Titus 1:1 Knowledge for acknowledging, A.V.; according to for after, A.V. A servant of God (δοῦλοςΘεοῦ); so in the superscriptions: Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1, ἸησοῦΧριστοῦ; James 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 2 Peter 1:1; Revelation 1:1. St. Paul also calls himself "the servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10); and the phrase, δοῦλονΚυρίου, occurs in 2 Timothy 2:24. But neither "servant of God" nor any equivalent is in the superscription of either 1 or 2 Timothy. "Servant" is a better rendering than "slave," as Farrar renders it. An apostle, etc.; as in both 1 and 2 Timothy, and also in Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:1 2 Corinthians 1:1, etc.; showing that this is not a private letter, but a public and official document, conveying official authority to Titus over the Church in Crete. According to the faith of God’s elect. The phrase is peculiar to this passage, and the exact force of κατὰ is not easy to determine (see Bishop Ellicott’s notes, who renders κατὰ "for," and explains that "the faith of God’s elect is the destination of the apostleship," with the further explanation that this meaning of κατά is about equivalent to "with special reference to," or "destination for," as its object). It is nearly the same thing to say that the true faith, and the perfect knowledge of the truth, and the hope of eternal life promised by God, are the sphere in which the apostolic office moves and acts. "The faith of God’s elect," etc., seems to imply that there was in some who were not elect (1 John 2:19, 1 John 2:20) a corruption of the faith, a departure from it—a faith that was no faith, and something calling itself truth which was not "according to godliness," and so to point to rising heresies.£ The authors of these heresies were chiefly Jews (verse 10), of whom there was a considerable colony in Crete. According to godliness (for the use of εὐσεβεία in the pastoral Epistles, see 1 Timothy 2:2; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Timothy 4:7, 1 Timothy 4:8; 1 Timothy 6:3, 1 Timothy 6:5, 1 Timothy 6:6, 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 3:5, and notes). Titus 1:2 Who for that, A.V.; times eternal for the world began, A.V. In hope of eternal life. This seems to be a further description of the scope or sphere of the apostolate, which, as some take ἐπί, is based upon the hope of eternal life. Who cannot lie (ἀψευδής); here only in the New Testament, rarely in the LXX., but common in classical Greek. The epithet is here used to show the certainty of the fulfillment of the promise made before the ages (comp. Hebrews 6:18; Numbers 23:19). Before times eternal (see 2 Timothy 1:9, note). The translation, "before times eternal," conveys no sense; χρόνοιαἰώνοι are "the times of ages past" (Romans 16:25), placed in opposition to the καιροίἰδιοί, or to the "now" of 2 Timothy 1:10, in which the manifestation of the promise took place. Titus 1:3 In his own seasons for hath due times, A.V.; in the message for through preaching, A.V.; wherewith 1 was entrusted for which is committed unto me, A.V. In his own seasons. The margin, its own seasons, is preferable (see 1 Timothy 2:7, note). The phrase is equivalent to "the fullness of the time" (Galatians 4:4). Manifested his Word. There is a change of construction. "The relative sentence passes almost imperceptibly into a primary sentence" (Buttmann in Huther); "his Word" becomes the object of the verb "made manifest," instead of "eternal life," as one would have expected. His Word is the whole revelation of the gospel, including the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Compare St. Peter’s address to Cornelius (Acts 10:36). This "Word," which lay in the mind of God through the ages, and was only dimly expressed in the promises given from time to time (1 Peter 1:10-12), was now "made manifest," and proclaimed openly in that preaching of the gospel of God’s grace which was entrusted to St. Paul. This same idea is frequently expressed (see Romans 16:25; Ephesians 1:9, Ephesians 1:10; Ephesians 3:3-11; 2 Timothy 1:9-11; 1 Peter 1:20), In the message. Surely a poor and a false rendering. Ἐνκηρύγματι means "by the open proclamation" which St. Paul, as God’s herald, κήρυξ, was commanded to make. But this is better expressed by the word which is appropriated to the proclamation of the gospel, viz. "preaching." So, as above quoted, Romans 16:25; 2 Timothy 1:11, and elsewhere frequently. According to the commandment (κατἐπιταγὴνκ.τ.λ..); Romans 16:26; 1 Timothy 1:1 (comp. Galatians 1:1). God our Savior (1 Timothy 1:1; 1 Timothy 2:3; Titus 2:10; Titus 3:4; Jude 1:25; and also Luke 1:47). Elsewhere in the New Testament the term "Savior" (Σωτήρ) is always applied to our Lord Jesus Christ. Titus 1:4 My true child for mine own son, A.V.; a common for the common, A.V.; grace and peace for grace, mercy, and peace, A.V. and T.R.; Christ Jesus for the Lord Jesus Christ, A.V. and T.R. My true child (γνησίῳτέκνῳ: 1 Timothy 1:2) after a common faith (κατὰκινὴνπίστιν). In 1 Timothy 1:2 it is ἐνπίστει (where see note). Beyond all doubt, Alford is right in both cases in rendering "the faith" (see his note on 1 Timothy 1:2). The "common faith" means the faith of all God’s elect. Grace and peace. So the R.T., omitting ἔλεος, mercy, which is found in 1 Timothy 1:2 and 2 Timothy 1:2. But the manuscripts vary, and the critics are divided as to whether ἔλεος ought to be retained here or not. Titus 1:5 Were for are, A.V.; appoint for ordain, A.V.; gave thee charge for had appointed thee, A.V. Left I thee in Crete. We have no account of St. Paul’s visit to Crete, nor do we know how the gospel was first brought to Crete. It may have been by some of those "Cretes" who were at Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, and heard the apostles speak in their tongue "the wonderful works of God" (Acts 2:11), or by other Christian Jews visiting the Jewish community in Crete (note to Titus 1:1). If St. Paul was returning from Spain, and travelling by ship eastward, Crete would be on his way. The importance of the island, with which he made some acquaintance on his voyage from Caesarea to Rome (Acts 27:7, Acts 27:8), and the large Jewish colony there, may naturally have inclined him to visit it. How long he remained there we do not know, but he did not stay long enough to organize the Church there completely. There were still things "wanting" (τὰλείποντα), as it follows. This mention of Crete is an important chronological mark. The order of St. Paul’s progress, as gathered from the three pastoral Epistles, is very distinct—Crete, Miletus, Troas, Macedonia, Corinth, Nicopolis, Rome. He dropped Titus at Crete, and left Timothy behind at Ephesus. The Epistle to Titus, therefore, is the first of the three pastoral Epistles, and this is borne out by another circumstance. When he wrote to Titus he had not made up his mind whether he should send Artemas or Tychicus to take his place in Crete when he rejoined the apostle (Titus 3:12). But when he wrote 2 Timothy he had sent Tychicus to Ephesus to replace Timothy (2 Timothy 4:12), and Titus had already joined him, and been sent on by him to Dalmatia, presumably from Nicopolis. Set in order (ἐπιδιορθώσῃ); only here in the New Testament, and not found in the LXX. nor in classical Greek, except as a technical word in the art of rhetoric. But διορθόω is very common in classical Greek (see ἐπανόρθωσις, 2 Timothy 3:16). The force of ἐπί in the compound here is "further," or "in addition." St. Paul had set the Church in order up to a certain point. But there were still certain things wanting, τὰλείποντα (see Titus 3:13; Luke 18:22); and these Titus was to supply and give the finishing touch to. Appoint (καταστήσῃς). This is a better rendering than the A.V. "ordain," because it is a general word for "to appoint, make." Probably the A.V. "ordain" was not intended to be taken in a strictly technical sense, but is used as in Hebrews 5:1; Hebrews 8:3. The technical word was usually "to order." "The Ordering of Deacons," or "of Priests," is the title of the service in the Book of Common Prayer. "Meet to be ordered," "shall surcease from ordering," occur repeatedly in the rubrics, Elders (πρεσβυτέρους); i.e. presbyters, or priests (comp. Acts 14:23; and see Acts 11:30, note). In every city (κατὰπόλιν); city by city. The phrase has a peculiar significance in Crete, which used to be famous for its hundred cities. It shows, too, that Christianity was widely spread among the cities of the island. The germ of the episcopal office, one bishop and many presbyters, is here very conspicuous. Titus 1:6 Any man is for any be, A.V.; children that believe for faithful children, A.V.; who are not for not, A.V. Blameless (ἀνέγκλητος); see 1 Timothy 3:10, note. The husband of one wife (see 1 Timothy 3:2, note£). Having children that believe (see 1 Timothy 3:4). Mark the importance given to the "elder’s" family as well as to his personal character. Not accused (μὴἐνκατηγορίᾳκ.τ.λ..); literally, not under an accusation (see 1 Timothy 5:19). Riot (ἀσωτίας); see Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 4:4; Luke 15:13. Used in Plato and Aristotle for "debauchery" or "profligacy," with the kindred words ἄσωτοςἀσωτεύομαι, etc. Unruly (ἀνυπότακτα); Luke 15:10 and 1 Timothy 1:9, note. Titus 1:7 The for a, A.V.: God’s steward for the steward of God, A.V.; no brawler for not given to wine, A.V.; greedy of for given to, A.V. Blameless (see Titus 1:6). God’s steward (οἰκονόμον); comp. 1 Corinthians 4:1, 1 Corinthians 4:2; 1 Peter 4:10. (For the office of the steward, see Luke 12:42, Luke 12:43.) Self-willed (αὐθάδη); elsewhere in the New Testament only in 2 Peter 2:10; in the LXX. Genesis 49:3, Genesis 49:9 and Proverbs 21:24; and common in classical Greek. It is always used in a bad sense—stubborn, harsh, remorseless, and the like. Soon angry (ὀργίλον); only here in the New Testament, found occasionally in the LXX., and common in classical Greek—passionate, quick-tempered, irascible (comp. Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8). Brawler (πάροινον); see 1 Timothy 3:3, note. Striker (1 Timothy 3:3, note). Greedy of filthy lucre (αἰσχροχερδῆ) 1 Timothy 3:3, 1 Timothy 3:8, note. Titus 1:8 Given to for a lover of, A.V.; good for good men, A.V.; sober-minded for sober, A.V. Given to hospitality (φιλόξενον); 1 Timothy 3:2, note. A lover of good (φιλάγαθον) see 2 Timothy 3:3, note on ἀφιλάγαθον. Only here in the New Testament, and only once in the LXX., Wis. 7:22, where it seems to mean "a lover of that which is good," and where the long string of adjectives is very similar to that here; found occasionally in classical Greek. Sober-minded (σώφρονα); see Titus 2:2, Titus 2:5, and 1 Timothy 3:2, note. The rendering "discreet" in Titus 2:5 (A.V.) expresses the meaning very well. Just, holy. Δίκαιος is usually considered as describing that side of a good man’s character which is in relation to his fellow-men, and ὅσιος that side which has respect to God. Joseph was δίκαιος (Matthew 1:19) in his conduct towards Mary; the Lord Jesus was God’s Holy One (τὸνὅσιόνσου). In classical Greek the words are more commonly applied to things. Ὅσιακαὶδίκαια are things sanctioned by Divine and human laws respectively. Temperate (ἐγκρατῆ); only here in the New Testament, and never in this sense in the LXX.; but it has exactly the same meaning in Aristotle, viz. "master of one’s self," having the appetites under control. Titus 1:9 Holding to for holding fast, A.V.; which is according to the teaching for as he hath been taught, A.V.; both to exhort in the sound doctrine for by sound doctrine, both to exhort, A.V.; convict for convince, A.V. Holding to (ἀντεχόμενος). Holding fast is a better and more forcible rendering than holding to. It answers to the Latin adherere, to cling to. The faithful word which is according to the teaching is awkwardly expressed. Ἠδιδασή is "the Christian truth" as taught by the apostles, and "the faithful" or "sure word" to which Titusus is to cleave is described as being" according to that truth" (comp. Titus 1:1, ἀληθείαςτῆςκατεὐσέβειαν). The A.V. gives substantially the apostle’s meaning. The result of this adhesion to the faithful word is that he will be able to comfort and encourage believers by (ἐν) his wholesome teaching, and also to convict the opposers of the truth. The gainsayers; or, contradictors (τοὺςἀντιλέγοντας); such as those Jews described in Acts 13:45 and Acts 28:19 as "contradicting and blaspheming." Titus 1:10 Unruly men for unruly and, A.V. and T.R. Unruly (ἀνυπότακτοι); see Titus 1:6. Vain talkers (ματαιολόγοι); only here in the New Testament, not found in the LXX., and rare in classical Greek (see ματαιολογία, 1 Timothy 1:6). Κενολόγος and κενολογία are used in the same sense of "vain, empty, talking." Deceivers—(φρεναπάται); here only in the New Testament, not found in the LXX. or in classical Greek—literally, soul-deceivers, or, as some take St, self-deceivers. Here the word means "deceivers," whoso character is described in 2 Peter 2:14 as "beguiling unstable souls." They of the circumcision; Judaizing Christians, the most obstinate and difficult adversaries with whom St. Paul had to cope (see Galatians passim; Philippians 3:2, Philippians 3:3, etc.). Titus 1:11 Men who overthrow for who subvert, A.V. Whose mouths must be stopped (οὒςδεῖἐπιστομίζειν); here only in the New Testament, not found in the LXX., but common in classical Greek. "To curb" (comp. Psalms 32:9; James 3:2, James 3:3). The meaning is nearly the same as that of χαλιναγωγέω in James 1:26; some, however, assign to it the sense of "to muzzle" (Olshausen, etc.) or "stop the mouth," which Bishop Ellicott thinks is "perhaps the most common" and "the most suitable."£ So also Huther. It often means simply "to silence" (see Stephan, ’Thesaur.’), and is applied to wind instruments. Overthrow (ἀνατρέπουσι); as 2 Timothy 2:18, which shows the kind of overthrow here meant, that viz. of the faith of whole families, well expressed in the A.V. by "subvert." The phrase, οἰκίαςἀνατρέπειν, of the literal overthrow of houses, occurs in Plato (Alford). For filthy lucre’s sake; contrary to the apostolic precept to bishops and deacons (1 Timothy 3:3, 1 Timothy 3:8, and above, 1 Timothy 3:7). Polybius has a striking passage on the αἰσχροκερδεία of the Cretans, quoted by Bishop Ellicott (’Hist.,’ 6:146.3). Titus 1:12 A prophet for even a prophet, A.V.; Cretan, s for the Cretinous, A.V.; idle gluttons for slow bellies, A.V. A prophet of their own; viz. Epimenides, a native either of Phaestus or of Cnossus in Crete, the original author of this line, which is also quoted by Callimachus. Epimenides is here called a prophet, not simply as a poet, but from his peculiar character as priest, bard, and seer; called by Plato θεῖοςἀνήρ, and coupled by Cicero with Bacis the Bceotian prophet, and the sibyl (Bishop Ellicott); described by other ancient writers as a prophet (Alford); "everything we hear of him is of a priestly or religious nature" (’Dict. of Gr. and Romans Biogr. and Mythol.’). Cretans are always liars, etc. So truly was this their characteristic, that κρητίζειν was used to denote" telling lies"—"to lie like a Cretan" (Plutarch, etc.). From their general bad character arose the line, ΚρῆτεςΚαππάδοκοι, Κίλικεςτρίακάππακάκιστα; and Livy, Polybius, and Plutarch alike hear witness to their covetousness and dishonesty: ΤιςΚρητῶνοἴδεδικαιοσύνην; "When was there ever an upright Cretan?" asks Leonides in an ’ Epigram’. Evil beasts. Θήριον is "a wild beast;" applied to men as a term of reproach (1 Corinthians 15:32), it implies brutality, stupidity, unreasonableness, and, with the epithet κακά, mischief, like the French mechante bete. The ’Epigram’ above quoted calls them ληισταὶκαὶἁλιφθόροι, "pirates and wreckers." Idle gluttons; literally, idle bellies. The substantive denotes their gluttony and sensuality (comp. Romans 16:18; Philippians 3:19, where κοιλία is equivalent to γαστήρ), and the adjective their sloth (ἀργαί, i.e. ἀεργαί); in old Greek it is usually of the common gender. Titus 1:13 Testimony for witness, A.V.; for which cause for wherefore, A.V.; reprove for rebuke, A.V. Sharply (ἀποτομῶς); elsewhere only in 2 Corinthians 13:10 (see also Romans 11:22). That they may be sound (see Titus 2:2). The faithful pastor must use severity when it is necessary to the spiritual health of the flock, just as the skilful surgeon uses the knife to save the patient’s life. Titus 1:14 Who for that, A.V.; turn away for turn, A.V. Jewish fables (see 1 Timothy 1:4; 1 Timothy 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:4, where the Jewish origin of the fables is implied, though not so distinctly stated as here). Commandments of men (ἐντολαῖςἀνθρώπων); so in Colossians 2:22 the apostle speaks of the precepts "touch not," "taste not" (originating with the Judaizing teachers), as τὰἐντάλματακαὶδιδασκαλίαςτῶνἀνθρώπων (see following note). Turning away from (ἀποστρεφομένεν); see 2 Timothy 1:15, note. Titus 1:15 To for unto, A.V. (twice); nothing is for is nothing, A.V.; both for even, A.V.; their conscience for conscience, A.V.; are for is, A.V. To the pure, etc. This allusion shows dearly that the "commandments of men," here condemned, are of the same kind as those referred to in the above-quoted passage in the Colossians. We learn also from Romans 14:1-23.; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13.; and elsewhere, what were the kind of questions which agitated the Judaizing Christians. But St. Paul in a few wise words shows the utter worthlessness of such controversies. "To the pure all things are pure." "There is nothing from without a man," said our Lord, "that entering into him can defile him" (Mark 7:15); "Neither if we cat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse" (1 Corinthians 8:8); "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 14:17). But unto those that are defiled by what comes from within them, and have no faith (Romans 14:23), nothing is pure. Their mind and conscience, being defiled, defile everything they do. The words καθαρόν and μιαίνω are the proper words for ceremonial "cleanness" and "defilement" respectively. Titus 1:16 By their for in, A.V. They profess that they know God (comp. Romans 2:17-20). The arrogant claim to be God’s people and to superior holiness, while all the while they were denying God by their evil deeds, and bringing dishonor upon his Name among the Gentiles, was a marked feature of the Jews in St. Paul’s time. Abominable (βδελυκτοὶ); objects or causes of disgust; only here in the New Testament, but found in the LXX. But βδέλυγμα and βδελύσσομαι are not uncommon. Reprobate (ἀδόκιμοι); as 2 Timothy 3:8 (where see note). This picture of the circumcision is indeed sad. Titus 1:1-16 The ministry of character. The pastoral Epistles, and this chapter in particular, bring prominently before us the Christian ministry as of commanding importance in the scheme of Christianity. Christianity, the sum and substance of Christian doctrine, was to be diffused among all nations; and the great instrument for maintaining it in efficiency and power was to be the ministry. But in describing the ministerial qualifications the apostle lays so much stress upon the personal character of the ministers, as to make us feel that the Christian ministry of which he speaks is a ministry of character as much as of preaching, or teaching, or any other ministration. Looking at this side of the ministry, we learn that it is the purpose of the great Head of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, that his doctrine and the truth which he brought down from heaven should be presented to the world in the lives and characters of his accredited servants and ambassadors. Those servants of his were to be scattered among the people, "in every city," and every village, where the gospel message had been brought, and the people were not only to hear from their lips, but were to see in their lives, the nature and practical effect of the doctrine delivered to them. And, in truth, the eloquence of holy, loving, and self-denying lives is more persuasive than that of any words, however good and however beautiful. We feel, even after reading the words of the Master himself, and having felt their power, that there is a still greater power in that life and death, wherein were embodied, in all the beauty of love and goodness, the sublime precepts which he taught. While, therefore, we see the importance of a learned clergy, an eloquent clergy, an orthodox clergy, and withal a clergy of business habits, we shall do well to keep steadily in view the commanding and essential quality of high and consistent Christian character, showing itself in all the details of the daily intercourse of life. The clergy of the Church should be the epistle of Christ, known and read of all men in every place where they are located, as bishops, priests, or deacons. In their manner of life and whole conversation should be seen worked out in practice what the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is intended to effect in the renewal of human nature. Their conduct and character should be a living commentary on the Word of God which they preach to the people, and their silent argument for pressing it upon the people’s acceptance. And hence we may deduce the importance of a resident ministry. The functions of preaching and ministering the sacraments may be performed by strangers. The effectual sermon of a holy Christian life requires "elders" resident amidst the community to whom they preach. The pure morals, the well-ordered families, the meek and patient behavior under provocation, the kindly genial sympathies, the fair and equitable dealing, the sober gravity, the self-control and self-mastery of the servant of God, must be seen near in the daily intercourse of life, to be judged of and appreciated. It is the glory of the English Church that, by means of her endowments, she is able to place a minister of Christ to reside in every parish. Let every such minister remember that the interests of the Christian faith are bound up with his own manner of life and that of his household, and do his utmost endeavor that that life may be a faithful reflection of the grace of God, which teaches men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, while we wait for the appearing of the glory of our Savior Jesus Christ. BY T. . Titus 1:1-4 Apostolic address and salutation. The full representation which the apostle gives of his apostolic office is designed at once to mark the authority by which he gives the instructions that follow, and to serve as an index to the contents of the whole Epistle. I. THE CLAIMS OF THE APOSTLE. "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ." 