Here is a short summary of the book of Titus:
Titus is a personal letter from Paul to Titus, a long-time partner in ministry. Paul and Titus had begun making disciples and starting churches on the island of Crete, and Paul left Titus there to finish setting things in order in the churches. Titus needed to appoint elders in each church. He also needed to instruct the new disciples how to live in keeping with sound teaching. God’s grace instructs God’s people to say no to ungodliness and to live godly, upright lives and to be eager for good deeds. Anyone who was teaching false ideas needed to be corrected, and those who refused correction and were causing divisions needed to be shown that they were no longer in good standing as a part of the church community.
Backstory to Titus
Titus is part of a collection of three letters commonly referred to as the Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy, Titus, 2 Timothy), and it’s hard to know exactly where they fit into Paul’s life and ministry.[1]
The traditional view is that Titus was written in the mid-60’s after the time of the book of Acts. I do think it’s possible to see both 1 Timothy and Titus as written on Paul’s 3rd missionary journey around A.D. 57, during the 6 months to a year that he traveled through Macedonia and Illyricum after he left Ephesus and before wintering in Corinth (see Acts 20:1-3). But while that may be possible, the evidence from the early church is that Paul was released from his first Roman incarceration (the one in Acts 28), continued ministry for several more years, and wrote all three of the Pastoral Epistles during this time.
So, here is the most likely backstory for Paul’s letter to Titus.
When Paul was being transferred to Rome after his appeal to Caesar (around A.D. 60), one of the stopovers on the sea voyage was the Island of Crete in the middle of the Mediterranean south of Greece. They spent a good amount of time in one of the cities of Crete waiting for the weather to clear in hopes they could sail to another harbor that was better for wintering (see Acts 27:7-13). That didn’t work out and actually led to Paul being shipwrecked on Malta. But the time spent on Crete apparently prompted a desire for further ministry there (and perhaps even laid the groundwork for it).
“The time spent on Crete apparently prompted a desire for further ministry there.”
So now a few years later around A.D. 63-65, Paul was released from his house arrest in Rome (the one in Acts 28) and resumed his traveling ministry. At some point he decided to return to Crete to carry on ministry there, and he took along with him a longtime friend and colleague: Titus.[2]
Titus appears to be the guy Paul trusted with difficult situations. Almost a decade prior to ministry on Crete, Titus had been heavily involved with the mess in Corinth and all the conflict that situation involved. So, it’s possible that Paul included Titus in the ministry on Crete because he suspected Crete would be a challenging mission field. After all, Cretans were notorious in the Greco-Roman world for being liars and scoundrels. It was the perfect job for a guy like Titus.
We don’t know all the details, but Paul and Titus traveled to Crete and began making disciples and planting churches on the island. After a while, Paul had to leave before the work on Crete was fully established. There had been a good start, but the churches lacked leadership and were easy pickings for false ideas and bad behavior.
When Paul left, he had Titus remain behind to continue the work. There were three main tasks he wanted Titus to focus on: appointing elders, rooting out false teaching, and establishing order so they can live godly lives.
Summary of Titus: “There were three main tasks he wanted Titus to focus on: appointing elders, rooting out false teaching, and establishing order so they can live godly lives.”
So while he was in (or perhaps on his way to) Nicopolis, 460 miles to the northwest of Crete, Paul wrote this letter to his ministry partner to encourage Titus in this work and to throw the weight of his own apostleship behind it.
Overview of Titus
1:1-16 – The Importance of Appointing Elders
Paul’s letter to Titus opens in 1:1-4 with a bit of an extended greeting. Paul describes himself as a servant of God and an apostle of King Jesus. And he greets Titus, whom he calls his true son in the faith. In between, Paul emphasizes God’s plan in such a way as to highlight some key themes of the letter: truth, godliness, and the trustworthiness of God’s plans.
After the introduction, Paul immediately turns to a key task (in 1:5-9) that he wants Titus to accomplish in the churches on the island of Crete. He urges him to appoint elders of faithful, blameless character who can teach sound doctrine and refute those who contradict it.
In 1:10-16, Paul explains why this is so important. There are many rebellious people who are teaching falsehood. Paul’s not surprised by this because Cretans have a bad reputation, even according to one of their own writers. So those who are disobedient to the faith and to God must be corrected so they may be sound in the faith.
“Those who are disobedient to the faith and to God must be corrected so they may be sound in the faith.”
2:1-2:15 – Order and Character
Another key task Paul urges Titus to undertake is to establish good order and godly character within the church (2:1-10). So, Paul gives instructions about the kind of character and behavior that sound doctrine requires for different groups in the church: older men, older women, young women, young men, and servants. One thing to pay attention to in this section is Paul’s concern for the reputation of the church (vv. 5, 8. 10).
In 2:11-15 Paul explains why such godly character is necessary for followers of Jesus. God’s grace which offers salvation to all people and instructs us to say no to ungodliness and worldly desires. Jesus gave his life to form a people zealous for good deeds. So we live godly lives while keeping our eyes fixed on the hope of Jesus’ return.
3:1-11 – Christian Behavior in Relation to Society
Paul continues to develop the message about distinctive Christian behavior in 3:1-7, now in relation to unbelieving society. Followers of Jesus need to submit to the governing authorities and leaders, to be kind and gentle to all people, not running people down or being contentious. And once again all of this is grounded in God’s mercy and kindness shown to us in saving us from our own foolish and sinful behavior.
This work is so important that in the final paragraph of the body of the letter (3:8-11) Paul urges Titus to speak these things with confidence and avoid useless discussions. The aim is to equip God’s people to do good deeds. And those who reject this teaching and are creating divisions in the church must themselves be rejected (that is, shown that they were no longer in good standing) as members of the church community.
“The aim is to equip God’s people to do good deeds.”
3:12-15 – Practical Instructions, Final Reminder
Then in 3:12-15, Paul signs off the letter with a few practical instructions for Titus and a final reminder. He asks Titus to come to him in Nicopolis by winter and to provide everything Zenas and Apollos need. Then he offers a final reminder to make sure God’s people do good deeds.
So, the overall message of Paul’s letter to Titus is that God’s people must exhibit godly character, and Titus needs to take practical steps to make sure the churches on Crete are living that way.
Key Verses in Titus
1. “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you.”[3]
—Titus 1:5
2. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.”
—Titus 2:11-13
3. “[Jesus] who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
—Titus 2:14
“Jesus gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
4. “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit…”
—Titus 3:4-5
5. “Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.”
—Titus 3:14
[1] There is a lot of debate among scholars about the authorship and backstory to the Pastoral Epistles. What follows here for Titus is the most likely scenario, based on the weight of the evidence and church history.
[2] We don’t know the details of when and how Titus began working with Paul, but we do know that he was already working with Paul as early as the Jerusalem Conference in A.D. 50. See Gal. 2:1-10.
[3] All Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard.
For more from John, see johnwhittaker.net.
