3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.
As pastor-teacher, Titus was to remind the Cretans that they were to be subject to their governmental authorities. At this time in Cretan world history, Crete was a colony of the corrupt Roman Empire. The evil Nero was the emperor. Paul commanded the Cretans to subject themselves to a corrupt empire under an evil ruler. It was these types of verses that kept the American colonies out of the American Revolution for so long. The founding fathers were a combination of Puritans, who were strong Calvinists, and deists, who did not believe in the God of the Bible (although they did have respect for the Bible). These founding fathers decided that they would rebel against King George III, although this verse and Romans 13 taught subjection to rulers. The European kings misused these verses to practice absolute rule by divine right.
The citizens of a nation are to place themselves under the subjection of the government, unless that government conflicts or contradicts the individual’s right to serve and have a relationship with God. As long as a government allows freedom of religion, then the gospel can spread and become fruitful. Once a government attempts to silence the gospel, then the individuals are to do what Peter did. When the Sanhedrin told Peter to quit spreading the gospel, Peter told the Sanhedrin that he "must follow God rather than man". Before Jesus left this earth, He warned His apostles that they better "carry a sword". Jesus knew that the satanic world system would come against these apostles and attempt to exterminate them out of this world. The apostles were supernaturally protected in order that they could complete their commission, but Satan attempted to discredit their influence by sending out false teachers. Every time Paul founded a church, Satan would wait until Paul left town, and then Satan would send in Judaizers to discredit Paul and his message of salvation by grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone. Paul wrote his epistles to counter these types of false teachings.He wanted to place everything in writing so that these false teachers could be refuted. These letters were circulated throughout the churches of the Roman Empire. It was these letters that brought down the Roman Empire. Paul founded the churches by his written teachings and miracles of authentication that proved that his messages were from God.Paul protected the church from Judaizers, pagan mystery religions, and government itself by the circulation of these letters. Paul was basically a little blind man who brought down the powerful Roman Empire.
When the political party of a nation decides that it is time to go to war, then unless the reason for the war goes against Scripture, then the believer is to subject himself to the governmental authorities and go to war. If a believer wants to be a conscientious objector, then he should allow himself to be drafted but not carry a gun. There are many cowards who use the conscientious objector card to avoid war.
3:2 They must not slander anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people.
The Greek word for "slander" is βλασφημέω (blasphameow), meaning to call evil as good and good as evil. It is said that people will believe anything if it is whispered to them. Titus was to teach his congregation that they were not to blaspheme anyone. Blaspheme is used to injure another person. Many times blasphemy is used in the context of gossip, which is usually truth mixed with exaggeration and/or error. It is whispered in the ear to cause damage to another individual.
Many seeker-churches use this verse to teach that believers are not to slander others. For example Jonathan Edwards was a Puritan pastor who called out the names of sinners and their sins in his congregation. The elders of seeker-churches would condemn Jonathan Edwards for this practice, claiming that he is not practicing agape love. Is this Biblical to point out the sins of other fellow believers in the church? Is it Biblical to expose the names of false teachers, such as Oral Roberts, Joel Osteen, and others as well?
Paul called out Phygellus, Hermogenes, Hymenaeus, Philetus, and Alexander the coppersmith. Then he also pointed out that Demas had forsaken him, because he loved this present world. A pastor-teacher must call out names of sinners in order to protect the flocks from wolves. The flock needs to know where the wolves dwell so that they can pasture somewhere else. Most seeker-friendly pastors would never do this, because they claim that this is a violation of applying agape love. Agape love is divine love. Divine love is proclaiming all of the truths of Scripture, including exposing evil, as demonstrated by Paul and mentioned in Ephesians 5. A pastor must not just encourage his congregation, but he must expose evil as well, especially if it is inside his own congregation. The prophets did this rather boldly, and the pastors are commanded to do this as well.
The Greek word for "peaceable" is ἄμαχος (a machos), meaning to abstain from fighting. The flock is not to fight among themselves. They are to fight the enemy in the angelic warfare. It is the job of the pastor-teacher to prepare the flock for battle against the enemy. It is the role of Satan to entice infighting among the flock. This brings discredit to the flock. The elders have disciplinary authority to protect the flock and stop in-fighting among the church members. The flock is to live peaceably with each other. If they have disagreements inside the local church, then they are not to gossip, slander, or fight. Instead, they are to take the matter to the elders to decide.
