Charles Ellicott Commentary Titus 1

Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ.—The titles St. Paul assumes here in his introductory greeting are in some respects slightly different from any of his usual designations. In the other two so-called Pastoral Epistles addressed to Timothy, St. Paul simply styles himself “an Apostle of Jesus Christ.” Possibly, the longer and more formal title is adopted here because his relations with Titus were rarely as intimate as with Timothy; Timothy seems to have held the position of St. Paul’s adopted son. (See Note below on Titus 1:4, “To Titus.”)

According to the faith of God’s elect.—The English version here entirely fails to give the meaning of the Greek preposition. The rendering should be, “for (the furtherance of) the faith,” or, in other words, “the object of my (Paul’s) apostleship was that through my agency the chosen of God should believe.” The whole question concerning these “elect,” or “chosen of God,” is surrounded with deep mystery; three or four guiding thoughts, however, may be safely established.

1. In the visible world, such an apparently arbitrary election to special privileges, fortune, and happiness, utterly irrespective, initially, of individual merit, does exist. This is clear to all of us.

2. In grace, we are distinctly told repeatedly that a similar election exists, and our own observation certainly coincides here with revelation.

3. Such election in no case seemingly affects our position here as free agents; surrounded with the most precious privileges, gifted with much knowledge, it is possible, as we, unfortunately, too often see, deliberately to refuse the good and to choose the evil.

4. All such allusions to the “elect” as, for instance, the one here before us, are intended not as a stumbling-block for the believer, but as a comfort for the faithful, struggling man of God, for it tells him how the Eternal, “before the ages,” had chosen him to be His servant.

And the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness.—More accurately rendered, and the full knowledge of the truth which is designed for godliness, or, which leads to godliness. Here, the further purpose of St. Paul’s apostleship is specified. St. Paul was appointed an Apostle so that through him the elect of God might believe and heed “the truth”—that truth, the knowledge of which produces as its fruit in the individual a holy, useful life.

In hope of eternal life.—Better translated, resting on the hope of eternal life. The connection of the preceding clauses with these words has been well summed up: “The Apostle’s calling had for its object the faith of the elect and the knowledge of the truth; and the basis on which all this rested was the hope of eternal life.”

Which God, that cannot lie.—Possibly, this singular and strong expression was chosen with reference to the peculiar vice of the Cretans, over whose Church Titus was then presiding. (See Titus 1:12: “One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars.”)

Promised before the world began.—More accurately rendered, from eternal ages. (See 2 Timothy 1:9.) The promise of eternal life was the result of a divine purpose fixed from eternity.

But hath in due times.—Or better, but hath in His own seasons—that is, in the fitting seasons, those fixed by Him for the manifestation.

Manifested His word.—That is, His gospel. (See Romans 16:25.)

Through preaching.—Or, in the preaching. Paul does not shrink from calling his preaching the vehicle in which the Word or the gospel of God was to be publicly manifested, because he was conscious that he was divinely instructed in the secrets of the eternal counsels.

Which is committed unto me.—Literally, with which I was entrusted.

According to the commandment of God our Saviour.—The commandment came to St. Paul direct from God; we have several intimations of this, among others: on the Damascus road, when the Lord appeared to him; in the Temple at Jerusalem; in the ship, during the memorable voyage which ended with shipwreck; and in the visions mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:1–9.

St. Paul dwells with emphasis on the thought that he was entrusted with the preaching of the gospel according to the commandment of God. The work was not undertaken by him from any will or wish of his own.

“God our Saviour” in this place, as in 1 Timothy 1:1, must be understood as “God the Father.” The First Person of the blessed Trinity appropriately possesses the title of “our Saviour,” because through the death of His dear Son He redeemed us from death and made us heirs of eternal life.

The Second Person of the Trinity is likewise a possessor of the title, because He shed His blood as the price of our redemption. The epithet of “Saviour”—the title just given to the Father, and in the very next verse ascribed to the “Son”—is one of the many indications we possess of St. Paul’s belief that the Son was equal to the Father regarding His Godhead.

To Titus.—We know comparatively little of Titus’ earlier career. In the Acts, he, singularly enough, is never mentioned. The knowledge we have of him comes entirely from a few casual allusions to him in the Epistles. This presbyter, in charge of the Cretan Church, was a Greek, the son of Gentile parents, and uncircumcised. It has been suggested, but on very slight grounds, that his family was resident at Antioch in Syria. He owed his conversion to Christianity to St. Paul, with whom from then on he seems to have been connected by ties of intimate friendship, though he was by no means the Apostle’s constant companion, as were Timothy, Silas, or Luke.

He was with St. Paul and Barnabas when they went up together to Jerusalem to plead for Gentile liberty, but in no other of the journeys of St. Paul is he directly mentioned as one of the companions of the Apostle. Only during the Apostle’s long residence at Ephesus (nearly three years) Titus appears to have been, for at least part of the time, closely associated with St. Paul, and his confidant in his complicated relations with foreign churches. It is clear that during this long Ephesian residence he was drawn into close and intimate friendship with St. Paul, who then had the opportunity to become acquainted with Titus’ varied powers and evident skill in administration and in dealing with men and women.

From the several casual notices in the Second Corinthian Epistle, we gather considerable insight into the character and powers of the Gentile convert. The Church of Corinth was perhaps the largest and most wealthy of all the churches founded by St. Paul. It was soon, however, rent asunder by party divisions, and was constantly distracted and disturbed by moral disorders among its members. Yet, in spite of this, the great Greek congregation of believers was full of life, zeal, and earnestness, evidently ready to make the greatest sacrifices for its Master’s cause.