1. He is a servant of God. Not, as he often describes himself, "a servant of Jesus Christ." The title seems to mark the relation (1) of one who had once been a slave to sin, but, having become free through Christ Jesus, was still, so far as obligation, service, and life were concerned, a servant of God; (2) his devotion to God after the type of Old Testament service, Moses and the prophets being pre-eminently called the "servants of God;" (3) his ministry in the service of a royal Master (Matthew 18:23-32), who makes him a member of his household, a pillar of his temple, a sharer of his throne (Revelation 3:21). 2. He is an apostle of Jesus Christ. This is a more exact definition of his office. (1) He had his commission and his doctrine from him. (2) He had all the signs and proofs of an apostle in him, for he had received power to work miracles as well as to declare Divine truth. (3) It is, therefore, vain and deceptive for any to assume the name who cannot show the signs of an apostle. II. THE END OF THE OFFICE. "For the faith of God’s elect, and the full knowledge of the truth which is after godliness." It was designed for the furtherance of the faith and knowledge of believers. 1. The apostle felt that he was appointed to preach the doctrine of faith, and to be the instrument of bringing men to the obedience of faith. (Romans 1:5; Romans 10:17.) (1) Therefore all claims to apostolic authority by men who have abandoned the faith, or overlaid it with error and superstition, are to be rejected by the Church of God. (2) All true faith rests on the Divine foreordination; for it is "the faith of God’s elect." Election is, therefore, not to be regarded as equivalent to faith, much less as its consequence (Ephesians 1:4); for it is its true cause. The Father is the Elector, as the Son is the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier. 2. The apostolic office was designed likewise to impart the full knowledge of the truth which is after godliness. (1) Truth is the object—the Word of truth, which comes from him who is the God of truth, who is Christ the Truth itself, who is the Spirit of truth. It was this truth that the apostle preached with all faithfullness and clearness. (2) Knowledge is the subjective aspect of it, and becomes ours through faith. (3) The fruit of this truth is "godliness" It is designed to promote holiness of life and character. It is impossible that this knowledge can be morally unfruitful. III. THE BASIS OF THIS TRUTH. "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before eternal times." The ground and condition of this truth is the hope of eternal life, which is the animating principle at once of the apostle and of the Church of God. 1. The principle of hope. The word occurs fifty-two times in the New Testament, and is always connected with God, with the Mediator, and with believers. (1) Its author is God, who is "the God of hope" (Romans 15:13), who has given us "a good hope through grace" (2 Thessalonians 2:16), and given us Christ as "our Hope," even "the Hope of glory." (2) Hope connects us with the future as memory with the past, and is intended to neutralize the materializing influence of earthly life around us. Thus, God has given us prophecy and promise to gratify the wants, the longings, and the anticipations of the human soul. 2. The object and sum of Christian hope. "Eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before eternal times." (1) This life is in Christ Jesus; "for the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). But it includes (a) the full fruition of God to all eternity; (b) the fellowship of the Redeemer’s throne; (c) the fullness of joy; (d) likeness to Christ. (2) It is eternal life, without a break in the happy continuity of bliss; for it is life without sin or death to mar its perfectness. It is eternal, because he is at once its Author and Support, as being that "Eternal Life that was with the Father" (1 John 1:2). (3) The age of this promise. "Before eternal times." (a) This is not merely before the times of the world, or (b) before the world began, (c) but really in the eternity past; because the reference is not to the covenants of Adam or Abraham, but to the covenant of redemption in Christ before the foundation of the world (2 Timothy 1:9-11). The apostle does not merely say that the promise of eternal life was the result of a Divine purpose fixed from eternity, but that it was made from eternity to believers, because it was made to Christ, whose members they are. It is impossible to understand the meaning of these words without reference to the federal transaction between the Father and the Son (Zechariah 6:13). This was the very "promise of life in Christ Jesus" of which the apostle speaks to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:1). (4) The guarantee for the fulfillment of this promise. "God, that cannot lie, promised" it. God gave both a promise and an oath to Abraham, that "by two immutable things, in which it was impossible that God should lie," we should have a sure hope (Hebrews 6:18). IV. THE OF THIS ANCIENT PROMISE. "But in his own seasons manifested his Word in the message wherewith I was entrusted, according to the commandment of God our Savior." 1. The manifestation was made in God’s own seasons. (1) It is not to be supposed that it was made only by the Apostle Paul, for it was made by the other apostles; and ages before their day it was manifested, with more or less clearness, under the Old Testament dispensation. (2) But the Apostle Paul was one of those specially entrusted with the Word, and specially with "the revelation of the mystery hid for ages" (Romans 16:25). 2. The Word of God, and the whole order and fullness of the Church, are to be regarded as the unfolding of the ancient promise of eternal life. 3. The Word is made manifest by preaching. (Romans 10:17.) Preaching is an institute peculiar to Christianity, which it formed for itself as its chosen mode of utterance. Christianity is not a philosophy or a thaumaturgy. It is propagated, not by priests, but by preachers. There are no priests in Christianity but the one High Priest of our profession, who, if he were on earth, would not be a priest (Hebrews 8:4). 4. The preaching is done in virtue of a Divine call or commission. "Wherewith I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior." All the ministries of the New Testament, high and low, are committed as trusts to the Church. Therefore a minister ought to have a true call from on high before accepting the responsibilities of office. The apostle was very emphatic in announcing his call to the apostleship, not as in any way due to his own wilt or wish, but to Divine command, it was the command of "God his Savior;" not the Son, but the Father—the usual phrase of the apostle being "according to the will of God" (2 Timothy 1:1). V. THE . "To Titus, my true son after the common faith." 1. The person thus addressed. (1) Titus was a pure Gentile. It is interesting to remember that the dearest friends and companions of the apostle’s life were Gentiles, and not Jews—such as Luke, Titus, and Timothy, who was half-Gentile. Was this leaning caused in any degree by the distrusts and enmities with which he was pursued through life by his Jewish countrymen? (2) Titus was, like Timothy, one of the apostle’s converts. This fact would endear him to the apostle’s heart. He was a genuine son of the apostle in virtue of the faith common to all Christians; implying that (a) there is but one faith (Ephesians 4:5); (b) one Object of faith, Jesus Christ; (c) one end of faith, eternal life. (3) Titus was evidently one of the apostle’s most trusty disciples, though he was less a companion than Timothy, and less allied to him on the terms of an affectionate intimacy. Titus was firm, strong, and capable, with adaptability in the way of administration and of repressing moral disorders among distracted or disturbed communities. 2. The greeting. "Grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior." (1) The blessings sought for Titus. "Grace and peace." (a) Grace is the full and eternal fountain of the goodness of God, opened to the wants of men in the blessed gospel; (b) peace is the blessing of the saints, to which they are called in one body, and the safeguard of heart and mind through him who is their Peace (Philippians 4:7). (2) The source of these blessings, alike God the Father and God the Son, as being equally the Author and Giver of all spiritual blessings. The whole structure of the Epistle is based on the doctrine of the Deity of Christ.—T.C. Titus’s commission in Crete. Its object was principally to supply the deficiencies in the Church organization of the island. I. THE SCENE OF TITUS’S LABORS—CRETE. 1. Its situation and history. It lies almost equidistant from Europe, Asia, and Africa; a large and populous island of the Mediterranean; the Caphtor of the Old Testament, and now known as Candia. It was a place of ancient civilization, noted for its hundred cities, and became a Roman possession about seventy years before Christ. 2. The foundation of the Cretan Church. This probably occurred immediately after Pentecost, for it is said that men of Crete were present on that occasion (Acts 2:11), and we know that the island abounded with Jews of wealth and influence. The false teachers in Crete were Judaists. There are several reasons for believing that the Church must have been a considerable time in existence. Time must be allowed for the development of heresy. Time must likewise be allowed for the growth of character and reputation, so that Titus, guided by the Church, might have no difficulty in selecting the right class of office-bearers. The fact, likewise, that the bishops were to "have believing children" affords a strong presumption that the Church must have been in existence at least twenty or thirty years. 3. Its existence without organization. The Church in Crete seems to have had no regular parties, the ordinances were probably in confusion, and though the power of heathenism had been broken in one of its quasi-strongholds, the Christians had not utterly escaped contamination. The state of matters in this interesting island proves (1) that there may be a true Church where there is no regular ministry. Thus there is no foundation for the theory that the clergy are the Church, or even essential to its existence, though they are necessary to its edification. (2) It proves also that a regular ministry is necessary. Therefore the arguments of Darbyites go for nothing. A ministry was specially needed to check the unruly and vain talkers in Crete, as well as to apply the sanctifying influence of the gospel, as well as a wholesome Christian discipline to the cure of moral disorders. II. THE SCORE OF TITUS’S LABORS. "For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou mightest set in order the things that were wanting, and ordain elders in every city." The apostle had himself successfully labored in the island, and the gospel had in consequence spread among many of its cities. But he had been summoned away from the scene before he could do anything to organize the community or regulate its varied Church life. He therefore sent Titus as his delegate to discharge this duty. 1. Titus was to set in order the things that were wanting. As Crete was a most luxurious and corrupt place, as heathenism affected its whole family and public life, as the Church bad got into disorder through its contiguity to paganism, or was unable to organize itself strongly in the face of a hostile world, Titus was left behind to fix the order and circumstances of public worship, including the celebration of Christian ordinances, to establish a godly discipline which would purify family life, to instruct the Cretans more fully in the doctrines of the gospel which were attacked by designing Judaists, and generally to superintend the development of all matters affecting Christian faith and practice. 2. He was to ordain elders in every city. (1) The elders were the pastors or teachers of congregations, and were so called on account of their age and gravity of manner. They were also called "bishops" (verse 2; Acts 20:17, Acts 20:28), on account of their office as overseers of the flock. It is now universally conceded that these names are but different designations of the same office-bearers. We read in Scripture of "bishops and deacons" (Philippians 1:1), but never of "bishops and elders," simply because bishops and deacons represent two different orders, but bishops and eiders do not. These bishops were simply the pastors of congregations. (2) There were several elders in each congregation. Titus was "to ordain elders in every city," that is, a plurality of elders for each Church. There was certainly a plurality in several Churches (Acts 14:23; Acts 15:22). (3) These elders were to be ordained or solemnly set apart to their office. (a) The word "ordain" throws no light on the question whether the appointment took place with or without the co-operation of the Church. But the same word is used in the account of the ordination of the deacons who were chosen by the Christian people (Acts 6:3). In another case (Acts 14:23) the ordination of elders did not take place without the co-operation of the Church, which selected by a show of hands, as the word signifies, the candidates for ordination. The directions given by the apostle to Titus with regard to the qualifications of elders imply that the choice lay, not with Titus, who was a complete stranger to Crete, but with the body of the Christian people who were familiarly acquainted with the private work and public gifts of believers. (b) The ordination was the act of Titus, who was the delegate of the apostle. It is not improbable that Zenas and Apollos, who were then in Crete, were associated with him in the act of ordination. It is now generally admitted that he was net appointed permanent Bishop of Crete, for his stay was designed to be short (Titus 3:12). This whole passage proves the importance of Church organization, while it presupposes a certain amount of Christian knowledge and feeling, among the members of the Cretan Church.—T.C. Titus 1:6, Titus 1:7 The character of bishops—their negative qualifications. The apostle first mentions their qualifications in a moral point of view before he speaks of their duties as teachers. I. . The minister must be one against whom no charge can be brought. His name must be spotless (1 Corinthians 1:8; Colossians 1:22). The Church must be able to respect him. 1. Because he must be an example to the believers. 2. Because he could not otherwise consistently check or reprove the blameworthy ways of others. (Titus 1:13.) Christian life in Crete was unsound both as to morals and doctrine. 3. Because as "a steward of God" he has grave responsibilities, both to God and to the flock. He must be both wise and faithful in relation to the "house of God … the Church of the living God" (1 Timothy 3:15), which is entrusted to his keeping. II. THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE. His family relationships are of much moment, for polygamy was the established rule of heathenism. 1. This passage does not make the marriage of ministers compulsory, as it is in the case of priests in the Greek Church. 2. It is totally inconsistent with the principle of the celibacy of ministers in the Church of Rome. 3. It does not prevent the second marriage of a minister, which is sanctioned by Scripture. (Romans 7:1; l Corinthians Romans 7:8, Romans 7:9, 39.) 4. It simply condemns polygamy. III. THE CONDUCT OF HIS . "Having believing children, who are not accused of riot or unruly." 1. The bishop will be judged by his family life. The family is the nursery of the Church, and these two societies act and react upon each other reciprocally, so that a bad or weak or injudicious father can never be an efficient or respected minister. If he cannot rule his children, how can he rule the Church of God (1 Timothy 3:5)? 2. His children ought to be: (1) Believers, adorning the doctrine of the gospel by purity and obedience. There must be evidence that they have been brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (2) They ought to be free from the imputation of dissoluteness. There must be no ill reports concerning profligacy. (3) They must not be unruly, that is, disobedient to parents. Those ministers would be unfit to govern the Church whose authority was disregarded by their own children. The minister’s home in Crete was, therefore, to be a pattern of order, purity, and piety. IV. NOT SELF-WILLED. The elder ought not to cherish: 1. A self-loving spirit, which leads to the disregard of the rights, or claims, or feelings of others. 2. A haughty and imperious temper. One who is both obstinate and proud can have no influence over his flock, tie ought to be humble, easy to be entreated, able to rule his own spirit, and considerate to others. V. NOT SOON ANGRY. 1. He ought to have a temper not quickly provoked by contradiction or evil-speaking. Many tongues will be busy with him, as many eyes will be watchfully turned upon his walk. 2. He ought to remember the temper of his Master, "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again." He ought to be "slow to wrath," and imitate the Divine long-suffering and patience. VI. NO BRAWLER. The word suggests the conduct of one insolent through wine, quarrelsome and furious. The minister must not only abstain from drunkenness, but avoid the passionate folly of men carried away by this sin. VII. NO STRIKER. He must never lift his hand against his fellows. 1. He is the peacemaker of his parish. 2. How can he restrain the violence of others if he cannot hold his own hands? VIII. NOT GIVEN TO FILTHY LUCRE. 1. Covetousness is idolatry in a minister as well as in the members of his flock. It implies the existence of a divided heart. 2. An avaricious temper is condemned by the example of Christ, who, "though he was rich, became poor" to make many rich. 3. It is a peculiarly heinous sin to make a gain of godliness. 4. A covetous minister will seek his own things, not the things of Jesus Christ.—T.C. The bishop’s positive qualifications. I. BUT A LOVER OF . 1. This trait was specially suitable to a time when Christians, travelling from one place to another, were in the habit of receiving kindly entertainment from brethren. 2. This habit may bring blessing to our houses. Some have thereby "entertained angels unawares" (Hebrews 13:2). 3. It recommends the gospel to find its ministers ready at all times to feed the hungry, opening heart and house to the poor and needy (Luke 14:13). 4. Yet the hospitality is not to be that of luxury or sensuality. II. A LOVER OF GOOD. It points to a heart in sympathy with everything good and noble and of good report, as opposed to the corrupt tendencies at work in Cretan society. III. SORER. 1. The word points to the stir-restraint which controls the passions, in accordance with the dictates of conscience, reason, and the gospel of Christ. It is opposed to the irascibility already condemned in ministers (Titus 1:7). 2. It points to sobriety of intellect; for the minister must not be led away by false enthusiasm, or entangled with spiritual fanaticism. He is to follow quietly the even tenor of his way, under the guidance of truth. IV. JUST. 1. There must be the full recognition of the rights of others. 2. There must be such a management of pastoral duty that poor and rich, ignorant and learned, will be treated with the most impartial fairness. There must he "no respect of persons." 3. There must be no casting of stumbling-blocks in the way of others. 4. There must be sincerity, uprightness, and faithfulness in admonitions and counsels. V. HOLY. The minister must he true in his relations to God. 1. He rejoices to be numbered with the company of the saints. 2. His conduct must flow from a holy heart, as the effect of a new heart. 3. His holiness must rebuke the ungodly, and make his words like ointment poured forth. 4. It implies a separateness of walk, like him "who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." VI. . This word points to eating and drinking, to lusts of the flesh, to abstinence even from things lawful for the sake of peace and the glory of God.—T.C. The bishop’s qualification as to doctrine. The apostle reserves to the last place the most important of all the qualifications needed by elders. I. THE DUTY OF TO THE TRUTH. "Holding fast the faithful Word which is according to the teaching." 1. The doctrine of the gospel is "the faithful word:" (1) Because it contains nothing but the truth. (2) Because it never deceived any that trusted in it. (3) Because it truly displays the faithfulness of God. 2. It is no mere subjective opinion of the preacher, but is based upon or in agreement with the teaching of the apostles. "Which is according to the teaching." The truth is not to be discovered by the preacher, but delivered to him. 3. It is to be steadfastly maintained. The preacher is not to allow it to be wrested from his grasp by false teachers. The apostle was always emphatic as to the importance of this duty. "Hold fast the form of sound doctrine, which thou heardest from me" (2 Timothy 1:13); "Continue thou in the things thou hast learned" (2 Timothy 3:14). It was a powerful lever in his hands for moving the hearts of men. II. THE DESIGN OF THIS . "That he may be able both to exhort in the sound doctrine and to convince the gainsayers." 1. The preacher must be qualified for exhortation in the sphere of a sound, healthy, practical teaching. This implies that men had some knowledge of the truth, but they need to be persuaded to follow it rather than a morbid and unpractical teaching that can in no way minister to edification. 2. He must be qualified to refute the arguments of false teachers. And nothing is so powerfully conducive to this end as sound doctrine firmly held and wisely applied.—T.C. Titus 1:10-13 The character of the adversaries at Crete. They were within the communion of the Christian Church. It was, therefore, all the more necessary that the ministers should be holy, laborious, and uncorrupt. I. THE MORAL AND OF THESE . "For there are many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision." 1. They were refractory. Though standing in Church relationships, they refused all obedience, and pursued purely factious and divisive courses, that led to the subversion of discipline and the distraction of families. Such persons mar the prosperity of many a Church. 2. They were vain talkers. Corruption quickly makes its way from the heart to the lips, and flows forth in glib and empty babbling. (1) There is no allusion here to heresy, for the vain talking is merely opposed to useful and solid doctrine. The teachers were fluent and superficial, speaking, perhaps, great swelling words of vanity, which were of no profit to the hearers. (2) The tongue was made for speaking, but it is the Lord’s will that it should always he used for iris glory. It ought to be the utterer of the "wisdom that is from above," which is "first pure, then peaceable." (3) Vain talkers are the pest of Churches and families, sowing the seeds of distrust and turning men’s minds against the gospel. 