TITUS LESSON 1


     Paul wrote this letter to Titus about the year 63 A.D.  Titus was
a Gentile who had been saved under Paul's ministry. It seemed that
Paul was very fond of Titus, as he was of Timothy. He thought of Titus
as his son in the ministry, because Paul had taught Titus. Titus had
gone on several journeys with Paul and even went to Rome with Paul.

     Titus went to Jerusalem with Paul, and the Jewish Christians
there wanted to circumcise Titus. Paul would not allow them to do
this, because it would cause all of the Gentile Christians to be of
less importance to God.

     When there was trouble with a church and Paul could not go
himself, he would send Titus. The very next best thing to being there
himself, would be to send Titus, because Titus had been trained by
Paul, and it was if Paul were ministering.

     This, like the book of Timothy, is a personal letter that Paul
sent Titus to help him in his ministry.

     Titus 1:1 "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus
Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging
of the truth which is after godliness;"

     We have discussed before that the word "apostle" could be
ambassador. An ambassador does not bring his own message, but the
message of the person he is representing. We can see from that one
word, that Paul is bringing to the Gentile world the message of Jesus
Christ. Paul, as much as anyone, was a servant of God. He had
dedicated his life to the service of the Lord. The purpose of the
message Paul was bringing, was to stir up faith in Jesus Christ in
those elected of God to receive the Truth. Of course, God elected all
mankind who will, to receive the Word of God. The Word of God teaches
godliness.

     Titus 1:2 "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie,
promised before the world began;"

     The hope of every Christian is the resurrection to eternal life
in Jesus. The plan of salvation was from before the world began.
II Timothy 1:9 "Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"
This does not remove the free will of each individual to decide to be
saved and follow Jesus. God's foreknowledge allowed Him to know who
would be saved. That is how he knew and wrote the names in the book.
This plan was not just the Father's, but God the Word's, and the Holy
Spirit's, from the beginning. The Word of God was to take on the form
of flesh, become Jesus, and save His people. He was the one to save
us, since He was our Creator. Hebrews 6:18 "That by two immutable
things, in which [it was] impossible for God to lie, we might have a
strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set before us:"

     Titus 1:3 "But hath in due times manifested his word through
preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of
God our Saviour;"

     "Manifested" means made real. Then we see that God chose to make
His Word real by preaching. We are told over and over in the
Scriptures, preach the Word. Paul was a mouth piece for God. That is
exactly what Paul was called to do, when he met Jesus on the road to
Damascus. I Corinthians 1:18 "For the preaching of the cross is to
them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the
power of God." I Corinthians 1:21 "For after that in the wisdom of God
the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of
preaching to save them that believe."  "God our Saviour" is of course
speaking of Jesus Christ.

     Titus 1:4 "To Titus, [mine] own son after the common faith:
Grace, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ our Saviour."

     Titus had been saved by Paul's preaching, and that is why Paul
speaks of him as his son in this Scripture. Some believe that Titus
was saved about 14 years after Paul was saved on the road to Damascus.
This, possibly, happened at Antioch. Paul was not married and had no
natural sons. This blessing that he speaks on Titus is from Paul, and
Jesus, and the Father. He adds Saviour to Jesus showing that He is
what brings us not only salvation, but grace, mercy and peace.

     Titus 1:5 'For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou
shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders
in every city, as I had appointed thee:"

     Paul had every confidence in Titus. He knew Titus would do
everything the way he would do it, if he were there. It seems that
Paul had left Titus the task of establishing the churches in this
area.  Paul had so much faith in Titus, that he left it up to Titus to
choose someone in each church to be the elder. An "elder" is the
spiritual advisor of the church. It is the job of the elder to make
sure that the church is kept spiritually sound in its doctrine. We
will see in the next few verses, that Paul gave Titus some guidelines
to use in choosing these leaders.

     Titus 1:6 "If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having
faithful children not accused of riot or unruly."

     Blameless means that there is nothing he has done that the anyone
in the community will blame him for. He does not even give the
appearance of evil. His marriage is solid, he is not jumping from one
wife to the other. His children are Christians, as well as he is. The
children are not a problem to the community, as well.

     Titus 1:7 "For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God;
not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not
given to filthy lucre;"

     The bishop is like the superintendent of the church, it means in
general charge of the church. We might even call him chairman of the
board today. It appears to me, the description of this person is
showing a man who is completely sold out to the Lord. He is Christ-
like. He is an easy going person who loves other people. He has his
will under control at all times, because he does not take drugs or
alcohol.  He is not greedy for wealth.

     Titus 1:8 "But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men,
sober, just, holy, temperate;"

     Most men who truly love other people are hospitable. This
describes a man who loves good, whether in man or in the good things
of life. Sober is the reverse of riotous. This man is not living in
sin.  He is living in Jesus who has overcome sin, thus holy. Temperate
means master of one's self. This is a perfect description of someone
who has his flesh under the control of his spirit.

     Titus 1:9 "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught,
that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince
the gainsayers."

     The power of Christianity is in the Word of God {Jesus}. The
faithful Word would be the true Word of God. Holding fast, would mean
that he had stored the Word of God down deep in his heart. The only
way to be an effective soul winner, is to have the Word of God totally
imbedded into your own heart to the extent that when you open your
mouth, the Word of God comes forth. "Gainsayers", are disputers. The
Truth will convince the worst of the disputers, if it is brought forth
faithfully long enough.