The Greek word for "gentle" is ἐπιεικής (epieikais), meaning to be gentle when administering discipline, just as God is gentle with his children. The gentleness is to reflect the spirit of the Law, and not the letter of the Law.
The Greek word for "showing complete courtesy" is πᾶσαν ἐνδεικνυμένους πραΰτητα (paean endeiknumenous prautayta), a present middle participle, meaning the believers emphatically were to continually prove their standing in Christ by demonstrating the gentle strength of a woman.
3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another.
Paul now informed Titus of the believer's prior condition before he was converted and baptized into the body of Christ. Paul is basically giving the condition of the unbeliever today.
The Greek word for "foolish" is ἀνόητος (anoatos), meaning without thought, or acting in a mindless way. Unbelievers do not have the mind of Christ. They do not have the capability to understand Bible doctrine. They have no Bible doctrine in their souls (or personality), so their only input has been human viewpoint, which comes from the satanic world system. Their only output possible is that of mindless human viewpoint, which is dirty menstrual rags to God. They may look and sound good on the outside, but their works and thoughts are not to build the kingdom of God, but to build the kingdom of Satan. They will think that they are doing a good work for God, but they are actually working for the enemy. When Paul began his persecution of the early Christians, he thought that he was doing a service for God. He was actually working for the enemy. Every unbeliever who exists today is operating in this same mindless condition. He is living in a satanic world system without the mind of Christ.
The Greek word for "disobedient" is ἀπειθής (apothems), meaning one that is unwilling to be persuaded by God. According to Romans 3:10-11, there is no one who understands or seeks God. The Holy Spirit makes a general call to all men, but the unbelievers reject it. Believers listen and respond to the call, but only because the Holy Spirit changes their personalities so that they can hear it, see it, understand it, and respond positively to it. The complete work of salvation is that God the Father chooses the person by election and predestination and gives the person to the Son as a gift, the Son provides atonement via the cross, and the Holy Spirit transforms the personality of those who were born with a dead spirit. The person is made alive and he believes on Christ which instantly places him in Christ by the baptism of the Spirit. The unbeliever was not elected to this salvation process. He was not chosen to be damned, but he is left to make his own decision. His decision will always be against Christ, even if he has to choose Satan and hell. The depravity of man is a clear Bible doctrine taught in Scripture that is often ignored in the pulpit. Evil is real and the result if eternal life in the Lake of Fire. This is not a popular teaching, it is ignored in the pulpit (mostly by seeker churches), but it is Bible doctrine that should be taught in the pulpit, even if it is distasteful to those who are Biblically ignorant.
The Greek word for "misled" is πλανάω (planar), meaning to deviate from the correct path and wander in error down the right path. Unbelievers have forsaken the narrow path and chosen the broad path, which leads to destruction. The majority of the earth's entire population throughout history has taken the wrong route. It is only the grace, or the kindness of God, that enables anyone to travel down the correct path. Man is so depraved and evil, that he will always choose the path of destruction, unless the Holy Spirit intervenes and guides him down the correct road.
The Greek word for "enslaved" is δουλεύω (douleuow), meaning that a slave has been set free, but because he loves his master, he decides to become a slave and serve him forever. Unbelievers were set free of their sin by Christ's atonement, but they instead chose to become a slave to their master. Their masters were the passions and desires of the evil satanic world system. They did not love Christ. They loved the satanic world system. They chose to serve this system rather than to serve Christ, so Christ let them live and die with their own decisions. Christ did not create man as a robot. He gives man freedom to choose his own path. Otherwise, man would be created as a slave instead of as one who can make choices.
The Greek word for "hating" is μισέω (miseow), meaning to choose one over another. Unbelievers will always choose an unbeliever over another believer. They will always choose human viewpoint over divine viewpoint.
The believer can find these types of unbelievers on every street corner, business, school, and home in the world. They can also be found in any church in the world. The Lord Jesus Christ hates this kind of behavior, especially inside the church.
3:4 But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared,
The Cretan believers once experienced all of the attributes of an unbeliever that Paul mentioned in the previous passage. However, the kindness of God changed their lifestyle.
The Greek word for "kindness" is χρηστότης (chraystitais), meaning to meet real needs in God's ways in His own timing. God met the needs of His elect at just the perfect time.