3. They were deceivers. They deceived others by their good words and fair speeches, their vain speculations and their dexterous arguments, and thus became very dangerous persons. 4. They were of "the circumcision" party in the Church. (1) They were members of the Church, and therefore in a position to do much mischief. (2) They were Judaizing Christians, who blended the Law and the gospel, teaching that circumcision was necessary to salvation. (3) They were the persistent enemies of the Apostle Paul through his whole life, and thwarted him in his labors in every part of Asia and Europe. II. THE EFFECT OF THEIR . "Subverting whole houses." They pursued a process of sapping and mining, subverting the faith (2 Timothy 2:18), and bringing whole families to disorder and ruin. It was not a case of mischief done to a few isolated individuals. Thus they undermined the peace and stability of the Church itself. III. THE MOTIVE OF THEIR . "Teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake." The real root of the evil is laid bare by the apostle. It was a sordid love of gain. Therefore the teaching was such as would accommodate itself to the prejudices of men. These men had no regard for God’s honor, for the interest of Christ, or for the welfare of souls; they only sought to increase their worldly substance by gaining popular applause. 1. Money in itself is no evil, for it has no moral character. It is only a blessing or a curse according to the use that is made of it. 2. "The love of money is the root of all evil? It leads men to dishonor God, to ignore the claims of truth, to sacrifice the peace of the Church. The Pharisees in our Lord’s time devoured widows’ houses. How many people still sacrifice religion so far as they imagine it to conflict with their worldly advancement!" 3. The motive of these Cretan adversaries was baser than if it had been mere fanaticism or the love of proselytism. (Matthew 23:15.) IV. THE OF THE APOSTLE’S STRONG THEM. "One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons." This testimony is true. These words refer not to "those of the circumcision," but to the inhabitants of Crete, who had generally welcomed the injurious teaching referred to. 1. The apostle’s quotation of a heathen poet, Epimenides, shows that it is not improper for Christians to study the literature of heathen nations. Classical studies were once, on moral grounds, discouraged by the Church. Calvin says that nothing learned ought to be rejected, even though it should proceed from "the godless." 2. The quotation is the unbiased judgment of a Cretan poet, held in high honor for so-called prophetical gifts. It represents the character of the Cretans in the darkest light, as if to justify a heathen proverb, "The three worst C’s in the world are Cappadocia, Crete, and Cilicia." (1) "Cretans are always liars." This estimate is fully borne out by profane writers, as well as by the proverb that makes "Cretizing" synonymous with "deception." (2) They were evil beasts. In allusion to their fierceness, their wildness, their cruelty. (3) They were "idle gluttons." They were sensual and slothful, corpulent and idle, and therefore fit disciples of teachers whose "god was their belly," and were content to eat the bread of others without working. 3. The apostle endorses this heathen testimony, showing that the Cretans had not changed their national character in six hundred years. V. THE TRUE METHOD OF DEALING WITH THE CRETAN . "Whose mouths must be stopped." 1. This does not warrant civil persecution. 2. It warrants the use of cogent arguments to silence gainsayers, such as those by which our Lord silenced the Sadducees and the Pharisees, as well as the use of faithful and stringent discipline to repress ecclesiastical and moral disorders. The adversaries were to be opposed by reason, faithfulness, and love, above all, by the faithful preaching of the gospel in its positive as well as its negative aspects.—T.C. Titus 1:13, Titus 1:14 The necessity of godly rebuke. At this point the apostle drops the reference to bishops, and lays upon Titus himself the duty of applying the proper remedy. I. THE UTILITY OF REBUKE. "Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith." The nature of the people demanded sharp treatment. "Sharpness and severity are but the other side of love itself, when the wounds can only be healed by cutting." Ministers are sent to give rebuke (Jeremiah 44:4; Micah 3:8). 1. They may give it privately. 2. Or publicly (1 Timothy 5:20). 3. Fearlessly (Ezekiel 2:3-7). 4. With all authority (Titus 2:15). 5. With long-suffering (2 Timothy 4:2). 6. If sharply, yet with Christian love (2 Thessalonians 3:15). 7. The good receive rebuke (1) kindly (Psalms 141:5); (2) with love to those who administer it (Proverbs 9:8; Proverbs 24:25); (3) they attend to rebuke (Proverbs 15:5). II. THE DESIGN OF THE REBUKE. "That they may be sound in the faith." It was: 1. That they might be recovered from their errors, and receive sound doctrine, and use sound speech that cannot be condemned. 2. That they may be sound in the grace of faith, and manifest it by departing from their evil works. This soundness of faith is described negatively by their "not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth." (1) Jewish fables. These are mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:4; 1 Timothy 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:4. They were, no doubt, rabbinical, and ultimately crystallized into the Talmud. Our Lord condemned them (Matthew 15:3). The traditionary principle has, in spite of this warning, spread widely in the Church. We see it in the Latin Church, in the Greek Church, in Islamism. It is, in fact, the ruling principle of all these communities, which have no real love for the Scriptures. (2) The commandments of men. (a) They stand in antithesis to the commandments of God (Matthew 15:9; Colossians 2:22). (b) They evidently were of a ceremonial character, and involved ascetic peculiarities, touching the question of abstinence from meats, and from other things created by God for man’s enjoyment. (c) Their origin was evil, for they sprang from men turning away from the truth. It was not merely Mosaical prohibitions with regard to food that they enforced, but ascetic additions and exaggerations in the spirit of the later Gnosticism. The course of these men was downward. They were departing fast from the gospel.—T.C. A great counter-Principle against this ascetic tendency. "Unto the pure all things are pure: but to the defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled." I. THE OF THE PURE. 1. The pure are not those ceremonially pure, but those (1) justified from all sin by Christ’s righteousness; (2) clean through the Word spoken to them; (3) with hearts purified by faith; (4) with the graces of faith unfeigned, love without dissimulation, and hope without hypocrisy. 2. Their privilege, purchased by the blood of Christ, was the lawful liberty of using all meats under the gospel which were forbidden by the ceremonial law. (1) Jesus had taught that defilement conies from the heart, not from the shambles (Luke 11:39-41). (2) The Church solemnly at Jerusalem decreed the abolition of this old distinction of meats (Acts 15:1-41.). 3. The apostle elsewhere teaches the same truth. "For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for that man that eateth with offense" (Romans 14:20). All meats are pure to the pure in heart. 4. The distinction of meats among Roman Catholics tends to the neglect of the Divine Law altogether. People on the Continent go to balls on the Lord’s day who will feel their souls in danger from eating an egg on Friday. 5. The saying of the apostle has an almost proverbial east; for it asserts that "all things"—that is, more than mere food—may have a purifying tendency in the case of the pure. Nothing is unclean of itself, but good, and to be received with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:3-5). II. THE MORAL OF THE IMPURE. It is that they pollute all they touch, and everything becomes the means of increasing their depravity. 1. There is nothing impure or evil in creation; it is in the mind and heart of men; these can turn the choicest gifts of God into the means of moral defilement. 2. Unbelief is the fountain from which all the evil flows; for to the "defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure." The worshippers may, by their distinctions of food, only foster pride and self-righteousness; but all alike springs from unbelief, which disregards the authority of the Word of God. 3. The impurity is not merely external, such as many dread, but internal; for it extends to "the mind and conscience," to the whole intellectual, volitional, and moral nature of man. Thus the last safeguard of the soul disappears, as the retribution upon man’s neglect of God, truth, and purity. There is no longer a taste for the simple truth of the gospel, but a frightful facility for self-deception.—T.C. The great contradiction. The apostle here describes their moral deficiency. "They confess that they know God, but in works they deny him." I. THEY WERE MERE OF , ITS FORM BUT DENYING ITS POWER. 1. Their knowledge of God was purely theoretical or speculative, but they were practical atheists. 2. Hypocrites often profess great knowledge of God. 3. Even in apostolic times the communion of the Church was considerably mixed. There is no trace of a pure Church anywhere on earth. The Church in Crete had unbelievers in its visible membership. II. THEIR DENIAL OF GOD TOOK A MOST SHAPE. Their conduct gave the lie to their profession. They wore: 1. Abominable in the sight of God. They were morally abandoned. They were as hateful in the sight of God as the idols of the nations. 2. Disobedient. They were refractory and incorrigible, despising all order and repudiating obligation. 3. Reprobate unto every good work. They were as useless for the service of God as reprobate silver, which cannot bear the fire of the refiner. (1) They did no good works. (2) They had neither knowledge nor inclination to do good works. (3) Therefore they were quite useless in the service of God and man.—T.C. BY W.M. STATHAM Christian ministry. "A servant of God." One of the great revelations of the gospel is the dignity of service. "To be ministered unto" was the end of Roman ambition. Pride and precedence ruled supreme. The Jews sought to be "Herods;" the Gentiles sought for consulships and proctorships. Everywhere we see patrician selfishness in proud palaces, and, as a dark opposite, whole colonies of slaves. The words that fell from the lips of the Master were illustrated in his life: "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." I. A SERVANT OF A STRONG MASTER. God! None can stand against him. In the end sin will reveal its weakness. It may storm and plot and fume against his will, but it is impotent at heart. "The Lord reigneth." The dominion of sin is undermined, and through the cross its leadership in the prince of this world is destroyed. Christ is "henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." He must reign! II. A SERVANT OF A KIND MASTER. One who will not expect more service than we can render, and who knows and appreciates the kited of service we can render, and who will "reward every man according to his works." Kind in the law of service, which is a law of blessedness; causing it to be not a yokedom, but the joy of a child’s freedom. "Blessed are they that do his will." Happiness never to be attained when sought as an end, is here found in the highway of duty. III. A SERVANT OF A MASTER. One who will stand by his servants in all times of disheartenment, obloquy, and difficulty. One who keeps his promises, so that they are all "Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus." Ever faithful to his holy tryst. "Draw nigh unto God, and he will draw nigh unto you." Faithful to his vouchsafed protection. "Giving his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." Faithful to the great Messianic promise, that to his Son "shall the gathering of the people be." Paul gloried in such a service, and he would have Titus know him by no higher name than "a servant of God."—W.M.S. Truth and life. "The truth which is after godliness." This was to be "acknowledged" or obeyed. For truth is not a library for the leisurely, or a mine for the curious. It is the present truth—the practical truth; a truth that is always to be translated into life. I. THIS IS A DIVINE TEST OF TRUTH. "After godliness." Like inspiration, it is profitable for instruction in righteousness. It is a seed whose preciousness is tested by the golden grain in its ripened ear. It does not produce a mere "pietism" or sentimental emotionalism; it produces godliness. Some are valiant for theoretical and doctrinal truths who bring forth no "fruit unto holiness." We are able to take the vantage-ground of Christian history, and to argue that there are no lives like Christian lives: that in this type of character are all the essentials of godliness—a life within, which cleanses the heart, energizes the will, quickens the conscience, elevates the taste, and purifies and sanctifies the life. This is the Divine test of truth: "By those fruits ye shall know them." II. THIS IS A DIVINE MARK OF THE . Paul claims to be "an apostle of Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect." He does not say that the evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, gave sacred and special commission to him; for there is no record that they did. He does not claim, like Peter, to have been with Christ on the holy mount; or to have been with those disciples who were with Christ at his ascension, when "he led them out as far as to Bethany, and lifted up his hands and blessed them," or to have heard the command then given, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Nor does he rest his apostolate on anything ceremonial or formal alone. By the manifestation of the truth he commended himself to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. The truth of his message was one ground of authority and the godliness of it another, and those two bases of authority—truth and goodness—are strong and eternal. None can shake the temple built on such granite foundations as these. Philosophies may change and councils may err, but these abide forever. So Titus had to learn that his ministry was connected with a truth that must be lived, as well as a truth that must be taught.—W.M.S. The immortal hope. "In hope of eternal life." How often these words have been inscribed over the resting-place of the dead! How restful they are! How such inscriptions in the dark catacombs tell of the new and blessed era that Christianity introduced! But it would be a mistake to connect them only with heaven. "This is life eternal," we read, "to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." I. HOPE AND LIFE ARE HERE . It was not so in paganism. Men lost hope. They lived in and for the present day, and when tired of life committed suicide. Hope, such as the great Christian hope, brightens all human duties and joys. Life is real and earnest, all through the years. Age does not dim the brightness of the eye of the soul. So "we are saved by hope"—saved from ennui, disheartenment, and misery. We find Paul rejoicing in hope and patient in tribulation because of the life within, that was hid with Christ in God. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/pulpit-commentary/ Titus 2:1 Befit for become, A.V.; the sound for sound, A.V. But speak thou, etc. The apostle now brings out, in full couldst with the vain talk of the heretical teachers, the solid, sober teaching of a true man of God, in harmony with the sound doctrine of the gospel of Christ. The sound doctrine (τῇὑγιαινούσῃδιδασκαλία); as in 1 Timothy 1:10 (where see note). In 1 Timothy 6:1 ἡδιδασκαλία by itself means "the Christian faith," "the doctrine of the gospel." The varying phrases, ἡκαλὴδιδασκαλία, ἡκατεὐσεβείανδιδασκαλία, and ἡὑγιαινοῦσαδιδασκαλία, all mean the same thing, with varying descriptive qualifications (see 1 Timothy 6:10). The article "the" is not required. Titus 2:2 Aged for the aged, A.V.; temperate for sober, A.V.; sober-minded for temperate, A.V.; love for charity, A.V. Temperate (νηφάλιος); as 1 Timothy 3:2, (where see note). Grave (σεμνούς); as 1 Timothy 3:8, 1 Timothy 3:11 (see too 1 Timothy 2:2; 1 Timothy 3:4). Sober-minded (σώφρονας); as Titus 1:8, note. Sound (ὑγιαίνοντας); see Titus 1:1, note, and Titus 1:13, where, as here, the word is applied to persons, as it is in its literal sense in 3 John 1:2. Faith … love … patience. We have the same triad in 1 Timothy 6:11. In 1 Corinthians 13:13 we find "faith, hope, love." In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 the apostle joins "work of faith, labor of love," and "patience of hope," which last phrase seems almost to identify patience and hope (cutup. too Romans 8:25; Romans 15:4). We must not miss the important warning, not only to have some kind of faith, love, and patience, but to be healthy and vigorous in our faith, love, and patience. There is a puny faith, a sickly love. and a misdirected patience. Titus 2:3 That for the, A.V; be reverent in demeanor for that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, A.V.; slanderers for false accusers, A.V.; nor for not, A.V.; enslaved for given, A.V.; that which is good for good things, A.V. Reverent (ἱεροπρεπεῖς); only here in the New Testament, twice in 4 Maccabees; it is not uncommon in classical Greek. The word means "becoming a holy person, place, or matter;" otherwise expressed in 1 Timothy 2:10, "which becometh women professing godliness;" and Ephesians 5:3, "as becometh saints." In demeanor (ἐνκαταστήματι; Of much wider meaning than καταστολή in 1 Timothy 2:7); here only in the New Testament, once in 3Ma 5:45, "a state" or "condition," spoken of elephants; and so in classical Greek, applied to a man, to health, to the air, or the body politic. Here mien, demeanor, or deportment, including, as St. Jerome expounds it, the movements of the body, the expression of the countenance, what is said, and what is left unsaid. The whole habit and composition or structure of mind and body is to be ἱερόπρεπες, what becomes a holy woman. Slanderers (διαβόλους); as 1 Timothy 3:1-16. (q.v.). Nor enslaved to much wine. Observe the fitness of the phrase "enslaved." The drunkard is thoroughly the slave of his vicious appetite (cutup. TitusTit 3:3; Romans 6:16; 2 Peter 2:19). Teachers of that which is good (καλοδιδασκάλους); only here in the New Testament, not found in the LXX., or in classical Greek; teachers, by their holy demeanor as well as by their words. For as Ignatius (quoted by Ellicott) says of the Bishop of the Trallians, "His very demeanor (αὐτὸτὸκατάστημα) was a great lesson (μοθητεία)." Titus 2:4 Train for teach … to be sober, A.V. Train (σωφρονίζωσι); only here in the New Testament, not found in the LXX., but common in classical Greek in the sense of to "correct," "control," or "moderate," which is its meaning here. Ellicott renders it "school". The A.V. "teach to be sober" is manifestly wrong. To love their husbands (φιλάνδρουςεἷναι); here only in the New Testament, not found in the LXX., but occasionally, in this sense, in classical Greek. To love their children (φιλοτέκνους); here only in the New Testament, not found in the LXX. except in 4Ma 15:4, but not uncommon in classical Greek. Titus 2:5 Sober-minded for discreet, A.V.; workers for keepers, A.V. and T.R.; kind for good, A.V.; being in subjection for obedient, A.V. Sober-minded (σώφρονας); as in Titus 2:2 and Titus 1:8; 1 Timothy 3:2. "Discreet" is nearer the sense than "sober-minded." Perhaps the French sage is nearer still. Workers at home (οἰκουργούς, for the T.R. οἰκουρούς). Neither word occurs elsewhere in the New Testament or in the LXX., nor does οἰκουργός in classical Greek. But οἰκουρός, which is probably the true reading (Huther), is common in good classical Greek for "stayers at home." It is derived from οἷκος and οὗρος, a "keeper." Kind (ἀγαθάς). The idea of kindness or good nature seems to be the side of goodness here intended; as we say, "He was very good to me" (so Matthew 20:15 and 1 Peter 2:18). Kindness is the leading idea in ἀγαθός. Obedient (ὑποτασσόμενας). These identical words occur in 1 Peter 3:1 (see too Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18). That the Word of God be not blasphemed (see 1 Timothy 6:1). St. Paul complains that the Name of God was blasphemed among the Gentiles on account of the evil deeds of the Jews (Romans 2:24; see Ezekiel 36:20-23). Our Lord, on the other hand, exhorts that Christians, by their good works, should lead men to glorify their Father which is in heaven. The passage before us shows how much the honor of Christianity is bound up with the faithful discharge by Christians of the simple domestic duties of life. In truth, the family is the chief seat, and often the main test, of Christian virtue, as it is the distinctive feature of humanity as ordained by God. Titus 2:6 The younger for young, A.V. The younger (see 1 Peter 5:5, where, however, the νεώτεροι are contrasted with the πρεσβύτεροι, as in 1 Timothy 5:1; here with πρεσβύτας in 1 Timothy 5:2). Titus 2:7 An ensample for a pattern, A.V.; thy doctrine for doctrine, A.V.; R.T. omits sincerity (ἀφθαρσίαν), which is in the T.R. In all things (περὶπάντα); as 1 Timothy 1:19 (περὶτὴνπίστιν); "concerning, in the matter of" (Ellicott on 1 Timothy 1:19). St. Jerome and others connect these words with the preceding clause, "to be sober-minded in all things." But it is usually taken as in the text, "in all things showing thyself," etc. Showing thyself, etc. With regard to the somewhat unusual addition of the reflexive pronoun to the verb in the middle voice, Bishop Ellicott remarks, "Emphasis and perspicuity are gained" by it. An ensample (τύπον). Huther remarks that this is the only passage in the New Testament where τύπος is followed by a genitive of the thing. In 1 Timothy 4:12 the genitive is of the person to whom the example is given, in word, in conversation, etc., and in 1 Peter 5:3, τύποςτοῦπομνίου. Of good works (comp. Titus 3:8). Note the stress laid by St. Paul upon Christian practice as the result of sound doctrine. Mere talk is absolutely worthless. Uncorruptness (ἀφθορίαν, or, as T.R., ἀδιαφθορίαν); only here in the New Testament, and not in the LXX. or in classical Greek. Ἀφθορία has the best manuscript authority; but the sense of ἀδιαφθορία as deduced from the good classical word ἀδιάφθορος, which means among other things "incorruptible"—not to be influenced by entreaties or bribes—seems to make it preferable. The word describes the quality of the teacher rather than of his doctrine. He is to preach the truth without fear or favor. Gravity (σεμνότητα); as 1 Timothy 2:2; 1 Timothy 