Titus

Titus is a short letter from the apostle Paul to Titus, his trusted Greek coworker whom he had left on the island of Crete to set in order the things that were wanting and to ordain elders in every city. Written around the same period as 1 Timothy, it belongs to the Pastoral Epistles, the letters in which Paul instructs his delegates on how churches should be led and how believers should live. Crete was a hard assignment: even one of the island's own poets called Cretians liars and slow bellies, and Paul says that witness is true.

The letter moves briskly through three chapters. Paul first lists the qualifications for elders, who must be blameless and hold fast the faithful word, and warns against unruly deceivers of the circumcision who subvert whole houses. He then tells Titus to speak the things which become sound doctrine, giving instructions for aged men, aged women, young women, young men, and servants, all anchored in the grace of God that brings salvation and teaches us to live soberly while looking for that blessed hope. Chapter 3 grounds good citizenship in the mercy of God, who saved us by the washing of regeneration, not by works of righteousness which we have done.

Titus matters because it welds doctrine and behavior together. Three times Paul insists that believers be careful to maintain good works, yet he is equally insistent that salvation comes by grace and mercy alone. Sound teaching, the letter argues, always adorns itself with a sound life.