seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Titus 1:1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Here's a link to the commentary. I also found a delightful lesson on Titus at the "Got Questions" site.To Titus: Significantly, we don’t know anything about Titus from Acts. He is strangely absent from that record, though he must have been an associate of Paul during the time covered by Acts. Yet we do read about him in 2 Corinthians 2:13, 8:23, and 12:18.
“2 Corinthians 8:18 and 2 Corinthians 12:18 both say that when Titus was sent to Corinth another brother was sent with him, described in the former passage as ‘the brother who is famous among all the churches,’ and commonly identified with Luke. It has been suggested that Titus was Luke’s brother.” (Barclay)
For this reason I left you in Crete: After a successful evangelistic campaign on the island of Crete, there were a lot of young Christians to take care of. Paul left Titus behind to build stable churches with mature, qualified pastors for the people. This was especially needed in Crete, because the people of Crete were a wild bunch, well known as liars and lazy people. Titus had to find and train capable leaders for the Christians of the island of Crete.
And appoint elders in every city: Paul told Titus to appoint elders, who are also called bishops in Titus 1:7. The word elder is used broadly in the New Testament, mainly describing the maturity necessary in leaders. Elders and bishops describe pastors over congregations in different cities on Crete.
Appoint elders: This means Paul delegated a lot of authority to Titus. These elders were not chosen by popular vote, and they were not chosen through their own self-promotion. It was Titus’ job to look for men of the kind of character Paul would describe in the following passage and to appoint them as elders in congregations.
Having faithful children: The leader must have raised his children well. His ability to lead the family of God must be first demonstrated by his ability to lead his own children. Here the emphasis is on the idea that his children are believers also.
There's a link above titled "Got Questions". That's where I learned the most about Titus himself. He was a Gentile. He did a lot of his work in the area that used to be Yugoslavia. According to the "Got Questions" commentary, Titus is the one who actually took up the collection for the Jews in Jerusalem.... and delivered it to them.
Since Titus was an uncircumcised Gentile Christian, he probably had a lot of discussions about Salvation without cutting the thingy. Titus was an "example" of uncircumcised Salvation. Titus would have probably said "getting your dick cut has nothing to do with eternal life".
Titus would probably have said, "Salvation is a gift, it can't be earned by mutilation or any other means".
Now Titus had to find men who would run the little churches all around the area. Titus, Luke, Mark, Barnabas, and Paul just couldn't be everywhere all the time... so, they had to choose men to work in their place.
In this letter Paul is sharing with Titus what qualifications a "good man" must display.
How many babies have been beaten because of the letter to Titus? How many fathers have ranted "spare the rod" philosophy while marking their "wild" children? How many wives have been beaten into submission?
People just take things way too far. Titus was supposed to find the guy who with a real understanding of the Second Commandment. Then Titus had to tutor those men on the Mission.
The Second Commandment....
Matthew 22:36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Titus might have been Luke's brother.... He was a Gentile....Titus understood the Second Commandment.
