Commentary on Titus

Prologue

My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices,
To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
Song of Solomon 6:2

Titus 1:1-4

     Paul, whose name in Greek means little, was humble in stature and appearance but was great with God, his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible (2 Cor 10:1), he that shall humble himself shall be exalted (Matt 23:12). This Paul was little in his own eyes and thus received much grace, least of the apostles…but I labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me (1 Cor 15:9-10). If you would become great in the kingdom of God you must aspire with Little Paul to say with John the Baptist, He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). For seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; He shall not stand before mean men (Prov 22:29).

     Now unlike those false teachers who serve their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple (Rom 16:18), Paul was a servant of God, living not for his own sake or for man’s sake, but for God’s sake, For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ (Gal 1:10), I endure all things for the sake of the elect (2 Tim 2:10). You may wonder: In what sense then should I seek to please others, for elsewhere Paul says I please all men in all things (1 Cor 10:33). In answer to this St. Thomas says, to please men for men’s sake is blameworthy, but to please them for God’s sake is praiseworthy. Observe the difference in purpose and final causality and then commit this saying to heart, for it is a principle of charity to love God solely for God’s sake and to love everyone else, even our enemies, for God’s sake, With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. (Eph 6:7-8). This also explains how Paul could become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some (1 Cor 9:23), while also being free from all men (1 Cor 9:19). The Lord Jesus taught us by deed and word to serve others, even those who persecute us, in hope that our faithful service may be used by God to bring about their salvation, even as Stephen’s prayer in martyrdom was heard and answered, bringing about Paul’s conversion, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul was consenting unto his death. (Acts 7:60-8:1).

     In addition to being a faithful servant in God’s house, Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ, called by Christ, sent from Christ, loved in Christ, and an ambassador for Christ, for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake (Acts 9:15-16). For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth (Acts 13:47).

     According to the faith of God’s elect, Paul’s office and calling as an apostle is for the sake of and in harmony with both the act of faith and the articles of faith. The act of faith is to believe, For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (Rom 10:11). And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house (Acts 16:31). The articles of faith are the supernaturally revealed truths we believe. These supernatural truths are as first principles graciously infused into the mind such that My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand (John 10:27-28). Therefore, the soul that is predestined for glory holds firmly to the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 3) and holds the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ without partiality (James 2:1). These articles of faith are well summarized in the Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed, are are as shields to quench the fiery darts of the wicked (Eph 6:16).

     Further, Paul’s apostleship is not only according to the faith of God’s elect but also, And the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; for the act of faith consists in a public acknowledgement of the truth that leads to a holy life. Put another way, purity of truth should proceed from purified lips. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Rom 10:9). Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God (1 John 4:15). For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:26). By their fruits ye shall know them (Matt 7:20). Therefore, in all the elect who profess the holy faith, a holy life should follow, and by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:35).

     Further, this life of godliness is in hope of eternal life, ordered towards the future promise of the beatific vision and resurrection from the dead. For with thee is the fountain of life: In thy light shall we see light (Ps 36:8-9). And though after my skin worms destroy this body, Yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, And mine eyes shall behold, and not another; Though my reins be consumed within me (Job 19:26-27).

     Against all fears and doubts, against both despair and presumption, our hope for eternal life is that which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. For unlike the Cretans, of whom one of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretans are always liars (Titus 1:12), God is not a man, that he should lie; Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (Num 23:19). Therefore, our hope for eternal life is not a vain hope, but is most firm and certain, for it rests upon the immutable divine essence and unchanging character of God, If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim 3:13). This unbreakable promise was uttered in the eternal Word, the divine Logos, the Son of God, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and who prepossesses the forms of all created things in Himself, The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, Before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, Or ever the earth was (Prov 8:22-23). And he is before all things, and by him all things consist (Col. 1:17). This promise to save the elect was not made on the basis of any foreseen merits, but upon the good pleasure of God alone, For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth (Rom 9:11). This act of grace is further elaborated by the Apostle in Ephesians 1:4-7, According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

     What God promised in eternity past was long hidden under types and shadows, But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching. This word that is preached can refer either to the divine Word Jesus Christ, or to the word about Jesus Christ. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness (1 Cor 1:23). Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine (2 Tim 4:2). We marvel that God’s chosen mode for effecting His promise in eternity past was not to send heavenly angels to preach, but rather frail and fallible men, It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe (1 Cor 1:21).

     This divinely foolish work of preaching is that which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour; for preaching is God’s instrument to fulfill the promise that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14). Since this work must continue until that time, the Apostle charges Timothy to commit this work to others, And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also (2 Tim 2:2).

     To Titus, mine own son after the common faith, the one faith (Eph 4:5) that is common to both Jews and Gentiles, circumcised and uncircumcised. For prior to the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), there was a doubt about whether Gentiles needed to be circumcised, But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised (Gal 2:3). However, after the canons of the Jerusalem Council were published, Timothy was circumcised (Acts 16:3), not for his salvation, but as a matter of Christian liberty, For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law (1 Cor 9:19-21). Both Timothy and Titus were true sons of Paul, serving in the same undivided spirit of faith. Of Titus the Apostle says to the church of Corinth, Whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you (2 Cor 8:23). For just as a faithful son does the work and will of his father, so also Titus was found faithful to bring to completion what Paul had begun in Crete.

     Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. In this salutation is comprehended the entire gospel and its consummation in knowing the Holy Trinity. For the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior is fully man and fully God, true light from the Father who is true light, and from this fountain of light proceeds every good and perfect gift: Creation, Cross, Regeneration, and Resurrection. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world (Acts 15:18). The Lord is good to all: And his tender mercies are over all his works. (Ps 145:9). Grace is the beginning, middle, and end of every good that we have. Mercy goes before, behind, and ahead of us, lightening and tempering whatever afflictions we may endure. Peace is the end our warfare, when soul and body find rest in God’s abode. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. (Ps 23:1-2). Amen.

Titus 1:5-9

     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. By these words the Apostle explains his purpose for leaving Titus on the Island of Crete,