The Greek words for "God our Savior" is τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Θεοῦ (you sotayros haymows theou), a genitive prepositional phrase, meaning that the God and Savior are the same person. The God and Savior is the one who appeared to mankind, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, according to the Greek, Jesus is not an archangel like the Jehovah Witnesses falsely claim. Paul recorded in the strongest Greek that the Lord Jesus Christ is deity Himself, the second person of the Trinity.
3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit,
Notice how the Lord Jesus Christ saves. He does not save by performing good works of righteousness, but instead, He saves on the basis of His mercy. The Greek word for "mercy" is ἔλεος (hellos), meaning covenant-love-loyalty. God made a covenant, or a promise to Abraham, to send a Messiah to save Jews and Gentiles from their sins. God is not like man. God keeps His promises.
The way that God fulfilled this promise to Abraham and the other prophets was by the new birth. The Greek word for "washing" is λουτρόν (loutron), meaning a private bath for washing dirty people. This was the laver that the Levitical priests used in the Old Testament. They were to wash their hands before they could handle the sacrifice. The washing of the hands was a type of the Holy Spirit washing the believer before he partakes of the baptism into the body of Christ. Sin makes people dirty. God runs a clean and perfect universe, meaning that He will not allow any dirt in His Heavens. Therefore, everyone needs to be washed by the Holy Spirit before they can enter fellowship with God. (1 John 1:9)
The Greek word for "new birth" is παλιγγενεσία (palingenesis), meaning to regenerate. Unbelievers were regenerated into believers when the Holy Spirit made their dead spirits alive so that they could be baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. This salvation process has such deep implications and origin, that it could not have been invented by man. Man is not intelligent enough to invent Bible doctrine. Therefore, apologetics is not defending the Bible with secular sources, but it is teaching the Bible at the deepest level in the original languages. Proving the Bible from secular sources will not save anyone. It is the Word of God which the Holy Spirit uses to transform the unbeliever into a believer. It should be the goal of every believer to turn his enemies into his friends.
The Greek word for "renewing" is ἀνακαίνωσις (anakainowsis), meaning to make fresh by God's power. The Holy Spirit takes the stinky dead body of the unbeliever and transforms it into a beautifully smelling body that brings perfume to the world.
The Greek word for "Holy Spirit" is Πνεύματος Ἁγίου (pneumatos hagiou), meaning breath that is set apart differently from the world. The Holy Spirit is not an active force, like the Jehovah Witnesses falsely claim. The Holy Spirit is a person, because He takes on personality. He is the Divine Breath of God, the Third Person of the Trinity. Here is a list of 50 personality traits of the personality of the Holy Spirit:
1. The Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8).
2. The Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16:13).
3. The Spirit regenerates us (John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5).
4. The Spirit glorifies and testifies of Christ (John 15:26; 16:14).
5. The Spirit reveals Christ to us and in us (John 16:14-15).
6. The Spirit leads us (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18; Matt. 4:1; Luke 4:1).
7. The Spirit sanctifies us (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 5:16).
8. The Spirit empowers us (Luke 4:14; 24:49; Rom. 15:19; Acts 1:8).
9. The Spirit fills us (Eph. 5:18; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17).
10. The Spirit teaches us to pray (Rom. 8:26-27; Jude 1:20).
11. The Spirit bears witness in us that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16).
12. The Spirit produces in us the fruit or evidence of His work and presence (Gal. 5:22-23).
13. The Spirit distributes spiritual gifts and manifestations (the outshining) of His presence to and through the body (1 Cor. 12:4, 8-10; Heb. 2:4).
14. The Spirit anoints us for ministry (Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38).
15. The Spirit washes and renews us (Titus 3:5).
16. The Spirit brings unity and oneness to the body (Eph. 4:3; 2:14-18). Here the Holy Spirit plays the same role that He plays in the Godhead. The Spirit is the life that unites Father and Son. The Spirit plays the same role in the church. When the Holy Spirit is operating in a group of people, He unites them in love. Therefore, a sure evidence of the Holy Spirit working in a group is Love and Unity. Not signs and wonders (those are seasonal and can be counterfeited).
17. The Spirit is our guarantee and deposit of the future resurrection (2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5).
18. The Spirit seals us unto the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13; 4:30).
19. The Spirit sets us free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).
20. The Spirit quickens our mortal bodies (Rom. 8:11).
21. The Spirit reveals the deep things of God to us (1 Cor. 2:10).
22. The Spirit reveals what has been given to us from God (1 Cor. 2:12).
23. The Spirit dwells in us (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:14; John 14:17).
24. The Spirit speaks to, in, and through us (1 Cor. 12:3; 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 2:11; Heb 3:7; Matt. 10:20; Acts 2:4; 8:29; 10:19; 11:12, 28; 13:2; 16:6,7; 21:4,11).
