PREFACE
I finished my exposition of 2 Timothy this morning and am now beginning my exposition on Paul's letter to Titus. These personal letters of Paul are important in that they are written to encourage these men specifically chosen by Paul, and imparted with Spiritual gifts to make sure that the assemblies are run orderly, and that they refuse to allow the false teachers to come in and spoil the family. These are not epistles to organize the church into any special denomination; they are to proclaim the grace of God, and study together as a family. The first church was endowed by the Holy Spirit with spiritual gifts that helped them get the gospel of grace out before the Bible was complete, and was certainly not the purpose of Paul to teach organized religion for the age of grace in which we live. The officers of the first church were chosen for serving, or ministering and not for usurping authority over the body of Christ. In order that you do not think I am being a rebel, let me quote Marvin Vincent a very notable Greek scholar, a professor of Sacred Literature in the Union Theological Seminary, New York, in the last century, "The offices in the Pauline church were charismatic. The warrant of leadership was a divine, spiritual endowment. Paul recognized certain functions as of divine institution; and those functions are assumed in virtue of a special, divine gift in prophecy, speaking with tongues, teaching, healing, or helping, as the case may be (see 1 Cor. 12). There is no recognition of official distinctions or of formal appointment to definite offices, in the Pauline Epistles. Apostles, prophets, teachers, powers, helps, healings, kinds of tongues, do not represent offices resting on the appointment of the church . . . The Pastorals seem to mark a transition point between the earlier republican simplicity and the later monarchical tendency."
I am using my usual format of writing the verses out in the King James Version (KJV), and then my own literal Greek translation (LGT). God bless us as we study this Epistle.
INTRODUCTION
"Crete is a large island in the eastern Mediterranean SE of the Greek mainland. The island is 160 miles wide. It is dominated by four mountain ranges, but in the eastern half there are fertile plains and upland basins, which furnish summer pasturage. For this reason only the eastern half was settled in prehistoric times.
"The unfortified cities first formed a thalassocracy (supremacy over the seas) under the semi-mythical King Minos. Extensive trade was carried on with Egypt, the Greek mainland and the East. The glories of the culture are revealed in gigantic palaces (labyrinths - mazes), magnificently decorated vases, frescoed walls, and enormous storage jars for the oil, wine, and grain of the bureaucracy. During the Late Minoan period the island was conquered by the Mycenaeans of the mainland and went into decline soon thereafter. The Palace of Minos at Knossos has been excavated and partially rebuilt by the efforts of Evans and Pendlebury. American archeologists have excavated on the islands and the mainland in the vicinity of the gulf of Mirabello. Gordon has theorized by the partial decipherment of Linear A that the Minoans were West Semites. Others have looked for similar eastern origins of them.
"During classical times Crete was largely a recruiting area for mercenary soldiers, particularly archers. Numerous Jews lived there in the 2nd Century B.C. In 141 B.C. Simon Maccabeus interceded with the consul Lucius for the protection of the Jews of Gortyna. Conquered by the Romans in 68-66 B.C. it was joined with Cyrene as a province. Gortyna is the only Roman city that has been excavated. Numerous large public buildings have been uncovered as well as the ruins of the church of Agios Titos (Holy Titus).
"Jews from Crete were present at the feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:11). Paul sailed on a grain ship along the southern coast on the way from Lycia to Rome. The ship anchored at Fair Havens just East of Cape Matala, then sailed to the harbor of Phoenix and the protection of the island Claudia. It is not known who founded the churches on Crete. Paul implied that he did so when he stated that he left Titus on Crete to correct the churches and appoint elders in every town (Titus 1:5).
"The Cretans were proverbially depraved. Paul quoted the poet Epimendies c. 600 B.C., 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons' (Titus 1:12), an opinion shared by many ancients" (Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible - Merrill C. Tenney, General Editor).
Paul left the island of Crete in similar fashion as he left Ephesus. In Ephesus he left Timothy to finish the work he had started. In Crete he left Titus to finish the work he started there. Timothy and Titus were Paul's traveling companions a great deal of the time. Paul wrote his letter to Titus after he wrote his first letter to Timothy. There are a number of similarities in the two letters.
Some of the noted similarities are:
1 Timothy 1:2,3, "Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace, from God our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they preach no other doctrine."
(Compare)
Titus 1:4, 5, "To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy and peace, from God, the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee."
1 Timothy 1:4, "Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith."
(Compare)
Titus 1:14, "Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the faith." & 3:9, "But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain."
1 Timothy 4:12, "Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity."
(Compare)
Titus 2:15, "These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee."
1 Timothy 3:2-4, "A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well his own house, having children in subjection with all gravity."
(Compare)
Titus 1:6-8, "If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of profligacy, or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, not violent, not given to filthy lucre, but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober-minded, just, holy, temperate."
There were a number of Jews on the island of Crete, and they had brought with them in the dispersion their rigid traditions of Judaism. So Titus had the same two main false teachings that plagued Timothy in Ephesus, Judaism and Gnosticism.
"We have no certain information in regard to the time when the gospel was first preached in Crete, nor by whom it was done. There are some circumstances mentioned, however, which furnish all the light, which we need on this point, in order to an understanding of the epistle before us. Among the persons who were in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, and who were converted there, Cretans are mentioned (Acts 2:11); and it is highly probable that, when they returned to their homes, they made the gospel known to their countrymen. Yet history is wholly silent as to the methods by which it was done, and as to the result on the mind of the inhabitants. As no visit of any apostles to that island is mentioned by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, it may be presumed that the gospel there had not produced any very marked success; and the early history of Christianity there is to us unknown" (Barnes).
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