mean it was private.

In fact, it was never intended to be confidential.

It was addressed to Titus,

but the letter was copied

and was read to the churches in Creed

as necessary apostolic teaching

given by the Spirit of God.

Again, Donald Guthrie says,

in contrast with the other Pauline letters

which are addressed to churches,

all three pastoral epistles

are directed to individuals

and many of the injunctions

are clearly personal.

Yet much of the material

appears to be designed

for the communities

to which Timothy and Titus

were ministering.

Thus, they are generally thought

to be quasi-public epistles.

Here's why that matters.

The early church treated this letter to Titus

not as a unique keepsake

of Paul's personal correspondence.

Like you might go to the museums

in Washington, D.C.

and you might find a set

of personal correspondence

between some historical figures

of our nation.

That's not why the church

kept this letter.

Scribes very carefully,

meticulously,

from its delivery

began to copy it

and transmit it

and share it

with churches in their area

and eventually this letter

began to spread

to other places around the world

so that other Christians

could see not a writing from Paul

but so that other Christians

could see the Word of God.

The only reason for the church

to take that kind of care

in personal correspondence

is if they truly believed

that it was inspired Scripture.

Which means that Titus

was not simply for Titus.

It was for churches

given by God

for churches both then and now.

And that's reason enough

for us to take it seriously.

That's the characters.

Quickly, let's look at

the circumstances of the letter.

There's no indication

that Paul ever journeyed to Crete

in his missionary journeys in Acts

but according to verse 5

in chapter 1,

clearly he and Titus

had gone there at some point

and probably had established

a few churches.

It's also likely

that there were already

some other Christians there

based on some Cretans

being present in Jerusalem

on the day of Pentecost.

I think it's safe to assume

that some of them were converted

and went home

and began maybe some small churches.

So there's Christians there

at least at the point

that the letter was written.

The congregations,

as I said before,

were young church plants.

They were being tested

by heretical theology

and they were being tempted

by an immoral Cretian culture.

Paul eventually moved on from Crete

but he leaves Titus behind.

That's the circumstances here.

And he leaves him behind

with a particular task.

Here's Titus' task.

He was to set things in order,

verse 5,

he's to set things in order

so that the gospel of Jesus

would be proclaimed,

the apostles' doctrine

would be preserved,

saved,

and fruitful Christians

would reflect the kingdom of God

to which they belonged.

And the letter is a follow-up

to Titus

to challenge him

and encourage him

in the work

that he was left there to do.

The circumstances on Crete

were no different than our own.

We too are constantly embattled

with heretical theology.

Maybe,

perhaps even more so today

where information moves so fast

and you can get on YouTube

and find people

with millions of views

on a YouTube video

and you really have no idea

where they came from

and very quickly

you can get sucked

into a heretical theology.

We're inundated with that.

They seem to be friendly

to our cause

but when we really dig down

they're not full of good works,

God-glorifying works,

but evil works.

Just like the churches on Crete,

we need to be diligent

to set up structures

that will help us continue

to proclaim the gospel,

preserve sound doctrine,

and produce faithful disciples.

It's the circumstance.

Let's quickly overview the contents

and then we'll pray.

Here's the theme.

The theme of Titus

is the inseparable link

between faith and practice,

between belief and behavior.

And this truth is based,

according to the ESV Study Bible,

this truth is the basis

for its critique of false teaching

as well as its instruction

in Christian living

and qualifications for church leaders.

The structures in Titus

aren't the goal.

The structures in Titus

are the means

to accomplish the goal,

which is gospel fidelity

and good works

and good works

that glorify the Lord.

And the bottom line in Titus

is that belief affects behavior.

Doctrine produces devotion.

And the primary assertion in Titus

is that the Christian gospel

is the only foundation

for consistent

and lasting devotion

to God's glory.

Now that doesn't mean

that non-believers

aren't concerned

with behaviors

that we would categorize

as good works,

but it does mean

that the inevitable result

of genuine faith in Christ

is a life

that is marked

by consistent good works,

by sanctification

that does not lead us

towards worldliness,

but leads us away

from worldliness.

That's the point of the letter.

The Cretans were facing ideologies

that in some sense

looked like love for God,

but ultimately

did not produce godly works.

And the responsibility

of church leaders

is to confront such heresies,

proclaim the true gospel

that produces godly behavior

through the work

of the Holy Spirit.

Let's look at how this is represented

in the book itself.

Look at verse 1 of chapter 1.