3:4. This, again, is a quality of the teacher. These accusatives depend upon παρεχόμενος. But the construction of the sentence is somewhat irregular for brevity’s sake. Titus 2:8 Us for you, A.V. and T.R. Sound speech (λόγονὑγιῆ); still depending upon παρεχύμενος. Besides his personal qualities as a teacher, his speech, or doctrine, must be sound. The word, common of bodily health, is only here applied to speech or doctrine; the common phrase in the pastoral Epistles is ὑγιασινούσηδιδασκαλία, ὑγιαίνουσιλόγοις, and the like. That cannot be condemned (ἀκατάγνωστον); only here in the New Testament, once in 2Ma 4:27. This marks the care that the Christian teacher must take not to say anything in his teaching rash, or reprehensible, or that can give offence or cause the ministry to be blamed. May be ashamed (ἐντραπῇ). In the active voice ἐντρέπειν is "to put to shame" (1 Corinthians 4:14), and in classical Greek. In the middle voice ἐντρέπομαι, followed by a genitive of the person, or an accusative in later Greek, means to "respect, reverence" (Matthew 21:37; Luke 18:2, etc.). In the passive, as here and 2 Thessalonians 3:14, it means "to be put to shame," "to be ashamed" (comp. Psalms 34:4 LXX., 35:40. (Compare, for the sentiment, 1 Peter 2:15; 1 Peter 3:16; and note the frequent resemblances between the pastoral Epistles and those of St. Peter.) The shame of the detractors consists in their being put to silence, having nothing to say, being proved to be slanderers. No evil thing (μηδὲνφαῦλον); as James 3:16; John 3:20; John 5:29. The word means "mean, worthless, paltry," and is hence synonymous with Titus 2:9 In subjection to for obedient unto, A.V.; be well-pleasing to them for please them well, A.V.; gainsaying for answering gain, A.V. Servants; i.e. dares (δούλους), the correlative to which is δεσπόταις, masters, who had absolute power over their slaves, and property in them. The construction is carried on from the "exhort" of Titus 2:6. Well-pleasing (εὐαρέστους); elsewhere spoken with reference to God (Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 5:9; Ephesians 5:10, etc.). In all things (ἐνπᾶσιν); nearly the same as περὶπάντα in Titus 2:7; to be taken with εὐαρέστους. Some, however, connect the words with ὑποτάσσεσθαι, "to be obedient in all things." Gainsaying (ἐντιλέγοντας); as in Titus 1:9 (see note). Here, however, the" answering again" of the A.V. is a better rendering. It implies, of course, a resistance to the will of their master, and impatience of any rebuke. Titus 2:10 Purloining (νοσφιζομένους); literally, separating for their own use what does not belong to them. So Acts 5:2, Acts 5:3, "to keep back part." It is used in the same sense by the LXX. Joshua 7:1 of Achan, and 2Ma 4:32 of Menelaus, and occasionally in classical Greek (Xenophon, Polybius, etc.). Showing (ἐνδεικνυμένους). It occurs eleven times in the New Testament, viz. twice in Hebrews, and nine times in St. Paul’s acknowledged Epistles. All good fidelity. All fidelity means fidelity in everything where fidelity is required in a faithful servant—care of his master’s property, conscientious labor, keeping of time, acting behind his master’s back the same as before his face. The singular addition ἀγαθήν, coming after ἐνδεικνυμένους, must mean, as Bengel says, "in all good things." The duty of fidelity does not extend to crime or wrong-doing. The word "good" is like the addition in the oath of canonical obedience, "in all honest things," and is a necessary limitation to the preceding "all" (see Titus 3:1, and note). The doctrine (τὴνδιδασκαλίον) as in verse 1 (where see note). In Titus 1:9 (where see note) ἡδιδαχή is used in the same way. This use of διδασκαλία is confirmed by the reading of the R.T., which inserts a second τήν before τοῦσωτῆρος. Adorn the doctrine. The sentiment is the same as that in 1 Peter 2:12; 1 Peter 4:11. Christians are exhorted to give glory to God, and support and honor to the gospel of God’s grace, by their good works and holy lives. God our Savior (see 1 Timothy 1:1; 1 Timothy 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:10; and above, Titus 1:3, note). In all things (ἐνπᾶσιν); as 1 Peter 4:11. Titus 2:11 Hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, for that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, A.V. and T.R. Bringing salvation to all men (σωτήριος). The R.T. omits the article ἡ before σωτήριος, which necessitates construing πᾶσινἀνθρώποις with σωτήριος, "saving to all men" "bringing salvation to all men." With the article ἡ as in the T.R., it may be taken either way, but it is rather more natural to construe πᾶσινἀθρώποις with ἐπεφάνη, "hath appeared to all men." The meaning of the phrase, "hath appeared to all men," is the same as the saying in the song of Simeon, "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people" (Luke 2:30, Luke 2:31; comp. Colossians 1:6). The gospel is not a hidden mystery, but is proclaimed to the whole world. Σωτήριος as an adjective is found only here in the New Testament, in Wis. 1:14 and 3 Macc. 7:18, and frequently in classical Greek. Titus 2:12 Instructing for teaching, A.V.; to the intent that for that, A.V.; and righteously for righteously, A.V. Instructing us, to the intent that. This is an unnecessary refinement. Huther is right in saying that the sentence beginning with ἵνα might have been expressed by the infinitive mood, as in 1 Timothy 1:20, and that we ought to render it not "in order that," but simply "that." The phrase in 1 Timothy 1:20, ἵναπαιδευθῶσιμὴβλασφημεῖν, manifestly would justify the phrase, παιδεύουσαἡμᾶςζῆνδικαίως, "teaching us to live righteously." Alford surely is wrong in saying that the universal New Testament sense of παιδεύειν is "to discipline," i.e. teach by correction. In Acts 7:22; Acts 22:3; 1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 2:25, the idea of teaching, not of correcting, is predominant. But even if it was so, the pastoral Epistles are so decidedly classical in their use of words, that the classical use of παιδεύειν in such phrases as παιδεύειντινακιθαρίζειν or σώφροναεἴναι (Liddell and Scott)is an abundant justification of a similar rendering of this passage And as regards the use ἵνα, such phrases as Εἰπὲἵναοἱλίθοιοὗτοιἄρτοιγενῶνται, "Command that these stones become bread" (Matthew 4:3; Matthew 20:21; Luke 4:3; Luke 10:40); Διεστείλατο … ἵναμηδενὶεἴπωσιν, "He commanded them not to tell" (Matthew 16:20); Συμφέρειαὐτῷἴνα, "It is profitable for him that" (Matthew 18:6); Προσεύχεσθεἵνα, "Pray that" (Matthew 24:20); Παρεκάλειαὐτὸνἵναμή, "He besought him not to send them away" (Mark 5:10); Παρακαλοῦσιναὐτὸνἵναἅψηται, "They beseech him to touch"; Ἐδεήθην … ἵνα, "I asked … to" (Luke 9:40); Ἐρωτῶσεἵναπέμψῃς, "I intreat thee to send" (Luke 16:29; Colossians 4:2;, etc.);—prove that the sense "in order that" is not necessarily attached to ἵνα, but that we may properly render the passage before us "teaching us … to live soberly," etc. Titus 2:13 The for that, A.V.; appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior for the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Savior, A.V. Looking for (προσδεχόμενοι); the word commonly applied to waiting for the kingdom of God (Mark 15:43; Luke 2:25, Luke 2:38; Luke 12:36; Luke 23:1-56. 51; Jude 21). The blessed hope. The hope here means the thing hoped for, as in Acts 24:14 (where both the subjective hope and the thing hoped for are included); Galatians 5:5; Colossians 1:5 (comp. too Romans 8:24, Romans 8:25). Here the hope is called emphatically "the blessed hope," the hope of Christ’s second coming in glory, that hope which is the joy and life, the strength and comfort, of every Christian soul. This is the only place in the New Testament where μακάριος is applied to an object which does not itself enjoy the blessing, but is a source of blessing to others. Of the fifty passages where it occurs it is applied in forty-three to persons, twice to God, three times to parts of the body (the Virgin’s womb, and the eyes and ears of those who saw and heard Christ), once impersonally ("It is more blessed to give," etc., Acts 20:35), and once, in this passage, to the hope. And appearing of the glory. In construing this clause, as well as the following, the same difficulty occurs. There is only one article to the two subjects. The question arises—Can two different subjects stand under one article? Huther affirms that they can, and refers for proof to Buttman and Wince; and, indeed, it is impossible to treat "the hope" and the "appearing" as one subject. Accepting this, the clause before us should be rendered, Looking for the blessed hope, and the appearing of the glory of the great God. This is a description of the second coming of the Lord, of whom it is expressly said that he will "come in the glory of his Father". The appearing of Christ will be the appearing of the glory of the great God, not the appearing of God the Father, to whom the term ἐπιφανεία is never applied, but of the Son, who is the Brightness of his Father’s glory. Our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. No doubt the Greek words can be so rendered, and perhaps (grammatically) most naturally, as e.g. in 2 Peter 1:11, where we read, "The kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ;" and so 2 Peter 3:18. But, on the other hand, according to what is said above, they need not be so rendered. "The great God" and "our Savior Jesus Christ" may be two separate subjects, as "the blessed hope" and "appearing of the glory" are. Anti we have to inquire, from the usual language of Scripture, which of the two is most probable. Alford, in a long note, shows that σωτὴρ is often used without the article (1 Timothy 1:1; 1 Timothy 4:10; Philippians 3:20); that in analogous sentences: where Κύριος is used as our Lord’s title, an exactly similar construction to that in the text is employed, as 2 Thessalonians 1:12; 2 Peter 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2; Ephesians 6:23, etc. He also observes, after Wince, that the insertion of ἡμῶν after Σωτῆρος is an additional reason for the omission of the article before Σωτῆρος, as in Luke 1:78; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3, and elsewhere; and that the epithet μεγάλου prefixed to Θεοῦ makes it still more difficult to connect Θεοῦ with ΣωτῆροςἡμῶνἸησοῦΞριστοῦ; and lastly, he compares this passage with 1 Timothy 2:3, 1 Timothy 2:5, 1 Timothy 2:6, and thinks the conclusion inevitable that the apostle, writing two sentences so closely corresponding—written, it may be added, so near to one another in time—would have had in view, in both passages, the same distinction of persons which is so strongly marked in 1 Timothy 3:3, 1 Timothy 3:5. On these grounds he pronounces against the rendering which is adopted by the Revised Version. Huther’s conclusion is the same: partly from the grammatical possibility of two subjects (here Θεοῦ and ἸησοῦΞριστοῦ) having only one article, which leaves the question of whether there are here one or two subjects to be decided on other grounds than simple grammar; and partly and chiefly from the double consideration that (1) nowhere in Scripture is Θεός connected directly with ἸησοῦςΞριστός, as Κύριος and Σωτήρ so often are; and (2) that the collocation of God (Θεός) and Christ as two subjects is of constant occurrence, as e.g. 1 Timothy 1:1,1 Timothy 1:2; 1 Timothy 5:21; 1 Timothy 6:13; 2 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 1:4; to which may probably be added 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 2 Peter 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:12; he decides, surely rightly, that the clause should be rendered, the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Another question arises whether the glory belongs to both subjects. Probably, though not necessarily, it does, since we are told in Matthew 17:27 that "the Son of man shall come in the glory of the Father;" and in Matthew 25:31, "the Son of man shall come in his glory" (comp. Matthew 19:28). The whole sentence will then stand thus: Looking for the blessed hope, and for the appearing of the glory of the great God and of our Savior Jesus Christ, etc. The great God (τοῦμεγάλου); not elsewhere in the New Testament (except in the T.R. of Revelation 19:17), but familiar to us from Psalms 95:3, "The Lord is a great God," and elsewhere, KS Deuteronomy 10:17; Deuteronomy 7:21; Psalms 77:14, etc. In Matthew 5:35’ we read "the great King" of God. This grand description of τοῦμέλλοντοςαἰῶνος, "the world to come," is in contrast with τῷνῦνοἰῶνι, "this present world," in which our present life is passed, but which is so deeply influenced by "the blessed hope" of that future and glorious world. Titus 2:14 A people for his own possession for a peculiar people, A.V. Who gave himself for us. The resemblance in thought and diction to 1 Timothy 2:3-6 has been already pointed out. "Who gave himself" (ὃςἔδωκενἑαυτόν) is there expressed by ὁδοὺςἑαυτόν, and "that he might redeem us" (ἵναλυτρώσηταιἡμᾶς) by ἀντίλυτρονὑπὲρπάντων. (For the great truths contained in the words "who gave himself," comp. John 10:11, John 10:17, John 10:18; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 5:2, Ephesians 5:25; 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 9:14.) The voluntary offering of himself is also implied in the office of our Lord as High Priest (Hebrews 9:11-14). For us (ὑπὲρἡμῶν); on our behalf; not exactly synonymous with ἀντὶἡμῶν, "in our stead." Both phrases, however, are used of our redemption by Jesus Christ. We find ὑπὲρ in Luke 22:19, Luke 22:20; John 6:51: John 10:11, John 10:15; John 11:50-52; John 15:13; John 18:14; Romans 5:6, Romans 5:8; Romans 8:32; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 2 Corinthians 5:14, 2 Corinthians 5:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 5:2, Ephesians 5:25; 1 Thessalonians 3:10; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 4:1; 1 John 3:16: and we find ἀντί in Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45, and in αντίλυτρον, 1 Timothy 2:6. The literal meaning of ὑπὲρ is "in defense of," and hence generally "on behalf of," "for the good of." The primary idea of ἄντι is "standing opposite," and hence it denotes "exchange," "price," "worth," "instead," etc. Redeem (λυτρώσηται); as Luke 24:21:1 Pe Luke 1:18; common in classical Greek. In the middle voice, as here, it means "to release by payment of a ransom;" in the active voice, "to release on receipt of a ransom." In 1 Peter 1:18 the ransom price is stated, viz. "the precious blood of Christ;" as in Matthew 20:28 it is "the life of the Son of man." The effect of this redemption is not merely deliverance from the penalty of sin, but from its power also, as appears by the following words: "a peculiar people, zealous of good works," and by the passage in St. Peter above referred to. Purify (καθαρίσῃ); as very frequently in the New Testament of cleansing lepers, the outside of the platter, etc., cleansing the Gentiles (Acts 10:15), putting away all sin (2 Corinthians 7:1), cleansing the Church (Ephesians 5:26), purging the conscience (Hebrews 9:14), etc. The iniquity just spoken of was a defilement; the redemption from iniquity removed that defilement. The blood of Jesus Christ, the price paid for the redemption, was the instrument of cleansing (1 John 1:7, 1 John 1:9). A people for his own possession (καὸνπεριούσιον); only here in the New Testament, but frequent in the LXX., coupled, as here, with λαός (Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 7:6; Deuteronomy 14:2; Deuteronomy 26:18), to express the Hebrew הלָּגֻסְ or הלָּגֻסְ מעַ, a people the peculiar property, or treasure, of God; "peculiar" being derived from the Latin peculium, one’s own private property, reserved for one’s own private use. The Authorized Version "peculiar" expresses the sense exactly, and the περιούσιος of our text and of the LXX., from whom it is borrowed, is meant to define either that special reserved portion of a man’s property over and above what he spends for ordinary expenses, which nobody can interfere with, or those jewels on which he sets a special value, and places safely in his treasury. In 1 Peter 2:10 λαὸςεἰςπεριποίησιν ("a peculiar people," Authorized Version) means the same thing, that being the LXX. translation of the same Hebrew word, הלָּגֻסְ, in Ma 1 Peter 3:17 ("jewels," Authorized Version), "They shall be my reserved portion or possession." The application of the phrase, λαὸνπεριούσιον, descriptive in the Old Testament of Israel, to the Church of Christ, is very instructive. The passage in 1 Peter 2:10 is exactly analogous, as is the phrase, "the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16). Zealous (ζηλωτής); as Acts 21:20; Acts 22:3; 1 Corinthians 14:12; Galatians 1:14. From its special application to those who were zealous for the Law of Moses it became the name of the sect or party of the Zealots who played such a terrible part in the Jewish war (see Luke 4:15). Canaanite is the Hebrew for Ζηλωτής. Zeal for good works is the indispensable mark of God’s peculiar people, the inseparable fruit of the redemption and purification which is by the blood of Jesus Christ. Titus 2:15 Reprove fur rebuke, A.V. Authority (ἐπιταγῆς); see 1 Timothy 1:1 and above, Titus 1:3, "authoritative commandment." Let no man despise thee (περιφρονείσω); here only in the New Testament; used in a different sense by the LXX. in Wis. 1:1, but in the same sense as here in 4Ma 6:9, and also in classical Greek. In 1 Timothy 4:12 and 1 Timothy 6:2 St. Paul uses the more common word, καταφρονέω. The apostle thus winds up the preceding portion of his Epistle. Titus 2:1-15 Practical godliness the end of spiritual doctrine. The teaching of St. Paul soars very high in respect of the hidden things of God. To none of the apostles were given more abundant revelations of heavenly mysteries. Caught up into the third heaven, hearing unspeakable words, saturated with gifts of the Holy Ghost, he was able to lead men’s souls into depths and heights of unseen things as no other teacher was. His eloquent tongue, pouring forth the riches of knowledge of an enlightened heart, could speak of God’s love to man, of his eternal purposes, of his predestinating grace, of the coming and kingdom of the Lord Jesus, of the resurrection of the dead, of the inheritance of the saints in light, in words of wisdom and power certainly not inferior to those of the very chiefest apostles of Christ. And yet, in dealing with the practical duties of Christian men and women, and in teaching morality as an essential part of Christianity, there is a particularity of detail, a searching application of truth, an earnest tone of warning and of exhortation, which could not be exceeded by any teacher of ethics who knew of nothing else but human conduct and the present interests of society. With St. Paul, familiarity with the highest doctrines of revelation does not depreciate the importance of the humblest duties of daily life; it rather magnifies it, and raises those duties from an earthly to a heavenly platform. If St. Paul’s sole end and aim in his apostolic labors had been to bring the daily life of every class of the community to whom he wrote into accordance with the law of righteousness, and to make human life on earth pure and happy, he could not have dwelt upon those details of practice, on which the economy of society depends for its comfort and- happiness, with more earnestness and particularity than he has done. The demeanor of old men, the behavior of old women, the influence of the aged upon the young, the innermost domestic duties of the wife and the mother, words, deeds, looks, dress, temper, disposition, affections, all comes under the constraining influence of the gospel as preached by St. Paul. In like manner that degraded portion of mankind whose condition was so pitiable in the Roman empire, the slaves, of whom there were such numbers in every considerable household, is brought under the elevating influence of Christian motive. Relations and duties full of naught but Fain and humiliation in themselves, and leading naturally to the vices which are born of degradation, are elevated at once into platforms of eminent virtue. Under the holy influences of Christian faith new principles are called into life, new motives of thought and action are awakened, and the low life of the dishonest, insolent, and deceitful slave becomes the arena for the exercise of some of the highest virtues of the saint. What a lesson we have here for the Christian teacher! If the parish priest, whose intercourse with his flock brings him into contact with the infirmities and sins of the various classes of his parishioners, would bend his strength in this direction, and upon the basis of the doctrine of grace would build the superstructure of a severe and minute instruction in the details of a really holy life, the value of a parochial ministry would be seen to the full. Christianity in the family, Christianity in the shop, Christianity in the daily intercourse of man with man, would be a preaching of Christ to the world which would put the caviler to shame, and which no adversaries would be able to gainsay or to resist. BY T. . Special instructions as to Titus’s own preaching. "But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine"—respecting the special deportment of Christians of every age, sex, and rank. I. IS A SYSTEM OF AS WELL AS LIFE. It is a doctrine that it may be a life. 1. The doctrine is contrasted with the fables of the false teachers, who did nothing by their speculations but lower the tone of Christian life. A true moral life was only possible on the basis of the facts of the gospel plan of salvation (verse 11). 2. Its soundness contrasts with the unhealthy teaching of the false teachers. It is called "the good doctrine" (1 Timothy 4:6), and the "doctrine according to godliness" (1 Timothy 6:3). Every other system corrupts; the sound doctrine renovates, elevates, purifies; for our Lord said, "Sanctify them through thy truth." It is milk for babes and meat for strong men. II. IT IS THE DUTY OF TO PREACH THIS SOUND . It ought to be preached: 1. Publicly and plainly, since there are so many" vain teachers." 2. With certainty, as being the undoubted truth. 3. With all boldness, as without fear of man or seeking to please man. 4. At all times, in season and out of season. 5. In its due relation to the duties of religion, as the spring of obedience.—T.C. The duties of aged men. The apostle begins with the most important class in the Church—those who are the leaders of the young. Their characteristic deportment is to be fourfold. I. . 1. This habit of mind is contrasted with the thoughtlessness and levity of youth. 2. It is combined with (1) watchfulness (1 Thessalonians 5:6) and (2) prayer (1 Peter 4:7). 3. There are lofty motives to sobriety. (1 Peter 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8.) II. GRAVITY, in the sense of a dignified deportment. 