I. Paul, Titus, and Crete
Paul – a Slave and an Apostle (1 Corinthians 4:9-13)
Titus – a godly, young, trusted & wise, church leader (Gal 2:1-5; 2 Cor 7:5-16; 8:6, 16-23; 2 Tim 4:10)
Crete – full of “liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12)
“To be an apostle was to be humiliated and often harmed above the norm in the era of the rise of the early church. It was also, in nearly all cases, an eventual death sentence.”—Robert Yarbrough, The Letters to Timothy & Titus, PNTC, p.57
“The authority of Scripture means that all the words in Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God.”—Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p.73
II. The Purpose of Paul’s letter to Titus (vv.1-3):
“…for the sake of those chosen of God,” that we may be:
– Sound in the faith and in the knowledge of the truth
– Characterized by godliness and good works
– Grounded upon the certain hope of eternal life.
“The future God promises is more powerful in this fallen world than the seemingly intractable evil and setbacks than can easily darken church leaders’ [and church members’] vision, skew their judgment, and extinguish their hope.”—Yarbrough, PNTC, p.470
III. Our privileged position as God’s people (v.4):
“a common faith” and “grace and peace.”
Q: What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A: That I am not my own,
but belong— body and soul, in life and in death—
to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven;
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.—The Heidelberg Catechism (1563)