1 Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according
to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords
with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised
before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching,
which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior; To
Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
Paul sends his greeting and
introduces himself, which is custom in letter writing. He then states who the
letter is written to, Titus.
5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the
things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— if a man is blameless, the husband of one
wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.
Paul had recently left Titus in
Crete because of his being a true son of YHWH. He had a job to do while there.
He gave him specific guidelines for appointing elders in each city.
7 For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed,
not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but
hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled,
holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and
convict those who contradict.
Paul explains what
characteristics a bishop must exemplify. One things that stands out here is
that Paul says the man must be faithful to the word he has been taught, that
is, sound doctrine.
1 Timothy 1:8-11
But we know that the law is good
if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and
insubordinate, for the ungodly and for
sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers
of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for
liars, for perjurers, and if there is any
other thing that is contrary to sound
doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was
committed to my trust.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap
up for themselves teachers; and they will
turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
Titus 2:1-5
But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent,
temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that
they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers
of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love
their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own
husbands, that the word of God may not
be blasphemed.
Sound doctrine, a phrase in which
Paul used in each of these passages all seem to point to a specific
understanding of how a person should live their life. But, what stands out to
me the most is the intended message found in 1 Timothy. Paul says the law is
good, so long as it is used properly. Then he goes on to say something that has
been quoted out of context to me many times. The law is not made for the
righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate. I find this very fascinating
because it contradicts what many believers make claim to today. They will call
themselves sinners. Go ask someone who claims they are a Christian and I bet
they will say they are a sinner. But then they will follow it up with a
statement of Jesus kept the law, so I don’t have to. But, if they are a sinner,
then according to 1 Timothy, the law is made particularly for Christians. The
Law of YHWH is the sound doctrine Paul speaks of and all believers should be
held accountable to it.
10 For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers,
especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert
whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of
dishonest gain.
Now we have Paul saying outright,
there are certain members of the Jews, that is the sect called the
circumcision, who do not keep the Law of YHWH. Instead they teach traditions of
men in order to make money. They scratch the itchy ears on men. This is not
Paul saying the Jews are wrong for keeping the Law of God, no. This is Paul
saying these particular Jews are wrong for not teaching the Law of YWHW.
12 One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always
liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
One of the Jews Paul is referring
to made the horrendous statement above.
13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may
be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men
who turn from the truth.
Now we can see specifically Paul
commands Titus to rebuke the men doing these things. He distinguishes between
the Jewish traditions of men and the Truth in which we find in Torah. Paul
taught truth, which was what he knew better than any man. That is the Torah. To
say the Law of YHWH is not the truth is to say the Psalmist is a liar.
Psalm 119:142
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is
truth.
You can see now the circumcision
sect of the Jews were not teaching the keeping of God’s Law, but rather they
were teaching the traditions of men.
15 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and
unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.
To those who know the truth and
follow it, they are pure. To those who do not keep the truth, everything
including their own minds are defiled, polluted, and unclean.
16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable,
disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.
These Jews claim to know YHWH,
but based on what they do, they deny Him. They are disobedient to His Law
making them abominable and disqualify every good deed they do commit.