1. Old men ought not to lend themselves to the levity and flippancy of the young. 2. If they are grave in speech and gait, they will have more weight in the community. There must be no undue excitability. III. , OR SELF-. 1. The aged ought to show an example of self-government in regard to the passions, the appetites, and the will. The pleasures of sense ought not to allure them, or the love of the world to carry them away. IV. IN FAITH, LOVE, AND . Here is the trilogy of graces once more, only that patience takes the place of hope, to which it is nearly allied. 1. There is to be a healthy action of these graces in old age. As if in contrast with the diseases, weakness, and age of the body. The aged have seen their best days, and they ought to reconcile the decay of nature with the increase of grace, so as to make human life to its extreme limit resplendent with beauty and truth. 2. Each of the graces has its appropriate place in the character of the aged. (1) Faith. It is the subjective condition of it. The old have their hopes sustained by faith; their hearts are cheered by faith; they remain steadfast through faith. It must be at once the principle of their worship, their piety, and their endurance. (2) Love. The old are apt to become contracted and cold in their sympathies. But Christian love keeps the heart young and tender and sincere, and the old illustrate its power in growing tolerance, wisdom, and kindliness. (3) Patience. They have to bear with many infirmities of body, with declining faculties, with growing decrepitude. But Christian patience must be more than a dull acquiescence with the inevitable; it must be a cheerful acceptance of suffering, that patience may have her perfect work in the closing days of life.—T.C. Titus 2:3-5 The duties of aged women and young women. As woman had attained through Christianity a position of equality beside man, it was necessary to remind her that her new position involved serious responsibilities. I. THE DUTIES OF AGED WOMEN. 1. In demeanor as becometh holiness. (1) There is an appeal to their own judgment as to what is decorous and beautiful in the Christian character. They had an experimental knowledge of the gospel, and they understood the nature and extent of its obligations as affecting their sex. (2) There was to be a harmony between their position and their character as godly women "women professing godliness" (1 Timothy 2:10). Their holy calling should manifest itself in their deportment, dress, speech, silence, and, above all, "in a meek and quiet spirit." 2. Not slanderers. (1) Old age has no active employment, but it has an active memory and g busy tongue. Thus there is a temptation for the old, unless the grace of God has given the tongue of kindness, to become censorious, malignant, and bitter, avenging themselves the more with their tongues for their very incapacity to avenge themselves in other ways. (2) There is nothing more beautiful or saintly in this world than a true mother in Israel, the presiding genius of her family circle, speaking the words of charity, softness, and kindness to all within her reach. (3) It would be an utter travesty of the gospel for aged Christian women to be slanderers, because they would thus (a) separate friends (Proverbs 16:28); (b) inflict deadly wounds in character (Proverbs 18:18); (c) bring dishonor on the gospel; (d) and cause discords in the Church. 3. Not enslaved to much wine. (1) The warning was needed opt account of the national habits of the Cretans. (2) It was a moderate demand that they should give up the slavish addictedness to wine so common in Crete. She who follows the habit is a slave, and would soon lose the sense of her degradation. The early converts would, perhaps, plead the privileges of their age and country, and use wine as a solace in old age; but Titus is to teach them that hoary hairs give no liberty to such a habit. (3) We see how the gospel purifies the habits and usages of social life. 4. Teachers of good things. (1) The apostle thus prescribes the right use of the tongue to those who were to be "no slanderers." (2) Their teaching was not to be in public addresses, which were forbidden (1 Timothy 2:12), but in private life. (3) The substance of their teaching was not to be "old wives’ fables," not superstitious ceremonies, or things of evil report, but things sound, pure, and honest. II. THE DUTIES OF YOUNG WOMEN. They are regarded as under the instruction and guidance of the aged women. In Ephesus, Timothy was exhorted to teach the younger women, but it is probable that the state of the Cretan community required that the instructions of Titus should be supplemented by the more practical and continuous guidance of the elderly women. The young women were to be schooled to their duties in a wise manner. 1. They were to be lovers of their husbands. (1) The wife would find in this love the source of her strength, the husband the solace for his cares, and the children the guarantee for their happiness and welfare. (2) A loving wife is (a) a blessing to her husband (Proverbs 12:4); (b) brings him honor (Proverbs 31:23); (c) secures his confidence (Proverbs 31:11); (d) earns his praises (Proverbs 31:28). 2. Lovers of their children. (1) The love of a mother may be instinctive, but religious fanaticism and brutal separation can make her more unfeeling than the brutes. Rousseau would not keep his children in his house, but sent them to a public hospital; a sign, said Burke, that "bears love their young and lick them into shape, but bears are not philosophers." In India infants are often destroyed by a mother’s hands, under the influence of religious delusion. (2) The first duty of a Christian woman is to make her home happy, which is impossible except on a basis of love to husband and children. (3) Religion revives natural affection as it revives all the weakened faculties of our nature, and gives it new power for good. The religious training of the young is impossible without the experience of a mother’s love. 3. Discreet. Young women, in a new position of Christian privilege, might be tempted to rashness, enthusiasm, and impulsive conduct. They were to be wise and careful in their conduct both at home and abroad. 4. Chaste. In act, speech, thought, and dress, finding their true happiness in their husband’s society. There are many high motives for a pure womanhood (1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:7). 5. Workers at home. (1) The wife’s business is in her household, not in the great world of society. Religion gains no honor when home duties are neglected. (2) Her husband’s interests are preserved by her industry at home. (3) Gadding abroad and busying one’s self in other people’s affairs tends to the spreading of evil. 6. Good. Such women are to be kindly and thoughtful in their family relationships, especially to servants, and not niggardly or exacting. "Their thriftiness must not degenerate into avarice." 7. Obedient to their own husbands. (1) This is their great duty, and thus they become types of the Church’s submission to Christ. (2) Obedience would recommend the gospel to unbelieving husbands, for attention to this precept would prevent "the Word of God from being blasphemed." Grace does not deliver us from the obligations of nature (1 Corinthians 7:4-16).—T.C. The duty of young men. The apostle next thinks of those who are to be the strong stays of the Church in the coming generation. "Young men exhort to be sober-minded." I. THE NATURE OF THIS DUTY. 1. Young men ought to be thoughtful, not rash and impulsive. The Lord says to them, "Consider your ways." 2. They should be circumspect, not heady and reckless, using that Word which "giveth to the young man knowledge and discretion." 3. They should not be self-indulgent, but self-denying. Not "lovers of pleasure, but lovers of God." "Turn away mine eyes from viewing vanity." 4. They should be settled in feeling and conduct, not vacillating or giddy. "Let your hearts be fixed" (Psalms 108:1). "He that wavers is as a wave of the sea "(James 1:6). II. REASONS FOR SOBER-. 1. It is according to the dictates of right reason. It is a great thing to receive the spirit of a "sound mind." Young men are never in a right mind till they sit clothed at the feet of Jesus. 2. Consider the snares and sorrows and drawbacks of life. 3. Consider that death may early reach the young. 4. Consider the number of young men who are ruined by the want of sober-mindedness. 5. The young must answer in the judgment for their follies in this life.—T.C. Titus 2:7, Titus 2:8 Titus himself a pattern of good works. As a faithful minister of God, he was to mirror forth in his life and teaching the doctrines of the gospel. I. THE OUGHT TO BE A PATTERN OF GOOD WORKS. 1. His teaching is useless unless it is enforced by the power of a holy example. There must be a harmony between his doctrine and his life. 2. Good works are the natural proofs of good principles, and can only issue from the fountain of a purified heart. The very principles are tested by the preacher’s life. 3. His whole life is to be an ensample. "In all things." This implies consistency in toil, endurance, and teaching. II. THE MUST BE A PATTERN BOTH IN THE AND IN THE SPIRIT OF HIS . Teaching is his special sphere. 1. It must be imparted in a right spirit. "In doctrine showing uncorruptness and gravity." (1) He must exhibit an example of personal sincerity, not like one either seeking for applause or influenced by interested motives—like the false teachers who were in quest of filthy lucre. Sincerity has a very penetrative force among a people. (2) He must have a dignified gravity of manner, to indicate his profound seriousness of purpose and spirit. Foolish jesting and vain talking are very inconvenient in g minister of the gospel. 2. The doctrine imparted must be sound and convincing. "Sound speech, that cannot be condemned." (1) It must be wholesome doctrine, as contrasted with a sickly pietism; free from error, because drawn from "the sincere milk of the Word," conveyed not in the "enticing words of man’s wisdom," but as the Holy Ghost teacheth. (2) It must have convincing power. "That cannot be condemned." (a) Ministers must expect their words to be sharply criticized as well as their lives. (b) The truth ought to be conveyed in such a spirit and with such a regard to the analogy of faith that it cannot be justly found fault with. (c) It must effectually silence gainsayers. "That he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no bad thing to say of us." Whether the adversary be a false teacher or a pagan, the sound speech ought to reduce him to shame and silence.—T.C. Titus 2:9, Titus 2:10 The duties of servants. The class of servants, or rather slaves, had. received a wonderful elevation through the gospel. They were an oppressed class, and may have been tempted to imagine that their religious emancipation would necessarily change their relations to their old masters. Thus we account for the large body of practical counsel that is addressed by the apostle to this class of believers. I. THE DUTIES OF . 1. Obedience. "Exhort servants to be obedient to their own masters." This was a manifest obligation which the gospel did not annul. It may have been a hard duty, but the gospel supplied grace for the faithful discharge of it. It mattered not whether the master was a Christian or a pagan; the gospel did not destroy his claims to obedient service. But the obedience was necessarily limited by the Divine Law, for a servant could not sin at a master’s command. He must in that case willingly suffer the consequences of disobedience. 2. A cheerful compliance with the, master’s will. "And to please them well in all things; not answering again." It denotes that temper which anticipates a master’s pleasure, rather than the disposition to thwart it by sullen and capricious ways. Thus they would be doing the will of God and. serving the common Master of all, Jesus Christ, who gave them an example of meekness and submission. 3. Honesty and fidelity. "Not purloining, but showing all good fidelity." Many slaves in ancient times were entrusted with the property of their masters, as merchants, physicians, and artists. Thus they had many ways or’ showing their honesty. It was in their power to defraud them by embezzlement, or to waste the property, or to allow it to be wasted without check or rebuke. Servants were to have family interests at heart, and they were thus to commend themselves to the love and confidence of their masters. II. THE DESIGN OR MOTIVE OF THIS AND READY . "That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things." 1. The Savior is as fully glorified in the servant as in the master, in the poor as in the rich, in the peasant as in the king. Indeed, the adornment of the gospel seems more manifest in the obedience of the lowest class; for of the other classes specified it was only said "that God’s Name might not be blasphemed." Calvin says God deigns to receive adornment even from slaves. 2. The Lord lifts the slave out of his mean conditions when he seats him on equal conditions of blessing and honor at the same holy table. 3. The spectacle of cheerful and self-denying obedience on the part of this class would have an arresting influence upon an age of self-love and cynicism, such as that which influenced the world at that time.—T.C. Titus 2:11-13 The grace of God the true ground of all sanctification. The apostle now sets forth the real foundation on which this exhortation to practical duty on the part of servants, and, indeed, of people of every age and sex, is based. I. THE GRACE OF GOD. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared." 1. This grace is from God, as its eternal Fountain, from which it flows to men. (1) He was not made gracious by the work of the Son, for he was the God of grace from the beginning. The work of the Son only manifested it (John 3:16). (2) The grace is from the Son as well as the Father. Grace is in every conceivable way connected with the Person of the Mediator in Scripture (1 Corinthians 16:23; Galatians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:28). The Father and the Son are one in the freeness of their love to mankind. (3) Grace is also connected with the Holy Ghost, who is called "the Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:29), because he applies it and seals us to the day of redemption. Thus grace has its origin in the Father, its manifestation in the Son, its end in the Holy Ghost. 2. The nature of this grace. (1) It is the free gift of God to mankind in the gospel of Christ. It is thus opposed to the idea of merit in man. Works, therefore, do not procure our salvation. (2) The grace must necessarily be worthy of the character of God. (a) The gift is worthy, for it is his own Son. (b) The end is worthy, for it is his own glory and man’s salvation. (c) The instrumental condition is worthy, for it is faith. 3. The scope of this grace. "That bringeth salvation to all men." (1) It is the only thing that can bring salvation to man. He cannot be saved by works, nor by philosophy, nor by man. (2) It has a wide scope. It "bringeth salvation to all men." (a) This does not imply that all men will eventually be saved, for Scripture expressly asserts the very contrary. (b) The connection of the passage explains the universality of the reference: "Servants, be obedient to your masters, that you may adorn the doctrine of God your Savior; for his grace is for slave and master alike." There is no respect of persons with him. (c) It signifies that grace is the only means by which salvation is possible for the race of man. 4. The manifestation of grace. (1) In the Incarnation. (2) In the work of Christ. (3) In the energy of the Holy Spirit. "The darkness is past; the true light now shineth" (1 John 2:8). II. THE EFFECTS OF THE GRACE OF GOD. "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." 1. This grace first manifests itself by teaching, just as the first thing in creation was light. It must begin with teaching, and the Spirit of God is given "to teach us all things" (John 14:26). The original word implies the idea of a disciplining process, effected by the grace of God to correct the inherent naughtiness of the heart. 2. The grace of God works toward the rejection of evil, for it teaches us "to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts." (1) The denial is in heart and deed. It involves the denial of self (Luke 9:23). (2) It is the repudiation of ungodliness in heart and life. (a) Ungodliness includes impiety, blasphemy, and infidelity. (b) It includes all living without relation to God, whether we are blasphemers or not. Thus a man may be ungodly who seeks his own pleasure, or distinction, or happiness in the world. (c) It implies the deeper enmity of the heart to God (Romans 8:7). (3) It is the denial of worldly lusts; including the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and vain glory of life—"all that is in the world"—which embody the enmity to God. Thus it denies (a) sensual lusts (2 Timothy 2:22); (b) the inordinate desire of worldly things, which may be lawful in themselves. 3. The grace of God produces certain positive effects. "We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." (1) It secures the due regulation of individual life. "Soberly." This refers to the duties we owe to ourselves. (a) In keeping a fair balance of judgment intellectually; (b) In keeping a due mastery over our passions—"a sobriety in speech, in behavior, in apparel, in eating and drinking, in recreations, and in the enjoyment of lawful satisfactions." (2) It secures the faithful discharge of all duties to our fellow-men. "Righteously." Justice is an exact virtue, which can be easily measured, and is therefore the basis of commercial and civil life. A single failure in justice makes a man unjust. Therefore it is most necessary we should give our neighbor his due, and not compromise ourselves by conduct redounding to the injury of the gospel. (3) It secures godliness. "Godly;" that is, with God, in God, for God. This godly life is a life dedicated to God and spent in his fear. III. THE SPHERE IN WHICH THIS GRACE OF GOD ITS AND EFFECTS. "In this present world." 1. True piety does not disregard or despise the duties of common life. 2. It is in a hostile world this grace is to operate with such purifying results. It is called "this wicked world" (Galatians 1:4); for the devil is its god, and sin is its prevailing character. 3. It is a world that cannot be overcome but by faith. (1 John 4:4, 1 John 4:5.) 4. It is a transitory world, in contrast with the world to come, of which the apostle immediately speaks. IV. THE OF THE IN TO THE FUTURE GLORY. "Looking for the blessed hope and manifestation of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." This attitude of blessed expectation tells powerfully upon the life of grace. The believer’s position is that of waiting for and looking unto the coming of the Lord. The patriarchs waited for his first coming; we wait for his second coming. 1. The believes waiting attitude is lit up by a blessed hope. (1) This is "the hope of glory" laid up for us in heaven, which is associated with the Son of God, when we shall see him as he is. (2) It is a blessed hope, because of all the blessings it brings to the believer. 2. The believer’s waiting attitude has respect to the manifestation of the Lord’s glory. This is connected with his second coming. It is the glory of "our great God and Savior Jesus Christ," and not of the Father, because: (1) In all the five places in which the manifestation is spoken of, it is Christ, not the Father, who is referred to. The term "Epiphany" is never, indeed, applied to the Father. (2) This is the grammatical interpretation of the sentence, and is accepted by the Greek fathers generally. (3) The immediate context applies only to the Son. (4) The term "great God" would seem to be called for as applied to the Father, but stands in Scripture the perpetual and emphatic witness of the Deity of Christ.—T.C. The purport and extent of Christ’s Saviorship. Mark— I. THE PERSON WHO GAVE HIMSELF FOR US. "Our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." Here the atonement is connected with the Deity of the Savior, as if to showy that the true Godhead of the Son gave infinite value to his sufferings. II. THE ATONING WORK. "Who gave himself for us." Two things are here implied. 1. Priestly action. For he "gave himself" freely, the language being borrowed from Levitical worship. That typical economy could not unite priest and victim as they were united in Christ. The Father is often said to have given his Son; but the Son here gives himself, the priestly action exhibiting at once immeasurable love and voluntary obedience. He is himself "the unspeakable Gift "—the best of all gifts to man. 2. It was a vicarious action. For he "gave himself for us," the words in the original signifying rather for our benefit than in our stead; but, from the nature of the case, the gift was substitutionary, that it might be for our benefit. When we were "in all iniquity," and so exposed to Divine wrath, our Surety permitted that iniquity to be charged to himself. III. THE DESIGN OF THE ATONING WORK OF CHRIST. "To redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works!" It was a twofold design. 1. A redemption from all iniquity. (1) The redemption signifies deliverance by the payment of a price. Here there is a clear causal connection between Christ’s blood as the ransom price and the redemption. This is Scripture usage (1 Peter 1:18; Revelation 5:9; Galatians 3:13). (2) The scope of this redemption. It is "from all iniquity." This is to be understood under a double aspect. (a) The iniquity includes all sin, considered as guilt and as entailing the curse of the Divine Law. His redeeming sacrifice dissolved the connection between our sin and our liability to punishment on account of it. (b) The iniquity includes all sin as morally evil, and in this sense the redemption delivers his people from all impurity. 2. The purification of a peculiar people for himself. (1) The primary signification is sacrificial; for the term "purify," like the cognate terms sanctify, sprinkle, wash, cleanse, points to the effect produced by sacrifice upon those defiled by sin. These are now, by the blood of Christ, readmitted to fellowship with God. Thus believers, like Israel of old, obtain a new standing. (2) The design of redemption is to consecrate a people for holy service, for priestly worship, in separation from the world. Thus they are "a peculiar people," not singular or eccentric, but his peculiar treasure, held to be most precious, and kept with all Divine care. (3) This people is separated to good works—"zealous of good works," because partakers of the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4), and of the sanctification of the Spirit (1 Peter 1:2). This blessed fruit is worthy of a dedicated people. They must be zealots for practical holiness, for they Sad their best motives in two advents.