Titus

	The letter to Titus is the third in a group of letters (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus) referred to as the "Pastoral Epistles." They were written in order to teach, guide, and encourage two evangelists, Timothy and Titus, who were sent out by the Apostle Paul (Timothy to the church at Ephesus and Titus to the churches located on the island of Crete) to defend against false teachers, set these churches in order and appoint men to the role of elder, thus establishing church leadership.

	1–Timothy and Titus contain many similar ideas and phrases. For this reason, it is believed that they were written on the same day, somewhere between 62-64 AD, when Paul had a brief time of freedom after being released from his first Roman imprisonment. The Apostle used this time to revisit many congregations he had previously established. During this period, he instructed Timothy to remain at the church in Ephesus (1–Timothy 1:3) and Titus to remain at Crete (Titus 1:5).

	The island of Crete is southeast of Greece, located on the imaginary boundary between the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. Aside from its appearance in the letter to Titus, it is only mentioned two other times in the book of Acts:

1. Acts 2:11 - People from Crete were among the crowd in Jerusalem on Pentecost Sunday. Converts made on that day might explain the presence of a church on the island some 30 years later.

2. Acts 27:7 - Luke mentions that the ship transporting Paul to Rome sailed by the island.

Titus is mentioned several times; however, we don't have much background information on him personally:

(A.) He was a Gentile convert to Christianity and Paul's early disciple and traveling companion.

(Read Galatians 2:1-3)

(B.) He was sent to Corinth to see if the problems that had existed there had been resolved according to Paul's teaching in I Corinthians:

(Read 2–Corinthians 7:13-16)

(C.) Paul left Titus on the island of Crete to organize the church and appoint elders.

(Read Titus 1:5)

(D.) Paul also referred to him a final time in 2–Timothy 4:10, saying that he had traveled to Dalmatia (Croatia) for unknown reasons.

	We know from references in II Corinthians that Paul was fond of Titus, but his feelings about him are less noticeable in this letter to the young preacher. Unlike the fatherly tone we sometimes hear in "First and Second Timothy" when Paul addresses Timothy, Titus' letter is all business.

	In Titus' epistle, Paul includes much of the information given to Timothy. However, he adds sections of practical teaching concerning church life specific to Titus' ministry, which is still relevant for us today.

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Background on Titus

	In this brief letter, Paul emphasizes one important lesson: there is a relationship between what we believe and how we act. Bad theology or philosophy produces a bad society (e.g., Nazism = war + ruin). You can't live in a correct and productive way if you think or are taught incorrectly.

	To this end, Paul will charge Titus with the task of preparing leaders who will be able to correctly teach the church, and he will provide examples of the teaching and desired results as guides to measure progress.

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The Prevalent False Teaching - Gnosticism

	The reason Paul takes great care in emphasizing this idea, bad teaching = bad life, was that in the first century, as in our day, there was great danger that the purity of the gospel would be polluted by false ideas, thus rendering it powerless. The gospel is the power unto God for salvation (Romans 1:16) so long as it is maintained, but it has no power to save if changed or perverted. This is the reason why maintaining sound doctrine is so crucial.

	Today in our society, we have many "isms" that war against the gospel: humanism (man is supreme), existentialism (you can create your own reality), emotionalism (follow your heart), not to mention the effects of atheism (no God) and spiritual pluralism (all gods are ok) to name a few. The pressure of these influences tries to move us towards being a more worldly or ecumenic body. Maintaining the pure essence of the gospel, therefore, is a great challenge in the face of these clamoring voices often disguised as catalysts for positive change when in reality, they are agents for unsound or unproven teaching.

	In the first century church at the time that Titus was preaching, the pressure came from a particular group of teachers and teachings that were referred to as Gnosticism.

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Gnosticism

	Gnosticism is really a modern name for a system of teaching that was prevalent in the first and second centuries. It died out shortly after. It did not have a body of teaching but, very much like the New Age Movement of the 90s, had many strands of teachings and ideas woven into a loose system of doctrine. The strand that conflicted with Christianity and that Titus had to deal with was a combination of Jewish and Greek Gnosticism ideas. Basically, it revolved around teachings regarding the origins of the earth. Doesn't that sound familiar?

	The Greeks had developed an idea that proposed that the descendants of the gods created the earth. In this scenario, the god of darkness created the earth. They also taught that man's spirit was good and desired a return to the god of light that had created it. However, the material world, which was essentially evil, prevented this from taking place. From this basic scenario, two main ideologies were developed to solve the classic conflict of the soul (man's spirit - good) versus the flesh (the material world - evil), a problem referred to by Plato as Dualism:

• Asceticism - A complete renunciation of the flesh in order to liberate the soul. Saturnius taught that one ought not to marry because it led to the creation of more material (children) which was bad. Paul the Apostle refers to this in Colossians 2:8-23 and I Timothy 4:1-4. Many religions (e.g., Hinduism, Buddhism, Medieval Roman Catholicism) adopted versions of this idea.

• Antinomianism (no law) taught that once the soul was released from the body through enlightenment, it was no longer morally responsible for what the flesh did. Many ancient "cults" disguised and justified their immoral sexual behavior on the basis that they were acting from a position of higher reasoning or enlightenment (i.e., Nicolaitans - Revelation 2:6-15) and thus were not subject to judgment.

	To this thinking, Jewish Gnostics added their particular brand of mysticism, the study of genealogy, and penchant for debate which gave these Greek ideas a certain Jewish flavor. The result was a church that either:

1. Searched for salvation through a "works" oriented system driven by the Greek idea of Dualism (salvation through self-denial).

2. Was so unconcerned with sin and moral responsibility that it was in danger of losing its soul (e.g., Corinth).

	Either way, the false teaching undermined the gospel and had to be dealt with by those who knew the truth and had the capacity and courage to teach it. This, then, is what Paul is setting Titus up to do in Crete with his letter.

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Outline of Titus

1. Salutation - Paul's mission - 1:1-4

   1. Preserve and pass on sound doctrine - 1:1-4

2. Body - Titus' mission - 1:5-3:11

   1. Appoint sound elders - 1:5-16

   2. Provide sound doctrine - 2:1-3:11

3. Conclusion - 3:12-15

   1. Personal greetings / instructions - 3:12-15

The letter to Titus is delivered in a compact three chapters but contains the core teaching of the Christian faith concerning the gospel.

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