PAUL, A SERVANT OF GOD, AND AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST. — The titles here assumed by St. Paul in his introductory greeting are in some respects slightly different to any of his usual designations. In the other two so-called Pastoral Epistles addressed to Timothy, St. Paul simply styles himself “an A... [ Continue Reading ]
IN HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE. — Better translated, _resting on the hope of eternal life._ The connection of the preceding clauses with these words has been well summed up: “The Apostle’s calling had for its object the faith of the elect and the knowledge of the truth; and the basis on which all this rest... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HATH IN DUE TIMES. — Or better, _but hath in his own seasons_ — that is, in the fitting seasons, those fixed by Him for the manifestation. MANIFESTED HIS WORD. — That is, His gospel. (See Romans 16:25.) THROUGH PREACHING. — Or, _in the preaching._ Paul does not shrink from calling his preachin... [ Continue Reading ]
TO TITUS. — We know comparatively little of Titus’ earlier career. In the Acts he, singularly enough, is never mentioned; for what knowledge of him we possess we are entirely dependent upon a few casual allusions to him in the Epistles. This presbyter, in charge of the Cretan Church, was a Greek, th... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS CAUSE LEFT I THEE IN CRETE. — The “cause” is discussed below. Crete — over whose Christian population Titus had been placed by St. Paul — was a well-known large and populous island in the Mediterranean. It lies geographically further south than any of the European islands, and, roughly spea... [ Continue Reading ]
IF ANY BE BLAMELESS. — The candidate for the holy office must have naught laid to his charge; he must be of such a character that no one could bring a reasonable accusation against him. Blameless must be his life, spotless his name. As it has been well said, “the office of presbyter must never be al... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR A BISHOP MUST BE BLAMELESS. — There is no doubt that the “bishop” here must be identified with the presbyter of Titus 1:6. In the Pastoral Epistles written between A.D. 63-67 these terms are clearly applied indifferently to the same person. The title presbyter refers to the gravity and dignity o... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT A LOVER OF HOSPITALITY. — It has been suggested that this hospitality would be especially shown in the early centuries of Christianity, when Christians travelling from one place to another were received kindly and forwarded on their journey by their brethren; but the direction of St. Paul has th... [ Continue Reading ]
HOLDING FAST THE FAITHFUL WORD AS HE HATH BEEN TAUGHT. — More literally, _according to the teaching;_ but the English version gives the sense clearly and exactly. The elder must, St. Paul says, hold fast the faithful word or saying; or, in other words, must steadily adhere to that Christian doctrine... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THERE ARE MANY UNRULY AND VAIN TALKERS AND DECEIVERS. — Nominally in the congregations of Christians, but in reality refusing all obedience, acting for themselves, factious, insubordinate. Titus would, alas, discover many such; these often would be found to be possessed of the gift of fluent and... [ Continue Reading ]
(11)WHOSE MOUTHS MUST BE STOPPED, WHO SUBVERT WHOLE HOUSES. — The translation should run here, _seeing they subvert, &c._ There was, indeed, grave cause why these men should be put to silence; the mischief they were doing in Crete to the Christian cause was incalculable. It was no longer individuals... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE OF THEMSELVES, EVEN A PROPHET OF THEIR OWN, SAID. — St. Paul had spoken (Titus 1:10) in the severest terms of certain influential members of the Cretan Church; he had even alluded to their disastrous teaching ruining whole families, evidently implying that he had perceived among the Cretans a re... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS WITNESS IS TRUE. — St. Paul emphatically here endorses the very severe judgment which their own great prophet-poet had written on the national Cretan character. He (St. Paul) had lived long enough in their midst to be able to bear his grave testimony to the truth of Epimenides’ words. He had wi... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT GIVING HEED TO JEWISH FABLES. — Such as we now find embodied in the Talmud. (See Note on 1 Timothy 1:4.) The oral law and traditional interpretations and glosses had, to a great measure, obscured the original simple text. The Israelite of the time of St. Paul, trained in the stricter Jewish scho... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE. — The spirit of this famous saying of St. Paul, occurring almost in the same language in the Roman Letter (Romans 14:20), was the groundwork of much of the Gentile Apostle’s teaching. The words of the Lord Jesus above referred to (Matthew 15:2; Matthew 15:11) conta... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY PROFESS THAT THEY KNOW GOD; BUT IN WORKS THEY DENY HIM. — These bitter foes to the truth, Titus must remember, will present themselves under the guise of friends. They will rank themselves in the Christian company openly, with their lips confessing God, but in their way of life, in their acts,... [ Continue Reading ]