     Titus 1:10 "For there are many unruly and vain talkers and
deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:"

     The problem with these people is that they had not left their
Jewish teaching behind, when they came to Christ. Law and grace are
like oil and water, they can not mix. The circumcision leaves no doubt
that they are speaking of the Jews. The Jewish converts were the most
difficult for Paul to get to conform to the teachings of Christianity.

     Titus 1:11 "Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole
houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's
sake."

     "Filthy lucre" is dirty money. At the time this was written many
people sold all their worldly belongings and had things common.
Perhaps, this is speaking of wanting to be in control of the wealth
that was generated from those sales. They were bringing another
message other than what Paul had brought, and were even getting whole
families to break away to their false teaching. Most of this had to
do, however, with conforming to the Jew's customs.

     Titus 1:12 "One of themselves, [even] a prophet of their own,
said, The Cretians [are] alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies."

     They did not have a very high opinion of the members of the
church. The Jews had always thought themselves better than the
Gentiles, and it seemed they were bringing in a distinction here. It
seems the Cretians had a reputation of being liars. "Evil beasts"
means they were a cruel, brutal people. The "slow bellies" mean that
they were gluttons.

     Titus 1:13 "This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply,
that they may be sound in the faith;"

     Paul is saying, the accusations are true, but when they become a
Christian, they must change. Titus must tell them of the new birth in
Christ. They must bury that lying, brutal, glutton, and become a new
creature in Christ. Titus has a hard job ahead, breaking customs of
many years. They must totally change. They must be solidly planted in
the faith in Jesus Christ. There must be such a change that the whole
world can see.

     Titus 1:14 "Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of
men, that turn from the truth."

     The worst thing a person can do, is to listen to something,
thinking it will not hurt them. You retain some of the things you
intend not to believe. It is best not to listen at all. We discussed
that the Jewish fables, spoken of here, are the things like
circumcision. The continuing to sacrifice after Jesus made the one
sacrifice for all time for everyone, is like saying His sacrifice was
not sufficient. I believe God allowed the temple in Jerusalem to be
destroyed in 70 A.D. to stop the people from continuing to sacrifice.
The laws, commandments, and regulations were all fulfilled in Jesus
Christ. It is almost blasphemy to continue with that, because it
defames Jesus.

     Titus 1:15 "Unto the pure all things [are] pure: but unto them
that are defiled and unbelieving [is] nothing pure; but even their
mind and conscience is defiled."

     Jesus [the Supreme Sacrifice] made all Christians free from sin.
He abolished sin in our lives. Mark 7:15 "There is nothing from
without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things
which come out of him, those are they that defile the man."  The Jews
were caught up in formality of religion. They washed thoroughly before
they ate, as if it were a practice of religion. The things you think
are dirty are dirty. Romans 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not meat
and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."
It is the precious blood of Jesus Christ that clears the conscience of
man. We can not do enough in ourself to be right with God. We must
depend entirely on the shed blood of Jesus making us right in God's
sight.

     Titus 1:16 "They profess that they know God; but in works they
deny [him], being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good
work reprobate."

     You can say all day long that you are a Christian, but I will not
believe you until I see Christ living in you. We see in the following
Scripture a Truth about this very thing. I Peter 4:2 "That he no
longer should live the rest of [his] time in the flesh to the lusts of
men, but to the will of God."  Not everyone who says he is a Christian
is a Christian. The life we live shows the world, if we are truly
living for Christ, or not. If we are practicing sin, we are of our
father the devil. If we are living the Christian life with signs
following, we are of our heavenly Father. Galatians 2:20 "I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."







































                          Titus 1 Questions


1.  When was the letter to Titus written {approximately}?
2.  What was Paul's connection to the man Titus?
3.  Why did Paul think of Titus as his son?
4.  Was Titus ever in Rome with Paul?
5.  What did the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem want to do to Titus,
    which Paul said no to?
6.  Why did Paul send Titus to the troubled churches he could not go
    to himself?
7.  Why did Paul write this letter to Titus?
8.  What does Paul call himself in verse 1?
9.  What is another thing "apostle" could be?
10. What does this word show us about Paul?
11. What is the hope of every Christian?
12. What had Paul dedicated his life to?
13. When had God promised eternal life?
14. Quote 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9.
15. How had He manifested His Word?
16. What does "manifested" mean?
17. Quote 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18.
18. It pleased God that by the foolishness of ________ to save them
    that believe.
19. What was the blessing Paul spoke on Titus.
20. When was it believed that Titus was saved?
21. Where had Paul left Titus to work?
22. Why had he left him there?
23. Who was to decide who to ordain?
24. What is an "elder"?
25. What were some of the qualifications Titus was to judge by?
26. What are some of the qualifications of a bishop.
27. What was meant by faithful Word?
28. Who are "gainsayers"?
29. What one word, in verse 10, leaves no doubt this is speaking of
    Jews?
30. What does verse 11 say, is the reason they were doing this?
31. What is "filthy lucre"?
32. What reputation did the Cretians have?
33. What did Paul tell Titus to do about this?
34. In verse 14, Paul warned to not give heed to what?
35. Why does the author believe the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed
    in 70 A.D.?
36. Unto the pure all things are _____.
37. Who was the Supreme Sacrifice?
38. What clears the conscience of mankind?
39. Quote 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 2.
40. Memorize and quote Galatians chapter 2 verse 20.