New Testament · Paul's Letters
Set things in order, sound doctrine adorned by good works, grace that trains us.
The shortest of the Pastorals, written to a colleague left on Crete to appoint elders town by town in what was evidently a rough assignment. Paul quotes a Cretan poet's insult about his own people approvingly, which is a startling thing to find in Scripture. The letter's structure is simple: appoint good leaders, teach each group in the congregation what suits them, and remind everyone that grace teaches rather than merely forgives, training us to renounce ungodliness and live sensibly in the present age. Its emphasis falls repeatedly on good works, not as the basis of salvation, which it explicitly denies, but as the visible point of it.
If you remember one thing
Three short chapters arguing that right belief is proved by ordinary decency, not by argument.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age.”
Titus 2:11-12
Titus 1:12
Cretans are always liars, quoted approvingly from a Cretan poet. Startling to find in Scripture, and a reminder that the letters are occasional writing to specific situations.
Named here rather than skipped. Where Christians read a passage differently, we say so instead of choosing for you.
Everyone here has a write-up, drawn from the same records that explain the names while you read the text.
A Greek believer Paul deliberately did not have circumcised, making him a test case for the whole Gentile question. He later handled the difficult mission to Corinth and was left to organize the churches of Crete.
A Pharisee trained under Gamaliel who persecuted the church until he was stopped on the road to Damascus. He then spent thirty years planting churches across the Roman world and writing the letters that make up roughly a third of the New Testament. He was a Roman citizen by birth, which is why he could appeal to Caesar.
A quiz for Titus is on the workbench. In the meantime, the games for the judges, the kings, and the prophets are open.
