Titus 1.3-4-Paul's Salutation-His Stewardship and Spirit Inspired Desire for Titus and Cretan Church
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday December 29, 2013
Titus: Titus 1:3-4-Paul’s Salutation-His Stewardship and Spirit Inspired Desire for Titus and Cretan Church
Lesson # 3
Please turn in your Bibles to Titus 1:1.
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 2 resulting in the confident expectation of eternal life, which the truthful God promised before eternal ages. (My translation)
Titus 1:3 but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior. (NASB95)
“But at the proper time manifested” presents a contrast between God’s promise of eternal life in eternity past and God manifesting this message of the promise of eternal life in the first century A.D. and which message God entrusted Paul with.
“His Word” refers to the gospel message to the saved and unsaved.
“Proclamation” refers to the proclamation of the gospel, which promises eternal life to the non-saved in the form of eternal salvation and also it refers to the proclamation of the gospel, which promises eternal life to the church in the form of rewards for faithful service.
“According to the commandment of God our Savior” is referring to the authoritative decree of God the Father in eternity past that Paul would proclaim the gospel and which decree was manifested at Paul’s conversion.
Paul was entrusted with the proclamation of the gospel message because of or on the basis of the Father’s decree.
Titus 1:3 However, He has manifested His message at His own appointed time through the proclamation which I myself was entrusted with because of the decree originating from God the Father, our Savior. (My translation)
Paul is also acknowledging here in Titus 1:3 that he possesses a stewardship with regards to the gospel which was given to him by the Father.
He mentions this stewardship in other places in his writings (1 Corinthians 9;17; Galatians 2:7; 1 Thessalonians 2:4; 1 Timothy 1:11).
The stewardship of truth is in view here in Titus 1:3.
As was the case in 1 Timothy 1:1, 2:3, 4:10, here in Titus 1:3, the apostle Paul identifies the Father as Savior, which emphasizes that He is the member of the Trinity who initiated salvation and is its source.
By identifying the Father as “our Savior” he is reminding Titus and the Cretan church that salvation is a present experience and not something that took place only in the past at their conversion.
Therefore, in Titus 1:3, the apostle Paul makes clear how critical proclaiming the gospel is for both the saved and the unsaved.
It is critical for the unsaved since it communicates the good news that they can receive the gift of eternal life by trusting in Jesus Christ as their Savior whose substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross resolved their problem of personal sin and the sin nature.
The unsaved can experience deliverance from sin, Satan, his cosmic system and eternal condemnation by responding in faith to the gospel message regarding Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.
The proclamation of the gospel is critical for the Christian since it communicates good news to the Christian and tells them that they will receive rewards for faithful service.
The Christian can experience their deliverance from sin, Satan and his cosmic system by responding to the gospel by appropriating by faith their position in Christ.
Titus 1:4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. (NASB95)
The name Titus means, “honorable” and he is identified as the recipient of this epistle but this epistle would have been read in the house churches in Crete.
Copies also would have been made and read by Christians throughout Crete.
“My true child” indicates that Paul was responsible for Titus’ conversion expressing spiritual paternity but also emphasizes that Paul trained Titus spiritually.
“In a common faith” indicates that Titus became Paul’s legitimate spiritual child because of his faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior or “on the basis of” faith in Jesus Christ.
“Grace” refers to the Holy Spirit speaking through the communication of the Word of God to the believer’s human spirit regarding the will of the Father which is the means by which grace is received by the believer.
“Peace” refers to the peace of God that is produced by the Spirit in and among Titus and the members of the Cretan church as a result of appropriating by faith the grace of God.
“From God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior” expresses the fact that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are the source of this grace and peace that are expressed through the instructions in this epistle and appropriated by faith in these instructions resulting in obedience.
Titus 1:4 To Titus, a legitimate spiritual child on the basis of a mutual faith: Grace resulting in peace from God the Father as well as the Christ who is Jesus, who is our Savior. (My translation)
Paul identifies the recipient of this epistle, which is Titus who was a trusted companion of the apostle Paul who had been left as superintendent of the churches on the island of Crete.
Like the first epistle to Timothy, this letter had as its purpose to give the young pastor instructions to aid him in his work.
Paul first mentions Titus in Galatians 2:1-3 who as an uncircumcised Gentile accompanied Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem as a living example of a great theological truth: Gentiles do not need to be circumcised in order to be saved.
Titus next appears in connection with Paul's mission to Corinth.
While Paul was in Ephesus during his third missionary journey, he received disturbing news from the church at Corinth.
After writing two letters and paying one visit to Corinth, Paul sent Titus to Corinth with a third letter (2 Corinthians 7:6-9) and when Titus failed to return with news of the situation, Paul left Ephesus and, with a troubled spirit (2 Corinthians 7:5), traveled north to Troas (2 Corinthians 2:12-13).
Finally, in Macedonia, Titus met the anxious apostle with the good news that the church at Corinth had repented.
In relief and joy, Paul wrote yet another letter to Corinth (2 Corinthians), perhaps from Philippi, sending it again through Titus (2 Corinthians 7:5-16).
In addition, Titus was given responsibility for completing the collection for the poor of Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:6, 16-24; 12:18).
Titus appears in another important role on the island of Crete (Titus 1:4).
Beset by a rise in false teaching and declining morality, Titus was told by Paul to strengthen the churches by teaching sound doctrine and good works, and by appointing elders in every city (Titus 1:5).
Paul then urged Titus to join him in Nicopolis (on the west coast of Greece) for winter (Titus 3:12).
Not surprisingly, Titus was remembered in church tradition as the first pastor of Crete.
A final reference to Titus comes from 2 Timothy 4:10, where Paul remarks in passing that Titus has departed for mission work in Dalmatia (modern Yugoslavia).
Titus was a man for the tough tasks and according to Paul, he was dependable (2 Cor 8:17), reliable (2 Cor 7:6), and diligent (2 Cor 8:17); and he had a great capacity for human affection (2 Cor 7:13-15).
Titus possessed both strength, tact, and calmed a desperate situation on more than one occasion and is a good model for Christians who are called to live out their witness in trying circumstances.
Titus 1:4 contains not only Paul’s greeting to Titus but also it expresses a Spirit inspired desire that Titus would respond to the contents of this epistle regarding the will of the Father for him and the Cretan church.
Not only is this a Spirit inspired for Titus but also the Cretan church who would read this epistle and it would be read in their house churches since it addresses their conduct.
Notice the word order, “grace” precedes “peace,” which is significant since the sinner cannot experience peace until they have faith in Jesus Christ and appropriate God’s grace that is extended to every believer through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The believer appropriates the grace of God by being obedient to the revelation of the Father’s will that is made known by the Holy Spirit to the believer through the communication of the Word of God by the believer’s divinely ordained pastor-teacher.
“Our Savior” is a title for Jesus Christ describing Him as the member of the Trinity who accomplished salvation for the entire human race through His substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross.
The Holy Spirit is not mentioned by name in this greeting since He is the one who inspired Paul to write this epistle according to the will of the Father and this was made possible by Paul’s union and identification with Jesus Christ.
This greeting recorded in Titus 1:4 is in effect an invasion of the Father and the Son as well as the Spirit into the life of Titus and the Cretan church.
It reveals the immanency of God meaning that God concerns Himself with and intervenes in the lives of men especially those who are Christians.