Titus 3:1—6
To Christians belong marvelous promises. Consider what Paul wrote at the close of chapter 2—
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (2:11—14)
In chapter 3, Paul begins to discuss some of the practicalities of Christian living. Believers, because we are heavenly minded, look forward with great joy and anticipation to the day our Lord returns, but we must never forget that while this world is not our home and that we are citizens of the Kingdom of God, we have duties here on Earth. It is easy to forget these duties, and so Paul reminds Titus to remind his people that at all times they must be good citizens and good neighbors if they are to be good Christians.
1. Be good citizens, 3:1—2
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
Paul’s philosophy of government is spelled out clearly in a lengthy passage in Romans 13. Among the things he wrote to the believers in Rome, we find—
- Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. (verse 1)
- He who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. (verse 2)
- This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. (verse 6)
In Paul’s view, the state’s authority descends from God Himself. This, of course, does not mean that God supports one political party or philosophy over another, nor does it mean that our leaders should be Christians. Paul teaches that, all things being equal, a Christian needs to respect and obey civil authorities. Strictly speaking, Paul is writing to Christians in Crete and telling them that should be good citizens and obey their rulers.
The duty of these Cretan Christians was to “be subject to rulers and authorities.” The phrase, “to be subject” implies “voluntary submission” and “rulers and authorities” is best understood to be the various levels of human government.
Why is this so significant? Note how verse one begins: “remind.” This suggests that Paul has dealt with this issue before and that it may have been an ongoing problem within the community of believers on Crete. From the writings of Polybius and Plutarch we know that the Cretens in general were to say the least upset and angry with the demands placed on them by Rome. It should also be pointed out that Paul urged Timothy while at Ephesus to have his people pray for their rulers, but here Paul reminds the Cretans to be subject to their rulers. The thought is that the Church’s effectiveness could be diminished if it was full of anarchists or tax cheats. With few exceptions (see Acts 5:29) believers should take a lesson from both the Cretans and the Ephesians: pray for the government and respect those who hold offices of authority. There are times when believers may exercises their legal rights to peacefully resist oppression or official attempts to limit freedom of worship. Apparently that time had not yet arrived on Crete, and so Paul simply says “be subject to and obey” the leaders.
Not only must Christians perform their duties and obligations as good citizens faithfully, they must be “ready to do whatever is good.” Paul is probably not referring to acts of Christian service within the church, but rather the believer should be ready to good work within the context of citizenship and members of a community. A good Christians should be prepared to serve his community is useful ways for the benefit of all. While we are in the world and not of the world, we should never snobbishly withdraw from it.
While the primary objects of the Christian’s earthward love and affection must remain other members of the body of Christ, we also have obligations to our unsaved neighbors. Verse two delineates those obligations clearly. In this, Jesus is our best example—
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
The word “peaceable” comes from the Greek amachous, meaning “to be non-fighting.” This is not a call for Christians to be “contentious objectors” during times of war, but rather it means we should refuse, whenever possible, to engage in quarrels and inter-personal conflicts. We should do our best to not cause problems that could lead to arguments. To be “considerate” means to be “yielding,” to surrender rights out of courtesy to others.
We can imagine showing some humility to some people, but all humility to all men? Titus’ friends must have scratched their heads when he read Paul’s admonitions; how could they treat such “Cretans” like that?
2. Transformation makes it possible, 3:3—6
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Remembering how we used to be should motivate us to treat those are lost with gentleness and consideration. The list of attributes that characterize the sinner is vivid:
- Foolish, or senseless, unable to discern truth from lies;
- Disobedient to both divine and human authority;
- Deluded, believing the wrong things, thinking you are OK when you aren’t;
- Enslaved by passions and pleasures, in bondage to sin;
- Living a life in malice and envy; that is, living in all manner of sin
- Full of hatred, in and out.
Since all Christians were like this, all Christians need to, by godly conduct, win these people to Christ.
In verse 4 we have another motivation for right behavior: God saved us when we were like that. The word “but” is a favorite word of Paul’s when he is about to make a contrast. The salvation that we all know now should motivate how we treat the unsaved. Here we see the Gospel of God’s mercy summarized in three points—
- Its manifestation. Our salvation “appeared,” in other words, it is a historical fact. He treated sinful man with:
- Kindness. Christ saw us in our pitiable state and our state prompted Him to grant forgiveness of our sins and bless us.
- Love. The Greek is philanthropia, and suggests Christ’s love toward sinful man was demonstrated by His friendship with sinful man.
- Its basis. Verse 5 makes it clear: He saved us. Sinful man could do nothing to save himself. Salvation is not of works but of grace; God’s grace. The only hope we have is the response of our awakened spirits as the Holy Spirit pokes and prods and maneuvers us into a position of repentance and acceptance of God’s grace and mercy. But the initiative is always on God’s side and our response is enabled by the Holy Spirit.
The reason Paul gives for God’s act of salvation is surprising. We might expect to read, “He saved us because He loved us.” This is not what Paul wrote. Verse 5 says—
[H]e saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
In our wretchedness, in our completely perverse and lost state, God graciously withheld the punishment we deserved and freely saved us. “Because of” literally means “according to” and suggests that His mercy is the measurement of His saving grace. Because our sin is so great, His mercy is that much more vast and is measured against His grace.
- Its means. God’s salvation was given to us through a work accomplished by the Holy Spirit. What is the work? Paul describes the Holy Spirit’s work this as “washing” and “renewal.” What do these terms mean? There is some debate, however what is clear is that Paul is referencing the process of sanctification. The Holy Spirit cleans the pollution of sin out of us and makes us like new. The word rendered “renew” is anakainoseos, and refers to something entirely new, in this case, an entirely new nature that has never existed before. This is what the Holy Spirit does in us and for us.
Furthermore, this Holy Spirit was poured out on us generously. The word “generously” suggests “more than enough” or “ample provision.” In other words, no matter what you may think, you have more than enough of the Holy Spirit. “Poured out” points us back to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, but then the phrase “on us” personalizes that outpouring; it is experienced personally by all believers at their conversion, according to Romans 5:5.
3. Conclusion
In light of these verses, it is clear that the Christian has a solemn duty and obligation toward the sinner: we are to treat them as Christ treated us. He was not so good as to avoid us, but by His grace and mercy He won us to Himself. If we can demonstrate that kind of Christ-likeness, perhaps we can win the lost to Christ.
We also have a duty to live at peace, not only with the lost world around us, but with the leaders over us. As much as is possible we are to respect them and obey the laws they pass. In doing so, we maintain our reputation as peacemakers and people of humility.
