_The Salutation,_ 1-4. Titus 1:1. The title servant of God, occurring in James 1:1, but nowhere else in Paul's inscriptions, is a peculiarity which tells against suspicion of forgery. ACCORDING to (better, ‘with a view to'), introduces the double design of his apostle-ship, viz: (1) the production... [ Continue Reading ]
Titus 1:2. These two ends of the apostolate rest upon (not ‘in') the HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE, which is the sum of Old Testament prediction, fulfilled in the Gospel. CANNOT LIE. Cf. Hebrews 6:18. BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN; literally, before eternal times, meaning probably from the most ancient periods,... [ Continue Reading ]
Titus 1:3. New construction begins. What is ‘manifested' is not the ‘eternal life' of Titus 1:2, but the ‘word.' Yet the sense is the same: the Gospel is the final revelation of life eternal. Things promised are still in part concealed; performance alone is full manifestation. DUE TIMES (rather, ‘p... [ Continue Reading ]
Titus 1:4. Titus, called Paul's brother in 2 Corinthians 11:12, is here his ‘legitimate son,' as converted by him and sharing the same faith.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Qualifications of the Elders to be appointed,_ 5-9. Titus 1:5. Note the importance of organization to preserve pure doctrine in the Church. It was part of the apostolic function to institute Church officers. Paul engaged in this when he left Crete. But the word ORDAIN (used of deacons in Acts 6:3)... [ Continue Reading ]
Titus 1:6. BLAMELESS, unaccused, as 1 Timothy 3:10; possibly with allusion to a summons to the people to lay objections against the candidate. In view of the prevailing Cretan immorality, unblemished reputation was wisely made the first qualification. ONE WIFE. Is this against polygamy, or against... [ Continue Reading ]
Titus 1:8. On the contrary, he should be (6) HOSPITABLE, having then frequent occasion to entertain brethren on their travels (cf. 3 John 1:5-8; Romans 16:2; Romans 16:23; Acts 21:16 , etc.); (7) A LOVER OF GOOD, _i.e._ disposed to generous actions; (8) SOBER: this word, which with its derivatives o... [ Continue Reading ]
Titus 1:9. So far of character: now of doctrine. The elder is to be one who (12) HOLDS FAST BY THE WORD, or doctrine, ‘which agrees with the teaching' of the apostles, as a word worthy of credit (so ‘faithful' means). The necessity for this qualification lies in another department of the presbyteria... [ Continue Reading ]
_Character of both the Teachers and the People of Crete, to show the danger to which that Church was exposed, and from which the new Presbyters were to rescue it,_ 10-16. Titus 1:10. UNRULY; for Jews of that age, of whom many inhabited Crete, were noted for seditious tendencies. VAIN TALKERS (1 T... [ Continue Reading ]
Titus 1:11. STOPPED; literally, muzzled; best done by exposing them as persons who ‘overturn entire houses,' _i.e._ families, through anarchic doctrine subversive of domestic authority: probably lax theories of Christian freedom in reference to wedlock and the duties of children and of slaves. Their... [ Continue Reading ]
Titus 1:12. THEMSELVES, _i.e._ Cretans. The hexameter verse quoted is from a lost poem by Epimenides, a Cretan sage of the sixth century B.C., who is well called ‘a prophet of their own,' for he is described by classic writers as a philosophic seer and priest, venerated for his predictions, around w... [ Continue Reading ]
Titus 1:13. Paul boldy adds his own testimony to base on it an exhortation to a sharp or severe handling of the people. REBUKE is ‘confute,' as in Titus 1:9 the elders were to do. SHARPLY, or unsparingly, with a view to their becoming SOUND IN THE FAITH. The Gospel has power to subdue the wildes... [ Continue Reading ]
Titus 1:15. ALL THINGS ARE PURE FOR THE PURE; for their use, that is. (Comp. our Lord, Matthew 15:10-20.) ‘Because created good by a good God, and because blessed by Him and sanctified by Christ, and because restored to man for his free use by Him' (Wordsworth). When the morally DEFILED ARE ALSO UNB... [ Continue Reading ]
Titus 1:16. It was part of the religious ‘confession' of these errorists, that the knowledge of God was their own (in an exceptional degree?) _;_ practically they denied what in words they confessed. Vice is a denial that we have any true knowledge of God. ABOMINABLE, a strong word not elsewhere i... [ Continue Reading ]