1_Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness –
2_A faith and knowledge resting n the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,
3_And at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
(NIV)
Paul presents himself as a “servant” (v.1), literally “slave” (Greek: doulos).
A slave was a person held in bondage to a master. He had no freedom to act or speak other than at the command of his owner.
Two related words are translated in the New Testament as “servant” or “slave”. “Servant” is diakonos. “Slave” is doulos. The first deals with table service when done as employment while the second deals with a bonded slave; but the distinction doesn’t seem all that clear cut in the Bible. In both cases there is a superior and (employer or owner/master) one who works in obedience for their benefit. One can see that this concept of human servants transfers well to the concept of servant of God.
Paul uses both terms but reserves the second one with regard to his relationship to God and to Christ. That Paul calls himself a slave of God shows his complete submission to God’s will.
He calls himself a “servant” (i.e. slave) of Christ (Rom 1:1; Gal 1:10; Php 1:1). James (Jam 1:1), Peter (1Pe 1:1) and Jude (Jude 1:1) also call themselves slaves of God and/or Christ. Other places where Paul uses the word ‘slave’ is : Php 2:7; Col 4:12; 2Tim 2:24. When talking about his relationship to God he very often uses the term for ‘slave’. In other cases he uses ‘diakonos’ to describe a relationship to the gospel or the Church, e.g. Eph 3:7; Col1:7; 1:25.
Many Greeks and Jews looked down on servants and slaves. But this usual attitude is turned on its head by Jesus’ Lordship. To be a servant of Christ is to confess Him as one’s Lord. In Matt 20:26-27, Jesus speaks of servant leadership. To be great one must become a servant. In fact, to be first one must become a slave. Jesus’ own example of this type of leadership was exemplified in his washing the feet of his disciples (Jn 13:1-17)
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Titus: Introduction
Titus is mentioned a number of times in the New Testament (2 Cor. 2:13; 7:6, 13-14; 8:6, 16, 23; 12:18; Gal. 2:1, 3; 2Tim 4:10).
Paul calls him his true son in their common faith, meaning that he’s Paul’s spiritual son, just like Timothy (1Tim 1:2) and Onesimus (Phm 10). All three were converted through Paul’s ministry.
Titus might have converted during Paul’s ministry of Acts 11:25-26, but since he is never mentioned in Acts, it’s hard to know for sure. He was certainly a Christian by the time of the Jerusalem council (Acts 15) since Paul took him to the council as an example of a Greek convert who needed not to be circumcised to attain salvation.
Paul trusted Titus enough to assign him important tasks, particularly missions to Corinth and his assignment in Crete (the subject of the epistle).
Titus was not an apostle. Any authority he had was given by Paul. He could be viewed as Paul’s pastoral assistant and special apostolic representative. At the time of this letter Titus was in Crete, trying to address unfinished business from the time the churches there were first established. The conditions were not good as evidenced by the people’s low moral standards and the existence of false teachers.
The letter is commonly dated in the early 60’s AD. Since there is no reference to the persecution of Christians by Nero in 64, the letter was probably written after Paul’s house arrest (Acts 28) but before 64.
One should always read the entire work straight through before examining it more closely. Reading the letter reveals this brief outline:
1)Salutation (1:1-4)
2)Qualifications for elders (1:5-9)
3) Warnings regarding false teachers (1:10-16)
4) Instructions for teaching different groups in the Church (2:1-10)
5)Teaching about God’s grace and salvation (2:11-15)
6) Teaching regarding a believer’s obligation as a citizen of the state (3:1-2)
7)Reasons for living good lives based on God’s love (3:3-8)
8)Instructions on dealing with spiritual error (3:9-11)
9) Final instructions and greetings (3:9-11)
Paul calls him his true son in their common faith, meaning that he’s Paul’s spiritual son, just like Timothy (1Tim 1:2) and Onesimus (Phm 10). All three were converted through Paul’s ministry.
Titus might have converted during Paul’s ministry of Acts 11:25-26, but since he is never mentioned in Acts, it’s hard to know for sure. He was certainly a Christian by the time of the Jerusalem council (Acts 15) since Paul took him to the council as an example of a Greek convert who needed not to be circumcised to attain salvation.
Paul trusted Titus enough to assign him important tasks, particularly missions to Corinth and his assignment in Crete (the subject of the epistle).
Titus was not an apostle. Any authority he had was given by Paul. He could be viewed as Paul’s pastoral assistant and special apostolic representative. At the time of this letter Titus was in Crete, trying to address unfinished business from the time the churches there were first established. The conditions were not good as evidenced by the people’s low moral standards and the existence of false teachers.
The letter is commonly dated in the early 60’s AD. Since there is no reference to the persecution of Christians by Nero in 64, the letter was probably written after Paul’s house arrest (Acts 28) but before 64.
One should always read the entire work straight through before examining it more closely. Reading the letter reveals this brief outline:
1)Salutation (1:1-4)
2)Qualifications for elders (1:5-9)
3) Warnings regarding false teachers (1:10-16)
4) Instructions for teaching different groups in the Church (2:1-10)
5)Teaching about God’s grace and salvation (2:11-15)
6) Teaching regarding a believer’s obligation as a citizen of the state (3:1-2)
7)Reasons for living good lives based on God’s love (3:3-8)
8)Instructions on dealing with spiritual error (3:9-11)
9) Final instructions and greetings (3:9-11)
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