—T.C. Pastoral work and authority. "These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority." The business of the minister is concerning all the things commanded in this chapter both as to doctrine and duty. I. THESE AND DUTIES WERE TO BE "SPOKEN OF," SO AS TO BE BROUGHT TO BEAR WITH POWER ON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THE PEOPLE. II. THEY WERE TO BE MADE MATTERS OF IN THE ; for Titus was to practice exhortation. III. REBUKE WAS TO BE APPLIED WITH ALL WHERE FAILED OF ITS EFFECT. IV. TITUS WAS TO LIVE SO THAT THE CRETANS COULD NOT DESPISE HIM. "Let no man despise thee." Contempt would be the natural effect of observed inconsistency in the life of the young evangelist.—T.C. BY W.M. STATHAM Aged Christian men. "That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience." There are appropriate fruits for every time of life, and the Christian man bringeth forth fruit in his season. A frivolous, fantastical age is a distasteful spectacle. Old age should be cheerful; but fun should be without frivolity, and laughter without levity. I. THE DUE TO AGE. We look for sobriety of character as the result of the experience of a man who has found that there are limits to all expectations; gravity in one who is nearing his great account; and temperance in one who is supposed to have trampled down the fierce passions of youth. We reverence age for the consistency of the long years of life, and for fidelity to conscience and to Christ. II. THE FRUITS THAT MAY RIPEN IN AGE. They are: 1. Faith, which is a grace that grows. As men know more of Christ by heart-experiences and life-experiences, so ought their faith to increase in him whose promises have all been "Yea and Amen." 2. Charity, alike in kindly estimate of others, in less bigotry, and in more comprehensiveness of embrace to all who may belong to other folds under the great Shepherd. 3. Patience. For while manhood has to work, age at eventide has to wait, sometimes in pain or in weakness. Still "they serve" while they wait, by prayer and quiet submission to the great will, the Lord’s will. They are "examples to the flock."—W.M.S. Aged Christian women. "The aged women likewise." Our "behavior" is a sign of our character. We cannot hide the "roots" of our life. Weeds or flowers soon appear upon the earth. I. HOLY WOMEN. Not sanctimonious, or stiff, or prudish; but holy. Never suffering irreverence to characterize their speech, levity to mark their looks, or folly to appear in their dress or demeanor. Holy, so that their quiet fellowship with God may affect their influence, and the enjoyment of the "earnest of the heaven" they are approaching in their old age may be known by their conversation. II. TRUE WOMEN. "Not false accusers." This does not apply to courts of law, but to common life. The word is expressive; it is "make-bates," from which our word "abate." They do not lessen the honor, the reputation, the good report of others by accusations which are unworthy and untrue. III. WOMEN. "Not given to much wine." Never flushed with the semi-intoxication of indulgence. Never made frivolous and foolish in speech through strong drink. Avoiding this as the tyranny of a habit which may become with them a second nature. "Not given to much wine." IV. USEFUL WOMEN. "Teachers of good things." Of the highest truths that make for salvation, and of all the truths which they have learned, that minister to industry, to household economy, to thrift and piety and prosperity. Every aged woman has a large ministry to fulfill when she remembers how large is the category of "good things" W.M.S.— Titus 2:4, Titus 2:5 Counsels to young women. Here there are what may be termed "instructions" to the aged women as to the counsels to be given by them to the young women. Such authority does the gospel give to age; such reverence and respect for age does it expect from young women. Nations deteriorate in character whenever youth becomes insolent in its own independence, and resentful of authority. I. , or wisdom; that calm quietude of heart and mind which is not intoxicated by vanity, or carried away with the sensationalism of pleasure. II. . Alike in thought, in speech, and in manner and conduct. Purity makes queenly women. One stain spoils the most exquisite sculpture. The beauty of marble is its purity, and the beauty of womanhood is chastity. III. HOME-KEEPERS. Making home first of all a center of attraction by its order and cleanliness and comfort; then by its harmonies of peace and love, so that no discordant notes may mar the music of its joy; and then by avoiding gossiping visits, and the excitements of habitual restlessness, and a too great love of shopping, securing the safety of economy and the honor of a wife who "weaves" all into beauty and order at home. IV. . Not slavish submission to man; for woman is his equal, and "was not," as an old divine says, "taken from his feet, to be beneath him, or his head, to be above him; but from his side, to be equal with him." Still, there is the obedience which consists in consulting him, judging and conforming—where conscience is not offended—to his judgment and his wishes. All this that "the Word of God be not blasphemed," or its fame injured, which is the true meaning of blaspheme, viz. to blast the fame of it.—W.M.S. Counsels to young men. "Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded," so that— I. THEY MAY TAKE SUCH A VIEW OF LIFE AS TO INCLUDE ITS AND . II. THEY MAY BE KEPT FREE FROM THE UNDUE OF TOO MINDS. III. THEY MAY BE KEPT FROM THE WINE-CUP AND ALL HARMFUL . IV. THEY MAY THAT LIFE IS A SOLEMN THING, FULL OF . V. THEY MAY KEEP THEIR MINDS OPEN TO COUNSEL FROM AGE AND .—W.M.S. A teacher’s influence. Titus is to remember that personal character is the most eloquent counsel and the most convincing argument of the gospel. I. PATTERS. Not a slavish example of mere deeds. For this is not the gospel ideal. We are not to copy mere actions, but to catch the spirit of the teacher. This makes true art, and it makes also true religion. We admire the pattern, but we do not copy it by "the rule of thumb," but by the adoption of the same spirit. Christ in us. The mind of Christ. II. . Not mere dogma, which is an artificial thing, and may or may not be true, according as the authority which gives it may be wise and enlightened, or ignorant and superstitious. Doctrine is different. It is a revealed truth which has its response in the heart and conscience, and its attestation in life. This the gospel has. And he is to show "uncorruptness;" that is, he is not to defile it with worldly compromises. And "gravity;" for it is not meant to be the light theme of intellectual discussion, but the gravest matter of obedience. And "sincerity." It is not to be preached for expedient reasons, as, for instance, the security of life, or the safety of the state, or the ways in which even Socrates would have men honor the gods, although inwardly he disbelieved in them; but with sincerity of conviction as to their reality and truth. III. SOUND SPEECH. No hollow rhetoric. No statements in excess of fact for the sake of impression; but sound all through in argument, illustration, and attestation. Such conduct and speech will shame those who "see the fruits," and can say no "evil" of us.—W.M.S. Counsels to slaves. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/pulpit-commentary/ Titus 3:1 In subjection for subject, A.V.; rulers for principalities. A.V.; to authorities for and powers, A.V. and T.R.; to be obedient for to obey magistrates, A.V.; unto for to, A.V. Put them in mind (ὑπομίμνησκε); as 2 Timothy 2:14. To rulers, to authorities. Many uncials, which the R.T. follows, omit the καὶ, but it seems necessary to the sense. The change from "principalities and powers" to" rulers" and "authorities" does not seem desirable. Ἀρχάι and ἐξουσίαι is a favorite juxtaposition el’ St. Paul’s (1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:16; Colossians 2:10, Colossians 2:15). It occurs also in 1 Peter 3:22. In all the above examples the words, it is true, apply to the angelic hosts, but the words are elsewhere applied separately to human government, and in Luke 20:20, they are applied together to the authority of the Roman governor. To be obedient (πειθαρχεῖν); only here and in Acts 5:29, Acts 5:32; Acts 27:21. It follows here its classical use, "to obey a superior," well expressed in the Authorized Version "to obey magistrates." The simple "to be obedient" of the Revised Version does not express the sense. To be ready unto every good work. St. Paul is still speaking with especial reference to magistrates and the civil power. Christians were to show themselves good citizens, always ready for any duty to which they were called. Christianity was not to be an excuse for shirking duties, or refusing obedience where it was due. The only limit is expressed by the word "good." They were to give tribute to whom tribute was due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor; but, if ordered to do evil, then they must resist, and obey God rather than man (Acts 4:19). (See the similar limitation in Titus 2:10, note, and compare, for the whole verse, the very similar passage, Romans 13:1-7.) Titus 3:2 Not to be contentious for to be no brawlers, A.V.; to be for but, A.V.; toward for unto, A.V. To speak evil of no man (μηδέναβλασφημεῖν). Probably especially pointed in the first place at a natural tendency of oppressed Christians to speak evil of their rulers (2 Peter 2:10; Jude 10), but extended into a general precept which might be especially needful for the rough and turbulent Cretans. Not to be contentious (ἀμάχουςεἴναι); as 1 Timothy 3:3, note. To be gentle (ἐπιεικεῖς); coupled, as here, with ἀμάχους in 1 Timothy 3:3. Showing (ἐνδεικνυμένους); a word of frequent occurrence in St. Paul’s vocabulary (Romans 2:15; Romans 9:17.22; Ephesians 2:7, etc.; see above, Titus 2:10, note). Meekness (πραότητα); another Pauline word (1 Corinthians 4:21; 2 Corinthians 10:1; Galatians 5:23, etc.; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:25). The precept is given its widest extension by the double addition of "all" and "to all men." The roughness, or want of courtesy, of others is no excuse for the want of meekness in those who are the disciples of him who was meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:29). All men, whatever their station, the highest or the lowest, are to receive meek and gentle treatment from the Christian. Titus 3:3 We for we ourselves, A.V.; afore-time for sometimes, A.V.; hating for and hating, A.V. Foolish (ἀνόητοι); a Pauline word (Galatians 3:1, Galatians 3:3), found also in Luke 24:25 (see 1 Timothy 6:9); of frequent use in classical Greek. Disobedient (ἀπειθεῖς); as Titus 1:16. In Luke 1:17 it stands, as here, absolutely, meaning disobedient to God and his Law. Deceived (πλανώμενοι); led astray, made to wander from the path of troth and right, either by false systems of religion, or by our own evil affections and appetites (see 2 Timothy 2:13; 1 Peter 2:25; 2 Peter 2:15, etc.). Serving; slaves to (δουλεύοντες); 2 Peter 2:19 (see above, Titus 2:2). Lusts (ἐπιθυμίαις); not always in a bad sense, as here, though usually so (see Luke 22:15; Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:17; Revelation 18:14). Pleasures (ἡδοναῖς); always in a bad sense in the New Testament (Luke 8:14; James 4:1, James 4:3; 2 Peter 2:13). Living (διάγοντες); see 1 Timothy 2:2, where it is followed by βίον, which is here understood. Διάγειντὸνβίοναἰῶναχρόνονσάββατον. etc., are common phrases both in the LXX. and in classical Greek for passing or spending one’s life, time, age, etc. But it is only found in the New Testament here and in 1 Timothy 2:2. Malice (κακίᾳ). This word is sometimes used of wickedness generally, as Acts 8:22; James 1:21; 1 Corinthians 5:8; and probably Romans 1:29; anti even of badness in things, as Matthew 6:34. But it frequently in the New Testament denotes malice, the desire to do harm to others, as Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8, etc. Envy (φθόνῳ); almost always found in St. Paul’s enumeration of sins (Romans 1:29; Galatians 5:21; 1 Timothy 6:4, etc.). Hateful (στυγητοί); only here in the New Testament, not found in the LXX. (though the verb στυγέω occurs once or twice in the Maccabees), but used in good classical Greek. The above is a sad but too true picture of human life without the sweetening influences of God’s Holy Spirit. Titus 3:4 When for after that, A.V.; the kindness of God our Savior, and his love toward man for the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man, A.V. Kindness (χρηστότης), used by St. Paul only in the New Testament, and by him frequently in the sense of "kindness," whether of God (as Romans 2:4; Romans 11:22; Ephesians 2:7) or of man (as 2 Corinthians 6:6; Galatians 5:22; Colossians 3:12). In Romans 3:12, where it has the wider sense of "good" or "right," it is the phrase of the LXX., who use χρηστότης for the Hebrew בוֹט. In like manner, χρηστός is frequently used in the sense of "kind" (Luke 6:35; Romans 2:4; Colossians 3:12; 1 Peter 2:3). This is exactly analogous to the use of κακός and κακία, in the limited sense of "malicious," "malice" (see preceding note to Romans 3:3). Love toward man (φιλανθρωπία); only here and Acts 28:2 in the New Testament. It occurs repeatedly in the Books of the Maccabees, and is common in good classical Greek. God our Savior (see 1 Timothy 1:1; 1 Timothy 2:3; Titus 2:10, etc.). Appeared (Titus 2:11). Titus 3:5 Done in for of, A.V.; did ourselves for hare done, A.V.; through for by, A.V. By works (ἐξἔργων); i.e. in consequence of. God’s kindness and love to man did not spring from man’s good work as the preceding and producing conditions (comp. Galatians 2:16, and the notes of Bishops Ellicott and Lightfoot). Done in righteousness(τῶνἐνδικαιοσύνῃ); the particular description of the works wrought in a sphere or element of righteousness (Alford and Ellicott). Which we did ourselves; emphasizing that they were our good works, done by us in a state of righteousness. All this, as the cause of our salvation, the apostle emphatically denies. Not, etc., but according to his mercy he saved us. The predisposing cause, the rule and measure of our salvation, was God’s mercy and grace, originating and completing that salvation. Through the washing of regeneration (διὰλουτροῦπαλλιγενεσίας). Here we have the means through or by which God’s mercy saves us. The washing or rather laver of regeneration (λουτρόν)—found elsewhere in the New Testament only in Ephesians 5:26, in exactly the same connection—is the laver or bath in which the washing takes place. The nature or quality of this bath is described by the words, "of regeneration" (τῆςπαλιγγενεσίας); elsewhere in the New Testament only in Matthew 19:28, where it seems rather to mean the great restoration of humanity at the second advent. The word is used by Cicero of his restoration to political power, by Josephus of the restoration of the Jews under Zerubbabel, and by several Greek authors; and the LXX. of Job 14:14 have the phrase, ἕωςπάλινγένωμαι, but in what sense is not quite clear, Παλιγγενεσία, therefore, very fifty describes the new birth in holy baptism, when the believer is put into possession of a new spiritual life, a new nature, and a new inheritance of glory. And the laver of baptism is called "the laver of regeneration," because it is the ordained means by or through which regeneration is obtained. And renewing of the Holy Ghost. It is doubtful whether the genitive ἀνακαιγώσεως depends upon διὰ or upon λούτρου. Bengel, followed by Alford, takes the former, "per lavacrum et renovationem;" the Vulgate (lavacrum regenerationis et renova-tionis Spiritus Sancti), the latter, followed by Huther, Bishop Ellicott, and others. It is difficult to hit upon any conclusive argument for one side or the other. But it is against the latter construction that it gives such a very long rambling sentence dependent upon λούτρου. "The laver of regeneration and of the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior." And it is in favor of the former that the "laver of regeneration" and "the renewing of the Holy Ghost" seem to describe very clearly the two parts of the sacrament, the outward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace; the birth of water and of the Holy Ghost. So that Bengel’s rendering seems on the whole to be preferred. Renewing (ἀνακαινώσεως); only here and Romans 12:2, and not at all in the LXX. or in classical Greek. But the verb ἀνακαινόω is found in 2 Corinthians 4:16; Colossians 3:10. The same idea is in the καινὴκτίσις, the "new creature" of 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 6:15, and the καινότηςζωῆς of Romans 6:4, and the καινότηςπνεύματος of Romans 7:6, and in the contrast between the "old man" (the παλαιὸςἄνθρωπος) and "the new man" (the καινὸςἄνθρωπος) of Ephesians 4:22-24. This renewal is the work of the Holy Ghost in the new birth, when men are "born again" of the Spirit (John 3:5). Alford is wrong in denying its application here to the first gift of the new life. It is evidently parallel with the παλιγγεσία. The connection of baptism with the effusion of the Holy Spirit is fully set forth in Acts 2:1-47. (see especially Acts 2:38; comp. Matthew 3:16, Matthew 3:17). Titus 3:6 Poured out upon us richly for shed on us abundantly, A.V. Which (οὖ); viz. the Holy Ghost. It is in the genitive (instead of the accusative ὁ, which is another reading), by what [he grammarians call attraction. Poured out (ἐξέχεεν); the same word as is applied to the Holy Ghost in Acts 2:17, Acts 2:18, Acts 2:33, and in the LXX. of Joe 2:28, Joe 2:29. Richly (πλουσίως); as 1 Timothy 6:17; Colossians 3:16; 2 Peter 1:11 (compare the use of πλοῦτος in Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:7). Through Jesus Christ. It is our baptism into Christ which entitles us to receive the Holy Spirit, which we have only in virtue of our union with him. The Spirit flows from the Head to the members. In Acts 2:33, Acts 2:34 Christ is said to have received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, and to have poured it forth upon the Church. Titus 3:7 Might for should, A.V. Being justified by his grace; showing very clearly that righteousness in man did not precede and cause the saving mercy of God, but that mercy went before and provided the justification which is altogether of grace, and which issues in the possession of eternal life. Heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This seems to be the right rendering rather than that in the margin, heirs, according to hope, of eternal life, making "eternal life" depend upon "heirs." The passage in Titus 1:2, "In hope of eternal life," is a very strong reason for taking the same construction here. The answer in the Church Catechism, "Wherein I was made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven," follows very closely St. Paul’s teaching in the text (see Romans 4:13, Romans 4:14; Romans 8:17; Galatians 3:29, Galatians 4:7). Titus 3:8 Faithful is the saying for this is a faithful saying, A.V.; concerning these things for these things, A.V., confidently for constantly, A.V.; to the end that for that, A.V.; God for in God, A.V.; may for might, A.V.; full stop after good works, and colon after men. Faithful is the saying; as 1 Timothy 1:15 (where see note). Here the faithful saying can only be the following maxim: "That they which have believed in God may be careful to maintain good works;" the words, "These things I will that thou affirm confidently," being interpolated to give yet more weight to it. Concerning these things; i.e. with respect to the things or truths which are the subject of the faithful saying. I will that thou affirm confidently (διαβεβαιοῦσθαι); see 1 Timothy 1:7. "Never be weary of dwelling on these important truths, and asserting them with authority. For such doctrine is really good and profitable for those whom you are commissioned to teach. But leave alone the foolish and unprofitable controversies." To the end that (ἵνα). It is not necessary to give to ἵνα the meaning "to the end that," in such a sentence as this (see note on Titus 2:12). After words of command especially, ἵνα, frequently, has simply the force of "that." So here, "lay it down as a rule that they which have believed God must be careful to maintain good works." If the sentence had run on without interruption, it would have been πιστὸςὁλόγοςὅτικ.τ.λ. But the interposition of the διαβεβαιοῦσθαι, with the idea of commanding obedience, has caused the use of ἵνα. Believed God (οἱπεπιστευκότεςΘεῷ or τῷΘεῷ). The meaning is not the same as πιστεύεινἐν, or ἐπί, "to believe in," or "on," but "to believe" (as Romans 4:3,Romans 4:17 and 1 John 5:10, where the context shows that it is the act of believing God’s promise that is meant). And so here, the believing refers to the promises implied in the preceding reference to the hope and the inheritance. May be careful (φροντίζωσι); only here in the New Testament, but common in the LXX. and in classical Greek. The word means "to give thought" about a thing, "to be careful" or "anxious" about it. To maintain (προΐ́στασθαι); usually in the sense of "presiding over" or "ruling" (as Romans 12:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; 1 Timothy 3:4, 1 Timothy 3:5, 1 Timothy 3:12; 1 Timothy 5:17). Here, alter the analogy of the classical use, προΐ́στασθαιτέχνης, to "undertake," to "carry on," or the like, fairly expressed by to "maintain." The idea does not seem to be "to stand at the head of," or "to be foremost in." Good works; i.e. practical godliness of all kinds (see 1 Timothy 1:14). These things are good, etc. If the reading of the T.R., τὰκαλὰκ.τ.