25. The Spirit is the agent by which we are baptized into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13).
26. The Spirit brings liberty (2 Cor. 3:17).
27. The Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).
28. The Spirit cries in our hearts, “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6).
29. The Spirit enables us to wait (Gal. 5:5).
30. The Spirit supplies us with Christ (Phil. 1:19, KJV).
31. The Spirit grants everlasting life (Gal. 6:8).
32. The Spirit gives us access to God the Father (Eph. 2:18).
33. The Spirit makes us (corporately) God’s habitation (Eph. 2:22).
34. The Spirit reveals the mystery of God to us (Eph. 3:5).
35. The Spirit strengthens our spirits (Eph. 3:16).
36. The Spirit enables us to obey the truth (1 Pet. 1:22).
37. The Spirit enables us to know that Jesus abides in us (1 John 3:24; 4:13).
38. The Spirit confesses that Jesus came in the flesh (1 John 4:2).
39. The Spirit says “Come, Lord Jesus” along with the bride (Rev. 22:17).
40. The Spirit dispenses God’s love into our hearts (Rom. 5:5).
41. The Spirit bears witness to the truth in our conscience (Rom. 9:1).
42. The Spirit teaches us (1 Cor. 2:13; John 14:26).
43. The Spirit gives us joy (1 Thess. 1:6).
44. The Spirit enables some to preach the gospel (1 Pet. 1:12).
45. The Spirit moves us (2 Pet. 1:21).
46. The Spirit knows the things of God (1 Cor. 2:11).
47. The Spirit casts out demons (Matt. 12:28).
48. The Spirit brings things to our remembrance (John 14:26).
49. The Spirit comforts us (Acts 9:31).
50. The Spirit makes some overseers in the church and sends some out to do the work of church planting [through the body] (Acts 20:28; 13:2).
3:6 whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior.
The Greek word for "full measure" is πλουσίως (plousios), meaning abundantly. God has infinite more wealth than all of mankind combined. When He pours out an abundance, it is beyond understanding. The Bible mentions Heaven as a wonderful place to live, but it gives few of its details, possibly because it cannot be described in the language of humans. God is the Giver, and not one can outgive God.
3:7 And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”
The Greek word for "justified" is δικαιόω (dikaiow), an aorist passive participle, meaning that the judge has reviewed the case and found the accused as innocent. The Accuser is Satan, who wants to condemn all believers to the Lake of Fire to spend eternity with him. The accused is the believer in Christ. Satan does not have to accuse the unbeliever, because his fate has already been decided. The Judge is the Lord Jesus Christ, who judges all things. He has listened to the case of Satan. His verdict is that the believer is innocent, because the perfect righteousness of Christ has been transferred to the believer. Therefore, Satan has no case. This verb is in the aorist tense, meaning that the declaration of innocence was declared in the past as a onetime completed action. Therefore, the believer can never lose his standing in God. The declaration of innocence stands for eternity. This one little Greek verb destroys the false doctrine of Arianism, because the salvation can never be lost. The verb is also passive, meaning that the believer receives the justification from the subject, which is Christ. The verb is in the indicative mood, meaning the decision is a 100% statement of fact. It is not in the subjunctive mood, meaning that salvation is a strong possibility. It is not in the operative mood, meaning that salvation is a desire, a wish, or a weak possibility. It is the indicative mood, meaning it is a fact. According to the Greek, salvation cannot be lost.
The Greek word for "grace" is χάρις (chars), meaning a gift that one receives because the Giver is nice and kind. The Giver is the Lord Jesus Christ. The gift that He gives is eternal life. He gives the gift because He is nice and kind and He likes to give gifts to His children.
The Greek word for "heirs" is κληρονόμος (klaronomos), meaning one who inherits. Since God has declared innocent all believers by His kindness, He is also going to make them co-heirs of everything that He owns. When Christ returns at the Rapture, the church is married to Christ. As His bride, the church is a queen who will co-reign with Christ. The believers will be the governmental leaders during the Millennial Kingdom.
The Greek word for "confident expectation" is ἐλπίς (ellis), meaning the assurance of what is sure to come. Most English translations mistranslate this as "the Hope of Life". The NET Bible used in this study Bible translates it as "confident expectation", which is a very good translation. "The Hope of Life" is often translated by Arminians, who are attempting to force their free-will interpretation into the text. "The Confident Expectation of Eternal Life" is the person of Christ.
