Journey Through Titus
The island of Crete was known as a barbarous place. It was full of people who were liars and corrupt. Morality there was at an absolute low. In the midst of that place, God built a church. I am glad God always has a people! God is taking out a people for His name. I believe in the remnant, and I believe God raises them up right where they need to be. On the island of Crete, in that place that was known for so many corrupt things, in the midst of that church, God sent a man. He raised up a pastor to lead and guide them. That young man’s name was Titus. Perhaps you have heard of him, because there is a book in your New Testament that bears his name.
Listen: Journeying through Titus
Overview of Titus
At some point, Titus was involved in the church at Corinth, because he is mentioned nine times in 2 Corinthians. After serving at Corinth, the Apostle Paul sent him to the island of Crete, that wicked place, so that he could help to lead the church. Every church, every flock, needs a shepherd. Every group of believers needs someone to feed them and to lead them. That is a pastor’s role, and that was Titus’s responsibility.
This is the third of what we refer to as the Pastoral Epistles. There are many similarities between Timothy and Titus. However, one major difference, Timothy focuses a great deal on doctrine, on what we believe and why we believe it. Titus focuses more on “adorning the doctrine,” or how the doctrine affects the way we live. Adorning means to beautify. If you say you believe the truth, then that truth ought to be dressed up in your life. It ought to be made so beautiful that people are attracted to that doctrine, and they see that lived out in your life, and say, “I want the Christ they talk about. I want the God they say they serve.” That is really the emphasis found in the Book of Titus.
Key Verse of Titus
Look at Titus 1:5. The apostle Paul says, “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.”
Titus’s job in Crete was to do two things:
Titus was to help develop other pastors
There needed to be elders in each church. The term elder here is another reference to the shepherd or bishop, the pastor of that local assembly. Paul is saying that in every city where there is a group of believers, there needs to be an elder. Paul sent Titus to help facilitate this mission.
Titus was to set things in order
This task is found in one key phrase: “set in order the things that are wanting” (Titus 1:5). Things are lacking, things that need to be added, and things that need to grow in each of our lives. Every church has weak areas, and it is the shepherd’s role to oversee the flock. It is the elders’ responsibility to help lead the people forward. Each church is to take the next step. That was Titus’s role. That is the role of the pastor of a local New Testament church in every age.
Theme of Titus
The theme of the Book of Titus is this: setting the church in order. That is an interesting turn of phrase. In Exodus 40:4, a command was given to set things in order in the tabernacle. From the very first meeting place God ever had with His people, He wanted it to be orderly. God is a God who does all things “decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40), and the church is no different.
Outline of Titus
Chapter 1 – Order in the Church
You can outline the entire book this way. Chapter one is primarily about order in the church. God wants order in His assembly. Order is not everybody doing what they want to do, or everybody getting their way. The only person who really should get their way is God. What does God want? God wants there to be order in the church.
Chapter 2:1-8 – Order in the Home
God established both the church and the home. In chapter two, verses one through eight, there is to be order in the home. It deals with the marriage relationship and the relationship between parents and children. There is to be order at home.
Chapters 2:9 – 3:15 – Order in the World
In the rest of the book, Titus 2:9 through all of Titus 3, there is to be order in the world. This section addresses our relationship to government. Paul talks about our relationship to our employers, to employees, and to the relationship to other people. He teaches about our relationship to folks who reject the truth, or go off on some tangent. How do you deal with them? In all things, God gives order.
Recall that beautiful verse in Psalm 37:23 that begins, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD.…” We do not order our own steps. God orders our steps. It is not about us ordering our lives. God brings order in our lives as we yield to His leadership and His Lordship in us so many times throughout the day.
Order, not Organization
The buzzword is organization. If we could just get things organized. However, a church is not an organization. A church is an organism. It is a living, breathing being. It is a body, and it should be a healthy one. As such, the only way to organize an organism is to dissect it, and that kills it. Organization is not the answer. Simply putting programs and structure in place is not enough. No, there must be the life of the Spirit in that local church. There must be the leading of God in that local assembly.
Order is not the same as organization. An organization is based on men’s ideas, men’s systems, and men’s procedures. Order is based on God’s priority. It is built upon God’s priorities. What does the Lord want done? Why did God begin the church? What is God’s intent for the home? What is God’s desire for my life? That is what God is trying to set in order in all of us.
Saved For a Reason
I want to end with a portion of Scripture from the book of Titus that I think is so beautiful. It reveals the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. He is referred to in every chapter of this book as God our Savior, and I love that. But do not miss the beautiful little passage of Scripture in Titus 2:11-13:
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”
Jesus Christ saved you not just from something, but for something. He did not merely save you to keep you out of hell. Jesus did not only save you to take you to heaven someday. He saved you so that, right now, He would be lifted up and glorified in your life. The same grace that brings salvation teaches us how we should live right now. The same grace that gets us ready for the world to come should affect the way we live this very day.
Key Words of Titus
This matter of God our Savior is not a past tense truth. It is a present tense truth. The key words of the book are these words: good works. Titus is a book about practice. You find the recurring idea of good works in all three chapters of Titus. Why? Because knowing God as your Savior ought to make a difference in your life. In the church, at home, and in the world, in every relationship, with every responsibility, no matter what comes to you, Jesus Christ, if He has truly made a difference in your life, is going to help you to live in a way that brings Him the greatest glory and the greatest honor.
Titus 2:10, speaking to servants says, “not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.” There are a lot of ugly things in our life because of our sin. The only beautiful thing in any of us is Jesus. If anybody sees any beauty in us, true and lasting beauty, it is Christ in us.
Do the people in your home, your church, or at your job see the beauty of Jesus in you? Are you adorning the doctrine of God your Savior in all things? Make it your prayer today. Would you pray today, “Oh Lord, let me lift up Jesus. Let others see Christ living inside of me. May my good works point others to my great God.”
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