λ., is retained, the rendering ought to be, "These are the things that are really good and profitable unto men, not foolish questions, etc., they are unprofitable." But the R.T. omits the τά. With regard to the interpretation above given of 1 Timothy 1:8, it must be admitted that it is very doubtful. But the great difficulty of the other way of rendering it, as most commentators do, is that it is impossible to say which part of what precedes is "the faithful saying" alluded to; and that the "care to maintain good works" is not that which naturally springs from it; whereas the reiteration in 1 Timothy 1:8 implies that "good works" is the special subject of "the faithful saying." Titus 3:9 Shun for avoid, A.V.; questionings for questions, A.V.; strifes for contentions, A.V.; fightings for strivings, A.V. Shun (περάτασο); see 2 Timothy 2:16. Foolish questionings; as 2 Timothy 2:23. Genealogies; as 1 Timothy 1:4. Strifes (ἔρεις); as 1 Timothy 6:4. Fightings about the Law (μάχαςνομικάς); such as St. Paul alludes to in 1 Timothy 1:1-20., and are probably included in the λογομαχίαιof 1 Timothy 6:4. Unprofitable (ἀνωφελεῖς); only here and Hebrews 7:18; but it is found in the LXX. and other Greek Versions, and in classical Greek (compare, for the sense, 2 Timothy 2:14). Vain (μάταιοι); compare the use of ματαιολόγοι, "vain talkers" (Titus 1:10), and ματαιολογία "vain talking" (1 Timothy 1:6). The whole picture is unmistakably one of the perverse Jewish mind. Titus 3:10 Heretical for an heretick, A.V.; a for the, A.V.; refuse for reject, A.V. Heretical (αἱρετικόν); only here in the New Testament, not found in the LXX., but used in classical Greek for "intelligent," i.e. able to choose. The use of it here by St. Paul is drawn from the use of αἵρεσις for "a sect" (Acts 5:17; Acts 15:5; Acts 24:5, Acts 24:14; Acts 26:5; Acts 28:22; 1 Corinthians 11:19; Galatians 5:20; 2 Peter 2:1), or the doctrines taught by a sect. The heretic is one who forsakes the truth held by the Church, and chooses some doctrine of his own devising (αἵρεσις). The tendency of such departures from the doctrine of the Church to assume more and more of a deadly character, and to depart wider and wider from the truth, gave to the name of heretic a darker shade of condemnation in the mouth of Church writers as time advanced. But even in apostolic times some denied the resurrection (2 Timothy 2:11, 2 Timothy 2:12); others denied the Lord that bought them (2 Peter 2:1); and there were some who were of the synagogue of Satan (Revelation 2:9); so that already an heretical man, drawing away disciples after him, was a great blot in the Church. Admonition (νουθεσία); as 1 Corinthians 10:11; Ephesians 6:4. After a first and second admonition refuse (παραιτοῦ); see 1 Timothy 4:7; 1 Timothy 5:11. It does not clearly appear what is intended by this term In 1 Timothy 5:11 it meant refusing admission into the college of Church widows. If these had been persons seeking admission into the Church, or ordination, it would mean "refuse them." Vitringa (Huther) thinks it means "excommunication." Beza, Ellicott, Huther, Alford, etc., render it "shun," "let alone," "cease to admonish," and the like. Titus 3:11 Such a one for be that is such, A.V.; perverted for subverted, A.V.; self-condemned for condemned of himself, A.V. Is perverted (ἐξέστραπται); only here in the New Testament, but common in the LXX., and found in classical Greek in a material sense, "to turn inside out," "to root up," and the like. Here it means the complete pervert-ion of the man’s Christian character, so as to leave no hope of his amendment. But this is not to be presumed till a first and second admonition have been given in vain. Self-condemned (αὐτοκατάκριτος); only here in the New Testament, not found in the LXX. nor in classical Greek. It means what Cicero (quoted by Schleusner) says of C. Fabricius, that he was suo judicio condemnatus, condemned by his own judgment, which, he says, is a heavier condemnation than even that of the law and of the judges (’Pro Cluentio,’ 21, at the end). Fabricius was self-condemned because he had left the court in confusion at a critical part of his trial. So the heretics were self-condemned by the very fact that they continued to head the schism after repeated admonitions. Titus 3:12 Give diligence for be diligent, A.V.; there I have determined for I have determined there, A.V. When I shall send Artemas, etc. The action of St. Paul in sending Artemas or Tychicus to take the place of Titus in Crete is exactly the same as he pursued with regard to Ephesus, whither he sent Tychicus to take Timothy’s place (2 Timothy 4:11, 2 Timothy 4:12). He would not leave the presbyters in either place without the direction and superintendence of one having his delegated apostolic authority. This led to the final placing of a resident bishop in the Churches, such as we find in the second century. We may conclude that Artemas (otherwise unknown) was the person eventually sent to Crete, as Tychicus (Colossians 4:7) we know went to Ephesus (2 Timothy 4:12). We have also an important note of time in this expression, showing clearly that this Epistle was written before the Second Epistle to Timothy (as it probably also was before 1 Timothy)—an inference abundantly corroborated by 2 Timothy 4:10, by which it appears that Titus had then actually joined St. Paul, either at Nicopolis or elsewhere, and had started off again to Dalmatia. Give diligence (σπούδασον); 2 Timothy 2:15, note; 2 Timothy 4:9, 2 Timothy 4:21. Nicopolis, in Epirus. The most obvious reason for St. Paul’s wintering at Nicopolis is that it was near Apollonia, the harbor opposite Brindisium, which would be his way to Rome, and also well situated for the missionary work in Dalmatia, which we learn from 2 Timothy 4:10 was in hand. Nicopolis (the city of victory) was built by Augustus Caesar to commemorate the great naval victory at Actium over Antony. It is now a complete ruin, uninhabited except by a few shepherds, but with vast remains of broken columns, baths, theatres, etc.. To winter (παραχειμάσαι); Acts 27:12; Acts 28:11; 1 Corinthians 16:6. (On the question whether the winter here referred to is the same winter as that mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21, see Introduction.) Titus 3:13 Set forward for bring, A.V. Set forward (πρόπεμψον); the technical expression both in the New Testament and the LXX., and also in classical Greek, for helping a person forward on their journey by supplying them with money food, letters of recommendation, escort, or whatever else they might require (see Acts 15:3; Acts 20:38; Acts 21:5; Romans 15:24; 1 Corinthians 16:6; 2 Corinthians 1:16; 3 John 1:6). Zenas the lawyer. He is utterly unknown. His name is short for Zenodorus, but whether he was "a Jewish scribe or Roman legist" can hardly be decided. But his companionship with Apollos, and the frequent application of the term νομικός in the New Testament to the Jewish scribes and lawyers (Matthew 22:35; Luke 7:30; Luke 10:25; Luke 11:45, Luke 11:48, Luke 11:52; Luke 14:3), makes it most probable that he was a Jewish lawyer. Apollos; the well-known and eminent Alexandrian Jew, who was instructed in the gospel by Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus, and became a favorite teacher at Corinth (Acts 18:24; Acts 19:1; 1 Corinthians 1:12, and the following chapters, and 1 Corinthians 16:12). It is a probable conjecture of Lewin’s that Apollos was the bearer of this letter, written at Corinth, and was on his way to Alexandria, his native place, taking Crete on the way. Titus 3:14 Our people for ours, A.V. Our people also. The natural inference is that Titus had some fund at his disposal with which he was to help the travelers, but that St. Paul wished the Cretan Christians to contribute also. But it may also mean, as Luther suggests, "Let our Christians learn to do what Jews do, and even heathens too, viz. provide for the real wants of their own." To maintain good works (verse 8, note) for necessary uses (εἰςτὰςἀναγκαίαςχρείας); such as the wants of the missionaries. The phrase means "urgent necessities," the "indispensable wants." In classical Greek τὰἀνάγκαια are "the necessaries of life." That they be not unfruitful (ἄκαρποι); comp. 2 Peter 1:8 and Colossians 1:6, Colossians 1:10. Titus 3:15 Salute for greet, A.V.; faith for the faith, A.V. That love us in faith has no sense. "The faith" is right (see 1 Timothy 1:2, note). Grace be with you all. So, with slight varieties, end St. Paul’s other Epistles. The T.R. has Amen, as have most of the other Epistles. . Titus 3:1-7 Mercy begetting mercy. The practical lessons of the gospel were not exhausted in the preceding chapter, nor the motives which urge believers to godliness. The call to holiness in the last chapter was based upon the holy character of God’s saving grace and the purpose of Christ’s redeeming love. In these verses the grace and love of God are still the basis of the exhortation, but it takes its peculiar coloring from the thought of what we were ourselves. Tenderness, indulgence, and meekness toward our fellow-men are the duties to which these verses call us; and it is supposed that those fellow-men may be rough and evil-minded toward us, and provoking in their ways, and perhaps obstinate in evil-doing. The natural heart might be ready to speak evil of them, to contend fiercely with them, utterly to reject them as reprobates, to thrust them beyond the pale of hope and kindness. But stay! What were you yourselves when the kindness and love of God first appeared unto you? Were you walking in righteousness? Were your works the things which attracted God’s love toward you? Nay! you were living in that folly which you now condemn in others; you were children of disobedience then as truly as they are now; you were deceived by sin then as they are now; you were the slaves of your own lusts then even as they are now; you lived in malice and envy then, both hateful and hating one another. But God’s mercy found you out; God’s love threw a veil over your sins; he provided a fountain to wash away your guilt; he sent his Holy Spirit to create in you a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within you; he justified you by his grace; he made you his heirs, and gave you the hope of eternal life. And will not you have mercy upon your fellow-men? Will not you, for whom the Divine gentleness and patience has done so much, be gentle and patient too? Will not you, humble in the remembrance of your own sins, and abashed at the thought of your own unworthiness, deal meekly and kindly even with unruly and sinful men, and cherish the hope that God’s boundless grace may at last reach them, even as it reached you? Thus the doctrine of God’s mercy toward men begets mercy from man to man, and the doctrine of grace is the strongest conceivable motive to charity. Titus 3:8-15 Pearls before swine. There is in some a habit of mind utterly out of harmony with the Word of God. It is not that dogmas, or creeds, or ceremonies are despised and forgotten by them, as they usually are by the pleasure-seeking or moneymaking world. On the contrary, these things are often in their minds and upon their lips. But they handle everything, not with a view to growth in goodness, not with a view to the formation within of a humble, pure, and holy character, but merely as matters of disputation. They raise questions, the solution of which has no bearing upon our duty to God or man, but which only give occasion for strife of words, and utterly unprofitable contentions. The most solemn truths, the most sacred mysteries of the Christian faith, are only food for a wrangling, disputatious spirit. They are always ready to start difficulties, to suggest doubts, or to propose new forms of doctrine in lieu of those once delivered to the saints. Strong in their own conceits and wise in their own esteem, they will not learn, no, not from Christ himself, but are always forward to teach some new thing. They value nothing which they have not invented themselves. They accept no truth which they have not adulterated with their own imaginations. Disciples they will not be. Masters they must be. When this habit of mind has clearly developed itself, the servant of God has only to withdraw from such. He must not be drawn into the whirlpool of vain jangling and unprofitable disputes. He must not go on casting his pearls before the swine. Silence is, in such cases, the best rebuke. When honest and gentle efforts to bring home to such persons the truths of God’s Word in a reverential and practical way have utterly failed, and it is become evident that there is no desire in their hearts for Christ and his Word, it is time to cease from such efforts. "From such turn away" is the authoritative advice of St. Paul. Nothing can be in sharper contrast with the "unprofitable strivings" here condemned than the unobtrusive works of kindness, and active help to the furtherance of the gospel, inculcated upon Titus. Zenas and Apollos are to be brought on their way. Care is to be taken that they want for nothing. The Church in Crete is to be fruitful in good works for the wants of their brethren; and even the closing salutation is redolent of love and kindness. When Christians feel that the very essence of Christianity is unobtrusive love and kindness, shown in unselfish acts, and a readiness to help wherever help is needed, then will the Church be Christ’s true witness upon earth; witnessing to Christ as the embodiment of the law of love, and witnessing to the Spirit of Christ as dwelling in her of a truth. BY T. . Political duties. The apostle now turns to the duties which Christians owe to the pagan world around them. I. THE OF THE TO . "Put them in mind." The words imply that the duty was already known, but needed to be recalled to Cretan memory. It is but too certain that the injunction was needed. Once a democratic state, now for over a century under Roman law, and always remarkable for a factious and turbulent spirit, the Cretan impatience of authority was reinforced by the spirit of insubordination which was such a characteristic of the Jewish part of the community. II. THE DUTY OF TO . "Put them in mind to be subject to authorities, to powers, to obey the magistrate, to be ready towards every good work." The very redundancy of words used here is significant, as if to exclude the possibility of an evasion of the command. 1. Government is of God. "The powers that be are ordained of God" (Romans 13:1; 1 Peter 2:13). 2. The form of government does not affect the duty of obedience. Monarchies, republics, oligarchies, have in them alike the ordination and power of God for the welfare of society. 3. There are limits to this obedience, but the apostle does not fix them. The exceptional cases are not mentioned, because they are summed up either in the primary law of self-preservation, which is antecedent to all government, or in the supremacy of conscience, which must always obey God rather than men. A king may become insane and murder his subjects, but the first principles of nature justify their resort to force in self-protection (Acts 5:29; Acts 4:9, Acts 4:20). The king may command his subjects to practice idolatry. In that case, if the Christian cannot resist, he must die. III. DUTY IN THE CASE OF MORE THAN . They must be "ready toward every good work." As the magistrate is appointed to be a terror to evil-doers and the praise of them that do well (Romans 13:3), the disposition of Christian subjects to every good work has a tendency to make government easy and light.—T.C. The right deportment of Christians toward all men. It is described first negatively, then positively. I. THEY MUST NOT BE . "To speak evil of no man." 1. What evils spring from the wrong use of the tongue! "It is an unruly evil" (James 3:8). 2. If the evil we speak of others is false, we are slanderers; if it is true, we sin against charity. It usually betokens a malignant spirit. 3. It is to forget the example of Christ—"who, when he was reviled, reviled not again;" and the precepts of Christ, who taught us "to love our enemies." Let Christians, therefore, guard their tongues, and let their words be few and well-ordered. II. THEY MUST NOT BE . "No brawlers." 1. Such a disposition mars the influence of Christian people. 2. It is inconsistent with the spirit of him who did not strive, nor was his voice heard in the streets. 3. It leads to unseemly retaliations from the world, to the dishonor of Christ. III. THEY MUST BE . "But gentle." It suggests the idea of giving way, of taking wrong rather than of revenging the injuries we receive. IV. THEY MUST BE MEEK TO ALL MEN. "Showing all meekness to all men." 1. Meekness is a fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22.) 2. It is precious in God’s sight. (1 Peter 3:4.) 3. It is a characteristic of true wisdom. (James 3:17.) 4. It is necessary to a Christian walk. (Ephesians 4:1, Ephesians 4:2.) 5. It is specially needed in our conduct toward our fellow-men (James 3:13); in our efforts to restore the erring (Galatians 6:1) and to instruct opposers (2 Timothy 2:24, 2 Timothy 2:25).—T.C. An humiliating retrospect. The apostle adds, as a reason for the duties first specified, that "we also," including himself with the Gentile Christians, were once in a similar condition to the heathen, and had received mercy. It is a dark picture of men in their natural state, proceeding from a description of the inward source to the outward facts of this evil life. I. HUMAN NATURE AS TO ITS MORE INWARD . "For we ourselves" were once foolish. 1. It is foolish. As wisdom is the choice of proper means of attaining our ends, so folly must be the direct contrary. (1) The fool despises instruction and wisdom, and hates knowledge (Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 1:22). (2) He walks in the darkness of a false education (Ecclesiastes 2:14). (3) He is self-sufficient and self-confident (Proverbs 14:8, Proverbs 14:16). (4) He is a self-deceiver (Proverbs 14:8). (5) He makes a mock at sin (Proverbs 14:9). 2. It is disobedient. The word implies that the root of all true obedience is faith. Human nature is without faith, and is therefore disobedient. (1) Disobedience forfeits God’s favor (1 Samuel 13:14). (2) Provokes his anger (Psalms 78:10, Psalms 78:40). (3) Forfeits promised blessings (Joshua 5:6). (4) Brings curse (Deuteronomy 11:28). (5) There are many warnings against it (Jeremiah 12:17). 3. It is deceived. Because it is separated from Christ, who is the Light of the world. It is easily led astray by all sorts of delusion. It has no pole-star or compass to steer by, and is therefore in constant danger of shipwreck. It is deceived by itself as well as by the devil. II. HUMAN NATURE AS TO ITS MORE OUTWARD . 1. Its service was impure. "Serving divers lusts and pleasures." This was the character of heathen life in an island like Crete, where the propensities of human nature would have free scope. The pleasures of this life were of a sinful and debasing nature. Such a service was bondage (Romans 6:6, Romans 6:16; Romans 16:18). 2. It implied a life of malice. (1) The wicked speak with malice (3 John 1:10). (2) Are filled with it (Romans 1:29). (3) Visit the saints with it (Psalms 83:3). (4) God requites it (Isaiah 10:14). 3. It implied a life of envy. (1) Envy is a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:21). (2) The wicked are full of it (Romans 1:29). (3) It leads to every evil work (James 3:16). (4) It is hurtful to its possessors (Job 5:2). (5) It will be punished (Psalms 106:16, Psalms 106:17). 4. It implies hatefulness. "Hateful;" that is, possessing the qualities that excite hatred and dislike. 5. It implies a return of hate for hate. "Hating one another." (1) It is characteristic of those without love to God (1 John 2:9, 1 John 2:11). (2) It is a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:21). (3) It stirs up strife (Proverbs 10:12). (4) It embitters life (Proverbs 15:17). (5) It will be punished (Psalms 34:21).—T.C. Titus 3:4-7 The origin, nature, means, and end of salvation. The apostle reflects that he and other believers had no excuse for treating the heathen with haughtiness, since it was owing to no merit of his or theirs that their own lives had become purer. I. THE OF THE DIVINE AND LOVE TO MAN. "But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love to man appeared." 1. The time of this manifestation. The expression implies a definite point of time. It was "the fullness of the time" (Galatians 4:4). (1) It was the period fixed in the Divine purpose from eternity. (2) It was the time of the probation of the Jews, ending in the most awful series of judgments that ever befell a people. (3) It was a time when the Greek tongue and the Roman arms made a highway for the gospel. (4) It was a time when pagan thought had exhausted every experiment in the art of living, to find that all was "vanity and vexation of spirit." (5) Yet it is not implied that the manifestation of Divine kindness had not been enjoyed already in pre-Christian ages; for it was in virtue of this manifestation, in the fullness of times, that God’s love flowed forth in blessing during Jewish ages. 2. The nature of this manifestation. (1) It was a manifestation of kindness and love to man. (a) Kindness is the more general term, unlimited, undefined, all-embracing, touching the whole creation. (b) Love to man is his special and distinguishing love to the children of men as distinct from angels. (2) It was the love of the Father—"our Savior-God." (a) The title" Savior," so often given to the Son, is here given to the Father, because he is the Fountain from whence flow all the streams of Divine mercy. The Son is "the Unspeakable of the Father;" for he "so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16). The atonement was not, therefore, the cause, but the effect, of the Father’s love. (b) This fact, exhibiting the mine of power and love in the Creator, greatly enhances the certainty and glory of redemption. (c) It is our Father who is our Savior. Mark the clear relationship, in spite of all our waywardness and sin. II. THE METHOD OF THIS DIVINE . "Not by works of righteousness we did, but according to his mercy he saved us." The Divine goodness and love were manifested in salvation. "He saved us." This salvation, procured by the obedience and death of Christ, has its origin, not in works of righteousness done by man, as entitling him to it, but solely in Divine mercy. Mark the conditions and the means of this salvation. 1. The conditions of salvation. (1) Not by works of righteousness. (a) We are not saved by our own works, even though they should be done in obedience to a righteous law (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:4, Ephesians 2:8, Ephesians 2:9; 2 Timothy 1:1, 2 Timothy 1:9). (b) If we were saved in this way, Christ should have died in vain (Galatians 2:21). His death would have been quite unnecessary. (c) Experience proves the impossibility of our being able to do the works of perfect righteousness (Romans 3:23). (2) The condition of salvation is Divine mercy. "According to his mercy." (a) God is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4). (b) It streams forth from the blood and righteousness of Christ (Romans 3:24, Romans 3:25; Romans 6:23). (c) It was through the tender mercy of God that Christ, as the Dayspring from on high, visited the earth (Luke 1:78). (d) The pardon of sin is according to the multitude of his tender mercies (Psalms 51:1, Psalms 51:2). (e) Eternal life is the effect of God’s mercy. 