Exposition on Titus

Contents

1. 0Pelagius's argument: Paul instructs Bishop Titus on appointing presbyters, holy living, and avoiding Judaizing heretics.
2. 1.1Paul is God's servant and Christ's apostle, sent to preach.
3. 1.2The elect are chosen as believers; God, who does not lie, will give life only to the righteous, as he purposed before all ages.
4. 1.3God revealed his saving plan when the world had gone astray, and commissioned Paul to preach.
5. 1.4Titus is Paul's son in faith, not by nature.
6. 1.5Titus must first set the church right, then ordain presbyters.
7. 1.6A presbyter may have married only once, since things lawful for others are forbidden to priests, and must rule his household well.
8. 1.7Presbyter and bishop are the same office; God's steward must be humble, gentle, and free of greed.
9. 1.8The bishop must be hospitable, just, holy, and continent, lest marriage seem to license incontinence.
10. 1.9A bishop must hold to sound teaching so as to exhort and refute.
11. 1.10Judaizing teachers who impose obsolete ceremonies must be refuted.
12. 1.12Even a Cretan prophet called his people liars and idle gluttons.
13. 1.13Lemma of Titus 1:13.
14. 1.14Believers must not heed Jewish fables and human traditions condemned by Christ.
15. 1.15The clean find all foods clean; those who cling to the law's temporary rules are defiled.
16. 1.16Judaizers deny Christ's coming in practice by thinking the law needed for justification.
17. 2.1Titus must teach what fits Christ's life.
18. 2.2Older men, especially the church's elders, must be models of sound faith and conduct.
19. 2.3Older women, chosen as examples, must be modest, sober, and good teachers.
20. 2.4Older women may teach younger women privately, not in church.
21. 2.5Wives must love and submit to their husbands, lest the faith be blamed as breaking up marriages.
22. 2.6Young men must be sober, avoiding drink that feeds luxury.
23. 2.7Titus must be an example in teaching, integrity, and gravity.
24. 2.8Titus's speech must be sound, giving opponents nothing to criticize.
25. 2.9Slaves must obey just commands without grumbling.
26. 2.10Faithful slaves adorn the gospel by their conduct.
27. 2.11Lemma of Titus 2:11.
28. 2.12Grace teaches us to renounce worldly desires and live soberly, justly, and godly.
29. 2.13Paul calls Christ the great God, whose coming believers await.
30. 2.14Christ died to make a people zealous for good works; we must not make his gift void.
31. 2.15Titus must teach with authority grounded in his life and urge obedience to rulers.
32. 3.2Believers must be gentle toward all, even those who deserve reproach.
33. 3.3Recalling their own former sins, believers should be patient with others.
34. 3.4Lemma of Titus 3:4.
35. 3.5God saved us by mercy, not our works, renewing us by the Spirit in baptism.
36. 3.6The Spirit is given more richly than under the old covenant.
37. 3.7Justified by grace, believers inherit eternal, not earthly, life.
38. 3.8Titus must insist that believers excel in good works.
39. 3.9Titus must avoid pointless disputes over genealogies and the law.
40. 3.10Lemma of Titus 3:10.
41. 3.11An unrepentant heretic is self-condemned, since each has free choice and is bound by his own sins.
42. 3.12Lemma of Titus 3:12.
43. 3.13Titus must speed Zenas and Apollos on their way so that their teaching is not delayed.
44. 3.14Paul repeats that believers must excel in good works.
45. 3.15Paul greets only those who love him in the faith.