Sermon Tone Analysis

Background

After the apostle Paul was released from his first imprisonment in Rome (AD 60-62), he continued his missionary work, taking his Gentile coworker Titus along with him.

One of the areas they evangelized was the island of Crete.

When the apostle moved on, he left Titus behind to appoint elders in every town ().

Paul wrote his letter to Titus around AD 63 to remind Titus of the qualifications necessary for the elders, to describe the aspects of new life in Christ, and to encourage Titus to teach sound doctrine and to rebuke those in the church who were spreading false doctrine.

Paul was always concerned about teaching of false doctrine.

How do you think he would react to today’s environment?

Titus had the task of being an apostolic representative.

One of Paul’s early converts (1:4), he was a Gentile, evidently from Antioch of Syria.

Paul took Titus with him to Jerusalem to discuss the nature of the gospel (Gal.

2:1–3).

Titus was so vibrant a disciple that the Jerusalem leaders were persuaded that Paul’s law-free gospel was acceptable (Gal.

2:3–5).

Titus was with Paul in Ephesus on his third missionary journey and was Paul’s ambassador to the troubled church in Corinth, carrying both the “Severe Letter” and 2 Corinthians (see Occasion for 2 CORINTHIANS).

After Paul was released from his Roman imprisonment, he assigned Titus the responsibility of helping the churches on the island of Crete with their doctrinal and organizational difficulties.

After this letter was written, Paul sent him to Dalmatia (2 Tim.

4:10).

Titus proved to be a courageous and strong leader.

Crete is one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, lying directly south of the Aegean Sea.

It is about 160 miles across, with a long history of civilization.

In the Old Testament it was called Caphtor, and the Philistine people probably migrated from there to southern Palestine.

Paul’s shipwreck adventure occurred after the captain of the ship he was on declined to spend the winter in Crete (Acts 27).

Life in Crete was distressing because of the lying and laziness of the people (1:12)

Sound doctrine is crucial as the cure for false teaching.

This letter gives the qualifications for elders (also called bishops), but not for other church officers (see 1 Tim.

3).

The term “elder” (Greek, presbyteros) refers to the maturity and respect—the character qualities—that church leaders must have and was probably derived from the model of the Jewish synagogues.

The term “bishop” (Greek, episkopos) is better translated “overseer” and refers to the ministry responsibilities entrusted to church leaders.

This term was probably taken from Hellenistic (Greek) cultural patterns.

Titus 2:1–9 catalogs appropriate relationships within the congregation.

Who is Titus?

An intimate and trusted associate of the apostle in his mission of planting Christianity throughout the Mediterranean world (; Tm 4:10; ).

Mentioned frequently in Paul’s letters (eight times in 2 Cor, twice in Gal, once each in Ti and 2 Tm)

His name occurs nowhere in Acts, a puzzling silence some have sought to explain with the fascinating, but uncertain, suggestion that he was a brother of Luke, the author of Acts.

He is first introduced as a companion of Paul and Barnabas on a visit to Jerusalem ().

The occasion appears to have been the Jerusalem Council.

about ad 50, which Paul and Barnabas attended as official delegates from the church at Antioch not long after the apostle’s first missionary journey ().

The term Cretan: The assignment was difficult, for the Cretans were unruly and the struggling church was already invaded by false teachers (vv 10–16).

His handling of the Corinthian problem some years before, however, demonstrated that Titus possessed the spiritual earnestness, skillful diplomacy, and loving concern required to meet the present challenge, and Paul was confident that this new commission was therefore safe in his hands.

Paul’s letter to Titus, one of his three pastoral letters, was written somewhat later to encourage Titus in his Cretan ministry.

The letter closes with the apostle’s request that Titus join him at Nicopolis, a town on the west coast of Greece, where he planned to spend the winter ().

Most likely it was from Nicopolis, or else later from Rome where the apostle was imprisoned again and eventually martyred, that Paul sent Titus on the mission to Dalmatia, a Roman province in what is now Yugoslavia, on which he had embarked when Paul wrote 2 Timothy, the last of his letters (2 Tm 4:10).

If later tradition is correct, V 2, p 2073 p 2073 Titus returned to Crete, where he served as bishop until advanced age.

Let’s begin with

ad anno Domini

vv verses

Verse 3 - The Natural Man

3:3 Paul and the believers of Crete were once like these unbelievers (compare ; ).

Those now saved must not forget the means of their salvation: the mercy of God.

God appeared to rescue humanity from its dire situation.

The progression of sin in this verse begins with foolishness and disobedience (i.e., ignorance of God and defiance) and culminates in a breakdown of relationships (i.e., hating one another).

Like all people everywhere, we belonged to the fallen system and lived according to our fallen nature.

Being foolish is obstinacy, a dig-in-your-heels refusal to admit the truth.

The fool willfully goes his own, headstrong way.

Being disobedient involves choice.

It refers to a decision to reject God’s ways.

As a person becomes seduced either by twisted Christian doctrines or man-made philosophies, he becomes deceived regarding the truth.

This fuels both foolishness and disobedience, resulting in a life marked by sin: enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.

Paul painted a picture of bondage.

Having succumbed to the illusions of this world, unbelievers participate in unrestrained passions and pleasures.

This leads to a loss of will.

People eventually become prisoner to their urges and cannot break away.

These may even be socially acceptable pursuits like materialism, or they may involve the lowest sorts of degradation.

Either way, the heart is captivated and cannot free itself.

Our relationships with others proved no better in the past as we lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

It is common practice to destroy others in order to preserve one’s self.

Without Christ we cannot understand ourselves, nor can we comprehend our place in the world.

In an effort to make sense in a violent, threatening environment, people often protect themselves by striking out at others.

Malice seeks to harm others; envy betrays our discontent and restlessness.

Our self-protection results in hatred toward others, and they return the favor.

It is a vicious cycle from which we need to be freed, but we remain enslaved, unable to cast off the shackles.

Cross References:

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Verses 4-7

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tit

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Now we have Paul’s description of the progression of godliness, which begins with sound doctrine (i.e., knowledge of the truth) and culminates in good works (i.e., loving one another) ().

In both cases, one leads to the other.

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Verse 4

The work of salvation comes solely from God’s mercy, not because of righteous things we had done.

As states, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”

We can contrive no goodness by which to attain the favor or forgiveness of God.

Salvation comes independent of human effort or desire.

God initiates, acts, and pursues because of his mercy.

Salvation comes through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

These terms explain, in part, the complex activities which faith in Christ generates.

The washing of rebirth refers to the cleansing from sin which results from trust in Jesus Christ.

This purification of the sound spirit brings life.

No longer living on a purely natural or physical level, believers are transformed from spirit-death to spirit-life.

They count themselves “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” ().

It mirrors Paul’s description of the progression of godliness, which begins with sound doctrine (i.e., knowledge of the truth) and culminates in good works (i.e., loving one another) ().

In both cases, one leads to the other.

Cross References:

God’s kindness and love appeared in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

In His saving work, Christ models the kindness and love that believers must show all people (see v. 2).

Epiphaino TLNT

3:5 See and note.

Eleos EDNT

Refers to the transformation of the corrupt human nature by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus described salvation in similar terms, emphasizing God’s radical work within a person (, , ).

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, believers experience a rebirth from a state of spiritual death (compare ; ).

The presence of the Spirit enables them to live in a manner that pleases God (compare ).

The washing here denotes an inner, spiritual cleansing (compare ); it probably does not refer to baptism.

Verse 6

| “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

| “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.