Sermon Tone Analysis

Paul reminds Titus of the reason why he left him in Crete.

He intended for Titus to ensure that the church was provided with qualified elder leadership.

Paul charges Titus with seeing that this leadership is put in place, and he explains to Titus the character qualifications for such elders.

Elders must not only have godly character; they must also be competent to teach the faith and to confront false teachers who oppose the faith.

Section Outline

I. Appointing Elders (1:1–16) …

B. An Elder’s Qualifications (1:5–9)

1.

How to Appoint an Elder (1:5)

2. How to Recognize an Elder (1:6–9)

1:4-9 represent three sentences.

The passage begins with an implied command in v. 5, i.e.

I left you in Crete to do this, so do it!

The rest of the passage, vv.

6-9, is a straight forward list of qualifications for the elder.

The text answers the question, “who is qualified to be an elder?”

The answer to the question is a list of qualifications.

Notice the key verb in v. 5, epidiorthoo.

This verb means “to put or to set.”

Combined with ho leipo, “what remains”, it gives the sense of setting straight.

Think of the way a doctor will take a broken bone and “set a bone” or think of an orthodontist who sets teeth straight.

Titus has inherited a situation that is very broken.

He must begin the process of setting things right by finding the right elders.

Clearly this verb modifies more than what immediately follows, but it gives a sense of how important of a job Titus has.

He must set things straight and will begin to do so through appointing men who have the right stuff to lead as elders.

So we have the purpose!

1:5 Paul’s saying that he left Titus in Crete suggests that Paul himself had visited Crete.

Even though Acts 27 notes Paul’s brief stop in Crete on the way to Rome, Acts provides no record of Paul’s missionary work in Crete.

For that reason, the visit referred to in Titus 1:5 seems to have taken place after the end of Acts but before Paul’s final imprisonment and death.

During that visit, Paul left Titus in Crete so that he could “put what remained into order, and appoint elders.”

Paul’s assignment to Titus accords with a threefold pattern we observe in Paul’s ministry recorded in Acts.

For example, in Acts 14:21–23, Paul

1. makes converts through preaching the gospel,

2. strengthens new believers through discipleship and instruction, and

3. appoints pastors/elders “in every church” to carry on the work after he is gone.

(Notice the plural “elders” in every single church, which suggests that each church should welcome a plurality of elders; cf.

Acts 20:17, 28; Phil.

1:1; 1 Thess.

5:12, 13; 1 Tim.

5:17).

Paul’s instructions to Titus should be interpreted in light of this threefold pattern.

To “put what remained into order” means to set in order the third and final item in Paul’s church-planting pattern: appointing pastors/elders.

Burk, D. (2018).

Titus.

In I. M. Duguid, J. M. Hamilton Jr., & J. Sklar (Eds.),

Ephesians–Philemon (Vol.

XI, pp.

502–503).

Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Now Paul gives Titus his purpose, to finish setting right things that were not complete or things that were broken.

He begins to instruct him in this by explaining to him the character and qualifications of an elder.

It is important to note that the qualifications are not skilled based, they are character based.

The only exception is that he must be able to give instruction (v.

9) which, when seen with I Tim 3:2, implies a teaching gift.

Yet even giving instruction is a result of antecho.

That is, holding the deep conviction of the word.

In other words the teaching act flows from the deep conviction to hold tightly to the word.

By the way, our church doesn’t have any “Elders” as we are a “congregational led church.”

Though I believe that the bible is VERY plain that the church is supposed to have elders who oversee it rather than a congregation deciding for itself.

“EVERY TIME THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL LED THEM SELVES IT LED TO IDOL WORSHIP BUT THAT IS A SERMON FOR ANOTHER DAY.

TODAY WE ARE CONTINUING OUR EXIGETICAL SERMON GOING VERSE BY VERSE THROUGH TITUS.

Paul lays out 3 traits that an Elder must have to be qualified to fill to position.

By the way, I know that this is the qualifications of an elder but wouldn’t it be nice if we held ALL church leadership to this standard?

I. Elders must be above reproach with their families (v. 6)

1:6.

Paul told Titus the characteristics a person should have in order to assume leadership within the church.

The standards for church leadership are consistently high; they do not change based on location or time.

Paul wrote almost identical instructions to Timothy.

I & II Thessalonians, I & II Timothy, Titus, Philemon (2.

Qualifications for Church Leadership (1:6–9))

The same basic principles hold true in any circumstance.

The inner spirit and outward life must be consistent, ethically pure, and morally innocent.

Why does Paul put such an emphasis on the home life of leadership?

I & II Thessalonians, I & II Timothy, Titus, Philemon (2.

Qualifications for Church Leadership (1:6–9))

He must also be the husband of but one wife.

Literally, he must be a “one-woman man.”

In addition, he must be a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.

In other words, the church leader must exhibit a dedication to family life.

More of a person’s character and inner qualities are revealed at home than at work or in public.

Paul implied that those who do a good job at home possess the ability to do well in other arenas of leadership as well.

The parent’s ability to secure the obedience of his children reflects his own faithfulness, commitment, and leadership capability.

If you home is in order, that leadership will translate to other areas of your life and ministry!

Elders/leaders must be above reproach with their families.

II.

Elders must be above reproach with their character (v.

7)

Paul now moves from the home life to looking at the actual character of the church leaders.

Although the natural human inclination is to limit responsibility to one’s own concerns, Paul makes it clear that church leaders live as examples for others.

As exemplars, the elders that Titus appoints must be “blameless” (v. 6) in their relationships and in their conduct.

In their commentary on timothy and Titus.

Bryan Chapell and Kent Hughes note:

The word “blameless” needs careful examination since it is repeated twice in this text and explains much of the apostle’s expectation for leaders (vv.

6a, 7).

The word cannot mean “sinless,” for then no one could qualify for leadership.

At the same time, the apostle obviously has some measure of godliness in mind that requires definition from us.

Scholars have long debated whether the standards for leadership in the early church were high or low.

Although the list as it stands may appear daunting by modern measures, it could have been made far more intimidating.

Note that among the Christian leadership qualifications there are no mountains to climb, no alligators to wrestle, no pilgrimages to make, no prophecies to utter, no ancient manuscripts to decode, no visions to conjure, no tortures to endure, and no miracles to perform.

The standards for Christian leadership strictly relate to one’s example before others.

With the understanding that these requirements relate to how our lives are lived help us to better understand the term blameless.

A “blameless” person in Paul’s usage is one whom others have no obvious reason to accuse for living inconsistently with his faith commitments.

Paul’s “blameless” standard is based upon what others in the church see and observe.

It is not so much a standard for one’s own internal assessment (which would be required by a term such as sinless or even good-intentioned) but rather reflects the assessment of external community observation.

What others observe about a man being considered for office bears on his qualification for office.