Paul, a servant of God

and an apostle of Jesus Christ,

for the sake of the faith

of God's elect

and their knowledge

of the truth,

which accords with godliness.

In other words,

faith in Christ

and knowledge of sound doctrine

produces godliness.

When you come to Christ,

when you immerse yourself

in the sound doctrine

of the Bible,

the inevitable result

will be godliness.

We see it from

the very first verse.

Not only that,

we see that evil works

demonstrate one's alienation

from God.

Chapter 1, verse 16.

Look at that with me.

They profess to know God,

but they deny Him

by their works.

In other words,

our behavior exposes

the true nature

of our beliefs.

And one of the things

that comes through

strongly in this letter

is that if you claim

to know and follow God,

but you have no interest

in living in obedience

to God,

you're not interested

in the six things

that we've covered earlier

that are all rooted

in the Scriptures.

You don't really have

a lot of interest

in doing those things,

but you want to say

that you belong to God.

My friend,

you're not a Christian.

You're not a Christian.

Because faith in Christ

and sound doctrine

from the Bible

will inevitably produce

good works

through the work

of the Spirit.

That's the urgency

of Paul's writing.

Don't let the heresy

seep in

because the heresies

won't produce godliness

which shows

that you've lost

the gospel.

And if you've lost

the gospel,

then what's the point?

He says,

sound doctrine

confronts cultural norms.

Look at verse 12 and 13

in verse 1

in chapter 1.

We read it a while ago.

One of the Cretans,

a prophet of their own,

said Cretans

are always liars,

evil beasts,

lazy gluttons,

and this testimony

is true.

Now look at chapter 2.

We won't read

all of the first 10 verses.

We'll just pick

some parts around.

Teach what accords

with sound doctrine,

verse 1,

because older men

are to be sober-minded

and dignified

and so on.

Then the older women,

likewise,

verse 3,

are to be reverent

in behavior

and so on.

They're to train

younger women

to love their husbands

and so on.

Self-controlled,

pure,

working at home.

Younger men

are to be self-controlled,

so on and so forth

as it goes.

There's a stark contrast

here that Paul is painting.

Here is how the world lives.

Here is the fruit

of Christ's work

in a believer's life.

Let me give you

some examples.

This isn't very different

than our own day.

Our culture says

that the idea

of male headship

in the home

and wives primarily

as homemakers

is oppressive,

demeaning,

and abusive.

The Bible says

right here

in verses 3 and 4,

older women

are to so train

the young women

to love their husbands

and children,

to be self-controlled

and pure,

working at home,

kind,

submissive

to their own husbands

that the word of God

may not be reviled.

What's the point here?

It doesn't matter

what the cultural ideal says.

Christianity

will always stick out

in the crowd.

It will always look different.

And we'll get there

in a few weeks.

Paul's point is not

that women can't work

outside the home.

His point is that

according to the scriptures

and God's design,

their primary role,

their primary concern

is to care for their homes

and to care for their children.

Well, that flies in the face

of cultural ideologies today.

And at some point,

we're gonna have to come

against this truth

and we're gonna have to consider,

am I gonna go along

with what I feel like

is best in the cultural ideologies

or am I gonna come

to the scriptures

and I'm gonna be obedient

to what the Lord says

produces good works

through the work

of the Holy Spirit

in my life?

You say,

well, I thought Titus

was gonna be an easy book.

It might not be that easy for us.

How about another one?

Have you ever heard

of quiet quitting?

It's a buzzword today.

Essentially,

quiet quitting

is an employee

of a business

who only does

the bare minimum

necessary

to maintain their job.

they refuse

to actually go

above and beyond

anything that they've asked

to do.

We're told this culture

says that this type

of behavior

is encouraged,

it's probably good

for your mental health

and this degradation

of any kind

of power structures

in our culture

says that your boss

doesn't deserve

for your hardest work,

so just do whatever

you gotta do

to get a paycheck

and move on.

What does the Bible say?

Look at chapter 2

and verse 9.

Bondservants,

this is really

slaves and masters.

I think it applies

to our work.

Bondservants are to be

submissive to their

own masters

in everything.

They're to be

well-pleasing,

not argumentative,

not pilfering.

That means thieves.

They're not to steal

from their business.

They're not to steal

time from their business,

but showing all good faith

so that in everything

they may adorn

the doctrine of God

our Savior.

And here's the point.

The issues mentioned

in Titus

are not merely

behavioral qualities.

They're characteristics

of Christ's kingdom people.

