Charles Ellicott Commentary Titus 1:4

"to Titus, my true child after a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour." — Titus 1:4 (ASV)

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.”)