November 1, 2015
Titus: Chapter 1
Titus 1:1-4
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Paul starts out by introducing himself:
Identity: a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ
Purpose: to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness
Titus 1:5-9
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.
6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
In this scripture, he is talking about church leaders - Pastors and other leaders in the church
Are you those things?
Are you blameless?
Are you faithful to your husband or wife?
Do your children believe faithfully?
Would anyone charge you with being wild and disobedient?
Are you worthy of managing God’s household?
Are you blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain?
Are you hospitable?
Does everyone see that you love what is good?
Are you self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined?
Do you hold firmly to Bible’s teaching, so that you can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it?
Then we see the other side of people - ones who are not living their lives in a Godly way:
Titus 1:10-16
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
Paul doesn’t tell people to go on a “false prophet” witch hunt. He's telling us that there are many false teachers out there that we need to be wary of, and that we need to live a life completely above reproach in response to that.
A big theme of the book of Titus is growing in faith and maturity, and becoming a person who lives out leadership in the church. Is that who you are?
Communication Card
I will read the book of Titus this week.
I will pray about my role as a leader.
I will spend time studying the Bible this week to fill myself with sound doctrine.
