Titus 1.1-2-Paul's Salutation-His Position and Purpose in Life
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday December 15, 2013
Titus: Titus 1:1-2-Paul’s Salutation-Paul’s Position and Purpose in Life
Lesson # 2
Please turn in your Bibles to Titus 1:1.
Titus 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness. (NASB95)
“Paul” is the the proper name Paulos (Παῦλος), which means, “little.”
The apostle employs this name when writing to Titus rather than Saul since Titus was a Gentile and not a Jew and Saul was his Jewish name he used among the Jews whereas Paulos was his name among the Gentiles.
He uses this name since the Lord Jesus Christ authorized him to be the apostle to the Gentiles and Titus was a Gentile who was Paul’s delegate to the church in Crete which was primarily Gentile (See Acts 9:15; 22:21; Romans 11:13; 15:16; Galatians 1:15-16; 2:2, 7-9).
“A bond-servant of God” is an acknowledgment that the Father purchased Paul out of the slave market of sin with His Son’s substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross and transferred him into God’s family and kingdom.
“And an apostle of Jesus Christ” expresses the fact that Paul’s spiritual gift bestowed upon him maximum authority over the church.
“For the faith of those chosen of God” indicates that Paul was God’s slave and Jesus Christ’s apostle for the purpose of producing faith or bringing about faith in God’s chosen ones, i.e. the body of Christ.
It does not refer to saving faith or faith in Jesus Christ in relation to justification and receiving eternal salvation.
But rather the Christian’s faith in the Word of God after their conversion since in context Paul says that this faith is in relation to the chosen of God, which is a reference to Christians.
“The chosen ones” refers to Christians and describes them as having been called or chosen out in eternity past by God the Father from the earth’s inhabitants who are enslaved to the sin nature and the devil and his cosmic system.
“And the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness” presents the result of the Christian’s post-conversion faith in the Word of God.
“Knowledge” refers to an “experiential knowledge” of the Word of Truth, which is the mind of Christ in the sense of personally encountering through the process of fellowship the mind of Christ as it is revealed by the Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture and prayer.
This personal encounter results in the Christian being affected by this encounter with the mind of Christ, which results in the gaining of practical spiritual wisdom and more of the character of Christ.
“Truth” refers to the apostolic teaching or the body of doctrine which constitutes the Christian faith.
“Godliness” refers to an attitude and resultant conduct that honors God and is an act of worshipping Him.
This attitude and resultant conduct honors God and is an act of worship because it is produced by the power of the Holy Spirit and is based upon an accurate knowledge of His character, will, and ways.
It is based upon faith in His Word resulting in obedience to His commands and prohibitions by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Titus 1:1 From Paul, God’s servant indeed an apostle of Jesus, who is the Christ for the purpose of producing faith in God’s chosen out ones resulting in an experiential knowledge of the truth, which is for the purpose of producing godliness. (My translation)
Paul begins this epistle to Titus by providing two descriptions of himself.
The first is that he was a slave of God the Father.
Paul was “not” a slave of God who was forced to serve God but rather he was a “willing slave” since he was not compelled to serve the Lord against his will but rather he chose to serve God out of love for God.
Notice, Paul first mentions he is a slave of God before he mentions he is an apostle of Jesus Christ, which teaches spiritual leaders in the church in the twenty-first century that they have been given authority to serve.
After describing himself as a slave of the Father, Paul advances upon this by saying he was Jesus Christ’s apostle.
Paul identifies himself to Titus as an apostle of Jesus Christ even though Titus respected his authority since he is also writing to the church at Crete.
The contents of Paul’s epistle to Titus make clear that within this church there were many of whom had rejected Paul’s teaching and authority as evidenced by those who were propagating false teaching which he addresses in this letter (Titus 1:10-16).
Paul is writing this letter to give Titus apostolic authorization to refute and rebuke and discipline the false teachers in Crete.
He makes clear that the instruction in this letter falls under the category of apostolic authority, which would indicate that the Cretan church and those teaching false doctrine in this church were accountable to Paul and Titus’ authority delegated to him by the apostle.
At the same time, this would give Titus encouragement to be bold to mete out discipline to the false teachers in this church and those who were adhering to their teaching.
Thus, Paul is asserting his apostolic authority in this letter not only for Titus’ sake but for the sake of those who heard this epistle read in the public assembly.
Here in Titus 1:1, we have Paul’s mission in life and is also describing the process of building Christ-like character in the church.
Titus 1:2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago. (NASB95)
“The hope” is the noun elpis which means “confident expectation” of eternal life, which refers to rewards that the faithful believer will receive from the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church.
“Eternal life” is referring to rewards, which the Christian will receive from the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat as a result of executing the Father’s will, which is accomplished by growing up to spiritual maturity, which itself is accomplished by living a godly life.
“In the hope of eternal life” presents the result of the Christian exemplifying godliness, which is rewards at the Bema Seat for growing up to spiritual maturity.
Titus 1:2 resulting in the confident expectation of eternal life, which the truthful God promised before eternal ages. (My translation)
Titus 1:2 presents the result of the Christian exemplifying godliness as a result of having an experiential knowledge of the truth.
Paul teaches Titus that the Christian will have a confident expectation of eternal life as a result of exemplifying godliness.
There is a progression in Paul’s thought in Titus 1:1-2.
In verse 1, he told Titus that he was God’s slave indeed Jesus Christ’s apostle for the purpose of producing faith in God’s chosen out ones, which is a reference to the church.
Paul is saying that he serves God by exercising His apostleship, which is accomplished by communicating the gospel to not only the unsaved but the church as indicated by the phrase the “chosen out ones.”
Paul then presents the result of the Christian exercising faith in his teaching of the gospel, which is that they receive an experiential knowledge of the truth.
Then, he gives the purpose of this experiential knowledge, which is godliness.
Now, here in verse 2, Paul is saying that this faith in the teaching of the Word of God, which results in an experiential knowledge of the truth and is for the purpose of producing godliness in the Christian results in a confident expectation of eternal life, which is a reference to rewards.
That “eternal life” in Titus 1:2 is a reference to rewards is not without precedent in the Scriptures since in Matthew 19:27-30 the Lord Jesus Christ used eternal life when speaking of rewards for faithful, sacrificial service to Him.
Notice, in this passage, the Lord is speaking to those who are already believers and was seeking to encourage them for leaving behind everything to follow Him.
Furthermore, the noun zōē, “life” is used in relation to rewards at the Bema Seat in several passages (James 1:12; Revelation 2:7, 10).
Titus 1:2 ends with the statement that this promise of eternal life in the form of rewards for faithful service took place in eternity past before human and angelic history, which Paul describes as being eternal implying that human beings and angels will continue to exist forever whether in the lake of fire or with God.
This implies that the promise of eternal life resided in the character and nature of the triune God, and in particular in God’s attribute of love.
This promise of rewards for exemplifying godliness in Titus 1:2 would serve to encourage Titus to faithfully continue following Paul’s example of executing God’s plan for his life since it will culminate in rewards if he remains faithful in exercising faith in Paul’s apostolic teaching.
This promise would also serve to motivate the Christians in Crete who would hear this letter read and would make copies of it.
Ultimately it would serve as a motivation for Christians throughout the church age to walk by faith in the Word of God and not by sight. I
Interestingly, another reason why Paul would mention to Titus that God does not lie is that lying was a way of life for the Cretans as mentioned by Paul in Titus 1:12.
Therefore, Paul is saying that in contrast to the Cretans themselves, God never lies.