2. The means of salvation. "By the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he poured on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior." The Greek word is "laver," as if to show that the reference is to baptism. (1) The washing of regeneration refers to the beginning of the spiritual process in the soul, as it is the Spirit who regenerates the soul. There is nothing in the passage to support the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. (a) The connection of baptism with regeneration no more proves that all the baptized are regenerated than the expression, "we are sanctified by the truth," implies that the truth in all cases has this effect, or that "the gospel of your salvation" implies that salvation always follows the hearing of the gospel. (b) As a matter of fact, believers in apostolic times were regenerated before they were baptized; therefore they were not regenerated by baptism. This was the case with the three thousand at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47.), with Lydia and the Philippian jailor (Acts 16:1-40.). (c) There is no necessary connection between baptism and regeneration, for Simon Magus was baptized without being regenerated (Acts 8:9-24). (d) It is strange that, much as John speaks of regeneration in his First Epistle, he never connects baptism with it. He says that those who are "born of God" do righteousness, and overcome the world. Why should he mention these tests at all, when he might have known that, had they been baptized, they must have been regenerated? (e) The Apostle Peter shows us the meaning of baptism when he says that "baptism doth now save us" (1 Peter 3:21). How? "Not by putting away the filth of the flesh "—which is easily done by the external application of water—" but the answer of a good conscience toward God; "as if to show that such an answer, representing the reality and sincerity of our profession, was separable from the putting away of the faith of the flesh. (f) The expression, "baptism for the remission of sins," does not imply that baptism is the cause of their remission, for in all the cases referred to the remission had already taken place before baptism (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16). The baptism was a sign or seal of a remission already accomplished. Saul was a true believer before Ananias said to him, "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the Name of the Lord." Besides, it was by calling on the Name of the Lord that his sins were washed away. This is the force of the Greek construction. (2) The renewing of the Holy Ghost refers to the continuance of the spiritual process in the soul. Thus "the inward man is renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16). This points to progressive sanctification. (a) The renewed are the children of God, the heirs of the eternal inheritance. (b) The effects are the fruits of righteousness in our life and conversation. Thus there is a firm connection between the regeneration and the renewal, which cannot be said of baptism and renewal. Christendom is baptized, yet how little grace is manifest among its millions! (c) The source of this renewal is the Holy Ghost, who has been poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. It was in virtue of the mediatorship that the Spirit was given, and still works in the Church of God. For (a) all salvation is by him; (b) the grace of regeneration is out of his fullness; (c) the gift of God, which is eternal life, is through him. III. THE END OF THIS OF DIVINE AND LOVE. "That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." God saves us according to his mercy by regeneration; but the first effect of regeneration is faith, and faith is the instrument of our justification. There is no difference in the order of time between regeneration and justification, but regeneration must precede justification in the order of nature. Therefore the apostle here goes upon the order of nature. 1. The nature of justification. It includes’ pardon of sin and. acceptance, into God’s favor. 2. The ground of justification. "Being justified by his grace. (1) Not by works; (2) but by the grace of the Father, who is the Justifier. It is by grace, because (a) it is of faith (Romans 5:1; Romans 3:28); (b) it is by the death of the Son of God. 3. The privileges of justification. "That we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (1) Eternal life is an inheritance; it is not earned by our obedience and our righteousness; it is a free gift. (2) We are predestinated to this inheritance in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5, Ephesians 1:11). (3) The grace of adoption, which is linked with our justification, opens the way to our enjoyment of the inheritance. (4) It is an inheritance which is not yet fully enjoyed; for we are heirs "according to the hope of eternal life." (a) There are "things hoped for" held out to us through faith (Hebrews 11:1). (b) "It doth not yet appear what we shall be;" but when "we shall be forever with the Lord," we shall actually possess and enjoy our inheritance.—T.C. The necessary connection between gospel doctrine and good works. I. THE OF GOSPEL . "This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly." He refers here to the sum of the doctrine of Christian salvation contained in the three preceding verses. 1. The doctrine of salvation is worthy of all acceptance. "This is a faithful saying." This formula, contained only in the pastoral Epistles, points to some weighty truth which had become a watchword among the Christian brotherhood of early times. (1) There is a tendency in our days to decry dogma. The apostle always insists on its importance as the root-principle and moving spring of morality. (2) The saying implies that the heavenly inheritance just spoken of is no figment of the imagination, but ought to be accepted as one of the commonplaces of Christian belief. 2. It ought to be confidently put forth at all times by Christian ministers. "And these things I will that thou affirm constantly." This was the strain of all apostolic preaching, and it ought to be ours also. There is no true practical preaching which does not involve the exhibition of God’s character and our relations to him in grace—the glorious Person of the Mediator in his various offices, and the work of the Holy Ghost in applying Divine salvation. "These things are good and profitable to men; ’ that is, these doctrines, for they lead to good works, and benefit men spiritually and morally. II. THE DESIGN OF GOSPEL . "In order that they which have believed God might be careful to maintain good works." The faithful saying of the apostle was not the necessity of good works, but the necessity of the doctrines of grace being preached as the only method of producing good works. 1. The apostle seems to anticipate a tendency of later times to exalt morality at the expense of faith. The doctrines, he says, are the true fountains from which all good works flow. These are, therefore, probably called doctrines according to godliness (Titus 1:1); the wholesome doctrine (Titus 1:9). 2. He sets forth the duty of all believers to be careful about good works. It ought to be a matter of earnest striving, because (1) God is glorified thereby (John 15:8); (2) because they are means of blessing to man (James 1:25); (3) because God remembers them (Hebrews 6:9, Hebrews 6:10); (4) because they will be an evidence of faith in the judgment (Matthew 25:34-40). 3. He insists on their maintaining good works. The word signifies that they must be excelling in them. (1) They must, therefore, be zealous of them (Titus 2:14); (2) furnished unto them (2 Timothy 3:17); (3) rich in them, and stablished in them (1 Timothy 6:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:17); (4) ready for all good works (Titus 3:1); (5) provoking each other unto them (Hebrews 10:24).—T.C. A warning against frivolous and disputative teaching. This is in contrast to the sound teaching just referred to. "But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the Law; for they are unprofitable and vain." I. THE THINGS WHICH ARE TO BE PLACED OUTSIDE THE SPHERE OF THOUGHT AND CONCERN. 1. Foolish questions. Questions not easily answered, yet if answered without practical bearing upon Christian life. Such were many of the Jewish discussions about the oral Law, the nature of God and the angels, the power of the Name Jehovah. In Christian times papists have discussed for a whole century "which side of Jesus was pierced by the spear?" Such are "foolish questions." 2. Genealogies. Jerome tells us the Jews were as well acquainted with the genealogies from Adam to Zerubbabel as with their own names. It is possible that the Jewish Christians attached great importance to their family registers. The genealogies, however, are significantly linked by the apostle with fables. 3. Contentions and strivings about the Law. There were many disputed and disputable points in the Law, especially respecting the authority and confirmation of the commandments (Titus 1:14). II. THE OF THE TOWARD SUCH THINGS. "Avoid them." 1. This implies that he is not even to discuss them, on account of their utter frivolousness. 2. The reason is that they are "unprofitable and vain," and therefore exactly opposed to the things "good and profitable to men." The apostle would deliver all ministers from such folly and trifling, by placing before them Jesus Christ, the one glorious Object of the Church’s love and adoration, leaving questions of another sort to the dead. Such questions had eaten the heart out of Judaism. They must not be allowed in Christianity.—T.C. Titus 3:10, Titus 3:11 The right attitude of Christian ministers toward divisive errorists. "A man that is an heretic after a first and second admonition avoid." I. THE TRUE NATURE OF HIS OFFENSE. 1. It is not a case of fundamental or doctrinal error, such as the words "heretic" and "heresy" came to imply in after-ages. Yet it is a mistake to suppose that separatist ways are not caused by divergences of judgment on some points from the settled belief of the Christian community. 2. It was a case of a turbulent sectary, dissatisfied with the Church, who withdrew from her communion to the disturbance of her peace. He would try to justify his course by a difference of opinion upon matters of doctrine, worship, or organization. II. THE METHOD OF DEALING WITH THE . 1. He was to receive two admonitions in succession. He was to be twice warned not to pursue his divisive courses; he was not to be contended with, but rebuke was to be employed to recover him from his error. 2. His pride or his ambition would not allow him to yield to admonition, he was to be, not excommunicated—the course adopted by the apostle himself in another case (1 Timothy 1:20); but simply avoided. There must be no intercourse with him. This was a virtual excommunication, for he no longer held the place of a Christian brother. III. THE OF THIS METHOD. "Knowing that he that is such is perverted, and sinneth, being self-condemned." The case is an utterly hopeless one. You must have done with the divisive sectary; let him alone. 1. For he is perverted; implying an inward corruption of character, which steels him against all official admonition of the Church. 2. He sinneth. He errs knowingly, for his course has been authoritatively condemned by the messenger of God. 3. He is self-condemned. This does not mean that he consciously acts a part he knows to be wrong, but that he has condemned himself by his own practice, practically consenting by his separation that he is unworthy the fellowship of the Church, and thus justifying the Church in its rejection of him, or that he stands condemned by the Scriptures which he himself accepts as his rule of faith and life.—T.C. Titus 3:12, Titus 3:13 Personal directions. The connection of Titus with the Cretan Church was to be but temporary; therefore the apostle gives him two commands. I. A COMMAND FOR TITUS TO JOIN THE APOSTLE AT . 1. The apostle needed his services, either at this city in Epirus, where he determined to spend the winter—no doubt in apostolic labors—or to ascertain from him the exact condition of the Church at Crete, or to send him forth on an errand to some of the other Churches. 2. But the place of Titus was not to be left unsupplied. Two brethren, Artemas and Tychicus, were to go to Crete—one altogether unknown by us, but, as he is first mentioned, probably a minister of high distinction and zeal; the other, Tychicus, one of the most esteemed of the apostle’s friends (Acts 20:4; Colossians 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:12). II. A COMMAND FOR TITUS TO HASTEN THE OF ZENAS AND APOLLOS FROM CRETE. These brethren had been laboring in the Church there, probably, before Titus was left behind by the apostle. Zenas, the lawyer, was probably a Jewish scribe converted to Christianity, who had been acting as an evangelist in Crete. Apollos was the eloquent preacher of Alexandria, and now as always in perfect sympathy with the apostle, though there seemed a rivalry between them at Corinth. The apostle implies that the Cretan Christians were to provide the necessary help for such a journey.—T.C. A last reminder concerning good works. The suggestion just made leads to this adjunction: "And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful." I. IT IS AN TO THE . "Ours also." It is the duty of all believers, sharers in the common faith, and heirs of the grace of life, to learn to do good works. II. NEED TO RE TRAINED TO THIS SERVICE. "Let ours also learn." They will learn it from the Scriptures, which tell us what is the good and perfect and acceptable will of God; and from the doctrines of grace, which teach us to follow as an example the Lord Jesus, who went about every day doing good. III. THESE GOOD WORKS ARE TO HAVE A BEARING UPON THE WANTS OF OTHERS. They are "for necessary wants." 1. Not to atone for sin, or recommend us as sinners to God’s favor. 2. But to glorify God by doing for others what he so abundantly does for us. By adorning the doctrine of Christ by our beneficence; by putting to silence the gainsaying of foolish men, because they see we are "not unfruitful." We are thus seen to be trees of righteousness, bearing all manner of fruits. It is an interesting fact that, in the last inspired teachings of the apostle, he should have eight times enforced the duty of maintaining good works.—T.C. Salutation and conclusion. "All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen." I. MARK HOW THE EPISTLE, WHICH BEGAN WITH THE FAITH OF GOD’S ELECT, ENDS WITH GRACE AND LOVE. II. MARK THE CLOSE BY GRACE BETWEEN THE WIDELY MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH. They are one holy, happy family, united by love. The threefold repetition of the word "all" suggests the deep unity of the body of Christ, in spite of its inward distractions and errors and sins. III. THE IMPLIES THAT, THOUGH TO TITUS, THE EPISTLE WAS TO RE TO THE WHOLE CHURCH IN CRETE.—T.C. BY W.M. STATHAM Titus 3:1, Titus 3:2 Subjection to the state. Society has reached no ideal perfection in government, nor has God himself laid down any outward form as an ideal. All nations are justified in variety of choice. There has been government by judges, and governments monarchical, republican, autocratic, and constitutional. All that we need to notice is that society needs to be governed. Lawlessness always ends in anarchy, misery, and desolation. I. LEARN TO THE STATE. This is beautiful. Restraint is better than the liberty of licentiousness. Compare a river that keeps its bounds to one that overflows its banks. Men are justified in resisting tyrannies, whether of autocrats or mobs; but they must not forget that all well-ordered societies exist only by subjection. II. LEARN SELF- IN . Controlling the tongue, avoiding all bitterness and "brawling," and showing that there is a magistracy of the heart as well as a magistracy of the state.—W.M.S. The mercy of God. "According to his mercy he saved us." Mercy is the key-note of redemption. It is the music of the Psalms; the spirit of Christ’s ministry, and the motive of the atonement. It is the very heart of God—as permanent as his justice and his righteousness; "for his mercy endureth forever." I. IS NOT A OF MAN’S. "Not according to works of righteousness which we have done." Good actions do not make a good man; it is the good man that makes the good actions. If man is to be saved, he must have new life from within. Mercy meets his case. God’s pity and compassion are seen in this. He gives the new heart that makes the new life, and so he saves us from self and sin. II. IS A DUAL WORRY. This is" the washing of regeneration," the redemption that comes to the heart through the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. But the removal of the stain of sin is not all. The heart, however clean, is not to be a blank. A new likeness is to be brought out. So there is to be the "renewing of the Holy Ghost." We are made new creatures in Christ Jesus. God’s likeness comes out again in the soul. We are made holy with God’s holiness, and beautiful with God’s beauty.—W.M.S. Titus 3:8, Titus 3:14 Christian character. "To maintain good works." This is a repeated counsel, and shows how much need there was of showing that the "belief" spoken of in the eighth verse should not be a mere speculative creed. This Titus is to "affirm constantly," showing that there were those then who had a tendency to antinomianism, or neglect of the Law of moral order and beauty. I. . "Maintain." Men weary of their efforts after the attainment of a Divine ideal. Holiness is not a gift, it is a growth; and a growth, not like that of a plant, which is unconscious, but a growth that involves obedience. Maintain "works"—give them continuance, by aliment and nurture. II. . "Works." For life covers a large sphere. We are apt to forget that Christianity covers all spheres—the civil, social, moral, spiritual. For ages the Church was merely ecclesiastical. "The religious" were such as shut themselves out from the world, deeming its pursuits and duties below the dignity of a spiritual religion, which made the soul and its feelings and devotions everything. Now we have moved into a wider inheritance; we believe in the Christianization of common life; the consecration of art and science and common duty to Christian ends. We are simply to ask if the work given us to do is a good work, and we are to be earnest in "every good work." And we have seen that the tree must first be made good; for it is "the good man that, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth good things."—W.M.S. BY D. THOMAS Titus 3:1-3 Duty. "Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers," etc. "Very careful," says Dean Spence, "and searching have been the apostle’s charges to Titus respecting the teachers of the Church, their doctrine and their life; very particular have been his directions, his warnings and exhortations, to men and women of different ages, on the subject of their home life. But with the exception of a slight digression, in the case of a slave to a pagan master, his words had been written with a reference generally to Christian life among Christians. But there was then a great life outside the little Christian world: how were the people of Christ to regulate their behavior in their dealings with the vast pagan world outside? Patti goes to the root of the matter at once when he says, ’Put them in mind,’ etc." We have here duty in a threefold relation—in relation to civil government, in relation to general society, and in relation to moral self. Here is duty— I. IN TO CIVIL . "Put them in mind to be subject [in subjection] to principalities [rulers] and powers [authorities], to obey magistrates [to be obedient]." It is here implied, and fully taught elsewhere (Romans 13:1-7), that civil government is of Divine appointment. "There is no power but of God," says Paul. That the principle of civil government is Divine is not only revealed but implied in the very constitution of society. 1. Man’s social tendencies indicate it. Some men are royal in their instincts and powers, and are evidently made to rule. Others are servile, cringing in tendency, feeble in faculty, and made to obey. There is a vast gradation of instinct and power in human society, and it is an eternal principle in God’s government that the lesser shall serve the greater. 2. Man’s social exigencies indicate it. Every community, to be kept in order, must have a recognized head—one who shall be allowed to rule, either by his own will or the organized will of the whole. Hence man, in his most savage state, has some recognized chief. The principle of civil government is, therefore, manifestly of Divine appointment. We may rest assured that, civil government being of Divine appointment, it is for good and good only. Indeed, we learn that Paul’s idea of a civil ruler is that he is a "minister of God to thee for good." But what is good? The answer in which all will agree is this—obedience to the Divine will. What is the standard of virtue? Not the decree of an autocrat, not public sentiment, even when organized into constitutional law; but the will of God. "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." The civil government, therefore, that does not harmonize with his will, as revealed by Christ the infallible Logos, is not the government of which Paul speaks. Taking Christ as the Revealer of God’s will, we may infer that the infringement of human rights is not in accordance with the will of God, and therefore not good. Also that the promotion of injustice, impurity, and error is not according to the will of God, and therefore not good. The Bible never teaches, nor does moral philosophy, that we are bound to obey laws that are not righteous, to honor persons that are not honorworthy. If we are commanded to honor the king, the precept implies that the king’s character is worthy of his office; Some kings it is religious to despise and loathe. If we are commanded to honor our parents, the language implies that our parents are honorworthy. Some parents display attributes of character suited to awaken the utmost hatred and contempt. In like manner we are commanded to be subject to the higher powers, and the injunction implies that what these higher powers enact is right. The obligation of obedience is ever dependent upon the righteousness of the command. II. IN TO GENERAL SOCIETY. There are three duties here indicated which every man owes to his fellows. 1. Usefulness. "Be ready to every good work." The law of universal benevolence which we see in nature, our own instincts and faculties, as well as the written Word, teach us that man was made to serve his brother; the grand end of each is to promote the happiness of others. No man fulfills his mission or realizes his destiny who is not an altruist, who is not ever actuated by regard for the happiness of others. Altruism is God’s social law and is binding on every one; disregard to it is the source of all social disorders and miseries. "The soul of the truly benevolent man does not seem to reside much in its own body. Its life, to a great extent, is a mere reflex of the lives of others. It migrates into their bodies, and, identifying its existence with their existence, finds its own happiness in increasing and prolonging their pleasures, in extinguishing or solacing their pains." This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/pulpit-commentary/