đź“– Chapters 0:00 Titus 1. Qualifications for Elders and Warning Against False Teachers 2:30 Titus 2. Instructions for Godly Living and Sound Doctrine 4:31 Titus 3. Salvation by Grace and the Call to Do Good Works
The Epistle to Titus, commonly known as Titus, is the seventeenth book of the New Testament and one of Paul’s pastoral letters, written around AD 63–66. Addressed to Titus, a trusted co-worker and spiritual son of Paul, this letter provides guidance on church leadership, sound doctrine, and godly living. Titus had been left in Crete, a Greek island known for its corrupt culture and false teachings, to organize the churches, appoint elders, and instruct believers on how to live out their faith.
Paul begins the letter by emphasizing his apostolic calling and the hope of eternal life, which was promised by God before time began. He then instructs Titus to appoint qualified elders in every town, giving a list of necessary characteristics for church leaders. Elders must be blameless, faithful to their families, self-controlled, hospitable, and firmly rooted in sound doctrine, able to refute false teachings and protect the church from deception.
A major theme of Titus is the importance of godly living and good works. Paul warns against false teachers and rebellious people who distort the gospel for selfish gain, especially those who promote Jewish myths and legalism. He encourages Titus to teach sound doctrine, ensuring that different groups in the church—older men, older women, younger men, and servants—live in a way that honors God. He stresses that believers must be models of integrity, self-control, and righteousness in a corrupt world.
Paul highlights the grace of God as the foundation of salvation, stating that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. He explains that grace teaches believers to renounce ungodliness and live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while waiting for Christ’s return. This passage beautifully connects God’s saving grace with a call to holy living, showing that salvation is not just about belief but about transformed behavior.
Paul also urges Titus to remind believers to be obedient to authorities, to be peaceable, and to avoid foolish arguments and divisions. He emphasizes that believers were once lost in sin, but they were saved by God’s mercy through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit—a clear reference to God’s role in salvation and transformation. Since salvation is not based on human works but on God’s grace, believers should respond by devoting themselves to good works as a testimony to their faith.