Delegated apparently by St. Paul to restore order and to introduce a stricter discipline in this great and turbulent Christian center—the example for good or for evil to so many smaller and less important churches—Titus seems to have fulfilled his difficult mission with rare tact and admirable prudence and wisdom. Among other works, he apparently completed the collection St. Paul had initiated in the various Gentile churches for the poor Jewish Christians at Jerusalem. His services, materially assisting in bringing this famous work of charity to a successful conclusion, seem not to have been the least among his claims to St. Paul’s friendship and high esteem. The great importance and difficult nature of this collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem are little understood or thought of now. Three weighty points connected with it deserve mention, as it was probably Titus’ special task to complete it and bring it to a successful conclusion.

1. It seems to have been the first public relief fund ever collected to help a foreign and unfamiliar race—the first of a long line of noble acts of self-sacrifice people have made for others for Christ’s sake; but when Titus, at St. Paul’s direction, took charge of it, it was something unheard of in the Pagan world. Hence the many obstacles that appear to have arisen so persistently during the collection.
2. It was the right hand of fellowship offered by Gentile to Jew. It was the welding together, by an unprecedented act of kindness, of the two opposing and hostile elements of Christendom into one Church.
3. It was the silent yet eloquent protest of St. Paul and his school against the attempted communism of the Church of the very first days—that fatal misunderstanding of some of the Master’s words which had brought ruin and poverty on the Jerusalem Christians.

Titus acted as St. Paul’s commissioner in the matter—which he evidently successfully completed. We know nothing of his work and employment from this period, A.D. 57, until the date of this Epistle, A.D. 65-66, as early Christian history is silent about him. In these nine years of restless activity and burning zeal on the part of the Christian leaders, Titus, no doubt, did his part without falling short of his early promise, for we find him again, in the last years of his old master, occupying in the Christian community a post as high and responsible as that of chief presbyter of the churches of the wealthy and populous island of Crete.

My own son.—Alluding, no doubt, to the relation between them in religion. St. Paul converted Titus to the faith, and from then on Titus stood to St. Paul in the position of a son in the faith, without being to him what Timothy was for so long a time—his constant companion. Titus still evidently (see preceding Note) filled with St. Paul the position of one of his most trusted disciples, of one who knew the innermost thoughts of his master. The tone of the Epistle to Titus is somewhat different from St. Paul’s Letter to Timothy. There was evidently a greater intimacy between St. Paul and Timothy than between the Apostle and Titus.

Grace, mercy, and peace . . .—Many of the older authorities omit “mercy.” (See Notes on 1 Timothy 1:2.)

Our Saviour.—This expression is a rare one. We find it only in these Pastoral Letters. (See Note above on St. Paul’s using it also of the “Father.”)

For this cause left I thee in Crete.—The “cause” is discussed below. Crete—over whose Christian population Titus had been placed by St. Paul—was a well-known large and populous island in the Mediterranean. It lies geographically further south than any of the European islands and, roughly speaking, almost at an equal distance from each of the three Old World continents—Europe, Asia, Africa. We identify it with the Caphtor of the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 2:23; Jeremiah 47:4; Amos 9:7).

In modern times it is known by us as Candia. Very early it was the scene of an advanced civilisation. In the Odyssey it is mentioned as possessing ninety cities; in the Iliad as many as one hundred. Metellus added it, B.C. 69, to the Roman dominion. In the days of Augustus it was united into one province with Cyrene. It abounded with Jews of wealth and influence; this we learn from the testimony of Philo and of Josephus. It probably received the gospel from some of those of “Crete” who we are expressly told were present when the Spirit was poured on the Apostles on the first Pentecost after the Resurrection (Acts 2:11).

The apparently flourishing state of Christianity on the island at this time was in great measure, no doubt, owing to the residence and labours among them of the Apostle St. Paul, whose work appears to have been mainly directed to preaching the gospel and to increasing the number of the converts, which, from the wording of Titus 1:5, was evidently very great, elders (presbyters) being required in every city.

The task of organising the Church had been left for a season. We are ignorant of the circumstance which summoned the old Apostle from the scene of what seems to have been most successful labours. He left behind him one of the ablest of his disciples, Titus—a tried and well-known Christian leader of the second half of the first century—to organise the church life and to regulate the teaching of the powerful and numerous Christian community of Crete.

The Epistle addressed to Titus contains the formal credentials of his high office, stamping all his acts with the great name and authority of St. Paul; hence the careful and elaborate phraseology of the first four verses. Though addressed to one, they would have to be referred to and read often among the elders (presbyters) and deacons in the various churches. St. Paul wrote the Letter, we are told, when on his way to Nicopolis to winter; we believe, soon after his arrival there he was arrested and sent to Rome to die. The date of this Letter, then, would be A.D. 65 or 66, and was probably written from some place in Asia Minor—perhaps Ephesus.

That thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting.—These words explain the “cause” of Titus’ appointment in Crete. The “things that are wanting” were what St. Paul meant, no doubt, to have done himself, but was prevented by being hurried away—for him the end was near at hand. These “things” were want of church officials, lack of church government, want of cohesion between the churches of the island—in a word, there was plenty of Christian life, but no Christian organisation as yet in Crete. It was rather a number of Christian brotherhoods than one.

And ordain elders in every city.—The number of presbyters in each town or city is not specified, but is left to Titus’ judgment. We know that in some churches there were certainly several of these presbyters (Acts 15:22). The words in every city point to the wide extension of Christianity at that early period in Crete.

As I had appointed thee.—Or better, as I gave you directions. These presbyters were to be most carefully selected, according to the special instructions Titus must remember St. Paul giving him in this important matter on some previous occasion. The more urgent of these qualifications for the presbyteral rank the Apostle now repeats for Titus’ guidance.