Titus 1, Setting up a Church in Crete

Titus was a longtime companion of Paul and apparently left by Paul to minister in Crete. (Wikipedia has an article on "Saint Titus".)

Paul's letter to Titus is the third "pastoral epistle" in the New Testament.  Like the two letters to Timothy, it speaks to a close colleague on pastoral care and ministry.

Titus 1: 1-4, A servant of the eternal God

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness--a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,

To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

This greeting is lengthier than most, spending some time praising God by listing God's attributes and plans, making it clear the church in Crete is part of this plan.

Titus 1: 5-9, Setting up the church in Crete

The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless--not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

This echoes advice also given to Timothy (I Timothy 3: 1-13) about establishing the church using mature consistent believers who have demonstrated their trustworthiness.

Titus 1: 10-12, The emphasis on circumcision persists.

For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach--and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 

Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons."

The Cretan quote was deliberately self-referential, originating from the Cretan philosopher Epimedes. (See the Epimedes paradox.)  It is equivalent to the statement, "This sentence is false."  Presumably Paul sees the philosophical paradox but is using this quote to make a very different point about the reputation of the Cretans for dishonesty.

Titus 1: 13-14, Honesty and sound faith

This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.

Whether Cretans lied more than other cultures, I will not speculate. But every culture has aspects of dishonesty and deception and a minister and congregation need to take care that that those practices not invade the church.

Titus 1: 15-16, Purity in faith

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.  They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

Those of the circumcision consistently emphasized legalism and rigid rules.  But a corrupt circumcised man was still corrupt; a righteous uncircumcised man is still righteous.

In the next chapter Paul gives advice on creating a stable and faithful congregation.