THE MESSAGE OF THE EPISTLE OF TITUS
Introduction
The epistle of Titus is known as one of the Pastoral Epistles, while the two epistles to Timothy are the other ones. It is an epistle written from Paul to Titus, who stayed in Crete to organize the churches established by Paul. This letter speaks of the qualifications and duties that elders should have and the doctrine and conduct that everyone in the church should have. The central message in this epistle is in verses 7 and 8 in chapter 2—“in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.” These two verses are noted as being the central message because of two reasons. The first reason is that the literary style showcases a major difference in these two verses. The other reason is that this verse nicely concludes the theme of this epistle—namely the tasks of an elder. The three tasks of an elder are instructing in sound doctrine, teaching doing good deeds, and reproving opponents.
Literary Style
In the literary style, there is a change of pronouns in the central message verses in the midst of the passage from 2:2 to 2:10. This is a passage where Paul wrote to Titus about what to teach different groups of people in the church. In the passage, the pronouns used for the groups of people were “they” and “their”. Then in 2:7 and 2:8, the pronouns were suddenly and abruptly switched to “yourself” and “us”. There are six other times the pronoun “us” was used in this book. They are in 2:12, 14 two times, 3:5, 6, 15. In all six times, the pronoun refers to Christians in general. It is likely that 2:8 has the same reference. Moreover, the use of the pronoun “you” occurs eight times in the book. There are three of them in 1:5, and one each in 2:1, 2:15, 3:8, 3:12, and 3:15. The pronouns refer to Titus personally first, then elders, and finally in 3:15 to everyone in Crete. In summary, 2:7 and 2:8 address all the intended audience in the midst of addressing specific groups of people in the church. This abrupt and sudden switch of target audience highlights the importance of these two verses.
Theme 1: Sound Doctrine
The emphasis of teaching sound doctrine is one of the main themes in the epistle of Titus. The word doctrine is mentioned four times in the book. They are in 1:9, 2:1, 2:7, and 2:10. In 1:9 and 2:1, the words are attached with the adjective “sound” to them. What is “doctrine”? The explanation of the doctrine weaves together the book of Titus from the beginning to the end. Starting with 1:1 to 1:3, the doctrine is the hope that Christians have. It is also the gospel presented by Paul in 2:11-14, that Christ gave Himself for us to redeem us. The doctrine is also in 3:4-7, where it states that Christians are heirs to the blessed hope of eternal life. Doctrine is the explanation of the bases of our faith. In fact, the word is διδασκαλία in Greek, and it means active teaching. Doctrine is the teaching of what matters in faith.
In support of this active teaching, the word “faith” is used 6 times in the book. It is in 1:1, 1:4, 1:13, 2:2, 2:10, and 3:15. Particularly in 1:13 and 2:2, the phrases are “sound in the faith” and “sound in faith”, respectively. These phrases mirror the phrase “sound doctrine” used in 1:9 and 2:1.
The speaking of the doctrine is distinctively a task of the elders and Titus. In 1:9, elders are to “exhort in sound doctrine”. In 2:1, elders are encouraged to “speak the things that are fitting for sound doctrine”. It is the duty of all to keep the doctrine as mentioned in 2:7 for everyone and in 2:10 for bond slaves. Moreover, older men are to be “sound in faith” in 2:2, and bond slaves need to show “all good faith”. The theme of sound doctrine is repeatedly mentioned throughout the book.
Theme 2: Good Deeds
Another important teaching task of the elders is to remind people to engage in good deeds. The word “deed” is mentioned nine times, (1:16 (2x), 2:7, 2:14 (2x), 3:1, 3:5, 3:8, and 3:14). It is the most mentioned thematic word in this book. The synonyms of good deeds are also found in high reoccurrence in the book. The word “good” is mentioned in 1:8, 2:3, and 3:8. The word “obedience” and its anonym “disobedience” are found in 1:6, 3:1, and 3:3. A similar phrase “subject to” is found in 2:5, 2:9, and 3:1. The word “sensible” is in 1:8, 2:2, 2:5, and 2:6. Finally, the word “dignified” is in 2:2 and 2:7.
The emphasis in performing good deeds is in the central message in v. 2:7. Doing good deeds is important because, as mentioned in 1:12, the people in Crete were known for lying, laziness, and evil deeds. For that reason, Paul reminded the Christians in Crete in 2:14 that Jesus has redeemed us from lawless deeds to become zealous for good deeds. He repeated his urge in 3:14 that Christians in Crete needed to work to meet their needs in order to be fruitful in their life. This advice was timely for Christians in Crete then and for believers everywhere now.
Theme 3: Reprove the Rebellious Men
The central message emphasizes that elders need to be sound in speech to reprove the opponents. There are seven positive qualities of an elder listed in 1:8 and 1:9, and there are two things that an elder needs to do—to teach in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. The work of reproving the rebellious men, the deceivers, and the opponents of the faith falls squarely on the shoulder of the elders. In 1:10-16, Paul laid out the work of the opponents of faith. Then in 3:9-11, he mentioned what are foolish and factious men. He said in 1:9 that elders have to set examples in refuting such ones like them; moreover, the reproves need to done severely (1:13) and with all authority (2:15). Although the least mentioned of the three themes, it is still an important task of elders.
Conclusion
The sound doctrines, the good deeds, and the reproving are the main work of an elder. The foremost task of the elder is the doctrine—the explanation of the bases of our faith. In addition to teaching the doctrine, elders need to affirm our faith in two different aspects. Positively, they need to teach doing good deeds by words and by example. Doing good deeds is needed to help others see the genuineness of our faith and is the reason of why we are saved. Elders need also to reprove what opposes the doctrine or good deeds. They need to remind people of the vanity in going after the law and controversies. The central message in 2:7 and 2:8 nicely sums up the themes in a couple verses.