Welcome to Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast.

Episode 58. I want a letter from the Apostle Paul (about the common faith we share, lucky Titus, lucky me)

Hello human.

Before today I didn’t really know anything about Titus. Paul’s epistle to Titus is short, but so full of what makes a relationship work to God’s glory. How we invest in our relationships reflects the quality of the spiritual bonds we create together. It is how we illuminate God’s glory.

Paul wrote the epistle to Titus from Nicopolis in AD 63, after his release from his first Roman imprisonment. Paul soon accompanied Titus to the island of Crete, where he intended Titus to lead and organize the island’s churches in their early years of existence. After weeks of evangelizing, Paul commissioned Titus to a leadership position there.

That is how this epistle came to be.

What is this letter about?  It is about the vital nature of teaching sound doctrine to produce lives filled with good works.

How We Spiritually Grow Each Other

But it is also a window into how we spiritually grow each other in fellowship. As we are doing God’s work together.

Titus was a Gentile Christian. Paul used to persecute Christians.  Paul mentioned Titus thirteen times in the new testament.

Titus was a Greek, apparently from Crete who is said to have studied Greek philosophy and poetry in his early years. He seems to have been converted by Paul, whereupon he served as Paul’s secretary and interpreter.

We are told in Galatians 2:3 that Titus was a Gentile who was led to faith in Christ by Paul (Titus 1:4).

Titus accompanied Paul on his third missionary journey, during which the apostle sent him to Corinth at least once (2 Corinthians 2:12–13; 7:5–7, 13–15; 8:6, 16–24). Paul clearly held Titus in a position of great respect as a friend and fellow worker for the gospel, praising Titus for his affection, his earnestness, and his bringing comfort to others.

Several years later, Titus and Paul traveled to the island of Crete, where Titus was left behind to continue and strengthen the work.

Titus must have been trustworthy and dependable, since Paul appointed him to lead works in Corinth, Crete, and later Dalmatia. Indeed, Paul calls him “my partner and fellow worker” (2 Corinthians 8:23). Knowing the difficult cultures in both Corinth and Crete, I have read that we can infer that Titus was an insightful man who could handle problems with grace. Scripture says that Titus had a God-given love for the Corinthian believers; in fact, in returning to Corinth, Titus went “with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative” (2 Corinthians 8:16-17). I should note he carried Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.

Help Someone Grow and Be Responsive to Someone Growing YOU

I want the same loyalty and dedication to help someone grow spiritually as Paul invested in Titus. And I want the responsiveness to learn, be courageous, and develop the spiritual charcter to “handle problems with grace” like Titus.  

In his letter to Titus, Paul opens by calling Titus his true son…

1:4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

 

Early on, Paul powerfully delineates purity in human nature:

1:15

15 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. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good.

 

In chapter 2 verse 2:

 

2 You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine.

Paul went on to speak of older men, young men, older women, young women, slaves, the people Titus was dealing with on a daily basis on the island of Crete. He encouraged Titus to teach sound doctrine that would produce good works.

In Chapter three, verse three, he goes on to say:

3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

Paul references the past they shared with each other, as sinners, as slaves to human nature. He levels the playing field, though he was Titus’ mentor, leader, etc. but most importantly, he affirms what Jesus did for them. He reminded Titus of how Jesus saved them because of mercy, not any righteousness of their own merit.

And Paul plans for their time together in Nicopolis, with specific instructions on how to treat people they both care about, and how important it is to turn our devotion to doing what is good.

12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.

To Paul, personally Titus was a companion, a brother in Christ, and as he opened his epistle, “my true son in our common faith” and to Paul’s ministry, Titus was a troubleshooter, peacemaker, administrator, and missionary. Someone he could trust to serve on the front lines to bring the gospel to some pretty tough cultures—Corinth and Crete—in the Gentile world.

Sometimes I like to just rest in the simplicity of a letter from one early Christian to another.  Yes, the amazing apostle Paul and the steadfast Titus, but still… a correspondence in those early days when Jesus had not been long resurrected and the disciples + the 70 + so many others began to build the early body of believers. This letter is part of God’s Word, God’s breath, God’s power in our lives in the same way as He was in AD 63.

Who is my Titus?  Whose Titus am I?

I guess all I am doing on this BUOY is celebrating the good work Paul and Titus have done together and bring that light onto our ministry path. That we walk in front of each other, that we walk behind each other, that we walk beside each other, always reassuring, restating, reaffirming the common faith we share together, human.