They confront

what is acceptable

in cultural ideas

because they mark

the lives of individuals

who ultimately

do not serve

the kingdom of this world.

And if you belong

to Christ,

you are a stranger here.

You are not serving

this world.

You are serving

His kingdom

and your life

is to reflect

that kingdom.

And Paul says

when the gospel is there

and self-doctrine is there

and the core values

are there,

whatever it is,

the things that are

biblically based,

when those things are there,

this is the kind of life

that it produces

and it's going to fly

in the face of culture

and the culture

is going to hate you

for it.

we also see that good works

proceed from salvation.

They do not produce salvation.

Chapter 3, verse 3.

For we ourselves

were once foolish,

disobedient,

led astray,

slaves to various passions

and pleasures,

passing our days

in malice and envy

and hated by others

and hating one another.

But when the goodness

and loving kindness

of our God

and Savior appeared,

He saved us

not because of works

done by us

in righteousness,

but according

to His own mercy.

So, lest you get

the wrong idea,

these works

that Paul is talking about

do not produce salvation.

They flow from a person

who has actually come

and received the grace

and mercy of Christ.

The gospel produces

humility and patience

toward non-believers.

That's chapter 3,

verses 1 through 3.

We see gospel fidelity

and good works

require discipline

and intentionality.

That's chapter 3,

8 and 9,

and verse 14.

Look at verse 14

of chapter 3.

Let our people learn

to devote themselves

to good works.

That means it doesn't,

it's not always

going to come naturally.

You've got to care about it.

You've got to keep it

in front of you.

You've got to pursue it

in your life.

And the focal point

of all of this

as we read a few moments ago

in chapter 2

is that Jesus' purpose

in coming

was to redeem us

from sin

and make us eager

for good works

by making us

His own people.

That's the point.

Jesus didn't come

to make us

free to sin.

He came to make us

free from sin.

He's redeeming

a people

for His own possession.

He's making them

His kingdom people

and He's shaping them

to look like Him

in this world.

And they'll stand

in stark contrast

to the world

when they're focused

on the true gospel

and the sound doctrine

of the Bible.

That's Titus

in a nutshell.

But what about

the structures?

There's three structures

that Paul says

if this is going

to be preserved.

Gospel fidelity

that leads to good works

through the Holy Spirit.

If this is going

to be preserved

in these churches

you need three structures

in place.

One,

faithful and qualified leaders.

That's chapter 1.

You need a plurality

of leaders,

elders and deacons

that are qualified,

that will serve the church

and preserve these things

to make sure the church

is heading in the right direction.

He also says

you need intentional discipling.

Did you notice

in those ten verses

in chapter 2

the older men

teaching the younger men,

the older women

teaching the younger women.

That may not necessarily

relate to age

in every circumstance.

It may just be related

to spiritual maturity

in some circumstances.

But the path forward

is intentional discipling

with one another.

That's a structure here.

And then the third one

is swift confrontation

of error.

We see it in chapter 1,

we see it again

in chapter 3.

Deal with error.

Don't let it fester.

Deal with it, Paul says.

Let's wrap it up.

The process of writing

this letter,

Paul ends up giving us

a portrait

of a healthy church.

In Titus,

a healthy,

God-honoring church

includes

foundational gospel doctrine,

faithful church leaders,

functional Christian discipling,

felicitous handling of error.

I needed an F.

It means proper,

but I needed an F.

So,

felicitous handling of error

and fruitful Christian living.

In Titus,

this is what a healthy church

looks like.

Not a perfect church.

No church is perfect.

Not until we get to heaven.

This is a healthy church.

One that glorifies God

in this world.

It looks like this.

You know what this

reminds me of?

This reminds me a lot

of gospel focus

and Bible teaching

and gathered worship

and discipling culture

and kingdom mission

and pursuing holiness.

As we study this letter together,

I want to ask you

to do something with me.

Will you resolve

with me

to maintain

gospel fidelity

and devote yourselves

to good works?

Works that glorify the Lord.

Will you join me

in ensuring

that our church

structures itself

in such a way

to help us

proclaim the gospel,

preserve sound doctrine,

and produce

faithful disciples?

And perhaps

we can borrow again

from Edwards'

preface in this.

Being sensible

that we are

unable

to do anything

without God's help,

we do humbly

and treat him

by his grace

to enable us

to keep

these resolutions

so far as they

are agreeable

to his will

for Christ's sake.

That's what we can

look forward to

in the coming months

as we study Titus.

Titus.