Summary of the Letter
3:8 This saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on such truths, so that those who have placed their faith in God may be intent on engaging in good works. These things are good and beneficial for all people.
Paul is going to give a very trustworthy teaching to Titus. Paul is going to insist that Titus teach this Bible doctrine to others. The believer is to engage in good works. The reason is that good works benefit other people.
The good works do not save. They are a result of being saved. If a person loves Christ, he will produce good works. When a believer is baptized in the Spirit at his conversion, his soul (personality) is filled with 99% human viewpoint. The only pure doctrine that he contains in his personality is the gospel of being saved by grace. All he can do is produce human viewpoint works, because that is all that is in his soul. According to Isaiah 65, these human viewpoint works are dirty menstrual rags to God. A lot of carnal Christians do not like this term, but this is the term that God used. He is very graphic when He portrays human viewpoint works, because the unbeliever thinks that he is doing something that will please God, but it actually makes God look away in disgust.
Once a new believer intakes Bible doctrine, then he exhales divine viewpoint works. The more Bible doctrine that he intakes, the more he gains the mind of Christ, and the more divine viewpoint he will express in his daily life. He will begin to understand that he must continually confess his sins, according to 1 John 1:9, because this will keep him clean and in fellowship with God. God will not use a dirty vessel. God does not use dirty menstrual rags in His work. God is perfect and He only uses clean vessels.
Therefore. divine viewpoint works are beneficial to all people, because it furthers the Kingdom of God. It helps other believers mature in Christ, gaining more of the mind of Christ.
3:9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, quarrels, and fights about the law, because they are useless and empty.
Believers are to defend the faith, but not by quarreling, argument, or debate. A man with strong Bible doctrine can whip down another man with less doctrine intellectually by his arguments, but it will not win him to the Lord. The pastor- teacher is to simply just teach the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to increase the numbers and mature the believers.
3:10 Reject a divisive person after one or two warnings.
The Greek word for "reject" is παραιτοῦ (paraitou), a present imperative middle verb, meaning to shun, avoid, or reject. It is a command which means to have nothing to do with this kind of person.
The Greek word for "divisive person" is αἱρετικός (harerikos), meaning a heretic who majors in half-truths and half-lies. After one or two warnings. reject this type of person. No man of God should ever join forces with a heretic. There are many Bible studies that go on all over the world that are ecumenical, meaning that believers from several denominations are joining together to study the Bible. This is not Biblical. A sound Bible doctrine believer will only join with others who have similar sound Bible doctrine. Otherwise, instead of studying the Bible at the deepest level, you will end up arguing and debating doctrine. This is a violation of the preceding verse. It would be better for the believer to stay at home and study the Bible on his own.
3:11 You know that such a person is twisted by sin and is conscious of it himself.
A heretic does not have any Bible doctrine in his soul. He does not have the mind of Christ. His personality is twisted by sin, which comes from years of living in the satanic world system and studying how it works.
Final Instructions and Greeting
3:12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.
Paul was planning to spend the winter at Nicopolis on the Adriatic coast of Greece. Once Artemis or Tychicus was sent to Crete, then Titus was to rejoin Paul at Nicoplis. There is nothing known about Artemas. There is some limited information about Tychicus in 2 Timothy 4:12.
3:13 Make every effort to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; make sure they have what they need.
Nothing is known about Zenas, as he is never mentioned in Scripture again. Apollos from Alexandria was a gifted teacher who at first only had knowledge of John the Baptizer, but later, he was given the full gospel and he preached it very well. He was a fellow-worker and teacher with Paul.
3:14 Here is another way that our people can learn to engage in good works to meet pressing needs and so not be unfruitful.
The Cretans could provide divine good works for Christ by meeting the needs of the traveling teachers that Paul was sending to instruct them in the Word of God. Those Cretans who refused to assist were not producing any fruit.
3:15 Everyone with me greets you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.
It is not sure who all was accompanying Paul at the time that this letter was written. Those who loved Paul were those who received his messages with positive volition. Those who hated Paul were the Judaizers, who were attempting to discredit Paul and convert the new Christians into a false legalistic system. When Paul says "grace be with you all", the "you" is plural, meaning that not only was Titus receiving this letter, it was a circular letter that was being read in all of the churches.
